Not griping at all… couldn’t believe that what I was seeing is real and felt I had to be missing something. Looks more like Mediabass payouts than a semi professional trail.

I do not consider BFL to be a semi professional trail. I put it as an individual tournament on the same level as Mediabass. It's grassroots level.

for several years,Redman All American was second biggest tournament each year and several pros from BASS tried to qualify.(Rick Clunn won it one year)..it was tough to qualify because you were fishing against 200-300 in your division and you had to finish in top 24....then you fished a regional against 120 of the top 24 fishermen and you had to finish in top 10 to qualify for All American....
.my first All American in 1993,I fished against andy morgan,Peter T.,Kevin Wirth and Doug Garrett......they told us that 21,000 fishermen had tried to qualify and we were down to final 50 ...as a weekend fisherman,I was pretty proud of that plus I finished 2nd ...(beat all the pros except doug garrett)....

$325 would have covered my expenses. Ha. I was $50 short of fishing for free.

With contingencies ur prolly looking at alot more. I know if i were to win i would be getting at least an extra 5k, prolly more.

To me the BFL is still considered a good event to fish, especially for visibility of the angler at this level. Its one of the cheapest entry fees too. I would like to see them raise the entry fee $100, but this is not the year to do that.

If the BFL's eliminated the Co-Angler it would draw more boaters in Texas. IMO

My tournament partner (one an only son) were just discussing this money thing between bites at a rough Sam Rayburn Saturday. Very few can make a true living just fishing, you have to either other irons in the fire or have folks footing your bills. My take is if your not making your living just fishing are you truly a PRO or are you just a fisherman entering a higher entry fee tournament, just like the rest of us. Social media has become saturated with all this wannabes, when is that gonna come crashing down? When do the days of the $1500 to $2000 a day guide finally run its course. Tournament fishing I believe is about to chart a new direction as far as the higher dollar tournaments and I believe it is gonna trickle down through the ranks, you’re already seeing a falling off of entries, Champs had 147 last weekend.

Maybe people have looked past the 1st place money in basschamps and realized the 2nd thru 10th pay is horrible unless you get incentives running skeeter

Feels like almost every trail that ends up raising entry fees starts to decline. They seem to do it to appease "the sticks" who take it very seriously and want their efforts to bear more fruit. Problem is, most people fishing tournaments are doing it just for a hobby and have, or voluntarily establish, financial limits to their hobbies.

if they raised the entry fee $100, 5 tournaments that's an extra 500 a year. Ok that does not equal most people's monthly truck payment, or there boat payment. The question is would that equal higher payouts?

Fishing is a weird sport. we spend ridiculous amounts of money on trucks and boats, but when BASS raised there annual dues $5 , they lost 50% membership. If the BFL raised there fee per tournament $100 they'd loose half the field, but they still be one of the cheaper tournaments to fish. For many this equals 1-3 fishing combos a year, maybe 3 months on spending on tackle, or possibly 2 tournaments worth of expenses.

i mean 95% of us are loosing big money each year. But we want to be paid out well when we finish in 11th place. It's just fun for me.

We are a fickle bunch that's for sure. And I'm guilty of what you just said. My boat isn't cheap, I spent thousands this winter on new batteries, rods, reels, & tackle. And I'm pissed my local tour has raised the cost of tournaments by $20, lol.

But for me the fishing expense is not just for tournaments. I like to fish, and I like to fish tournaments, but I'll give up tournaments before I give up fishing and buying the things that make fishing enjoyable. Tournaments are always the first expense cut.

I don't think 90 percent of tournament fishermen are worried about the math. If they were they would not fish tournaments with what the payout structure usually is.

no doubt, I agree, but fishermen get upset when fees get raised on a tournament, or complain about payouts. i don't care, if I want the chance to make more I know I need to step up and pay more for bigger tournaments. Not complain about payouts on one of the most affordable tournaments around.

Laziness. Pure and simple.