Let me just add a couple of things. I spoke to Dave a couple of days ago,he wishes he would have kept his December opener, and he has given a lot of thought to the off limits. Again it is hard to please all of us. Dave is doing everything he can, he is fighting against a poor economy and it is very tough to get sponsor dollars right now. Those of us that like to fish alot of tournaments need to support him and Bill Long with Anglers Quest or all we will have left is BASSCHAMPS. Let me give my two cents on the off-limits. 1) It is not good to have a week off limits for the economy of Jasper, or Sam Rayburn or Toledo Bend. Guys fill up before the leave home and maybe stay Friday at the hotels. We need the income around here. 2) I understand the locals having the advantage because we practice. The good fishermen are also going to adjust to changing conditions after a week of off limits to tournament day also. How many times have you found the motherlode on Friday and them be gone Sat. and you stayed there too long and didn't catch them?

BIG E DID YOU FISH THE LAST BASS N BUCKS?

You gotta be kiddin me, you show your loyalty to your preferred tournaments in order! Probably because the latter has an off-limits! Then its all our responsibility to pay the bills of jasper or whatever city/county were staying at? Im absolutely appauled at your entire statement! As an outta towner, now I should be obligated to fish against people that can drive 30 mins or less to a lake that takes me, plus many others hours to get too! Your words ( I understand the locals having the advantage because we practice). No "CHIT" buddy! Once again your words (It is not good to have a week off limits for the economy of Jasper, or Sam Rayburn or Toledo Bend.) Give me a break, if fishng made or broke these towns they would have been gone along time ago! Here we go once again (The good fishermen are also going to adjust to changing conditions after a week of off limits to tournament day.) I would love to see how the (LOCALS) do after a whole week off!

Yes Rayburn does change every week every year. Tell me the last guy you know that won back to back big tournaments. Tell me the last guy that won half the tour on Rayburn. If there were 40 yrs of experinece most of us wouldn't have a chance. I'm 30 started fishing Ryaburn 5 years ago. I never complained against those guys you mention I loved it, made me better. I'm not mentioning names and if this makes you mad this probablly pertains to you. There are a couple of guys that get on here and don't complain about who fishes, what time of year, off limits, blah blah blah. They just fish, so instead of complaining, about this complaing about that be glad Dave and Bill put on Tournaments for US to fish.

You must not fish bass champs. I had to look back at last years result just an overview, There are atleast 5 locals in every tournament in the top 10. Those guys must have adjusted!

Todd its not the (NAMES) including yours, that have anything to do with this. Its about the numbers of anglers at the events! I think that maybee it would be wise to have an offlimits period prior to the tourney that might encourage more (OUTTA TOOWNERS) to show up! I know rayburn changes and the fish move but (I'D) at least like to know that no-ones had an everyday fish fest prior to showing up. Also (adjustment) is an easy way of saying they were 10' to the left yesterday afternoon!

I don't care if Castledine, McCall, KVD, Reese, or whoever shows up. Who cares, you pay your entry fee, put your big boy drawers on and be happy that we are fortunate enough to go out and enjoy something that we all love so much.

There is a Bass N Bucks tournament on Conroe January 30.

Who is coming down from the Toledo Bend / Sam Rayburn area to support Dave and be "there"? By the way, come a few days early and support the local community.

Payback on 250 teams is $600 for last in the money. But please do not factor in truck fuel, boat fuel, motel and the $280 entry fee when making your decision to come down for some fun at your expense. As incentive I will pull up my hundred or so brush piles and not fun fish the lake while you guys are "fun" fishing at Rayburn.

In all seriousness, I am not picking sides nor am I personally attacking anyone. The point is - you should at least consider the other man's opinion, show some respect and hope the tournament circuits set the rules in a fair manner and the best anglers win on the fairest playing field possible. I think most of the circuits are trying to do this very thing.

No matter how a person looks at this, the person 5 PC's down is going to have a different opinion. It is a big catch 22 and im sure the tournament directors know this. What works best? What rule should I put in there to get the best turnout? The bottom line is someone has to make that decision. The bigger problem is no matter what decision they make, there is always some people who feel it is unfair or disagree with it. There is just no way to please everybody. The people who put on these tournaments do an outstanding job in my opinion. Everyone should respect there decisions even if they disagree with it.

As far as my "throwin um back" and "40 yrs experience" remarks, that was just me joking with todd and "ribbing" ole' rangerb. "Open" tournaments mean just that, right? "Open" to whoever want to fish them.

Maybe the best thing to do for all who feel they are at an unfair advantage is to just come give it a shot and see. It is what it is and thats what makes it fun. If you think your not going to catch em' and all your thinking about while your fishing is how much better the other fisherman are in the tournament, you are doomed mentally.

Fish against the fish...... Don't sweat the small things. The more you fish against people better then yourself, the better you get.

JMO....

KingChamp, I think you will see this weekend what the locals do with an off limits. How nice of you to attack me like that, just giving my opinion on the tournament situation. I speak regulary to people of this area and we do need tournaments to support this economy. Mr. Gilmore, I think I have more than showed my willingness to compete from here to New York over my career. I have a tournament elsewhere on the 30th or I would be happy to fish. Also KINGCHAMP, those are not my list of preferred tournaments I prefer individual tournaments where this [censored] is not so prevelant. Didn't even try to start a pissin match, just like to see the tournament season come in full force. And I will fish with or without off limits, not a big deal.

Chris - I am familiar with your history and you have been and seem quite eager to play road games. Nothing personal here and best of luck with your tournament year.

Others - we all know that Rayburn/T. Bend anglers generally speaking are not willing to travel so much. For the most part this is easy to understand and accept. Those lakes are big and quality fisheries. However this does give incentive to the circuits to load up on Rayburn.

The Houston area does not have the same number of bass tournament anglers as say Dallas. Thus what few Houston area guys there are must travel to East Texas to get in a good game with high 1st place payouts. No complaining here - I am just pointing it out.

With soo many tournaments on Rayburn its very hard to travel. Why go out of town when you can stay close for the same payout. Bass-n-Bucks is a plus for the Conroe guys. It gives them an extra trail there. I know there aren't too many that go to Conroe and even less on Livingston. i would travel if there were no conflicts with Rayburn. Rayburn is setup as a perfect tournament lake. Plenty of fish and room to fish. That is why we have 4-5 team trails. Easy to run and really anyone has a chance most of the year. I think it is less dominated by locals compared to Toledo and Conroe.

I personally see some of the states best anglers (Stren, BFL, TTT, Opens) fishing alot down there. They seem to do well if it's on Falcon, TBend, Texoma, Red River, ect. It just doesn't matter where they are, they are that good!

I've been donating long enough to see the same names make their way across the state and state lines! Personally that is why I enjoy fishing down there! Fish against the best....since we all can't fish against KVD on Kentucky Lake! Personally I enjoy fishing against the KVD's of Rayburn!

And just think all this started with the simple question above.

It's call cabin fever. Too much work, not enough fishing,,