Competitive anglers recently heard that one team circuit had reached an end with its boat sponsor, and as the story has circulated, a complete boat package had to be purchased from the sponsor in order for the organization to fulfill obligations to its fishermen.

While you can spin that any way you want: that the sponsor’s legal issues precluded it from “providing” prize boats or the other side, that the organization didn’t have the juice to warrant it retaining its prize incentive. But the fact is, this situation has merely marked the effective the end of the “sponsor boat era” in the West.

Whatever contracts that may be signed herewith, (more…)

Got off the phone with Gary Klein, our former favorite son from Oroville, and while he didn’t have any cure-all for the current financial situation facing the full-time pros, he did seem to urge patience on all fronts. “Everybody has it tough now in this economy. The long-time pros and guys just getting started and the guys who would like to (become full-time pros).”

Repeating what I have heard from several others, (more…)

This story was updated at 12.18 pm PST.

Dunga, the current head coach for the Brazilian nationals has the best position in the world when it comes to gathering world class soccer talent. From virtually any street corner from any village in his country, skills are honed by toddlers to teens, so that national federation has such a surplus of talent it can win with whomever it throws out on the field.

“Little canary” (yellow) dominates.

However, though you might wonder why, the situation is just not the same (more…)

UPDATE–Got back a few hours early on this Veteran’s Day. Did not experience either the topwater or spoon bite, but pretty good action, based on limited tackle selection.

As you can see, promising freshman high school basketballer, Jake Dalke, got results on his BBZ fast sinker that he just bought last week. He told me he had seen Bill Siemantel at Vail Lake on one of the fishing shows and decided to make the purchase. Jake was pretty stoked.

An old friend, from before my own high school days, was also aboard. Mike Floyd, now of Laguna Beach, was bendo on numerous occasions, most on the Carolina with some odd brown worm. What the hey? (more…)

Not a lot of subjects you can get your arms around right now. Can anyone, short of a bankruptcy attorney, tell you what’s up with Genmar/FLW? And will anyone (other than Irwin Jacobs) give you a straight answer on whether the sky is falling? I read the bassfan account and it’s still a mystery to me.

And what about (more…)

LATE CORRECTION: Brent just emailed to say he would not be in the Northern California Bass Jam.

The upstart Bass Jam and the grandaddy of bass fishing exhibitions, the Bass-A-Thon, are set for this month, Nov. 14-15 and Nov. 21-22, respectively, with many of the top names in the game appearing. This year’s number one angler on the California Top 40 Bass Anglers List, Brent Ehrler, will actually appear at both events, a tribute to just how big the Redlands angler has become in professional fishing. (more…)

Die-offs including mostly shad, but also bass, crappie, catfish and carp in western Riverside County have startled, even stunned residents and bass fishermen late this year.  Most recently there was carnage at the 500-acre Canyon Lake in the gated community by the same name.

Of course, the stunning part is two-fold. To see bass to 11 pounds bobbing on the bank of Canyon Lake would require a cardiogram for most catch-and-release guys. But from the comments I’ve heard, there was almost as much mourning by those standing anywhere downwind of the decaying carcasses. (more…)

The continued evacuation from the Golden State by its leading bass anglers puts growing stress on the Bass Angler Assessment Team (BAAT) as together we try and discern the best bass fishermen still holding residence. But I think the lads were up to the task with this year’s California Top 40 Bass Anglers List.

Still, as one goes through the names, the hint of Ray Davies’ obscure lyric about Hollywood’s Walk of Fame comes to mind: “Some that you recognize, some that you’ve hardly even heard of….” (more…)

Okay, the sale of “assets” from Genmar is a big deal. But assets are not only boat lines, but also the properties where manufacturing is located, all the equipment (and material on hand) used to construct boats, plus, for that matter, all the computers and office furniture in their respective offices.

In a court-authorized sale, buyers can purchase what they want from brands like Champion as done previously, or Stratos or the gem, Ranger, which might still go to a “Forrest Wood” consortium including the founder and former employees.

But what will emerge will not be (more…)