Attn: Aluminum Boat Anglers

[BobL]

How can ABA improve its showing in the Aluminum Boats Only series? I just fished the classic yesterday and there were only 19 teams out there competing for a brand new Tracker PT 175.



To qualify to fish this classic was easy. Be an ABA member and fish ateast one of the regular aluminum series season tournaments.

There was some upset teams that came close because there was no prize money for anything but first place. The basic tournament was winner take all for the boat. With so few anglers the entries didn't even pay for the boat, but ABA is willing to do it again next season if Tracker is willing to help them build the event and give them another boat at a discount for the next season. Honestly though, it seemed that all of the top teams won some money in the various options.

Tracker does not give them the boat. They sell it to ABA at a discount, so when ABA has a poor showing they have to take the difference out of pocket.

From my perspective I think it was great. My partner and I had greatly improved odds of winning the boat with so few of the qualifying teams coiming out to fish the classic.

What do you think they could do to improve participation both in the regional series and the classic?

Craig with ABA stated that the objective was to get people who normally don't fish tournaments out to fish some tournaments. Hence the aluminum boats only, and any aluminum boat if it has a livewell, even its a cooler with an aerator were instituted for this series.

I think they can do a couple thoughts on the subject myself....

... but please think about what would make it interesting to you to participate before reading my ideas.

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1. Reduce the basic entry fee for the series tournaments.
Guys who don't fish tournaments are not going to start with a higher price tournament series. They are more likely to fish if its cheap to qualify.

2. Make sure there are prizes for all the top finishers in the classic, not just the series tournaments.

3. Spend some money on promotion in both fishing and non-fishing venues. They are after all going after the guys who don't normally fish tournaments.

4. Exclude anybody who has won a tournament in the previous year in any other local series. This would give some guys more confidence in participating.

My ideas are just that, and the last one would be risky, but I think it might more closely match Craig's stated goal.

What do you think ???

I am an ABA member, but I have absolutely nothing to do with managing or promoting the organization. I do have a friend who is a regional tournament director. I'm not trying to spam, but I really would like to see this be a good opportunity for anglers to compete and have a chance at winning a boat that they might not other wise have.

[BobL]

I need to make a correction. No clue why I made the typo, but it should three of the series tournaments, not one.