Just returned from the Illinois River FLW Tournament and the official launch of the www.onthewaterlive.com website.  The fishing on the Illinois river was good if you were looking for unbelievable numbers of small fish.  If you were looking for quality fish, well, the bite was anything but great.  I can honestly say I have never caught more fish in a tournament or prefishing then I did over the last week.

For those that are not familiar with the Illinois River, it is primarily a sauger fishery with good numbers of nice sauger.  However, due to the timing and high water conditions earlier this year the small male sauger were the only thing that would bite and they were hungry.  For those that tuned in to watch the live footage of the tournament or prefishing you saw a ton of small fish caught.

So how did the tournament unfold?  I ended up in a 3 way tie for 17th but after the tie breaker I was 19th.  That was good enough to get me to collect a little Evinrude Contingency money but overall it was a disappointing finish again.  Jason Prezurkat, my teammate ended up making the top ten and finished in 6th place.

The real exciting part of the tournament for me was the launch of www.onthewaterlive.com which I have been working tirelessly on over the last few weeks.  After Detroit I knew the concept could work and with some equipment changes we went live for the first time from the boat in a walleye tournament and the overall reaction was amazing.

I encourage everyone to check out www.onthewaterlive.com and become a fan on Facebook.  I recently updated the live schedules.  The same footage you see of me on OTWL is also available right here by clicking on the Camera link on the home page.  Thats all for now.  Almost time to get ready for Red Wing but hopefully I can get in a little Bluegill Fishing before I have to leave...maybe even LIVE.

As I prepare for my next Tournament, the FLW Spring Valley IL on the Illinois River I can't help but be excited about the things that I have accomplished since the first run of my Live Fishing Web cast at Detroit.  If you tuned in an saw some live fishing in Detroit you know there were plenty of issues but for the most part, the concept is a good idea and did work.

For my next tournament I have upgraded all the equipment and it is very noticeable from a viewer standpoint.  First of all I won't have to shut down the live feed to move spots, my new Web Camera is waterproof, so bring on the nasty conditions.  Second, I have added a wireless microphone to the system so you don't have to listen to hours of wind blowing.  For the viewer, what I say should come across very clear with the new Mic system.  The changes are pretty cool and there is more to come.

I have an exciting announcement that should come to wards the end of the week.  Make sure you check back as their are some really cool things that will unfold this week before I take off to start practicing or my next FLW Tournament.  I continue to try to make things more interesting and if everything works out, this one will be pretty cool!

As everyone knows, these are trying times in our great country, and it seems that everywhere we turn we see or hear depressing news. The government is flawed, the economy is in the dumps, drug wars on the border, it’s raining, it’s snowing, and walleye tournaments are done. Admittedly times could be better, but not all is gloom and doom and the sun will most likely rise again tomorrow! So that being said, let’s look at the world of walleye tournaments, and at least reflect where we stand from a realistic point of view right now, and project a bit to what the future can be. This is a mini blog that pertains to the relatively new Anglers Insight Marketing (AIM) Pro Walleye Series tournament tour.

Let’s start a little over two years ago. AIM was not in existence. As most of you know this was a business started and owned by anglers. Some were hard-core tournament types, while others just had a desire to see this sport take a turn in the right direction. The overall desire of this organization is to get walleye tournaments headed down the right path, one of having fun, having fair competition, fair payouts, and growth, while doing as much as possible to respect our favorite fish (walleyes of course), and show case anglers, sponsors, and the sport. During this time frame I’d like to recap what has been done.

AIM started the Catch, Record, and Release (CRR) ideology as it pertains to a major circuit. This was highly criticized at first, but after fishing this format for a year now, it has to be considered one of the most fair, and fun ways to run an event. CRR allows for 7 fish to be counted, without the worry of slot limits, or “no cull” restrictions. The result of this format has made AIM tournaments more exciting, and dramatic. More so than any events that we’ve previously had in the past… as major comebacks, huge weights, and more skill with a reduction of luck are all part of every competition! Ask any angler who has fished an AIM event, and they will tell you that these events have been the most fun they’ve had in years and the way of the future. The weigh in process was a challenge. However, with much hard work from our truly talented technical team, AIM weigh ins (with all of the great video and big fish photos on stage) have been every bit as entertaining as when actual fish had been brought to the stage. And with this format, the fans actually can see all of the big fish that were caught, even when they were in the slot size category. These fish would have never been viewed by the public with previous formats. In addition, CRR has made a positive impact with local fisheries managers, lake associations, and host communities, because of a virtual lack of fish mortality.

There is no doubt that the economy has taken its toll on many tournament anglers, and their ability to compete in events. All events saw a decrease in participants last year, and there is no sugar coating that fact. AIM would have loved to see more anglers in each event last year, as would have all tournament circuits (many bass circuits included). Fortunately many of the most recognized anglers in the sport fished the AIM tour, and the tournaments had lively, hard hitting and exciting competition with some real eye opening results- like the discovery of just how good the Saginaw river system is for fish (after twenty years of tournaments where the bay was thought to be the only place to win an event), and Todd Riley’s unbelievable catch on Lake Winnibigoshish! Wow, what a catch! Co-Anglers had a blast, and events were exciting. But over the course of the year it became very obvious that to maintain decent paybacks (even when paying back 100 plus percent of the entry fees) that a different methodology of payback had to be initiated so competing anglers could better cover their expenses. Historically, high paying first place paychecks have been the norm. Subsequent placing paybacks for lower places had huge reductions, and many anglers had to go home without covering their expenses. Last October, AIM called a meeting of all of their anglers to discuss the state of their business. Collectively, the anglers decided on a payback schedule with a reduced first place, but much better payback down the list so that the last money finish would allow the angler to cover their entry fees and expenses. Now, if you cash a check, you’ll at the very least break even, with most anglers making money. Instead of taking a top spot to break even as in the past, the new AIM break point goes significantly down the list so more anglers can make a go of it. Field size is not as much of a factor, and even if the economy limits angler participation, payouts will be good. The coolest thing about this is that the anglers chose to go this route, and after all they are the customers as much as the sponsors are! Word seems to be getting out about these paybacks as right now the AIM office has as many anglers, or more, signed up for each tournament as we had fish each event last year… with literally a month and a half before the first event in Saginaw!

AIM also looks at sponsors a little differently than other previous tournaments. Anglers can wear any logo on their jerseys and represent any sponsor that they want. No restrictions, like a true professional sport. Fishing oriented sponsoring companies do not have huge sponsor fees, and are not allowed to have exclusivity. Because it is affordable to be part of AIM, they are encouraged to showcase their products though their sponsored anglers and the quality and fish catching capabilities of their product line. Companies like Lund boats, Crestliner boats, and Mercury outboards (along with others) have already shown confidence in their pro staffs and strength of their products to be part of the AIM circuit, while at the same time encouraging other companies to join them in supporting the growth of walleye tournaments as a true competing sport! The AIM organization is working hard to bring on more companies like these, in an affordable way, to help take this sport into the future.

This year AIM is proud to offer a special event in Brimley, MI with the support and fantastic help from the Bay Mills Casino who is supporting this event with a huge increase in the cash payback for the anglers that are competing in the tournament. The payback in this invitational event is well in excess of the usual 100 percent that is usually paid.

The newest news is the groundbreaking partnership with the state of South Dakota. AIM anglers are working hand in hand with South Dakota to showcase their fantastic fishing and outdoors opportunities; and the South Dakota Walleye Classic and Festival is the center of attention! With the help of the AIM anglers South Dakota would like to see this event become the “Sturgis” of the outdoors world, and after participating in this unbelievable event last year I’d say they are well on their way. This was the most fun event that I’ve attended in 10 years and should truly become a yearly destination on any outdoorsman’s calendar. There will be three AIM anglers that are sponsored by the state, including fully wrapped boats, along with their presence at various travel and sportshows during the year. Fifty of AIM’s anglers will be sporting South Dakota logos on their vehicles, boats, and jerseys and many will also be helping with the various shows, and with a special Pro-Celebrity tournament right after the Akaska event. These anglers will be directly benefiting in this partnership by having a greatly reduced entry fee at the South Dakota Walleye Classic and Festival/AIM event, therefore again, cutting some of the angler cost and increasing the percentage payback! This has never been done in the history of walleye tournaments, and we applaud the State of South Dakota for working with the AIM group!

If all of this isn’t enough, the JJ Keller Fishing team has also just announced their partnership with the AIM Pro Walleye Series, and will be sponsoring a $10,000 award to the AIM Angler of the Year! Because of this new addition in sponsor prizes, AIM will be returning to a 50% cut in the Pro Field on the last day instead of the original plans of a tougher cut. The reason for this is so that anglers can have a better chance of improving their standings in the Angler of the Year race and the ranking for the 2011 Brimley invitational event. The anglers expressed a desire to have more anglers compete on the last day and AIM responded! The additional good news is that 50% of the co-anglers will now be able to fish on the last day also. In addition, the JJ Keller Foundation will offer a total of $25,000 dollars ($5000 per community) for local charities as a way to give back to these communities that have been so supportive of fishing and the AIM tour! Just imagine as an example; now a local charity could go out into the community and ask for pledges… say for instance, twenty five cents per pound for the winning AIM weight, and any money that they raise for the charity up to $5000 will be matched by the JJ Keller Foundation! Wow, we’ve never seen anything like this in walleye fishing! This is the type of thing that big time sports venues would do in a community! And on top of all of this, the Keller Fishing team, through Brian Keller’s PK Media is supplying additional help to our already powerful media team to increase the amount of online video coverage that AIM already has in place.

During all of this, the grass roots tournament anglers are not forgotten and in fact are an extremely important part of this new AIM movement. We have an affiliation with close to 100 various tours, large stand-alone events, and fishing clubs, all which hold tournaments during the course of the fishing season. Already close to 100 clubs in the course of only one year! As many of you know, the Teams of the Year from many of these fine tours where invited to the AIM championship last year. This year we are going to ratchet it up a notch, but that’s news for another press release to be announced soon!

As you can see, the walleye tournament world is not dead, it just needed to have a new direction, and I would hope that all of you would agree, that this has been a fun and interesting two years, and that perhaps the future can indeed be bright. I would encourage all of you to participate in the AIM events. Enter as a Pro. Enter as a Co. Or come, watch a weigh in and see what we’re all about. I don’t think that you’ll be disappointed!

Gary Parsons

FLW Detroit is complete and it was really nice to get back on the water and competing again.  The Detroit River is a nice venue as you know you will be catching fish in many different ways and usually the fish are VERY nice.  This trip was no different although there were a few things that I would have like to see end up a little different, but, I will cover that later.

The prefishing for this tournament was very good.  My first full day on the water was spent trolling on Lake Erie.  I opted to troll crankbaits despite the water sitting at the 52 degree mark.  Fortunately we were able to connect with a lot of nice fish on day one, including the giant pictured here caught by Matt Carlander, my practice partner.  The pattern I found the first day prefishing is the same pattern that I used for the tournament.  The pattern was good, unfortunately the conditions changed some which required some adjustments.

Day two of prefishing was spent jigging the Detroit River and after spending a few hours getting the bite figured out in the extremely clean water I felt very comfortable if we were to be forced to stay in the river.  I felt if I were to just fish the River A weight of 25-30 pounds was possible.  However, the bite on the lake was more consistent and the fish were bigger and 30-37 pounds was what we were looking at out there.

So, by day two of prefishing we pretty much committed to fishing the lake as long as the conditions would allow.  When I say we, I am referring to Mark Courts and Jason Prezurkat, who I will be teaming with for this FLW season. Mark, Jason and I will be fishing all the FLW events and are good friends on and off the water, so a partnership was fitting with all the changes in the walleye world leading up to this year.

The new FLW format only allows for two days of fishing before the "cut".  On day one when I arrived on my spot it appeared the fish were gone.  I was marking very few fish despite catching two fish in my first pass.  The bites were encouraging but the Humminbird looked very empty.  Something had changed and my guess was with the windy conditions the fish moved up in the water column and thus I was not marking many.  So as the day progressed and the bites were few and far between, I made adjustments but never did pull my baits high enough.  Basically the fish were 5 ft under the surface and I did not make the needed adjustments to my program.

On Day two when I arrived at the same spot the graph was once again full of fish and they were right where they were prefishing.  After my first two trolling passes I had 4 in the box and the day continued that way.  We continued to pick up fish all day as long as we could stay on the dirtier water.  My partner Gary Speicher and I had a great time pulling in nice lake Erie walleye including one Giant that weighed close to 11 pounds.

In the end I blew the entire tournament on Day one by only weighing 4 fish.  Despite making a nice comeback on day 2, the damage was done.  The sad thing about this tournament was there were only 55 boats.  With that few boats the FLW only paid down 11 places which was very disappointing to most of the anglers.  The reduced entry fee that I discusses at length last year seems to be doing just what I thought it would do, drive away all the anglers that supported the circuit in the past.  I will continue to fish because I want to support both AIM and the FLW circuits.  But, without a way to increase the payouts and no TV coverage there is very little incentive for anglers right now.  But, enough about that, I have another tournament to get ready for and I am looking forward to heading to the Illinois River. 

Well if you have been able to watch the live footage you know how things are going.  We have been catching fish each day but as always you never know just how big of fish it is going to take to make the cut.  The good news is I am catching fish and the bite is pretty good overall.

The Live footage usually starts out between 9 and 10 AM Central time.  I have been monitoring when people are viewing and that seems like the best time to get things started.  I have been running live each day for a total of about 5 hours a day.  I have worked through countless bugs in the system and actually can greatly improve the feed that you see, I just haven't made that change yet.  For this tournament I am going to go with what I have set up.

The wind has been a MAJOR issue so far but I have that taken care of now for the next tournament.  I have learned a lot about this and will do much better at the next tournament.  The good news is even in tough conditions like we have had it still works.  The only other issue is my Nikon battery is dead so I can't put up all the great fish pictures I have on my blog.  Well, lots to do so I better get back at it.

Sometimes we have to inspire ourselves to do better.  Last week while writing The Reality of Fishing, which talked about how to make competitive walleye fishing more interesting, I believe I inspired myself.  After writing that piece I decided that there has to be a way to show people what really goes on while tournament fishing and the practice leading up to the tournament. So after consulting with some people much smarter than I, this is what I came up with.

Starting Friday April 2nd when I hit the water to start prefishing for the FLW Detroit River Tournament you will be able to watch me fish live in the boat.  By clicking on the link at the right side of the page you will have access to the live camera in my boat.  Weather permitting you can watch hours and hours of true Reality TV. I figure the next best thing to actually catching all those giant Lake Erie and Detroit River walleye is getting to watch me do it live.  Ok, I was just rubbing it in a bit because I am getting really excited to hit the road. Be sure to check back this week for more updates but the testing is done and we are ready to go live.

My last piece titled Angler Disconnect apparently got a lot of people thinking about tournament fishing because it generated a lot of emails.  Several of the emails were asking how do we make tournament fishing more exciting?  How do we increase the interest in walleye fishing in order to make the sport grow?  I actually get those questions a lot and while it may seem like a tough answer, it really is not in my opinion.

There is no doubt there is a huge interest in Reality TV.  Tournament fishing is actually reality TV at its best, it just is not being presented in that fashion.  Under the current and previous TV Tournament format, which for 2010 will be non-existent, shows focused on the Finale.  I liken previous tournament TV coverage to the final show of the Bachelor, Dancing With the Stars or American Idol, albeit not as popular.  You get a quick recap and then see who wins.  The problem with this format in fishing is as a viewer you didn't get the time to become vested in the process or the contestants.  Lets face it Reality Shows get huge ratings on their FINALE show because over the coarse of time, we as viewers have watched and become familiar with the cast.  We have our favorites and ones we are pulling for.  We have taken interest in the process, even if the process is not really that interesting to start with.  On the contrary, the Finale of a Reality TV show is not very interesting if you haven't watched previous shows and therefor don't know the people in the finals.  Same holds true for walleye fishing.

So what am I really getting at?  It is hard to have an interest in walleye fishing if you don't know who the contestants are.  It is hard to have a vested interest in someone when you have never seen them perform.  The current model in fishing is failing because we have gotten away from promoting and focusing on the anglers.  I can accept the fact that very few people know who Scott Steil is despite competing at the professional level for 6 years with moderate success.  Why is this?  The main reason is the fact anglers have not been given the platform to showcase themselves.  The second reason is the fact that when anglers are given a chance, they don't utilize the opportunity and the end product seems lifeless, far from the excitement of reality TV.  We can all do better!

So, where do we go now?  We utilize the technology available to bring the spotlight back to the anglers. We show the angler live on the water catching fish, losing fish, battling 7 foot waves.  We show the thoughts and decision making that takes place on the water; the highs and lows and how the angler deals with both.  That is REALITY and what people want to see.  We need to bring the focus back to the REALITY portion of fishing where the audience can see just who the real "characters" are in this business.  I know as sponsors read this they may be saying, what about us?  The truth is if a sponsored angler excels, sponsors are rewarded with increased media and coverage of that angler and it is a win win for all.

Times have changed, the industry has changed and so has technology.  The best way to move forward is admit the current model is not working and adjust.  AIM started some very exciting things last year with the way they covered their tournaments and it is a start in the right direction.  A lot has to be done yet to build on those positive things and in the end we need to remember that if the audience can "connect" with an angler the sponsors, anglers and circuits all benefit with a bigger audience and renewed interest in a great sport.

It is no secret that the fishing industry is struggling.  Obviously it is much bigger than that, as the fishing industry is just seeing the trickle down effect of a poor economy.  When families don't have discretionary income to spend on their wants, the first thing to fall by the wayside is recreational spending.  But, besides the poor economy, the fishing industry and us anglers have been particularly hurt by a much bigger problem.  Part of the problem is apathy and the other is letting others take care of "things" for us.

If I go back to my college years when I would work the summers up on Lake of the Woods, I can remember how exciting it was for the PWT to come to town.  For a young guy, it was great to see all the different boats, motors and equipment the Pros were using as well as how good these guys really were.  Faced with tough conditions, the fish they could produce was always impressive. 

So, why do I bring up those years?  Because back when walleye fishing was gaining momentum it was up to each and every pro to go out and obtain their sponsors, and they did this with hard work.  Those pros worked very hard to land sponsor deals that allowed them to fish the "tour".  These anglers used their connections inside and outside the industry to introduce many NEW companies to the sport of competitive fishing, of which, several are still around today.  Back then professionals established a relationship with a company and in return worked hard for that company promoting its product and making appearances.  As a result, for many of us, these anglers became household names.

So, lets fast-forward to today.  My issue today is that their is a huge Angler Disconnect in our sport.  The focus has now moved from the angler to the product.  As the sport of competitive fishing grew and particularly with the introduction of the FLW, the sport changed.  We as anglers became apathetic and allowed the circuits to land the sponsors and in turn, received sponsorship from these companies that were already vested in the circuit we were fishing.  Remember, in years past it was the anglers who brought "their" sponsors to  the circuit and now the circuit is bringing "their" sponsors to us.  There is no doubt the model has changed but it does not have to be a bad thing.

For the sport we all love and are so passionate about to grow we as anglers need to take back the reins to some extent.  There has to be some balance in this game.  While circuit sponsors are vital and required for the sport to grow we as anglers need to get back to knocking on doors and bringing new sponsors into the sport.  In tough economic times we as anglers need to support the circuits but we also need to support ourselves.  While circuit sponsors are a piece of the puzzle, they are not the finished product.  We need to get out there and find sponsors that are willing to back "us" because in the end there is no circuit without "us", we are the product.

So what is this rant all about?  Well, instead of complaining about the industry, get out there and do something about it.  As an angler, if you rely solely on the sponsors of a circuit, you have to be prepared that they may not be there tomorrow.  The key to success is getting out and finding companies that are willing to back you and in return, you work very hard for them, just as they did many years ago.  If you control the relationship with a sponsor, you are more likely to continue that relationship and sponsorship.  For the sport to grow, we all need sponsorship, both circuits and the anglers.  The anglers that can find a balance between both will thrive in these tough economic times as long as they have some control over that relationship.

Humminbird just made a good thing better.  If you haven't read about Switchfire it is worth taking a little time to look into this new feature on Humminbird Sonar units. Switchfire gives you two unique modes that all you complete control to adjust your sonar to fit the fishing conditions you are up against.

The first mode, MAX MODE gives you the ultimate detail with maximum return.  Max mode is great when fishing lakes without a lot of suspended particles and in non-turbulent water. If you want to see the thermocline, changes in current or everything under you, MAX MODE is your choice of modes.

The second mode, CLEAR MODE uses TVG or Time Variable Gain software to sift through sonar returns to display only fish, structure and larger sonar returns.  This mode is great when fishing shallow, in rivers, rough water or whenever you want reduced clutter in the water column.

Personally, I can think of hundreds of applications where I would have loved to have this option.  Last year while fishing the final day in the FLW Championship the stretch of the Oahe River I was fishing became very turbulent and the algae on the bottom was getting stirred up.  As the water became more turbulent it became harder and harder to distinguish fish from the bottom because of the algae layer being picked up by my Humminbird 1197C SI. You can't fault a sonar for being ultra-sensitive, after all that is what makes Humminbird the best.  However, it will be nice to have the ability to adjust the sonar now to the conditions!