Thread: Todd H. Stirring It Up...

Bringing big money in requires big sponsorship, and the dollars just aren't there for the sport of crappie fishing. It's the boat companies that are the big tournament sponsors for bass fishing, and the average crappie guy is spending what, 1/3 of what the bass guy spends on a rig? The poles, baits, boats, etc... are all substantially cheaper than bass fishing gear, so the retailers aren't going to stray from bass fishing with their sponsorship dollars. Crappie fishing is never going to be bass fishing, so it needs to evolve into its own thing. If you want the payouts to get anywhere near those of bass fishing you're going to have to think outside of the box, outside of the industry, and find those sponsors who can benefit from placing advertising budgets (as small as those are these days) behind a family oriented fishing trail. It's that or Boone Pickens decides to do for the sport what he did for OSU football...buy success out of his hip pocket.

And no offense to you tournament crappie guys, but I think you're extraordinary in your desire to fish competitively for crappie. Most crappie fishermen I know fish for food and would not be interested in fishing for competition (especially since they may have to give up a hole or two to win ). When they do get competitive it's more about bragging rights and who put the most fish in the freezer than who caught the 7 biggest fish. In fact, most of the crappie fishermen I know despise bass tournaments and the rude behavior the anglers often display on the water - behavior brought on by greed. I'm not so sure bring in the dollars and all the attention and hoopla would be good for the sport - I imagine most of you would end up missing the "good ol' days" when things were simple...