By Terry Knight
Clear Lake will play host to more than 50 professional bass tournaments in 2011. That”s good news for the local businesses that depend on fishermen visiting the lake.
Most of the tournaments will go out of Konocti Vista Casino, Resort & Marina in Lakeport with a few going out of Redbud Park in Clearlake.
It is estimated that a tournament fisherman will spend approximately $150 per day on food, lodging, gas and other necessities. Typically a fisherman will spend two days pre-fishing and one or two days competing in the actual tournament.
That amounts to about $600 spent on the local economy for every tournament fisherman.
The only problem is that the weak economy has had an impact on tournament fishermen.
To date this year only a few bass tournaments have fielded more than 50 boats. A few years ago it was standard for a typical team tournament to have at least 100 boats and often 150 boats.
Local tackle shop owners are telling me that where a fisherman would think nothing about spending $200 or $300 for fishing tackle and up to $500 for a new fishing rod a few years ago, they are now spending about one-half that amount. Many of the tournament fishermen are in the construction business which has been hard hit by the recession. Make no mistake a typical bass fisherman has a lot money tied up in his boat, truck and gear. A modern bass boat with a 225 hp outboard motor will cost at least $60,000.
Add in a truck to pull the boat and it”s another $40,000 plus at least $10,000 in rods, reels and fishing tackle. That”s more than $100,000 just to go fishing.
It”s not just the tackle shops that are struggling, bass boat dealers are hurting as well.
A few years back you could finance a new boat for up to 15 years and that was with nothing down. No more, now the banks want a high credit score and they still hesitate to loan any money on a boat. Originally many boaters would use the equity in their homes to buy a new bass boat. That has also changed.
In fact, some of the bass boats have been repossessed along with the homes. One real estate agent told me that he knew of a repossessed home in Sacramento where the bank had also repossessed the homeowner”s bass boat. If you bought the home the bank threw in the bass boat free.
Most of the team tournaments cost about $200 in entry fees and the winning team”s payback is dependent on the number of teams entered in the tournament. Typically a tournament organization will pay back about 70 percent of the entry fees, which means if a tournament fields 100 boats the winning team will pocket about $3,000. The tournaments normal pay down to one in five of the entries which means a 100 team event will pay back to 20 places with the 20th team receiving just its entry fee back.
I see a change in the way we fish. I predict that more fishermen will opt to buy cheaper aluminum boats with smaller motors.
A new aluminum boat with a 70 hp outboard will cost about $15,000 and while it won”t go at speeds of 60 mph it will still get you across the lake in plenty of time. Actually, a smaller boat tows easier and is just as comfortable to fish out of as a $60,000 22-foot bass boat. Fishermen will also be buying fewer fishing rods and reels.
Today”s tournament fisherman often takes along five to six fully rigged expensive rods plus several boxes of fishing tackle.
I predict that we will see more recreational fishermen visit Clear Lake. Tournament fishing is more geared toward the experienced angler and it”s a high pressure sport. On the other hand recreational fishing is much more laid back and is actually more enjoyable. This is especially true for the older fishermen who no longer care to compete.
