Tough Decisions - Part 2
Well this brings us to what I’m actually going to fish next year. I certainly wasn’t going to be the first to jump into Big Stack Payback because I was unsure if they could find 40 guys to pony up that kind of money. I wanted to see the D&R schedule before I committed also. However when there were only 2 spots left I knew I had to make a choice.
There’s a lot to like about the Big Stack and some things I’m uncertain about. But I felt like I better get in on the ground floor to see where this thing goes. It is a high risk, high reward situation especially with them only being one day events. There’s no other way to fish for this kind of money this close to home and it seems like a much better deal than fishing the Bassmaster Opens or something like that right now. I’m hoping they will make some of the right moves to make it a good deal for their anglers more than just cashing big checks.
I’ll be the first to admit the schedule does not favor me one bit. Black Lake, Saginaw Bay, and Lake St. Clair all of which I have little or no experience on. Picking lakes out of a hat and no diversity in the schedule is definitely something I do not like. Sure it is totally random but it sure seems like putting some thought into schedule and mixing it up a little bit would be the way to go for a tournament series like this. We all knew it could turn out that way before we signed up though. Those fisheries are really going to test me and I imagine after this year I’ll be a better smallmouth fisherman. I’m certainly going to need some Humminbird MEGA Live on the boat this season.
With one of the Big Stack events in conflict with the D&R Classic it looks like that isn’t going to be an option this year. I’m bummed, D&R is a great trail and I have loved fishing it ever since it came on the scene. Great people, well run, good payouts, and a bunch of contingencies! I really hope the east side guys get behind their east side trail this year. If not, you guys are missing out on a great opportunity. I’m especially going to miss going to the classic with the whole crew and having a great time.
I’m certainly not doing only 3 weekend tournaments for the year so I’ve got to find some things to fill in the schedule. HOTD is going to be a great option for that as will any opens that might pop up. I’m guessing it will more be a matter of what is convenient at the time as we have some family vacations planned.
With the big entry fees I’m going to have to try and get some more support for this year. Which is something I haven’t really pursued in some time. I’m expecting that to be an extremely difficult task especially with the impacts of COVID. It is going to be an interesting season to follow along with I can promise that. Until then back to ice fishing!