Ike signs with Basscat !!!!

[bigrod]

Let me be the first to say so what. They probably offered him more money than any other boat company out here. I own a Triton and love it but I always wonder what boat the pros would buy if they were not sponsored for boats. Let me say Ike is an awesome fisherman and would outfish all our asses 9 out of 10 times. Good luck to basscat and don't be suprised if he pulls some T O antics on ya.

[mertens357]

Congrat's to BassCat and Mike. I am a BassCat owner, and I am proud to have Mike onboard.

Shawn

[KyJames]

I mean really, mertens, you are proud to have him on board? Don't you realize the profit made on you is what helped BC give him a boat.

remember last year when he had to buy his own boat, he bought a ranger.

I'd like to see the pros have to buy their own stuff like us weekenders.

[BabyHeuy]

I have heard from what I consider to be a good source that no one gets a free boat from ranger. A dealership may give boats away but Ranger the company does not.

[mattplapp]

We just recently signed up as a Basscat Dealer and I heard speculations of this a few weeks ago. Its a great addition to their pro staff

FYI, Ranger does give boats to their pros as do a lot of the major boat companies as compensation. I know a few pros who are on the receiving end of those boats.

Congrats to Mike and Basscat.

Matt

[bassin101]

He bought the Ranger that he was currently running. He didn't go out and buy a new Ranger and have it re-wrapped just because he wanted a Ranger. He probably got it for 17% less wholesale price when he bought it out. I think that's what most guys that are sponsored by Ranger get them for. I could be wrong.

[BabyHeuy]

Maybe I stand corrected.

A pro-staff coordinator I know toured the plant a couple of weeks ago
and he said that some of the pros get pretty good deals on boats, but no one gets one absolutely free. So who knows, may be I just did not understand what he was saying

[bassin101]

By "Receiving End" you mean getting screwed correct? What would be the difference between a boat deal with Skeeter as opposed to Ranger. I thought they were all about the same as far as compensations go. I didn't think any boat company just gave their boats to the pro staff. I'm kind of curious on how this works.

[Dover]

There are no free lunches out there.......the Pros may not cut a check for their boats from respective boat companies, but they do pay for it one way or the other....tight lines and Merry Chrismas...

[mattplapp]

I know 20+ pros who receive boats as compensation. What happens is pros have contracts that call for them to be compensated in different ways, 99% of the time that incorparates a new boat package at no charge. The pros then turn around and sell their boats each year to get their money. I know a lot of guys who get 2 boats per year and even a few outboards. It's easier for the boat company because they can make the perceived value of the contract higher by giving a guy a boat that Retails for $50,000, even though they have way less than that into building that boat. It pumps up the value of the contract. Skeeter, Triton, Ranger, Nitro, and most of the other major brands do pretty much the same thing.

Now there are lower level pros who get a boat for 1 year to use and then must buy it from the manufacturer at the end of that year. What these guys do is line up customers to buy that boat when the note comes due from the manufacturer, so they basically get a boat for free for 1 year. that's a pretty common deal for up and coming anglers.

Then the last level is a pro-staff deal from the dealer. This is when the dealer sells a customer a boat at a large discout in return for that angler supporting that dealer on a regional and local level. Each dealer is alloted a certain # of "Team Boats" for each brand they carry. There are'nt that many, usually 1-2 for each brand.

Hope this sheds some light on the subject,
Matt

[SpotBoy]

>I have heard from what I consider to be a good source that no
>one gets a free boat from ranger. A dealership may give boats
>away but Ranger the company does not.
WRONG ALL those rangers that FLW gives away for prizes where given to them by RANGER

[jonasseed]

Love him or hate him, IKE is one of the best out there right now. He brings in tons of fans and is a darn good fisherman. Alot of people dont like him because of his over the top antics. Myself, I believe IKE is awesome. He has done alot for the sport of bass fishing.

Jonas