Jim,

I decided not to fish the Big Bass Big Cash tournament this year because of the boundary change. Let me give a little background information. I live in Southeastern KY (near VA state line), and until last years Big Bass tournament I had never fished on the Ohio River. Regrettably, I only fished day 3 of last year’s tournament. After keeping track with the daily weigh-in totals on fishin.com, I convinced my wife that we should drive 6 hrs to Owensboro and fish the final day for a shot at one cast being worth $50,000. So, we hooked up the boat and hit the road for Owensboro. My wife (of 1 year at the time) had never fished a bass tournament, and we had a blast fishing together. Although I only weighed in one keeper (hourly winner), I guess we caught 20-25 fish (mostly whites) and our time enjoying the competition together was well worth the entry fee. With every hook set, she would get excited hoping the fish would be a keeper bass. Immediately upon arriving home, I started searching for a bed and breakfast (or other lodging accommodations) on the river in the Owensboro area, as we planned to fish the tournament again this year as a team. I was in contact, by email, with Linda after the tournament during the discussion of possible dates for this year’s event, as well as, being in contact with Mark on several occasions (I actually didn’t fish a tournament trail this year because of the conflicting date / I didn’t want to lose the points). The reason we didn’t fish this year’s event (whether found valid or not) was because of the change in pool boundaries. We were excited about spending a week in Owensboro, as I’d planned on taking off a few extra days for some pre-fishing to familiarize myself with the river. When I received word that the boundaries may change, I contacted Mark and his explanation for the change was that the Owensboro Pool was a waste of time last year, and that, someone’s research on the tournament indicated that there would be more interest in the Maysville Pool. I had no interest in fishing the Louisville or Cincinnati pools, and I couldn’t find a place to stay on the river in the Augusta or Tar Creek areas. After debating the cost of fishing for three days (not the entry fees, but hotel, gas, food, etc), I decided to go fish a Big Bass Tournament on Lake Guntersville in Scottsboro, AL, where the 1st place prize was a new Triton bass boat, and the top 5 hourly prizes were guaranteed. At the hotel Saturday night, I started questioning my decision to fish Guntersville, rather than the Augusta Pool, since no fished were weighed in the first two days, and my 3 ½ and 4 lb bass on day one in Guntersville couldn’t land a 5th place in the hourly weigh-ins. Like I said earlier until last year’s tournament, I’d never fished the Ohio River. Is fishing that bad in the Augusta area, or did no one fish that pool?

I personally like the format of this tournament. So much so, that after last year’s tournament I started searching the internet for more tournaments like it (that’s how I found the Guntersville tournament). In fact, I planned on fishing the Arkansas River tournament this year, but I now have the opportunity to serve as a camp counselor at a youth fishing camp in Lake Park, GA that week. I have a competitive nature and love tournament fishing, unfortunately for my wallet, my ability to catch limits of quality fish has not materialized to this point. So, the idea of one cast winning the tournament is an exciting concept, not to mention the hourly prizes. I truly hope this tournament continues, as I feel it has the potential to grow into the event that the Kentucky Restaurant Association is hoping for. This weekend’s tournament on Guntersville drew over 600 participants, and I over heard several father son teams during registration Friday night say this was their first time to fish a tournament. So, non-tournament anglers will fish this type of event.

Off the subject (as this thread was about the Ohio River tournament), but I think you stated that a 1500 anglers tournament on KY/Barkley would never or could never happen because the lake’s size. I’d disagree with you on that (and I’m only posting this because if the guys that keep stating bring this event to KY/Barkley really want such a tournament, then they should contact the coordinators of the tournament I fished this weekend). In a couple of weeks, they will be holding a tournament on Toledo Bend with an estimate of 2500 entries, and their tournaments on Lake Fork and Sam Rayburn are even bigger than that, so 1500 on KY/Barkley could be possible. I’d love to see that tournament as well, as I love visiting that area.

Back to the Ohio River tournament, if it is held again next year, Lord willing and we can get time off from work my wife and I will make the drive north and fish the event again.

Phillip Little