I think there should be some sort of GL2S power rankings for the boats. You get points on how you place in an event. Pro boats get double points for their finish. Lets say there are 40 boats fishing the pro side of an event. First place would be 80 points, second would get 78 points, and so on. If 70 AM boats fish an event, then first place would get 70 points, second would get 69 points and so on. you do this over the course of the last 20 events that were fished. Kind of like how golf and tennis ranks their players. Then you could sort it out by best Pro, best AM, or best mixed.

Like one other person stated, there has to be some sort of brainstorming to get more pro participation. I don't really know what the answer is, but I think it is kind of crazy seeing some of these $100,000+ boats fishing the AM side of events. Maybe you set it up with several different enteries like they do the second Manistee tournament. You set it up with different levels. $50, $100, $200, $300, and $500 enteries. Then the crew can decide which ones (maybe one, maybe two, maybe all) they want to participate in. It adds some work to the tournament committee to handle the money, keeping it all straight, but I think it would be worth it.
Then maybe you do the same thing for AM division. Maybe a $25, $50, and $100 enteries. Max it at $175 total and I think you will see some guys deciding to fish Pro.

I don't think you can FORCE an am boat into the pros if he meets the critera for an am. I couldn't fish the pro's in my boat because I have no room for an observer, unless I duct taped a lawn chair out on the bow somewhere. I do agree with alot of people that caping the am top prize at 2k and paying down more spots would push the top am's into the pros especially if GL2S comes through with much bigger payouts for the pro's.

"I couldn't fish the pro's in my boat because I have no room for an observer, unless I duct taped a lawn chair out on the bow somewhere."


If you're placing in the top part if the am division you are gonna have an observer on your boat anyway, atleast on the 2nd day. So if you are planning on winning any tournaments i would try to make room, because you are gonna have too 1 way or the other. (hence the top am boats are use to having observers on the boats)

Here is my thoughts for what they are worth. We need two AM class's one based on better prizes and one based on having fun and promoting the sport. I don't think boat size alone should determine the break point as we had a small boat class but that leaves guys with bigger boats and no crew out. Not once this year was I able to get enough people on my boat for a tourny to legally catch enough fish to be competitive. I have a 26ft boat so could not fish the small boat class where it was offered. So in the end I did not fish a single tourney this year even though I budgeted to fish 4 of them every time it came down to the simple fact if I can't box enough fish to be in the money why enter. Other than the charter boats most every boat I see fishing has 1 or 2 people in it. As long as the tournament rules eliminate all the average guys who fish none of them will join in and those that do are just as well off to stop by the captains meeting and hand out money.
So if you are gonna fish for money you are a PRO, If you would like to fish for money than you are SEMI PRO, if you are fishing for fun and bragging rights then you are a AM. If you are fishing at a SEMI PRO level and winning you should be required to move up to PRO. Then guys get 3 choices when they sign up do the fun class with some nice prizes but no big cash go for more money with tougher rules in the SEMI PRO class or go all out and fish PRO. I bet 2 guys in a small boat taking home first place and a couple of fishing poles would be darn near as happy as 5 guys trying to split a couple grand after they deduct all the expenses. And if they are in the tourney they could still enter the 333 and big fish contests. Imagine having 200 boats in the 333 and the big fish contests I bet everyone of us knows a handfull of guys who would love to fish in a big tournament but don't have the boat budget or crew to do it. A fun class would open this up to more people and that will make this grow faster than any other idea. Because the number of people who have the resources to put together a Pro team for next year are limited so how are you going to grow. If I was winning or in the money at every AM event like a few boats this year why would I move up unless you came up with some major money incentive. At some point you have to say it's time to move up to PRO or stay home or the only thing that will change is the boat names as people replace them.
OK I'll shut up.
Tight Lines

I would like to see some consideration so a licensed capatain isn't mandated to the pro division. I'm gonna run a 23 foot sportcraft in 2009 vs the 28 slick charter boat I've ran in 2008. We'd like to put a 3-4 guy team together and travel and fish some of these but realistically can't compete with 36 Tiaras in the pro division in four foot seas. If you settle on a money amount let guys fish which division they want regardless of there captain status. Never going to let the capt license go so I can return to a bigger boat at retirement but for the next 3-6 yrs gotta be more portable and flexible. Tourney fishing and losing 300 dollar entry is more fun than any 500 dollar charter anyway. Just my two cents. The local whitehall tourney this year had 30 boats at 140 bucks a boat. Only one "pro" charter boat in the top five. Just cause your a captain doesn't mean your a pro.

Thanks.