Dear Anglers,
I am a veteran angler and using e-mail to deliver a message of this sort is quite a pain, but necessary. I am writing about USA Bassin, a bass tournament team trail based out of Bedford, Indiana. I have fished with them for over four years on and off and learned something very troubling that must be shared with all anglers who fish with them to verify on their own. What I am writing to follow is a challenge to ALL who want to ensure that anglers are being treated fairly as it relates to your entry fees and membership fees. What I ask is if you feel what I am writing holds any water, please call your local USA Bassin Director and ask them for the truth or call the national number which is on their website and ask them for the truth @ 812-276-8043.
Last year (2009) Bassin had well over 3000 anglers; this was verified off their website from their 2009 membership. 3000 angler’s with a $25 membership fee per adult angler equals $75,000 in total fees. The organization claims to have had over 500 tournaments across the US in many states with a boat average per tournament of over 15 boats. This was verified by several tournament directors for Bassin. A few of the tournament divisions are weekday and only require a $25 entry fee so throw them out and bring the total down to 450 tournaments. The weekend fee is $50 per team of which $10 per team is sent back to Bassin along with 100% of the membership. Bassin collected about $67,500 in entry fee money in 2009. The grand total that was sent back to Bassin was about $142,000 to run the organization and pay the staff. This money does not include fees held back from the Classic and Regional’s, or the sponsorship money. Verify these numbers and ask yourself what is this money used for?
Bassin’s expenses are a website, insurance for the organization, a book keeper, lawyer fees, those very small plaques for the divisional winners, plaques for the regional/classic winners, $30 scales for new directors who can’t afford one, clear weigh-bags from tracker, membership forms in the thousands, up keep on the Classic equipment, the national directors time and fees for running the Classic. ONE LAST THING THOSE BOATS THAT ARE THE GRANDS PRIZES ARE NOT BOUGHT BY BASSIN FROM TRACKER. Huh! Didn’t know that did you? All this time these boats were told to us that they were being purchased with our fees. THE MOTORS FROM MERCURY ARE PURCHASED AS A STEP DISCOUNT AND THE HULLS, TRAILERs AND ADDED EQUIPMENT ON THE BOATS ARE GIVEN TO BASSIN.
As I figure it even with rounding the numbers up and throwing in extra $1000’s for other stuff/expenses they cost of running Bassin can’t be much over $70,000 – so I ask you where is the extra $70,000?
All I ask everyone who cares where the money is going is to verify these numbers and make your own decision. Once Bassin was about the anglers, family, and the sport. Now it appears to be about making money. Nice business I would say – no staff, little over head and a 50% profit from the anglers own pockets. Remember, the fees held back from the Classic and Regional’s, or the sponsorship money are not included in the figures. Just another organization that claims to be for the fishermen and is in it for themselves.
M. Bruce
