On August 14 on-board with Eric & Jeremy, these guys drove from Central Florida just to fish the Everglades.

 It was another short day on the water but a really good morning. The top water bite was okay, so we went to throwing slow falling plastic baits and working them very slow off the bottom.

The end result Eric and Jeremy drive was well worth it. They were eager anglers and learned the benfit to fishing slow.

The picture says it all!

Thanks Eric and Jeremy for fishing the Everglades!

Till next time tight lines and good fishing….
From Staff Writer Capt Brett Isackson (bretti@bassonline.com)
BassOnline.com / 888-829-BASS

  Carl and his son Carl Jr traveling from Texas to go fishing on Lake Okeechobee on August 13, 2009. 

I had the pleasure of fishing with this father and son for a half day on the Big O.  I suggested early, so they arrived at 6:00 am ready to fish.  We headed right out before the sun came up, when we got to my favorite fishing spot on the Big O everything was prefect. Carl was surprised by how big that world famous Lake Okeechobee really is, almost all of our customer are impacted like this. 

 We started the morning throwing top water and Carl senior missed some nice blow ups, but that happens to best of us. When the sun finally came up, we started throwing worms and Carl Jr. was on fire!  He started reel’em in, he put a hurting on his dad, with catching one right after another. At the end of the trip, Jr  had won catching more then dad, but the competition will be back on it March!

Thank you Pohl family  for the good time, we looking forward to seeing you in March once again!

Till next time tight lines and good fishing….
From Staff Writer Capt Brett Isackson (bretti@bassonline.com)
BassOnline.com / 888-829-BASS

On Thursday, a decision in a West Palm Beach courthouse could determine how the state of Florida moves forward with obtaining land that many believe is vital to sustain the environment and the economy. The acquisition of U.S. Sugar Corp. property by the state has been viewed favorably by most conservation-minded organizations, yet there has been limited analysis of the financial benefits of the transaction.

There is no better opportunity to apply “eco-economics” theories and engage in an objective cost-benefit analysis to demonstrate how this acquisition makes perfect sense.

The estimated cost to acquire the initial 73,000 acres is $536 million. While it is a significant investment, it pales in magnitude to the economic value of ecotourism and sport fishing in the Everglades region. According to a recently published report on the economic value of the Everglades by Florida Atlantic University, the total annual impact of ecotourism in 2007 was $1.8 billion.

In addition, the total annual expenditures of sport fishing in Florida are estimated to be between $3.4 billion and $5.6 billion. With approximately 70 percent of the state’s population residing near the Everglades region, sport fishing in the Everglades appears to be at least a $2 billion annual business. Just looking at the estimated annual expenditures associated with ecotourism and sport fishing (a combined $4 billion), the initial acquisition cost of U.S. Sugar Corp. properties of $536 million appears to be an economically justified investment. With the initial acquisition representing only 13 percent of the annual economic benefit of just two industries, the investment to improve the long-term health of this sustainable resource appears to be of sound judgment.

The long-term environmental benefits of re-establishing water flows from Lake Okeechobee to Florida Bay also includes minimizing unnatural water discharges, and the acquisition also mitigates other potential expenses. The red-tide problems experienced a few years ago caused dramatic environmental and economic damage to the tourist business on the east and west coasts of Florida. Tourists who experienced nauseating fish kills and respiratory problems are unlikely to return to Florida.

In addition, re-establishing a portion of the natural southern water flow will avoid some of the cost of expensive and unproven engineering techniques. In summary, the U.S. Sugar Corp. land acquisition will help ensure that we have a sustainable natural resource that is integral to the economy of the Everglades region. While the cost to finance the acquisition is significant, relative to the economic benefits derived from the Everglades region the investment is a sound business decision that will pay dividends in the form of improving the quality of life and economic opportunity for Florida residents for generations to come.

Till next time tight lines and good fishing….
From Staff Writer BASSonline) fishing@bassonline.com
BassOnline.com / 888-829-BASS

MINNEAPOLIS — FLW Outdoors announced that it has filed a lawsuit in Minnesota State Court against BRP/Evinrude for its failure to pay agreed upon sponsorship fees for the entire 2009 FLW Outdoors tournament season.

“FLW Outdoors has had a long-term sponsorship and working relationship with Evinrude as a premier sponsor of FLW Outdoors and its tournaments,” said Irwin L. Jacobs, chairman of FLW Outdoors. “In 2009, FLW Outdoors received confirmation from Evinrude officials both in writing and verbally that Evinrude had agreed to the continuance of their sponsorship with FLW Outdoors at about the same level of sponsorship fees for 2009 as they had in 2008.”

Throughout FLW Outdoors’ 2009 tournament season, Evinrude’s representatives and/or management have participated in all of FLW Outdoors tournaments.

“FLW Outdoors has fully supported Evinrude’s sponsorship throughout the 2009 FLW Outdoors’ tournament season,” Jacobs said. “Evinrude has enjoyed all of the same contractual marketing commitments that FLW Outdoors supported Evinrude with in 2008, including, but not limited to, substantial onsite space for displaying and marketing their products at all tournament locations; Evinrude engines installed on half of all FLW Outdoors/Ranger stage and tournament boats throughout all tournaments; signage throughout all FLW Outdoors tournament locations; television commercials on all FLW Outdoors television programming worldwide; magazine advertising; internet marketing and advertising; and heavily-promoted Evinrude on all marketing materials and advertising as part of FLW Fantasy Fishing, an international game worth $10 million in cash and prizes. Yet Evinrude has refused to pay FLW Outdoors any of the amounts it promised as consideration for those benefits.”

Jacobs further stated, “Not only are we terribly disappointed in the fact that Evinrude hasn’t paid any of their agreed-upon sponsorship fees for 2009, but they also haven’t paid any of the committed contingency dollars on behalf of their Evinrude Pro Staff anglers through the 2009 FLW Outdoors tournament season.”

“FLW Outdoors has advanced on Evinrude’s behalf almost $100,000 to those Evinrude Pro Staff anglers who had cash commitments from Evinrude based upon their performance this season. To date, Evinrude hasn’t reimbursed FLW Outdoors a single dollar for the money that FLW Outdoors advanced on its behalf to the Evinrude Pro Staff anglers.”

In nearly 15 years of business and tournament operations, FLW Outdoors has never had to sue a single sponsor for failure to pay their sponsorship fees.

On August 11, I had Joe Datchko and son onboard fishing for those exotic hard fighting Peacock bass. Joe and his son had a great time catching 11 nice size Peacocks, 1 Largemouth, 2 clown knife-fish & 8 cichlids.

Thanks Joe, look forward to fishing with you guys again.

Till next time tight lines and good fishing….
From Staff Writer Capt Tony Masiello (tonym@bassonline.com)
BassOnline.com / 888-829-BASS