At a recent Kal Valley tourney I subbed for I was talking to a FLW pro (but darn if I can remember his name now!!) who told me that I should look into back seating for some of the FLW events next season. This is very appealing to me!!
Can someone give me the ins and outs? Cost? Rules? Etc....
All of that information can be found at flwoutdoors.com (http://flwoutdoors.com).
There are basically three levels of FLW events...BFL, Stren and FLW tour/series...The FlW Tour is the highest level...entry fees for those events are around 800 dollars (Co-angler), Stren is around 325.00, and BFL event are 100 dollars.
I spent this whole year fishing out of the back seat in the BFLs..It would have taken me years to learn what I picked up this year. Next year I am going to back seat in the stren,,,and hopefully the detroit river FLW tour event.
One other thing...Make sure you are aware of the restrictions of practice times. Before you pay your non-refundable deposit make sure the tourney doesn't interfere with another event on your schedule. Also notice that you cannot be on the water during the official practice time unless you are riding with a pro...
Tournament waters will go off-limits to all contestants 12 days prior to the first practice day in all events. Contestants, including those on the waiting list and late entries, may not enter tournament waters to fish, test equipment, sightsee, etc., during the off-limits period. Flights over tournament waters are not permitted during the off-limits period. During the off-limits period, practice and competition days, contestants may not solicit and/or receive fishing information from anyone except confirmed tournament anglers (anglers on the waiting list are not confirmed tournament anglers) and other publicly available information. The purchasing of, or bartering for, information or the hiring of services (including fly-overs) will not be permitted after the start of the off-limits. The sharing of tournament winnings in exchange for fishing information is strictly prohibited. Tournament waters will reopen for practice four days (Saturday through Tuesday) prior to registration day. Pros may practice alone, with another competitor, with a member of their immediate family (mother, father, brother, sister, son, daughter, grandchild or spouse) or with approved sponsor representatives who have also observed the off-limits period and procedures or with approved media representatives. Co-anglers may practice only with confirmed pros. (With the consent of the pro, co-anglers can be joined by a member of their immediate family as defined above). Tournament waters will be closed to all contestants on Wednesday (registration day) prior to the first day of competition. Anglers in the top-10 cut (Days 3 and 4) may not solicit or receive fishing information from anyone except other top-10 anglers.
These rules only apply to the FLW Tour, not Stren or the BFLs.
I guess I better sell the Cesna then eh? LOL!!!