For reasons that should be obvious to anyone who’s ever experienced shrinkage in any form, it’s probably not a good idea to hold bass tournaments on Champlain, St. Clair or Bay de Noc in January or February. For reasons that should be almost as obvious to anyone who’s not a sun-reflecting lizard person, the major circuits shouldn’t hold derbies at Okeechobee or on the lakes of Deep South Texas in July and August.

With those facts stipulated, why are the tour schedules so incredibly predictable? Even if it’s not the specific lakes, they tend to follow a geographic pattern – start way south, move up, and then hit the north country in the summer.

Part of that, of course, is the weather. If you want to start early and finish late, you have to go where you can fish effectively at a given time. It may also come down to closed or limited seasons in some places. The Chambers of Commerce also play a role – they want to show off their fisheries when the weights are likely to be highest. The tours themselves probably like the same thing. In many cases, they just follow some aspect of the spawn nearly the entire time.

Does that produce the best AOYs?

Does it produce the best storylines?

I’m not sure that it does.

Yes, there’s an occasional grinder like the Sabine River, but beyond that, there’s relatively little in the way of variety. To the extent that there is, it’s grouped up, front-loaded with big green fish and back-loaded with big brown fish.

I suppose that’s interesting in some respects. A guy who’s great with a flipping stick but who can’t catch a smallie to save his life can get out to an early lead and hope to hang on. Meanwhile, the smallmouth hammers fully expect to climb as things progress. Headed into St. Clair, Gussy (45^th), Cory Johnston (59^th) and Chad Pipkens (65^th), were all outside of the Classic cut. Gussy is guaranteed to be back as defending champion, but no serious fishing fan will be surprised if any or all of them climb the ladder over the remaining events.

I understand that there is also the matter of finances – if you’re going to make pros from all over the country drive to Florida, or New York, or Oklahoma, it helps everyone if you can have back-to-backs close by. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t or shouldn’t shake it up a bit. When was the last time we had a true winter tournament? When was the last time there was a true grinder other than on the Sabine? When was the last time (Oahe?) that we went to a venue that few if any of the pros knew anything about? To me, that’s more of a recipe for keeping things fresh and keeping storylines going all season long than a schedule that merely goes to the “best waters at the best times.” I’m all for the latter, I just think that it would benefit from a refresh of sorts.