Central Pro-am Or Heartland?

[gabe]

Which one do you recommend as a co-angler. Thanks for your input.

[techo]

I fished some of Heartland last year. Some real great sticks on that circuit. The Pros I fished with were very friendly and informative. You almost have to link with someone to make sure you fish. I am not fishing it this year. I decided I would rather fish out of my own boat and am going AIA. Central Pro Am has a new owner and they seem to be fisherman friendly.

I would look at schedules and see which matches up best. I am fairly excited about the CPA and plan on hitting some of the buddy tourneys, depending on funding, price of gas and so on.

[Tom Spence]

I fished Heartland and BASS weekend series as a co-angler and am moving to the front of the boat this year. I never considered CPA at the time due to their two day format and me rarely having the time off to fish them. Heartland is a great series with alot of very good fishermen. I got some really good draws last year (Wayne Fowler, Buster Loving, Steve Lackey and several others) and enjoyed fishing with all of them. I know several of the same guys who fish the Heartland will also be fishing the CPA this year. I know I'm thinking about it. It will be interesting to see if CPA starts drawing more boats since they changed their format to the one day events. They both have the same payouts and entry fees. I can't say if one is better than the other. I just know the quality of anglers on each is very good.

[techo]

The quality went up even more with you on the front brother. Best of luck to you.

[Tom Spence]

Now your just being silly Techo. Thanks though, I appreciate it.

[Troy Gregg]

Which one do you recommend as a co-angler. Thanks for your input.

I fished Heartland last season and had alot of fun with it, Had some good tournaments and it is a great group of guys who fish the circuit. I also joined CPA for this season, the schedules don't conflict, but it should make for a busy tournament season. Between the two circuits there are 7 tournaments per circuit plus the championship.

Some of the same guys who fish the Heartland circuit also fish CPA. CPA draws a few different boaters because of their Skeeter sponsorship but all in all both circuits are pretty fun.

I fished the opener with CPA's two day format and now I can't wait to try the one day format. Like you said t1365, hopefully it draws more boats, because the payout should be even better than it was.

best of fishing, and Hopefully I see you on one of the circuits Gabe

Troy

[Bill Babler]

I believe the new ownership in CPA is going to do wonders for the organization. CPA for the past 10 years has been getting some very negitive responses from amatuers, tournament participants, and just fisherman, as being a very Cut-Throat-Bunch. Lots of great guys, but for sure some bad apples in the bunch.

I don't think Jim will put up with any of the Schannagans some of the premadonnas fishing out of the front of these boats have been getting away with. I am not going to say Pro's, cause for the most part they are not. A professional at anything derives 90% of their income from the business that they are suspose to be a professional in. Most of these guys, Great Fisherman, work a job somewhere, and are not full time fisherman.

As far as the Heartland Series, just have not seen these guys displaying anything like the CPA guys. Yes there are people fishing both, and lots of them, but there are also different people fishing each circuit. Ralph has never put up with borish behavior, cutting people off, amatuers not being able to fish, or poor sportsmanship, He won't have it.

Heartland is known for being amatuer friendly and having the guys in the fronts, almost guide or do what ever they can to make the guy in the back have a very good knowledgable experence. Don't get me wrong, they are there to win, but brow-beating and using up every little bit of water is not how Heartland has ever been viewed.

I believe you are going to see more of this in CPA under Jim Thompson, and a lot less squabbles.

Long answer for a short question, but I would give either one a try and see how you like em. You can bet Jim is going to do a great job, with CPA.

[steveearle]

The one thing you need to look at is which you can get into. Because of amateur demand, you usually had to sign up for all the Heartlands early to guarantee a spot. Central, previously, sometimes had a shortage. You need to call both and look at the prospects of actually getting into the tournaments.

[Troy Gregg]

The one thing you need to look at is which you can get into. Because of amateur demand, you usually had to sign up for all the Heartlands early to guarantee a spot. Central, previously, sometimes had a shortage. You need to call both and look at the prospects of actually getting into the tournaments.

With Central (and I believe Jim is going to keep it this way) if you pay the security deposit for all of the tournaments you will be guaranteed a spot.

With Heartland, Ralph uses a guarantee program, to be guaranteed a spot you must have a guaranteed Pro and each pro must have a guaranteed Am

in order for a guaranteed spot.

Bill is absolutly right about Ralph and the Heartland Circuit... He does not put up with borish behavior at all, and it makes for a smooth running competition

and about as friendly as you can get for competitive fishing.

I do know that Heartland sometimes does have a surplus of amateurs but do everything they can to put you in a boat. CPA had a sever shortage of amateurs at

the kick off this season, as a matter of fact there was a shortage of 17 amateurs.

[techo]

Linking with a pro is the best way to go. I didn't mean to rhyme! I originally signed up and paid for the Heartland October opener last year, but was told there wouldn't be enough pros, so I didn't go. I heard from a friend they called my name. Later, I took a vacation day off of work and booked a motel at the very cold LOZ spring tournament, but was sadly one of the few without a boat. I canceled my motel and went back home. Jim Lovan graciously linked with me and I never had another problem gettting a boat. Both are great circuits, but the best bet is to find a pro to link with.