Hawg Wild Bass Tour Information

Presents The 2017

 First we would like to introduce ourselves and give you a little bit of history about who we are!

 Forward: Big Pig Promotions has been founded and is operated by 2 anglers and business men who love the sport of competitive bass fishing. Richard Eldridge from Panama City, Florida and Jerry Harvey from Panama City, Florida. We formed this company for one main reason; to support and promote outdoor activities and preservation by good practice for our great outdoors.  Together, Richard and Jerry have developed and put on more than 15 trails and events. All events were very successful. On average, our last 3 events had around 300 anglers in each event. Considering these facts, along with extensive research of what anglers want, we feel as though we have the right recipe to form and make successful, this huge team tour that we are presenting to you today.  The partners of Big Pig Promotions have a vision to bring to the stage, the biggest and best paying events out there today for competitive anglers.

Jerry Harvey – a plumbing contractor, retired 20 year veteran Business Owner of several ventures, and has been a very competitive Bass angler for over 20 years. Jerry is in charge of daily operational portions of our company, a financial officer, a senior partner in Promotions and Planning events, a Senior Partner in sponsorship development and an event director.

Richard Eldridge - a roofing contractor, also a 20 year veteran Business Owner of different ventures and a very competitive Bass angler for over 25 years. Richard is in charge of daily operational portions of our company, a financial officer, a senior partner in Promotions and Planning events, a Senior Partner in sponsorship development and an event director.

 HISTORY:

This vision and partnership began when Jerry and Richard met in a local bass club and became friends immediately. They fished as many events as they could from the late 80’s through the 90’s, fairing pretty well on the payout scene. Due to the trials of life and multiple responsibilities associated, Richard could not continue to fish competitively around the late 90’s. He sold his boat and focused on his priorities, all the while dreaming of the day he could get back on the water and smell the burning oil of a 2 stroke before an early morning blast off. Jerry also stepped back from tournament fishing around 2002, and late 2008 left the country with his wife to care for her aging parents.  Sometime in 2007, Richard’s dream became a reality when he purchased a new boat and began searching for a large tournament event to fish. Much to his dismay, what he found were very small competitor fields with of course really low payouts.  After fishing several of these events and drawing several checks, it did not take long to realize it was not the same as he remembered. Fishing an event with barely 15-20 boats would not pay for the overhead cost to prepare for the tournament. This sparked the idea and development of the Elite Anglers Team Trail with a 100% payback and a $500.00 entry fee. The tournament trail had a constant of between 33-40 teams and paid out over $130,000.00 the 1^st year.  By the second year, the tournament paid out over $130,000.00 and a brand new Skeeter bass boat to the winner of the Championship event.  After the 2^nd year of the trail and only gaining 2-3 teams, he spoke to regular anglers who would come to watch the weigh-ins, but not fish the event. He learned that they wanted to fish desperately, but felt they were throwing their money away fishing against the local legends of the venues we were fishing.  Back to the drawing board… He then presented to the anglers, Big Bass Tournaments with hourly payouts. These tournaments drew out anglers who have never fished events and from multiple states such as, but not limited to: Florida, Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri. The first of these events was held and we quickly realized that it was a herculean task to perform solo, so in 2014 the search was on to vet and partner with a competitive angler like himself, willing to sacrifice most of their own fishing season to see tournament events that would draw as many anglers as possible and build a stable and bright future for the sport that we would all love and be proud of.  As in any new venture, idea or partnership, you will have many hurdles to overcome, as we know winners do not quit when they encounter a problem, they adapt and overcome.  Late in 2015, Jerry informed Richard he and his wife were moving back to the United States and began talking about partnering up again for this new venture.  So finally Big Pig Promotions was born.  Thank you for your trust and your participation with our events. Without the competitive spirit of our anglers none of this would be possible.

 What you can expect from us:

Guaranteed payouts

Biggest payouts possible

Even playing field

More competitive events

Larger competitive fields

More ways to win

All events will be designed for the anglers benefit

Fast growing tours with larger payouts each season

What we need from you:

Participation

Open Minds to different format styles

Financial understanding

Enjoy the event and spread the word

 TOURNAMENT FORMAT:

The HWBT consists of 5 two man team events and 1 Championship (6 total tournaments in the 2017 season).

Entry will be $300.00 per event

Optional big fish side pot will be $10.00 per quarter and overall (ex. $50 per event)

4 events will be held at Lake Seminole and 2 events at Lake Eufaula

The HWBT team consists of 2 Regular team members and one alternate (will allow 2^nd)

The Hawg Wild Bass Tour (HWBT) runs on Central Standard Time

Every team member must be pre-registered with Big Pig Promotions and have received their membership packets to be eligible to enter the HWBT. (Do not wait too late!)

Every event will consist of 4 quarterly 3 fish weigh-ins (Saturday we will have a mid-day weigh-in and an end of day weigh-in, Sunday we will have a mid-day weigh-in and then the final weigh-in).

Boat take-off order shall be determined randomly by computer program for the first day of competition and then the boat take-off order will be inverted for the second day.

Boats shall be assigned their boat number, take-off and flight times and weigh-in times before the mandatory captains meeting.

No more than 3 fish are allowed in live wells at any time! (DOING THIS WILL CAUSE DISQUALIFICATION)

55 Paid places per event

 Competition Days:

1^st Day of the Event: Each flight will be directed to the staging area for take-off in their numbered order. Each team will have the option, at their official mid-day weigh-in time to come in to the official weigh-in location and weigh-in up to 3 fish for that quarter. Once that team has weighed-in and has received their official weigh in slip, that team will be required to return to the lake in an orderly and timely fashion to attempt to catch 3 more fish. At the end of the first event day, each team, by their official flight weigh-in time, will be allowed to weigh in up to 3 more fish for the conclusion of that day’s events.  Teams will remove their boats from the boat basin immediately after their end of day weigh-in. 

The 2^nd Day of the Event: The anglers’ takeoff and flight numbers will be inverted from the first day (If you were first today, you’re last tomorrow). Each flight will be directed to the staging area for take-off in their numbered order. Each team will have the option, at their official mid-day weigh-in time to come in to the official weigh-in location and weigh-in up to 3 fish for that quarter. Once that team has weighed-in and has received their official weigh in slip, that team will be required to return to the lake in an orderly and timely fashion to attempt to catch 3 more fish. At the end of the first event day, each team, by their official flight weigh-in time, will be allowed to weigh in up to 3 more fish for the conclusion of that day’s events.  Teams will remove their boats from the boat basin immediately after their end of day weigh-in.

Payout: At the conclusion of all 4 weigh-ins all teams’ weights and places will be tallied together for each individual team. We will do drawings and/or promotional giveaways.  We will begin to disperse checks for the top ten winners of the Four Quarterly Weigh-ins.  We will disperse checks for the quarterly “optional” big fish side pot.  We will then disperse checks for the top ten Overall weight winners.

Regular Season Quarterly Payout Schedule: (Pays out all four quarters)

1^st                        $1,000.00  

2^nd                       $700.00     

3^rd                   $500.00          

4^th                   $450.00          

5^th                   $400.00          

6^th                   $300.00          

7^th                   $300.00          

8^th                   $300.00          

9^th                   $300.00          

10^th                 $300.00

(Optional) Big Fish Payout - 100% payback - up to $2,500.00 per quarter based on anglers who pay the side lunker pot - $10.00 per quarter or $50.00 for all 5 chances

Regular Season Total Weight Payout Schedule: (Final day overall payout)

1^st         $10,000.00      

2^nd        $3,000.00        

3^rd        $2,000.00        

4^th        $1,500.00        

5^th        $1,000.00        

6^th        $300.00

7^th        $300.00           

8^th        $300.00           

9^th        $300.00           

10^th       $300.00           

 Championship Event Quarterly Payout Schedule: