If you’ve followed along with THE FUTURE tournament, then you’re familiar with the ground breaking event that promised a live viewership experience like no other. You also probably noticed that while the tournament took place on Wednesday, the streaming within Fishing Chaos and on Youtube was limited to just two boats instead of the full field stream that was promised.

For me, as the CEO, this was a gut-wrenching day. I worked to assemble a lineup of anglers that I knew viewers would enjoy watching. I knew with 100% certainty that the Fishing Chaos side of the operation would work flawlessly - and it did. However, due to the time constraints around the event, I made a decision to look outside of our organization - who was fully capable of pulling this off with a bit more time - and work with a group that I fully trusted to be able to manage the hardware buildout and send the customized streams to all social channels of every participating angler. To be clear - the hardware/software was tested prior. However, the builder of the hardware setup made a crucial, unnecessary mistake when trying to update the devices on Tuesday night - creating a domino effect that ultimately led to us being unable to stream in the way we had intended and in the way we were more than capable of.

The day was full of all of the right stuff. Pre-tournament shenanigans such as a gel-blaster fight between Slick Johnson and Garrett Walters. An unexpected mystery angler - Jaron Clinch - who had to be rescued by John Garrett after his boat broke down. The competition featured an incredible start from Scott Martin and Andrew Nordbye - where they caught 24lbs in the first 15 minutes of competition. Keith Poche and Alex Peric wrangled up over 23lbs and the top 6 teams had over 20lbs. It featured a furious comeback from the Nutt Brothers during the Southern String POWER HOUR, where an every fish counts - no-livescope period and 3lb minimum allowed for the Nutts to wrangle up 35lbs and mount a comeback from 6th place to first. 6 anglers punched their ticket to the ULTIMATE ANGLER CHAMPIONSHIP with a $500,000 first place payout.

It was a dream day of fishing and the perfect combination of personalities. The only issue was - the viewer remained in the dark. After the event concluded and I sat there in my 2019 Ram 1500 as the last car in the parking lot - all of the work myself and our team put in to bring an exceptional experience to viewers felt wasted. It went from the ultimate high to the lowest of lows. I felt I had wasted everyone’s time - the viewers, anglers, sponsors and my own team. But then I remembered that God has the ultimate plan. He could have allowed the event to go off without a hitch. But he didn’t. The challenges we faced with bringing this event to the masses in the first attempt will ultimately make THE FUTURE better in the long run.

Now, we are working full speed ahead to bring THE FUTURE to viewers like we promised. You will likely see several anglers streaming on the platform over the next few weeks as we work through every possible hiccup. Two cities have requested that we bring THE FUTURE to their town/lake in 2026. Sponsor interest remains high. The anglers that participated in this that I consider to be personal friends are ready to pick it back up right where we left off and continue building the ultimate vision for the future.

I have no doubt that there will be copy cats - those who saw where I fell short in the first attempt and think they have a lane to take advantage. But I’m not worried about that. We’re focused on delivering something special for viewers and new opportunities for anglers to benefit from the work they put in on the water. I believe if we continue to focus on serving the end user, the rest will take care of itself.

I can’t wait to bring you all the next edition of THE FUTURE in the very near future. Thank you for the continued support.