Hook'n Up & Track'n Down

I am sorry to say that the Reeves Marine All City Championship will be no more. This is disapponting not only too me but to alot of fishermen throughout the Shreveport/Bossier area. This was at one time the most prestigiuos tournament of the year and all fishermen in the area looked forward to it. But now it has come to an end. Reeves has decided to put all their effort into the RMTT circuit instead. But make no mistake, the RMTT is without a doubt the best thing to come along in this area ever. But there was something about having just one tournament (the All-City Championship) that you just anticipated and looked forward to. Teams would camp out on the steps of Reeves Marine all night once the tournament registration date was announced. Only the first 100 teams got in this event.

This tournament was not about the money, but the bragging rights you had for one year to be called the Shreveport All-City Champions. No event garnered more coverage than this one. No tournament could even touch this event throughout the 90's.  There were teams from all over Northwest Louisiana, East Texas and Southern Arkansas fishing this event.The winning team received an all expense paid trip to the Bassmaster Classic with some spending money as well. The names of you and your partner were placed on the 3 foot trophy that was on display at the Reeves Marine Center. You took great pride in having your team name on this trophy; it really meant something to the local anglers to win this event. The Reeves family did a great job in making this event so special. They fed all team members and most of their wives the night before the tournament. But what else made this tournament so special?  The coverage and exposure the winning team got was great! You had TV and radio interviews along with full page coverage of both events in the Shreveport Times. It was two tournaments in one because you had to make the Top 20 in order to come back and compete for the All-City Championship two weeks later. The Top 20 teams received great gift packages from tackle packs, caps, jackets, tote bags ect.... It really was an honor just to make the Top 20. But the last few years I felt that it lost it's luster when it was decided to make it just one event instead of bringing back the Top 20. They were struggling the past couple of years to even have 80 teams. I think that when the format was changed, and the lack of support from key sponsors as well as the media coverage dropped off, it just was not the same. It did not have the same feel or air about it. It became just another tournament. There was really something  special about this tournament and I know alot of people are going to miss it.

I just want to say thanks to the entire Reeves Marine family for putting on an event that meant so much to the anglers in the Shreveport/Bossier area. Maybe someday you can bring this event back with the same luster of years gone by.