I'm no fan of Ike, I'm another in the annoyed camp but that said, the guy can fish.

Speaking of longevitiy though, earthworm brought up Hank Parker, during the greatest angler ever debate there was some mention of the fact that Parker quit right in his prime.  His overall career earnings weren't that great nor did he amass the kind of numbers that a Roland Martin or Bill Dance or Rick Clunn did.  Yet in that short career, 11 years, he was impressive none the less:

Hank Parkers Career at a glance

Timeline:

1975: Entered South Carolina Invitational on Santee Cooper (and bombed)

1975-77: Fished regional NBA and ABA tournaments

1978: Joins BASS trail at the age of 27

1978: Fishes first BMC

1979: Wins BMC

1983: Wins AOY

1983: Wins BASS "Grand Slam"

1985: "Hank Parker Outdoors Magazine" debuts (syndicated)

1986: Show moves to TNN and stays until 2003

1989: Wins BMC

1990: Retires from BASS competition

He won 2 classics, an Angler of the Year award but only had 5 total BASS wins.  I don't have Ikes numbers in front of me but I'd say he's already halfway to Parkers overall record in less than half the time. Pretty impressive.

Good looking boats that evidently will get you to your fishing hole.Love him or hate him,it's a move that will surely put the Basscat name out there more than in the past.It's already working,ie, this post and conversation on it.

Does anyone really purchase a boat because of the Professional fisherman that is endorsing that product?

I would venture to guess that people do research on the boats for themselves.  Maybe this Bass Cat move will bring a couple people into their boats, but I do not see this impacting the top boat makers.  This move will make people look at the boats online, maybe, but when it comes down to it at the end, I think they will go with the Ranger, Tritons, Skeeters, Stratos and Nitro's of the world.

It may even turn fishermen off of Bass Cat because they can't stand Ike's personality.

Ike could retire today and still have accomplished more than 90% of the guys who have come and gone.

BassCats may not be popular in the north, but are one of the big 5 boats to have in the south.

When it comes to Bass boats, the easiest way to look at how good a boat is made, is by the resale values.

Skeeters, Tritons, Rangers, Champion, and BassCats all have great resale, sorry, I failed to mention Nitro.  Maybe the new Nitro in 2007 will change that.   But not even KVD has boosted Nitro sales.   He's pretty well liked too.

I will agree, I don't consider whos in what boat when considering boats.    My first priority is in the livewell systyem, and if you haven't ever seen livewells on BassCats, and thats not just in past few years either, BassCat has some of the deepiest and spacious livewells being made.

The next factor is the hull.     BassCats may not be as fast, but you can bet, their keel is one of the strongest out there, the boat feels like a tank in rough water, and that means stability.

BassCats will sale because they flat out make great boats.    

Congrats to BassCat and Ike.    

Matt.