Allen: The guys needed a break. My heart goes out to the guys. They’re spending a ton of money and they’re on the road a lot and everybody is trying to cut back. Sponsors are really cutting back so a lot of the guys welcome the fact that they’re not spending that extra twenty grand – three events plus all of the travel expenses. Some of them are going to say that they needed the three events to make that money back, but overall my personal feeling is that this was the right move.

BZ: Given the fact that they did shorten the schedule, what do you think about the new post-season format?

Allen: The only part I don’t like about it is that you can be awesome all year long and then go into a funk for two tournaments and come out at the bottom of the whole deal. The thing about tournament fishing is that you can be on your game, doing everything just right, and it can just go south on you for no reason. It’s not like a team effort where each person does his job and then it’s up to you to make it work. Tournament fishing’s not like that. They say there’s no such thing as good luck, but I think that’s really a bunch of bunk because you can do everything just right and with just a little bit of bad luck and you’re in the cellar. You’ve had an awesome year and it all comes down to two tournaments. 

BZ: Do you think that BASS chose the right two bodies of water for the post-season or does it not matter?

Allen: I have no problem with Alabama, but they should have had one reservoir, one river, one tidal situation. If they’re going to do it, they should throw three or four tournaments into this final shootout and every one of them should be a different scenario. 

BZ: Once again, Kevin VanDam and Skeet Reese are at the top of the standings, running neck and neck. Should we expect to see that dynamic into the foreseeable future or do you think there will be a change at some point?

Allen: It will change. It’s just a matter of time. The two guys are at the top of their game, fishing extremely well, making the right choices and the lakes suit their style of fishing. All you’d have to do to change that, I think, is to change the schedule completely.

BZ: Coming up on Oneida, one of the anglers who is currently out of the Classic cut is Dean Rojas. He has a great history there, including a win last year, but is he too far out to make the leap back into the Classic field?

Allen: Personally, I don’t think he’ll make it. That’s just too big of a stretch. Dean was fortunate last year that he had an awesome shallow bite. If we get up there and that shallow bite is off, then he’s history. If there’s a shallow bite he’ll do well, but that’s still a lot of ground to make up. I hope he can and I wish him luck. Here’s the reason – very seldom, very few times when we’ve gone back to a lake, has the guy who won it the year before won it again.

BZ: Now that Biffle and Rojas have won fishing predominantly for largemouths, do you think that population of fish will be overpressured this year? In other words, is it impossible to win exclusively on largemouths?

Allen: I don’t think it’s impossible, but there are going to be a lot more guys looking at that bite, without a doubt. Oneida is a pretty good-sized little place. What these guys may have to do is do a little bit more searching, get away from the places that have been good the last several times we’ve been there. They may have to relocate. There will still be a largemouth bite to some extent, but we won’t know how much until we get up there. It all depends on what the grass looks like and the water level.

BZ: Looking in the rearview mirror for a second: The last Elite Series tournament was on the Mississippi River in Iowa. Some of the anglers complained about it being a poor fishery. Do you like the occasional tough tournament, or would you prefer that the entire schedule be filled with slugfests?

Allen: I love a tough tournament. It brings out a whole new challenge for the anglers, some of whom are very good at that. There’s several guys who when it’s tough, their light shines. In the slugfests, guys like Kevin and Skeet absolutely whack them. I think we need to have two or maybe three of those per year. It brings a whole new perspective to the tournament game and highlights a lot of guys’ skills.

BZ: Here’s a tough one. Who is going to be Angler of the Year for 2009?

Allen: That’s pretty tough. Pretty tough. How many points is Kevin above Skeet right now?

BZ: Kevin is 17 points ahead.

Allen: That’s not a done deal by any means. Who’s in 3rd, Alton?

BZ: Alton is 70 points behind Kevin.

Allen: If I remember right, Kevin struggled last year at Oneida. He didn’t do extremely well. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Skeet’ll pass him. 

BZ: Do you think Skeet will hold onto it in Alabama?

Allen: That’s a tough question. I don’t know that I can answer it.

BZ: Then here’s a different question. Of the following anglers who are not currently in the top twelve, but have a chance to sneak in, who would be the biggest threat in the two-event post-season: Gerald Swindle, Steve Kennedy or Russ Lane?

Allen: Probably Kennedy, because he’s so off the wall. Russ and Gerald will do their deal, they’ll catch some fish and if they’re on the right bite they could do well, but that Kennedy, you just never know. He can stop and eat a sandwich and they’ll come up all around him and he’ll catch 30 pounds.