The two lamest things in pro bass fishing

[swimbait]

About once a day I get on bassfan.com to read about professional bass fishing. I enjoy reading the stories, the strategies, and the techniques.

As a fan I get a real kick when great moments in tournament fishing unfold. KVD and Aaron going cast for cast in the Classic. Guys making crazy runs to fish for 2 hours then run back. Skeet going on a tear and crushing the field week after week. I'm clicking reload on the live blog every 5 minutes!

You know what does nothing for me though? Reading a stories about guys who win tournaments by planting brushpiles or using jetboats to get to otherwise in to otherwise inaccessible backwaters.

As a fan, why should I give a rip about the guy who went out with his buddies at night and chainsawed trees, drug them out to subtle areas and sunk them? Sure you still have to catch the fish from those areas, but you're taking away the level playing field by doing it.

At the FLW cup on Lanier this year, it's well known that a lot of brush planting went on. It goes on in a lot of the FLW events - this is nothing new. And part of the game is to plant the brush as close to the event as allowed, to make it hard for others to find (plus bass often like green brush).

How is this fair for the guy who qualified and drove 2,000 miles to the event to practice for 3 days? What other sport has this kind of obvious imbalance in the playing field?

This feels no different to me than the major league pitcher who puts some pine tar on the ball or scuffs it up with a nail file. He still has to strike out the batter but he has an advantage that the next pitcher doesn't.

I feel the same way about this whole jetboat thing. As a fan, why should I care that some guy got to sit in a pond full of stupid bass and catch them till his arms fell off while everyone on the main body of water struggled?

At that point it's not a fishing competition any more. It's an equipment competition. And the guy who drives 2,000 miles to the event faces the same uneven playing field because he can't tow 2 boats behind his rig!

In the Elite series he couldn't even borrow or rent a jet boat because the boat would have to be wrapped. But several guys on the Elite's have wrapped jet boats, and the support to get the rigs to the lake. All in the hope of getting to some spot where the guys with props can't reach.

When my Bass Times comes in the mail should I care what lure that guy used to catch his fish? His stupid pond bass that would hit a hula popper on a carolina rig? I sure don't care.

BASS and FLW should ban brush planting and boats without propellers. They should level the playing field because the fans deserve it. The fans deserve to hear about the guy who was the best fisherman on a level playing field, not the guy who had the most resources, lived the closest to the lake, or had the most buddies with quiet chainsaws.

[Johnny C]

Amen brother..To me its like playing poker with a pocket full of aces!

[rickyshabazz]

If you just figured that out then you are really out of touch with prime time bass fishing. Been going on for a loooong time. How about gps chips and fishing with guides during practice. Guys have baits, colors, and other equipment that is not available to the public....I could go on.....but why.

This sort of thing happens in EVERY sport and in business. Everyone is looking for an advantage because winning is EVERYTHING and no one remembers who finishes second. That is the society that we live in.

Not saying that I like it but I am saying that it is LIFE. Those of us that play by the rules looking for the pure part of the sport will rarely ever win.

[fish_food]

If you just figured that out then you are really out of touch with prime time bass fishing.

Wow, pretty condescending.

[rickyshabazz]

Sorry....Let me say it different...."Worry about the things that you can control and forget about the things that you can't." Rick Clunn.

[flippenfool]

Sorry....Let me say it different...."Worry about the things that you can control and forget about the things that you can't." Rick Clunn.

+1 like it or not it is what it is,and it will not be changing anytime soon. I just know that I have to work that much harder to figure them out.

[swimbait]

Just learned that FLW already banned jet boats some years back. Glad to see it.

Don't take my post like I'm complaining (I know it's easy to get confused because that's what most people do online). I get it 100% that everyone is going to push to the edge of what is allowable because that's where advantages can be found. You think I never put 3 lures on a drop shot rig or drove around on the big engine in practice to find bedfish? Right.

The difference between those things and the jetboat / brush planting thing is that not everyone can do it. Not everyone has a jet or can get one. Not everyone lives nearby and has the time to hack down trees and drag them out in the lake.

Try to stop taking this from the perspective of the tournament anglers and look at it from the perspective of the fan. At the end of the event, the fan wants to see the best fisherman hoist the trophy and the oversize check. The fan wants to know that everyone raced on the same track or played with the same cards. The fan wants a fair fight.

Planting brush and using jets doesn't make for a fair contest.

[N.A.R]

LMAO at Planting brush piles.....

Not going to give away all the goods but planting brushpiles isn't anything....

What about the guy who puts a burlap sack full of broken dark beer bottles near certain tree stumps so the water will heat up an extra 3 degrees after the bag disintegrate ?

Driving with the big engine on looking for beds?
what about this guy?
http://www.probass.net/protips/Articles/the-flogger.php

It never ends its all about who you know.......

[mac (Doyle McEwen)]

I can think of other things just as bad..How about a National Circuit that doesn't even have representation in the west..Oh sure, they allow the guys from the west to participate, as long as they go east to do it..They even allow their "Elite" to partake of the western waters, every couple of years or so..Yet they call themselves a "National Circuit"..

mac

[Andy Giannini]

Roland Martin did the Jet boat thing a long time ago and won. Its not a new idea.

But one thing he did do, that was kinda chicken **** in my opinion.

There was a lake that famous for surfacing fish feeding on baitfish.

People would use the diving birds, to target surfacing fish. And head there with a Spook.

He loaded the boat with Saltines, and tossed them to the birds who started diving to draw the other anglers off and bring them into that area. Meanwhile he ran around catching the winning stringer, distracting everyone.

When confronted he said something like, "Feeding the birds, isn't against the rules..."

And he won.

[swimbait]

How fast can you go and still maintain good Flogger visibility?

Better pack some saltines for my next trip.

[Andy Giannini]

Ethics, and what the rules are, are two seperate subjects.

Like the Gore misdirection, "We did not violate the law..." (So what we were doing must have been ok...)

Trying to rationalize doing the wrong thing, and saying that it was not unlawful or against the rules.

[swimbait]

After a very important discussion with my team partner about the seagull issue, I reached this conclusion:

Any fisherman who really knows birds, will know the difference between seagulls that are eating saltines and seagulls that are eating fish. I bet old Roland knows, and had a good laugh while he swindled people. True to his Barni form, it sounds like Roland bragged about the ruse after the fact. Maybe karma is why he never won the classic. I wonder if BASS would write him up on sportsmanship now. Their TD looks real grumpy most of the time.

Anyway, to the more important point. When we are striper fishing near populated areas and the seagulls are eating trash and other such brick-a-brack, we say, "those birds are on hot dogs".

Example: You're fishing Mori's and glance back toward the pier to see that the seagulls have raided some helpless tourist's picnic basket, carting their sandwiches out to sea. We'd look down the shore and say, "those seagulls are eating some hotdogs". Then we'd laugh at the guys who ran that direction.

If you can't get this joke, I can't explain it to you.

[Nico]

No, no, no. It's hot dog buns, not hot dogs. The name originated from the old lady at Stevens Creek who would go down to the ramp with the Costco size bag of stale hot dog buns, empty them all in the lake, creating a gigantic flotilla of floating bread, quickly encased with a tornado of seagulls. But as Rob said, if you know your birds, you know the difference bewteen hot dog buns and baitfish.

(This is not to be confused with the McDonalds illusion. That's where the line of fisherman take off, each one covertly follow the guy in front of them to find where the secret hot spot is... only to all end up at the local McDonalds.)

Back to the original subject... If all you're doing is using better equipment than the next guy then all power to you. This includes jet boats, radar, and anything else within the rules and that is reasonably possible for any angler to obtain, given enough creativity and money.

On the other hand, modifying the lake beforehand to your own advantage just seems like cheating to me, legal or not. When it comes to tournaments, you shouldn't be moving fish, moving trees, chumming saltines, or anything else to the lake. Cheating.

[str8upirish]

I can think of other things just as bad..How about a National Circuit that doesn't even have representation in the west..Oh sure, they allow the guys from the west to participate, as long as they go east to do it..They even allow their "Elite" to partake of the western waters, every couple of years or so..Yet they call themselves a "National Circuit"..

I agree a 100%

[swimbait]

No, no, no. It's hot dog buns, not hot dogs. .

Fact check!!! LOL...

I want a T-shirt that says I know the difference between hot dog buns and baitfish

[fish_food]

But one thing he did do, that was kinda chicken **** in my opinion.

There was a lake that famous for surfacing fish feeding on baitfish.

People would use the diving birds, to target surfacing fish. And head there with a Spook.

He loaded the boat with Saltines, and tossed them to the birds who started diving to draw the other anglers off and bring them into that area. Meanwhile he ran around catching the winning stringer, distracting everyone.

When confronted he said something like, "Feeding the birds, isn't against the rules..."

And he won.

That's a good one. Funny too.

Humorous antics of that sort just aint gonna fly with today's uptight, clownsuited, sparkly, good-two-shoes tournament professionals.

[XMAN]

.I like the broken bottle trick...15 yrs ago i watched guys put tons of trees in dutch sl...pre-fishing from home phones is good too..

[littlebailey]

I dont agree with your jet boat concept. why cant you go buy a jet? they sell em at a lot of places. Most are super cheap compared to a Glass boat with a big engine. Just because you chose to buy a boat with a prop doesnt mean the other shouldnt be allowed to choose his own choice of propulsion. Sorry you wanted to be like the norm but i wanted to go where the guys with big boats couldnt. Thats not fair because you made a choice and now have to live with it? i see your point though. just not a very good one in my opinion.

[littlebailey]

and flw banned jet boats because of one tourny at havasu where none of their sponosred guys made the cut. enough said on that one.

[CN]

Corporate sponser's and those wraped boat's.

[Emigrantbass]

I like Swimbait's point here. Rules are rules, but sometimes from the Fan's perspective rules are a hinderance to the quality of the entertainment. You can run a jetboat and cut and place brush on a lake, but as a fan and a fisherman these practices are about stretching equipment regulations to the point that they become of particular advantage. They in no way speak to the quality of an angler's skills and abilities just his resourcefulness. It is similar to sight fishing or hunting in the rutt. It is leagal and still difficult, but it is about using a rare advantage that in my opinion takes away from the angler or hunter's need for skill. Now sight fish are very hard to catch, I just think it is funny when people's PB comes off a bed and they don't regaurd this as a lesser display of angling knowledge and ability then patterning big bass you can't see. In my opinion the quest to be the best is about straight up skills. If you win with an equipement advantage then great, you outsmartest them in that event, but who cares from a competition standpoint. You stacked the deck, kudos for knowing how to do it leagally, but wupty do. It may get boring for some, but the reason that I enjoy KVD's level of dominance is because it dispell's the central myth that has been in every form of fishing forever...that it's all just dumb luck. He has smashed that foolishness forever and now the Skeet's, Ehrler's and in the future Zaldain's can help put it to rest.

[swimbait]

If you win with an equipement advantage then great, you outsmartest them in that event, but who cares from a competition standpoint. You stacked the deck, kudos for knowing how to do it leagally, but wupty do. It may get boring for some, but the reason that I enjoy KVD's level of dominance is because it dispell's the central myth that has been in every form of fishing forever...that it's all just dumb luck. He has smashed that foolishness forever and now the Skeet's, Ehrler's and in the future Zaldain's can help put it to rest.

Exactly

[N.A.R]

and flw banned jet boats because of one tourny at havasu where none of their sponosred guys made the cut. enough said on that one.

Little Bailey could you please elaborate on this one? And the only reason why I am asking is because Havasu is on the West Coast. FLW only has 3-4 sponsored guys fishing these events. How could they be butt hurt because 4 out of 150 didn't make the top ten? Ehrler, Kingler (who probably was using a jet boat) , Yelas (who was probably using a jet boat) and Pirch.

Just seems odd that they would ban this type of rig because 4 out of 150 didn't top ten. But then again it is FLW .

[Ceaser]

If its not against the rules than whats the problem? The most skilled person doesnt always win in any sport. Theres always luck or some weird variable that can skew the results in the way of a "not so skilled" angler. In sport athletes are always pushing the boundrys of the rules to get the upper hand. I think its cool when guys find some "pond" no one else did. In that recent everstart dude pushed through a pipe with a 2x4 to get bit! he didnt even know if he could get back out with falling water. He won.. but if he lost no one would have even said a thing.If he accessed it then others could have also. I heard another story about guys running really far in their smaller boat and stashing gas cans along the way, which is now against the rules. But if they had a bigger boat and tank they could have carried the gas. I thought they had a good idea. And what if a guy ran a jet all the time? Would it always be an advantage? Not in the middle of franks at lowtide ill tell you that much. Some guys had radar for the fog in the classic.. that technology wasnt readily availible to everyone.. if someone won using it would that be against the rules too.. how far do you go?