BASS - little experience required

[Bass in the grass]

Okay maybe it was Mullins and October but I was thinking someone said September. Because whenever he said that I was like dam you must have really burn your self out last year. If I go 6 weeks in the winter I get the jitters like junkie needing a fix.

You might be right, I wasn’t really paying that much attention and it caught me off guard. I can’t remember who it was either. I think Mullins was on Castledine’s podcast when he said his. I don’t remember who said in on BASS.

[John B.]

Yea, it’s a different kind of experience. You can get up to speed quickly watching youtube a few hours a night. I do think this FFS deal is living rent free in a lot of the older guy's head. They are beat before they get on the water.

Yes they are. Psychological warfare on the water.

[Mark Perry]

35 out of the anglers that made the Top 50 cut are multi year Elite tour veterans.

[Wackyjig]

How many hours fishing experience do you think a 29 year old has? Probably more than you think if you consider high school and college tours plus local derbies, etc.

Between btl and Mercer I've heard most of the 9 incoming rookies specifically say they spend right about 300 days per year on the water. Most if not all spent days to weeks on these lakes before they went off limits learn them inside and out.

Take scope out of the equation and it may take a year or 2 longer for them to qualify, but they'd still show up and beat the "old guard" like they are now.

[Kpangle]

Doesn’t the bottom 10 have the same options provided to them as the top 10 do when it comes to product? Didn’t the bottom 10 have the same amount of time to learn those products? Based on average age of 45, shouldn’t the bottom 10 have a bit more experience about bass behavior than the top 10? Didn’t the bottom 10 have the same amount of practice on the lake as the top 10? Just asking for a friend…

[Mcjenson]

At Toledo Bend day one weigh in there was an angler that said he had not made a cast since September. I don't recall who it was and I'm thinking he done poorly day one.

Can you imagine an NBA player proudly saying he hasn’t touched a basketball in five months and blaming advanced analytics on his performance?

[JR19]

Can you imagine an NBA player proudly saying he hasn’t touched a basketball in five months and blaming advanced analytics on his performance?

Agree...I could see several going a few weeks to decompress from a long season on the road. I was shocked to hear who ever it was say he hadn't made a cast since September.

[T-slab]

Experienced at gaming!

[c rig]

Serious question, are you friends with any pro anglers? None of the ones I know do that. Might hunt a little bit but they don’t hang it up till next season. Heck most of em come fish local derbies with us lol. Just wondering who actually does that

Surprisingly, a lot of guys do that.

Andy Morgan was/is one, he used to put his rods away at season’s end, spend the offseason deer hunting, and not pick up a rod again until the season started. I never understood how he could do that and fish at a high level.

[LateralLine]

Turns out selling the boat immediately after the season and not picking up a rod until the next year isn’t a great way to get better at fishing.

Have you tried it? Has anyone?

[SAL321]

I don't recall which pro it was on stage day 2 or his exact words. I'm thinking he said something along the line of FFS makes a average angler good and todays scoopers are not good fishermen. They are just good at electronics. Again that may not have been his exact words but it was something similiar to that. Multiple "old school" anglers had poor things to say about FFS. I believe it was Ike on day one who said I can go to my grave without turning it own.

Well I'm sure the $100K they deposit makes em better then those squealin' about it and driving home early.

[rb]

It’s very hard for the true superstars to be challenging for a win any more. If you listened to many of them on live mix they all said they have been down there since the first of the year and haven’t went home. All the big names are to busy working with sponsors and going to shows and personal appearances to do that. They get the three days of practice and that’s it

[Mcjenson]

It’s very hard for the true superstars to be challenging for a win any more. If you listened to many of them on live mix they all said they have been down there since the first of the year and haven’t went home. All the big names are to busy working with sponsors and going to shows and personal appearances to do that. They get the three days of practice and that’s it

I have a very hard time believing even established pros don’t get a chance to get on the water. Look at Milliken. Ownership stakes in multiple companies, plus the YouTube channel. Or established guys like Welcher or Walter’s.

[lineside]

Working for sponsors has always been the name of the game, from the beginning, anyone who thinks they can make a living just by fishing is chasing fools gold. As far a FFS is concerned that technology is only going to get better, so either jump on the train or get left at the station. These young guns are for the most part very well rounded and more than older pros or fans want to admit. Their learning curve is much smaller they have had access to every article in every bass magazine with a touch of a button. They know how to use every manner of electronics, google earth, mapping , fisheries biology, it is not just FFS. They are also consumed by an amazing drive, just listen to them at weigh in. We wanted to expand our sport and that is being accomplished I don't understand any complaints. Fish the way you want to for fun, but if you want to compete you better want to learn.

[AMSDJS]

Don't have FFS and don't care who does. My rationale is I am not going to spend the precious days (hours) on the water sitting with my foot on the trolling motor on high, rod in hand, staring at the screen all day until I see/find a school of bass. Pros focus on a different fishing experience than I do so I couldn't care less what drama is unfolding over this latest tech. I enjoy casting at structure/objects, feeling the lure working, the anticipation of the strike, etc. I always release what I catch at boatside anyway and haven't weighed a bass in 20 years, though I have measured the ones that look over 20". And regarding the bass fishing experience, in my opinion, and results show this, young, new anglers don't need to know anything about any lake. They can just drop the TM and scope around until they see bait and/or bass. I'm sure it has a fun factor.
I can easily afford $30K for FFS, big screens and lithiums and then get live shiners, craws, leeches and crawlers and suspend them below a float and catch lots of bass. But I guess I'm like Bryan New; that's not bass fishing - to me either.

[ColdSVT]

How many hours fishing experience do you think a 29 year old has? Probably more than you think if you consider high school and college tours plus local derbies, etc.

I know i wish we has HS tournys when i was a kid...it awesome these kids get to play at an early age...i was almost 30 when i fished my first tourny. When inwas in school it was weekends here and there with my father....which to be honest id give anything for those days again...

But...kids are getting exposed to this game early and often today...girl i work with son has been hitting mlf for 2 years now and his parents bought him a 20ft skeeter with a 250 and livescope and poles etc...kid just turned 16 a few weeks ago.

Whan i was 16 my buddy and i fished in a 14ft john boat with a 45lb motorguide on the transome and thought we the kings on the world lol...again...id like those days back too lol

[BigCranks]

Absolutely....well put...

[Mcjenson]

For all the guys who spent their time at weigh in talking about how they fished the “right way” not staring at a screen, I got a present for you

IMG_0619.jpeg

[limitlong]

These young guys are a new breed and are fun to watch. The big names may be phased out over the next few years as the industry focuses on the anglers that are winning.

[smbass77]

This is also the first rookie class that had to fish 9 Opens to qualify and beat some older guys with a TON of tour level experience.