Quote Originally Posted by n2theblue View Post
Those kids know more about bass behavior than any generation before them precisely because of scope. And they’ve got more time on the water in their young lives than most members of this board put in in a decade because it’s all they do. A lot of them have fished 200+ days a year for a decade already.
I think there is some truth to them being more experienced than pros used to be. The older generation that had to work more and save up to get on tour didn't spend 200 days a year on the water. I spent about 100 days a year fishing golf course ponds when I was an early teen in the mid 80's. We had a fishing club in junior high and high school because my group of friends were all outdoorsmen and we knew the teachers that were too. By the time that I started fishing club tournaments in a large club in 1988, I was way ahead of the full time working dude in my large club. I won 6 of the 10 tournaments in my first full year while I working in a tackle shop in college. I was also fishing pro team tournaments that most of the club members were not. The older guys began to dislike me too when I was taking their money, even though it wasn't much. I was a really rare type of angler back then. There is a lot more of guys like the young me with high school and college tournaments today. Some of these guys in the early twenties that get out on tour are wiley veterans raised by a community of great anglers. The internet also allows them to see how things are done without time on the water. They also have access to a lot more tools than the previous generations.