Are we about to witness another train wreck in professional bass fishing tournaments? Could this be the end? Let’s talk about the issues professional anglers have had in 2024 on the Bassmaster Elites and Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour. Do the rules need to be changed? Should FFS be banned and eliminated? Why are these fisherman upset with the rookie anglers who joined this year?
#fishing #bassfishing #bass
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Pro anglers seem very similar to pro cyclists, need organization but so many up and comers the organization has more power and athletes suffer. Need some leaders to step up and help organize. What percentage of top level anglers in either organization make net $50K or $100K? Payouts aren’t rising as costs are. Yet many dream of being a pro angler. As a new bass pro fan the sport has many odd rules, drama and gossip.
I love bass fishing but I can’t stand watching a person staring at a computer screen, not having it.
Bass and MFL haven't evolved to understand that the world moved on from 8 hrs of content. Noone has time. The integrity of fishing is way down, your right, they are out of tune with the community and all about the money. Instead of being a kid again each and everytime you reel one in and making that the important part.
Watson isn’t the best example, he blackballed himself By taking it too far 🇺🇸👍
FFS has totally ruined Pro bass fishing it has taken 90% of the skill out of the sport, all the things anglers have learned over years and all the time on the water is now obsolete. And no you’re wrong they didn’t learn to fish before they got electronics they grew up fishing with electronics because the dads have the electronics and teach the kids! If they can fish without electronics then they need to do the tournaments without electronics and I bet money a lot of those guys are gonna be totally lost. It’s really ridiculous that people say the electronics aren’t why these young anglers are doing good when as soon as they started using them all the real hammers aren’t hardly ever in the cut anymore and all you see are people using electronics, people that aren’t really known other than of late because of them doing well because of electronics
Brush was sunk in my home lake from live trees on the bank. The state caught them. They need to be punished. Stop the nonsense. Just fish the tournaments.
I have fished all my life and live on a very prestigious southern lake who has hosted numerous professional bass tournaments. Bass fishing is NOT a great sport for spectators. FFS is not the problem. It's just MORE technology for the fisherman to use to catch fish.
This is old news.
Personally, I'd rather FFS be banned in Bassmaster. I say this having no experience using it, and I admit I would probably have an absolute blast hunting and sniping 10 pounders with it. But I have to ask myself, at what point does it become unsporting? I know just becuase you can see the fish live on the screen doesn't mean you can make them bite, that's true – but Josh Jones is proving that they just about always bite if you find the right lure to dangle on their nose. His first appearance on The Bilge podcast was very telling – he's caught so many 10+ lbs bass that its not even a thrill for him any more. I know he isn't/wasn't tournament fishing, and he was fishing trophy lakes like O.H. Ivey… my point is that he's learned how to get fish to bite that he never would have caught without FFS, by his own admission. Utilizing FFS is a technical skill on its own, but is it sporting or is it overpowered?
Went out to Lake Livingston in Tx last week. No electronics, tied on small crank bait and flipping bait…… we focused on what fishing should be. Had a blast , caught a bunch and realized I can still do it Your right it is boring to watch now which suxs. I grew up loving this Sport and have Faith we will get back to where it deserves to be.
Professional fishing is the only sport you have to play to play.. sponsorship obviously helps but it doesn’t seem fair for a guy to be an “elite” but broke.
I love competitive fishing. But everything starts at the grassroots.
They need to make it easier for the grassroots to chase that dream.
But pros definitely need to police one another. Livescope isn’t going anywhere. If someone can beat livescope flipping great but FFS is just another technique just like throwing a frog all day.
I'll just try to hit some high points on this. I think social media is creating more problems today than anything. I also think there is too much live coverage. The live coverage and bass track have made weigh ins less important and took the mystery out of it, and over time will all but eliminate the need for them. If the BPT can survive for another couple of years I think the changes they are making will improve their platform. Anglers need to decide where they want to be, work on their brands, and stop crying about everything. You fish for a living man, enjoy the ride. Some things can easily be fixed by the leagues and all the leagues need to stop taking the easy way out of things by DQing everyone for everything. Somethings do not merit a DQ and a lot of the things can be solved by simply making the anglers provide things like insurance and fishing licenses at meeting before each tournament. If they did this and someone forgot something or made a blunder then it could be rectified before the tournament starts. As for FFS, I think they should allow the pros to use it during practice to help find fish and brush piles or any other type of cover a little quicker but once the tournament starts those units need to be disabled. There is time to turn all this around but they need to start before it gets too far gone. tt
Two hurdles have always plagued tournament bass fishing; it isn't a spectator sport, and anglers aren't employed by the tournament organizations because the organizations can't sell tickets. It will always be pay to play gambling, and whether or not anglers and organizations can actually make a living relies heavily on economic factors. Let's face it, not possible to watch an entire field fish, and who has eight hours a day, for three or four days, to sit and watch an event? Watching someone fish is boring and the main reason to watch is to learn how to fish better. But anglers don't want to teach their competitors how to beat them! The educational value of watching people tournament fish is going backwards, and it is much quicker and more efficient for anglers to learn from You Tube videos. Sponsors see this and have shifted their advertising dollars accordingly. Those are the big issues and none of that can be reversed. The costs revolved around FFS are making things a little worse but IMO are overstated. Tournament angling, on a professional level has gone over the cliff, and both anglers and organizations are obviously desperate to survive.
The Days of Houston, Martin, Clunn, KVD are gone.
I think both organizations are missing the boat here. When mlf first came out with the produced shows you had people watching fishing that had never watched it. It’s the only way to capture the drama and intensity of a tournament in a compact format that someone that doesn’t fish can sit down and watch and enjoy. Everyone jumped on the live bandwagon and completely abandoned the produced shows after the tourney. I also think we will make a turnaround in media. Live and long format content is so saturated I think people are starting to want something formatted so they can just sit down and watch while they are eating supper without having to dig through the maze of YouTube. I also think 2 organizations hurts sponsor dollars overall, they should be under 1 name and the organizations should be going after the sponsor dollars entirely so they can pay the anglers and do away with entry fees. Bass fisherman are more of a customer than they are an employee to the organization and that’s just not the way it should be for professional sport.
Livescoping social media and the cost is killing the competitive side. For guys like me who just fish to fish it's alive and well.
Had to add a little more. I have FFS but personally choose not to fish with it. It takes skill that I don’t have. I have spent afternoons out on the water just trolling around in amazement at the fish I find out deep next to zero structure.
That said, for people saying that young guys are not learning the habits and facts of the nature of bass activity like the old guys did…..you are wrong. It turns out that all the stuff the old guys taught us in the past, and all the stuff we thought we had figured out…..much of it is wrong. Bass behavior is much different than we ever thought in the past. If you don’t believe me, listen to Rick Clunn or Shaw Grigsby. They both say they are thrilled to be using FFS because they are learning so much new info and throwing out some of the old ways. I fished with Roland Martin and he too loves it because he is learning new things about bass.
No way we need all the live we can get
It isn't anglers not speaking up, I think it's what they're speaking about. They have to make sure what they are saying is correct. It's like they're playing a game of telephone. They aren't very good at it.
I quit watching fishing on tv, your correct it is boring Thanks for all you do
Very well said. First off i believe fishing is a hobby. Tournament Bass fishing is a Sport.
As you said, way too many fishermen in the top ranks of each major organization. I don't know how you thin it down or how new blood gets in, but now there's not enough prize money to make a career for most
According to everything I’ve heard the anglers didn’t want the meetings. Now there are some saying we need meetings. Tournament fisherman live drama. Things will always change and evolve.
That’s so dope you got to fish w KVD on my homelake I’d love to hear more about it, a 11 on lake George even today would be giant. But they’re there. Did you happen to fish Glen Lake down the road? It’s small but you can bring any watercraft out there it’s a mini lake George. Talk about docks for days and clear water and sight fishing. I’d like to hear more about that experimece, you had to of gone out by yourself or to fish there right?
New subscriber here …. Great content.
I think every penalty should be revealed to the entire field in an angler meeting before the next day of competition. Peer pressure is a wonder, humbling thing. Anglers do need a voice…..an anglers wife, does not. Too much bias there, and it will create resentment among the anglers. Some don't have wives. It's the angler's battles, period. Technology isn't going anywhere….have the anglers vote on new and ongoing technological advancements. We all know that the pay outs can go up. The organizations live off sponsorship, just like the anglers. At that level, a bare minimum should have a 100% payout of entry fees…as well as sponsorship additives.
I do enjoy your content / videos, but I do not agree with your comment about the Legacy slots in the Elites. Not sure how anyone could tell Rick Clunn he is done before he makes that decision.
I'm not sure why but I feel like you're calling out Millken. We've heard often enough of him "buying info" and otherwise stretching the rules but it seems like he's getting called out more and more since that incident in Leesburg. I don't think that that one incident necessarily proves all of the other rumors. The guy deserves a break.
Well said on all topics! As a regular viewer of events i suggest the following changes:
1. Organizations must start their events after the spawn cuz its boring to watch and its not sporting whatsoever.
2. Get tid of FFS. Or at least have a series with No FFS snd let viewership decide what format works best.. Im tired of watching guys staring down at a screen. Further theres no sporting in" the chase" and actually figuring out the fish based on fish lifecycle/habits, etc.
3. As much as pro fishing needs new blood in the ranks, they dont know Jack about the fish lifecycle. They rely soley on sonar to find fish. The old guys are getting squeezed out quickly tbh. I want to see the chase of the hunt, figuring out the fish and back to old school fishing. I don't care if wieghts are lower as long as its a fair chase and fair playing field.
Lastly im Canadian and would love to see a few evebts scheduled on cansdian lakes and rivers.
Fisherman hate each other who the hell looks at pro fisherman and says wow mommy I want to be like him it’s a white grandfather in rich man’s thing
Watching on tv is dead as a door nob
Rip tv fishing
Bass is king
Livescope is a joke to watch on tv
"We aren't teaching kids the right way to fish" Hallelujah!!! 100%. This high school and college multi hundreds of boat tourneys needs to end.
The on the water respect for others is gone.
But such is life in every aspect these days.
Fans of tournaments need to shut up. The more organizations, the more opportunities for the anglers
There will never be good fishing circuits until they go back to a top 150 and they are the best of the best. Everyone calls themselves a Pro now days…what a joke
If what you want to see is anglers just catching fish. Go back to watching highlights. Live coverage isn't just catching fish. Anglers need representation. They broke off from BASS because they were unhappy, and they still are not happy.
You want to grow the sport cut boat prices by half
I honestly think, neither circuit is doing good for views. Social media finally exposed the b.s and people are finally realizing most the pros aren't better than most local hammers. You can feel the desperation from the anglers and the circuits. Ffs is ruining the sport plain and simple.
1) Get rid of the no info rule. It is essentially unenforcible. That would stop some of the whining.
2) stop making up rules that aren;t there. e.g. The BASS no wake zone that really wasn't a no wake zone that McKinney violated.
3) Agree reduce the fields by 25% or more.
4) The organizations guarantee a minmal payout to all anglers in the event: Say $5k. This puts the onus on the organization to use their power to get sponsors to fund the Txs instead of each angler fending for themselves.