How the FLW Really Feels About Co-anglers

Posted by Dave on November 8, 2007 22 comments

Last week FLW Outdoors Charlie Evans rolled out some new changes for the 2008 FLW Tour. Most troubling to me is the change that limits co-anglers practice.

In his statement, Mr. Evans says that “in 2008, co-anglers will be restricted to practicing only with confirmed pros and will be prohibited from sharing their practice partner’s information with other pros during the tournament.” While I don’t think anyone has ever had a problem with restrictions on sharing information, the requirement that a co-angler can only pre-fish with a confirmed pro is really a slap in the face to all co-anglers and one that I think will also end up hurting them in the end.
 

Before I go any further, let me say that I don’t fish the co-angler side and I don’t fish any FLW events, so these changes won’t affect me at all. I just think that to take away pre-fishing, except with a “confirmed pro” is crazy.  Pre-fishing is part of the game and to take it away from any competitor is wrong.
 

Now for the most laughable statement in Mr. Evans letter. He actually says that “Co-anglers who want to fish with family members and others to sharpen their skills are free to do so on nearby fisheries other than tournament waters.” Huh???? What a silly comment. To put this another way, Mr. Evans would prefer that you practice your casting in your bath tub rather than come to his tournament to practice. After all, never forget, you are just a co-angler. 
 

I think that if the co-anglers are putting up the money and their time, they should be allowed to pre-fish in their own boats. I think everyone should be allowed to establish their own patterns. That way, you have an idea of what is going on with the fish once the tourney starts even if the pro is in charge and can fish his water all day. Besides, if a guy spends $50-60K for a Ranger so he can compete for the contingency awards, you would think that Mr. Evans would want that boat on the water.
 

Finally, in a comment that I found to very patronizing, Mr. Evans said “Lest there be any doubt, we fully understand the importance of co-anglers to the success of our sport and the industry it supports. We in no way want to penalize co-anglers with this rule change.”
 

Well Mr. Evans, in Texas we judge a man by his actions more than by his words. Your actions against the co-anglers in an attempt to coddle the pros, speaks volumes of how you really feel about the co-anglers.
 

Admit it, you don’t think that co-anglers as the next generation pros that are honing their skills and paying their dues. You view co-anglers as nothing more than financial donors that contribute to the payouts. Why not just go back to calling them amateurs again since you clearly are not treating them as co-anything.
 

“Big Country” Dave Taylor
 

www.vicious-fishing.com
www.secretweaponlures.com
www.castingforcash.com
 

Fishing NASCAR Style

Posted by Dave on August 31, 2007 13 comments

It seems that recently when people talk about where they want the sport of professional bass fishing to go they always hold up NASCAR as an example of what we want our sport to become. While I agree that NASCAR has had some phenomenal growth over the past 50+ years and I admit, I am a huge fan and attend several races each year, I think we need to look past the amount of money in motor sports and take a closer look at what is going on with NASCAR and see if this is really where we want to be.  

  • The NASCAR Nextel Cup title sponsor is embroiled in a nasty legal fight with AT&T over sponsorship and logos. The 31 car has had to run the last two races without logos/wrap because the courts keep going back and forth on this issue. With all the hoopla there has been over getting boats wrapped, what would happen if this same thing happened in fishing? Since the rules require a wrapped boat, what would the punishment be?
  • Would we have team owners that own all the boats and equipment and simply hire the anglers to fish for them? They essentially become employees and loose their ability to work for themselves and sell themselves and to control their own destiny. Their job security is based on their ability to not only fish but to attract sponsors. The same thing happens now but if a guy has a bad year or does something that reflects badly on the “team” does he get canned? Where would that leave IKE?
  • Although the PAA is leading the charge on getting the anglers to use numbers, are they prepared to handle a situation like Dale Jr. recently went through with DEI choosing to hold on to the number 8. That reminds me, I have to get my tattoo changed to what was it…….6.7…….
  • There would still be title sponsors of the series like there are now, but if you look at what happened to NASCAR when Winston went away, NASCAR had to dramatically cut the price to get Nextel to bite and this year they still don’t have a title sponsor for the Busch Series in 2008. NASCAR has cut their asking price by more than half since nobody is willing to sign on. What happens if they don’t get one? If fishing lost a major sponsor, would there have to be a fire sale to get someone to sponsor the series? As long as fishing doesn’t go nuts with the cost, there should be a supply of companies that will sponsor the series.
  • We are seeing the major NASCAR teams faltering and having to bring in outside money to survive. Jack Roush is now Roush Fenway, Evernham Motor Sports is now Gillette Evernham Motor Sports, DEI merged with Ginn Motor Sports and the list grows every week. The list of the employees put out of work by these mergers grows as well. What happens if for example if Team  Bass Pro merged with Team CastingForCash. All the extra support guys get canned and some of the anglers are left without rides, but which ones? I am guessing that KVD would be OK but what about Rick Clunn, Stacy King, or Woo Daves. These are great guys but they have not had particularly stellar years lately and you have to cut expenses somewhere. How would you like to be the one that looks a 4 time champion in the eye and tell him he is fired? I’m not even sure “The Donald” could do that.

I could go on with examples but I hope you get the point.

Sure NASCAR has been a huge success in years past but if you look at the TV ratings they are falling like a rock. Weekly they are losing viewer ship at a double digit rate and this has been going on for the past several years. They are scrambling to reposition themselves but the fact just might be that the magic is gone.

I think people need to stop wanting professional angling to be like NASCAR or any other organization and figure out who we are and what our future is. It’s easier to try and model yourself after someone else but before you do, it is probably best to make sure you are not hitching your wagon to a falling star. Professional angling is a niche sport and to try and make it bigger than it is I think is a mistake. Face it, there are not really that many big boat crashes that people will tune in just to see like they do for racing.

We need to ask ourselves not “how big we want to be” but “how big it is possible for us to be”. Once we have taken a realistic assessment of the potential that there is available, we can then build a plan to make sure we get there.

Secret Weapon Lures

Posted by Dave on August 1, 2007 5 comments

I am proud to announce that I have been added as a member of the Secret Weapon Lures Field Staff.  I consider the spinner bait one of the greatest all round lures and I consider the spinner bait one of my strengths so this partnership is a natural fit for me and my fishing style.

The Secret Weapon spinner bait has all the features that I look for a spinner bait such as heavy duty frame, tough powder coat paint both of which are important when fishing cover. It is also very easy to modify and change colors and blade configuration as the conditions change. The way the blades are attached to the frame assures that the blades keep turning even after I “kill” the bait after hitting a tree or brush and allow the bait to free fall which is when most strikes occur. One thing most anglers will enjoy about this bait besides the versatility is the price. Secret Weapon lures are built with quality components yet they are still affordable for the weekend angler. You could spend a lot more for a spinner bait but I don’t think you will find one that will out perform or out catch the Secret Weapon.

Every one is looking for that “secret weapon” to catch more fish and now I have one and you can too.     

 

BASS Shuffles the Deck Again

Posted by Dave on June 13, 2007 12 comments

The 2008 Elite Series schedule has just been released and there have been some pretty significant changes. At first glance some of the changes appear to be for the better….others……….not so much.


 First of all, I hope none of you liked the Majors because they are gone and along with them are the $250,000.00 first place payouts. So there is about $1.8 million dollars we are being told will go back into the pot for payouts. If BASS does put that money back in plus $400,000.00 as they say, that will be a step in the right direction, but only time will tell.


 I recently read an interview by Rick Clunn (hat tip BassFan) where he was talking about the Majors and how they had changed from the original concept and when I think about it, he is right.

When the Majors then the E-50’s were introduced the stated intent was to put on a tournament with the best 50 bass anglers in the world. I believe that it was also a way to give the guys that started all this many years ago some recognition. Let’s face it, if it were not for Rick Clunn, Larry Nixon, Bill Dance, Zell Rowland etc… there would not be a tournament series like we have today. They blazed the trail for the rest of us.  But over time the E-50’s changed from their original mission and what we had left was the Majors. I understand that things change but I really feel that the rule changes that gave no recognition to the “old school” anglers is what killed the Majors.


When this concept was first introduced it was very popular because we were going to get to see the heroes of our sport fish head to head for a ton of money.  While I won’t go as far a Clunn in claiming that the guys that are fishing the Majors now are “flukes” or 1 year wonders but I do think that they walked away from the original intent and the thing that made the E-50’s/Major exciting in the first place. I like the “Old Timers” baseball games and I would still like to watch the founders of our sport go head to head but I guess I was in the minority.
As for the Elite tournaments for 2008, here again some good changes and others that are just so-so in my book.


As a Texas I am thrilled to have two events here and adding Falcon to the schedule is awesome. It is a great lake and will produce some incredible weights just like Amistad. These two lakes used to be our secret. We were willing to let everyone know about Fork and Rayburn because we knew we had Amistad and Falcon all to ourselves, but I guess that’s over too.
I hated to see California lose its event but adding the Mississippi River should be interesting. I don’t know why California can’t keep a tournament series. It’s a great place to fish and we have certainly seen some incredible weights come from the Delta. Sure, it’s a longs way to drive and hauling all the TV and tournament gear has to be a pain but the fans and the fishing I thought would have made it worth it.


The most interesting change I think is that the guys will now be fishing from their own boats all the time. One has to wonder if this is a result of Ike constantly whining about not using his boat or if Triton finally decided it was too expensive to continue to supply the boat. I personally think that it’s the latter since I think Ike has lost some of his credibility following his well documented temper tantrums at the last two Classics and at the Toyota Texas Bass Classic. Triton and Mercury have been dumping a ton of money into these events and since all the boats are wrapped, I predicted that they would not be getting the exposure they wanted and they would be looking for ways to save money. It looks like I was right.
 

On a personal note, I apologize for being gone for so long but during the break between tournaments I had to get some things done around the ranch and just didn’t seem to find time to keep this current. I’ll try and do better.

A Rookie wins and Ike impresses.

Posted by Dave on March 12, 2007 31 comments

How about that rookie? Derek Remitz won the Battle on the Border with an impressive 113lbs 7oz topping last year’s mark of 104.8 caught by Ish Monroe. Not a bad way to begin your pro career. Derek made the necessary adjustments and was able to stay on his fish when so many of the other pros struggled to adapt to the changing weather and water conditions. Amistad certainly lived up to its potential and for the guys able to adjust, they were richly rewarded. 

  

Taking nothing away from Derek but in the interest of credibility, I have to say I was impressed with the way Ike handled himself as he fell to the runner up spot. If you have been following my web site or read my rants on probassangler.com, you already know that I have mixed feelings when it comes to Ike and his antics. On one hand, there is no denying that he knows how to catch fish. He is able to reach deep and he really does “never give up” and I admire him for that. On the other hand, his childish antics are way too phony and made for TV for me and grate on my last nerve. Some say that it appeals to the younger generation and we certainly need to get the kids involved in fishing. However, I am not sure if I want the next generation of fishermen to think that it is OK to be disrespectful and in your face. But Mike did two things at Amistad that I think need to be mentioned. First, when Remitz won Mike was gracious in defeat and seemed genuinely happy for the rookie to have won. Nice touch! 

  

The one act that he did that not more than 20 people knew about happened behind the scenes and didn’t get any TV. While Mike was waiting with the 11 other guys to weigh in on the last day, he was asked if he could take a picture and autograph a hat for a handicapped young lady that was confined to a wheel chair. I was amazed when he didn’t even hesitate to get up, go over and take a picture, sign the hat, and take a few minutes with this young lady. She was absolutely glowing and it was a very touching gesture from a guy that had been working hard for a solid week and was about to go on stage and maybe win $100,000.00. I have to admit, I was really impressed. 

  

I also want to thank some of the other pros that took a few minutes with this lady. Her families had brought her back stage to see the pros but were afraid to ask any of the guys for an autograph and a picture. I was happy to help them out and I want to thank Timmy Horton, Fred Roumbanis, Kelly Jordan, Harold Allen, Robert and Robin McFarlane, Terry Scroggins, and Keith Allen for taking the time to make this lady smile. I am sure there were others that I am forgetting and I apologize to them. The joy that you brought to this young girl could never be paid back. A big Texas hat tip to all of you.

It’s not nice to fool with Mother Nature

Posted by Dave on March 9, 2007 13 comments

Just when you think you have it figured out, nature has a way of slapping you back to reality.

Day 1 of the 2007 Battle on the Border saw the Elite Pros bringing some impressive weights to the scales and everyone, myself included, predicted that last years winning weight of 104+lbs would be shattered this year. After all, 2 bags of over 36 lbs were brought in and it took over lbs to be in the top 50. All the pros that I talked to said that if the wind would ease up just a bit, they could load the boat with big fish and many said that 40+ lb limits were not out of the question. Well, Mother Nature was listening but she also has a sense of humor. When we took off this morning the sky was clear, the weather warm and there was only the slightest hint of a breeze. Just what every one was asking for right? You remember that old saying about being careful what you ask for.

The water is warming up rapidly and the fish are heading to the spawning areas. It was common to have the boat in 15 foot of water and see herds of fish in the 4-5 lbs range swim by. They might take a look at what you were offering and maybe even follow it for a while but that was about it. Sure some of the guys brought in good limits of fish but the weights certainly didn’t live up to the expectations everyone had at the launch this morning.

That said if these fish go ahead and move up tonight and tomorrow, the weights will be back up in the high 30’s again and no doubt, someone will find a kicker or two and may even break the 40lbs mark, but unfortunately, it’s too late for 58 of the guys that didn’t make the cut. 

 

 

A Del Rio “Toad-Fest”

Posted by Dave on March 8, 2007 23 comments

Day one on Lake Amistad is in the books and what a day it was. After the first day of last years Battle on the Border people were amazed at the weights the Elite pros were bringing to the scales. Well, after today all the people can do is shake their heads in disbelief. Imagine, two 36 pound stingers coming in and big bass is a 12 lb 7 oz hawg brought in by Scott Campbell. If someone told you that Skeet Reese had 25lb 2oz you would have thought he was leading or at least in the top 5 in any tournament right? WRONG. Down here 25.2 is only good enough for a tie for 21st.


Another amazing fact is that the co-anglers are hauling them in by the sack full as well. When you are a co-angler, especially behind the Elite guys, you just know you are going to be fishing used water all day and all you are going to get are the leavins’. (that’s a Texas terms for left-overs). Joe Barnett did pretty well fishing out of the back of KVD’s boat bringing in 24lbs 12oz. KVD had 26lb 8oz from the front deck. Folks, that’s over 50 pounds from one boat. In fact, if you were a co-angler on Day 1, 15lbs, was only good enough for 16th place.
Some of you may be thinking “so what, we know it’s an incredible lake, but it’s easy to catch a big sack off the beds”, and normally this time of year, you would be right. However, these fish were not on the beds. They are staging up and getting ready but most of the guys are using jerk baits and the Castiac style swim baits in deep water to catch a  limit and then picking up the flippin’ stick and headed for the flooded brush and salt cedars so they can start culling. It’s hard to believe that guys are culling 4 and 5 pound fish.
If Day 1 is any indication, you better hold on to your hat for the rest of the week. As the water continues to warm up, the “big” fish are going to be moving to the beds and I predict that Ish Monroe’s 104.8lb weight from last year is going to get blown away.
As soon as I get this posted I am going to get my rods out and spool up some heavier Vicious Ultimate line. Conventional wisdom says that in clear water you need to use light line. Try that down here this week and you might just be watching $100,000.00 swim away with your bait.    

 

2007 Classic Wrap Up

Posted by Dave on March 1, 2007 10 comments

Sorry to be late wrapping this up but between traveling home and trying to get ready to leave for Amistad I have put this off for too long. I did intend to wait a day or so to see how some of the behind the scene stories were going to develop but time got away from me.
 

By now, everyone knows that Boyd Duckett made the right adjustments on Day 3 to come back to win the Classic and I am really proud for him. I still can’t believe that it took this long for a “homer” to win.
 We also know that the G-Man was DQ’ed and despite some apologists in some of the chat rooms, he probably deserved to be. Gerald is not a bad guy he just made a bad decision. I think that his case probably does argue for a structured penalty system rather than the only recourse Trip has is to DQ an offender. Maybe if he could issue a points or pounds penalty as well, he could get the anglers attention and yet not appear so draconian in his enforcement of the rules.
 

The one story that never did break to the general public but got quite a bit of attention was the near meltdown of Ike. It seems that on Day 2 Mike had a motor problem and lost 16 minutes of fishing time while it was repaired. We all heard Mike stand on his soap box and run his mouth about the guys being able to fish from their own boats and to a degree I think he has a point. Choosing to air that dirty laundry on the Classic stage with the intent of embarrassing BASS and the tournament officials is probably not going to motivate BASS to change the rules.
 

However, what was not given wide play was his near melt down and cussing of the guys working on his boat. Needless to say, he dropped enough F-bombs to level a good sized city. Frankly, I am impressed that one of the techs didn’t part his hair with a torque wrench during his obscene rant. I have heard that it was captured on film but to my knowledge it has not surfaced anywhere yet. The guy that has it is probably waiting for just the right time to show the world.  There is no denying that Ike can flat out fish and as he proved last year, he has the mental toughness to bounce back from adversity, now if he could find a little class and maturity and not squeal like a two year old when he catches a “giant” (but only when someone is watching) or throw a tantrum when he doesn’t get his way, we all might find out he is not such a bad guy after all…..and Mike, you really need to get someone to show you how to shape your hats……. you looked like a dork.

2007 Classic – Saturday

Posted by Dave on February 25, 2007 10 comments

As I was walking over to the weigh-in today, I was wondering what I was going to write about. I am here representing the Texas BASS Federation Nation and since the Presidents had the day off, I thought that there really was not much to report and I was starting to worry about what I was going to say. Then word came down about Gerald Swindle being disqualified. Could that really be true? The G-Man…. the home town boy…. everyone’s favorite DQ’ed, but for what. As I was trying to get more information I was having flashback of Ike’s Classic meltdown last year. Surely Gerald had not done something as foolish as that but I could not imagine what he could have possibly done. Just Thursday night I had written about how impressed I was that Gerald was hanging out in the lobby of the hotel shooting the breeze with everyone and signing every autograph that the kids wanted. 

Then word came, the G-man had been DQ’ed for unsafe boating practices. Huh?? Excuse me?? What exactly does that mean? Well, after hearing the press conference and seeing the video, I have to agree that what he did was indeed unsafe and the punishment probably was deserved. However, I have to give him credit. When Gerald came to the stage he admitted that he made a poor decision and although he felt that he did not endanger anyone by flying through the flotilla on plane, he accepted his punishment and accepted full responsibility for his actions. Gerald is one of the most colorful characters on the tour and this lapse in judgment cost him a shot at winning the Classic in front of his home town. I have to give the man credit however.  While he was on the stage you could see how utterly devastated that he was, but he handled himself as a professional. If history repeats itself, you only have to remember back to last year when another guy was DQ’ed and came back to win the Angler of the Year title. Hang on, I suspect that the G-Man is going to be back with a vengeance. 

2007 Classic – Friday

Posted by Dave on February 23, 2007 11 comments

The Federation Nation Presidents, Conservation Directors and Youth Directors meetings were held today and for the first time that I can remember we met together and discussed the issues and ideas as a group. Rather than try and recap everything that was said I would rather write about the feeling in the room and of the group.

Yesterday I wrote that I was concerned about how everyone would be feeling after the split that has happened over the past 18 months. The split was nasty, ugly and very painful to all concerned but I am pleased to report that the meetings were full of friendship, hope and excitement about the future. I can honestly say that I did not hear one negative word and everyone from the State Federation Nations all the up to the Senior Management of BASS have a plan and are working harder than I have ever seen them to move forward. Tom Ricks and Gary Jones said on more than one occassion that the past is behind them and it is time to begin building for the future and I genuinely believe them. Most of the officers from the various states are new in their positions and are bringing with them a great deal of energy and they are anxious to get back to their states and get started. These are guys who lost some of their best friends during the split and I was surprised to see that some of the guys that split off have actually come back to BASS.

After the break up it was widely rumored that ESPN was preparing to sell BASS or just shut it down. After today’s meetings and having the opportunity to talk to some folks “in the know” it is apparent that ESPN has no such intentions. When the break up was going on, they made a decision to let the Federation implode and then plan a course to re-build rather than to try and fight the collapse a piece at a time. After having some time to think about that plan, it makes perfect sense to me. Once the break up started it would have been an impossible task to try and stop it. By allowing it to fall apart they were able to look at what they had left and re-build on a more stable foundation and make their house stronger than it was before and based on what I have heard the past couple of days, they are doing just that. Do they still have a long ways to go….you bet. Do they have the right people in the right places to get the job done? Although many of the key people are new to the job, I beleive that they do. It is up to them and all the Federation Nation people look at what was working before and build on it and to scrap what wasn’t working and design something new. I hope that they will be able to do it and we can all enjoy a stronger grass roots organization than we had before.

Oh yeah, did I mention that there was a tournament going on here also? Alabama angler Boyd Ducket brought in an impressive stringer of 19.14lbs anchored by an 8.2lb kicker to take an almost 2 pound lead over second place Randy Howell. Boyd seems quite confident but as the water continues to warm, I suspect the weights will keep going up and when the females move up, you can gain a lot of ground in a hurry with just a couple of fish. I was surprised that some of the early favorites are finding themselves back in the pack. Ike is 11th with 13.9lbs, KVD is 19th with 13.1 Steve Kennedy is 25th with 12.2 and Edwin Evers is tied for 40th with 9.14lbs. With the cut to 25 coming tomorrow, these guys are going to have to swing for the fences to make the cut but I wouldn’t bet against any of them.