Bassin' USA - Bass Fishing Forum Archives

RNE & Herb, thanks for the replies. I'll bet after all this hoopla that the pros will be a little more cautious about their statements and hopefully their game-plan pratices.
I remember a few years back when a pro told the audience and anglers exactly where he was fishing and what he was fishing. Not one competitive angler showed up near his spot. Now THAT was a brilliant plan!!
Another interesting story was the guy that actually sank a Ranger boat to get under a bridge to some backwater area. Gutsy!

I hope that anyone for one minute thinks this is the first time this or something like this has happened. This type thing has been going on since the first BASS event. Hooking fish, Paying locals to prefish, the hiring of professional guides to put anglers on fish, baiting holes, you name it the practice has been going on. Most of the biggest names on the trail have practiced these methods. The difference is David is the first to have the guts admit he is using all the rules to his advantage. If the man had located fish in 20’ of water and hooked them absolutely nothing would have been said. Don’t think David was the only fisherman hooking fish in this tournament. There are quite a few more unsportsman like practices going on than this, Pros backending their co-anglers in my opinion is twice as unsporting as what happened here but nothing is ever said about this practice. Roland Martin called names at this practice but without a doubt he has done things to slant the field in his favor. The new rules BASS has in place now are the direct result of practices of Pros in the past.

MSIVEY, no doubt you are correct. Perhaps now is as good a time as any for BASS to address these practices, tho enforcement will be impossible. I hope some good will come from all this. Thanks, Johnnie

Sorry Johnny,
I Personally know professional guides in AL. that have prefished for pros in BASS. Just read an article about the first BASS masters tournament. Ray Scott told Tom Mann he was sure tom was the best fisherman to sign and sure he would win. He also told about 100 other anglers the same thing.

Pretty good plan by ole ray! Funny, no one's ever told Me that! At least, now when I lose I can assume someone cheated, might make losing less painful.

You know guys I don't like this defensive fishing, but when ever I hear about it I have to think back to Ty Cobb,the mean old sucker who changed the way baseball is played. Can't imagine a hitter sliding into second without his ****es up. Baseball survived, I guess we will to. Good luck Carl.

You know guys I don't like this defensive fishing, but when ever I hear about it I have to think back to Ty Cobb,the mean old sucker who changed the way baseball is played. Can't imagine a hitter sliding into second without his ****es up. Baseball survived, I guess we will to. Good luck Carl.

You're right Carl. There will always be a Ty Cobb or Pete Rose. JC

I agree about Ty Cobb and all his kin.

But, dammit, that doesn’t make it right!

Look, one of the founding principles of competitive fishing was basic sportsmanlike conduct and courtesy. Once the sport slips into the cesspool that almost every other sport has become. Can we say Pro Basketball boys and girls?

It isn’t the same thing we have grown to know and love.

When we turn a blind eye to the loss of that aspect of our chosen particpatory sport we are aiding and abetting those who practice the tactics we are currently decrying.

If enough pressure is put on the Tournament Directors and Governing bodies it can be stopped. Or at least curtailed enough to be an aggravating isolated act by a few. If we complain to our buddies and don’t take it with the people and organizations that sponsor tournaments?

Well then, we might as well get used to it. I, for one do not intend to 'get used to it.'
I can and will bring it up when needed, I have a big mouth, and know how to use it.

One way to stop this would be in the spawn put the lake off limts for 24 hrs. instead of overnight. Another way would be not post the launch times till the afternoon before the tourny.

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