Pumpkin Lizard

Missouri, CT and NY

The rule of thumb is that if you have to ask if it is a wolf then it was coyote. Wolves are huge.

Salty

Im agreeing with him in a roundabout way. I heard a pod with Jason Christie who also lives on Tenkiller or one of the other lakes and he said he has to start every conversation with local friends with “don’t say anything about Tenkiller”. Seems extreme but I would gladly play that price to compete in fishing at that level.

They aren’t even fishing against the best locals. They are supposed to be fishing against the other 99 on the most level playing field possible. That’s why I think the rule is good. And they can’t be wishy washy about enforcement. Even if it’s an “innocent” infraction there has to be a penalty. I’m still listening to crazy long Mercer podcast. Palaniuk let out a little frustration about the Scott Martin situation. Some trolls on social media said “If Scott had fished he would have had a 40lb bag”. Palaniuk replied “Well he screwed up and he didn’t get to fish the event”. He’s usually really chill but I thought the comment was terse.

Someone found Tony C. fishing in an electric only league in Georgia.

Jigs, Chatterbaits and a 4 inch Swimbait on a jighead have been the ticket so far.

Then we will just have to talk about the Ray Scott musical.

We’re one week out from the Global Premiere! Look out Hamilton.

I like the convo. Plus it’s not like we’re not being civil.

Is it irrational to belief that they handled it improperly without any evidence? The people that are stirring the pot are essentially trolls. The anglers are always complaining about something but the crackdown seems popular.

Amongst the competitors sure. I just listened to portions of the two latest Mercers. I can never get through the whole things. Feider said that he was happy that BASS was finally cracking down on the cheaters. From the sounds of it I bet if you took an anonymous poll of the anglers these penalties are popular. Feider also said that Martin has been cheating for 30 years and that he can think of 10 cheaters in the Elites off the top of his head. The other episode with Palaniuk. Herren failed 4 successive polygraphs. Passed the 5th after opening up about speaking with two different individuals. That doesn’t sound so innocent. Martin, he simply said that there was more to it and left it at that. The rule is very old and was made and requested by pro anglers. They don’t want outcomes affected by “information”.

Count me as someone who doesn’t care if they are transparent. Scott Martin is kind of mid as a competitive angler. I don’t see him as a golden boy. Also the rumors could be BS or not even what they are portrayed to be.

The Bachelor. How did Byron Velvick get dragged into this?:) Based on everything that is publicly available, I don't really see how BASS handled it wrong. I also don't see NPFL doing anything wrong. It all just appears to be toxic axe grinding. It's just amazing that the narrative went from "Scott Martin doesn't even need inside info on his home lake" to "Scott Martin is a scumbag" so easily and with basically just rumors. I think Herren and Martin's punishment was fine since if they did get something then it would help them for the entire tournament and not just a part of it.

That’s why I don’t buy it. Like why is there even a video. Was it like some sort of no info rule sting operation? I think it’s funny that BASS DQd two guys and people cried bloody murder but NPFL did the same thing and it’s all good. There just seems to be a double standard in play.

I'll speak for myself, but I would guess that many of these guys are introverts and putting yourself out there isn't really in their comfort zone.

Maybe some people who know can explain to me how this doesn't happen more often.

And yet he beat Wheeler in P3 when they both didn't have FFS.

Gill within 10 ounces of Wheeler. Gill has 2lbs on Wheeler now.

I hear you but splits are never good for a sport. Just look at what it did to IndyCar and Golf. Imagine if the winner won $300k instead of $100k. If the sport wasn't so divided I wonder if we would see an incredible level of professionalism. I guess one positive is that we get to see three very different formats. 5 best fish, Every fish counts and one period of FFS, and 5 best fish and no FFS.

I just finished listening to the latest Bass After Dark where they talked about Practice. Drew Gill said on Thursday night at the end that during practice, the Blue and White Academy boat looms large because Wheeler will seemingly be everywhere. Now on Sunday it's Gill versus Wheeler.

Pro Bass fishing is just a marketing engine that has a competition side. It's a bit like racing. They survive and operate based on sponsor dollars, business to business deals, going into debt and some lucky ones are financially independent.

If nothing else it’s a nice way for some Elites to get in some extra batting practice.

I disagree. Kid is sharp as a tack, he’d be successful in any series. He’d probably be successful in anything he chose to do. He’s just smart enough to know that if his FFS is dialed then he doesn’t need to do much else.

I caught some in Missouri yesterday as well. Might be even better today. We still have some surviving pockets of snow on the ground from last week too.