Equiped Like A Pro

[Eric Buck]

If you had all of the equipment that the pros have and you were fishing the 2012 Elite Series, how do you think you would do for the season?

[jignfule]

You could give me the best of everything as far as equipment and the big boys would kill me on a zebco. They are far superior in knowledge and skill that no amount of equipment will compansate for.

[Eric Buck]

I think once you learned how to use the electronics you would do far better than you would think. I know there is a lot of knowledge involved with the pros, however the electronics these days that most of us can't afford paint a very vivid picture of where the fish are!

[jignfule]

Oh, I'd catch fish alright. They would just catch bigger ones and more of them. I might get lucky here and there but in the long haul talent and experience would win out.

[etommy28]

I think i could catch fish and cash a couple checks but I would def. be in the bottom half in AOY

[Eric Buck]

I believe that your first year struggles is going to be learning new waters that the veterans have fished before. However, if your dedicated enough and know what to look for you could survive. I think I could survive to get invited back the next year.

[Jake P]

They are pros for a reason. Im sure there are a handful of guys here that might put a halfway decent bag together. I dont think i would be very impressive though.

[preach4bass]

I'd be luck (and happy) to cash one check!

[kylek]

I would have lots of weekends off!!!!! I am sure I could luck into some fish but probably not well enough to make any cuts. I would be so dang nervous the whole time I would probably backlash all my reels in the first hour!!!!

[Michael DiNardo]

I honestly don't mean any disrespect with this, but they aren't Supermen. Just look at the results of the FLW Tournament in Pittsburgh. I am by no means saying I could compete with them or any tournament

fisherman right now. But, they are not hitting a 95 mph fastball or something that can only be physically accomplished by a gifted few. I think you have to have many things on your side to be a pro besides being able to catch fish.

[Deleted account]

Get my butt handed to me just like 99.99% of the "enthusiasts", why not buy a "pro" set of boxing gloves and get in the ring with a top pro, same thing...

[Eric Buck]

Where is the confidence?

[Michael DiNardo]

It's not even close to being the same thing as boxing. That is comparing apples to bananas.

The equipment is not the limiting factor. The knowledge of the waters and the experience of being in similiar scenarios is the seperating factors.

Mike

[Eric Buck]

You would get 3 days of pre fishing with all the equipment to work out the kinks and get onto a pattern. I think if you have an idea of how to form a pattern you would do pretty well. Numbers would not be a problem. It would be the size of the fish that would kill us. I think our biggest problem is we get stressed out when we are not catching the numbers of quality fish because we are using big baits and we switch to our "Panic Box" and throw the typical weekend angler lures. If you could be patient and have confidence that you are on some big fish and using big fish lures I think you might do better than you expect. Set your goals obtainable. Top 50 and get out with some money.

[Deleted account]

It's not even close to being the same thing as boxing. That is comparing apples to bananas.

The equipment is not the limiting factor. The knowledge of the waters and the experience of being in similiar scenarios is the seperating factors.

Mike

I couldn't disagree more. It could be marbles, bowling or darts if you prefer, same results, what separates the pros from the rest isn't equipment, physical talent, competitive nature, psychological makeup, or anything else alone, its the extremely rare combinations of all these factors, not to mention the exposure to the sport or activity.

[roadwarrior]

You could give me the best of everything as far as equiptment and the big boys would kill me on a zebco. They are far superior in knowledge and skill that no amount of equiptment will compansate for.

X2

[Zach Dunham]

^{I think some people here are severely underestimating professional anglers. There are so many little tiny things (and I mean LITTLE) that the pro's do with just retrieves that make a huge difference. If I had all the best equipment and the best boat with all of the best electronics; I'd probably need a solid two years (And by solid I mean fishing at least every weekend) with that setup before I could do anything of note in a pro tournament.}

[jignfule]

CONSISTANCY- is really the difference in any sports or endeveor. I might luck out and get the bat head out on a 95 mph fastball. We might bowl a 250+ game or reach par on a hole a few times, but what makes people able to compete on a high level and make a living at it is their ablility to do it consistantly. The more consistant your are, the more successful you are ($$$$) I've had great days out fishing when I probably could have place in a few tournys. Can I do it consistantly enough to make a living at it ? , well i ain't givin up my day job.

Also keeping up with KVD is like hitting a 95mph fastball. (consistantly) (IMO)

[preach4bass]

This experiment is conducted by thousands of anglers every year through the Federation and Opens. And, every year, thousands of weekend warriors try to move up through the ranks the same way the pros have had to (with sub-par equipment). Not many make it. The few who do would excell with or without the best of the best equipment. For those of you who think you could compete, go ahead and sprint up throgh the ranks of BASS, take your winnings and sponsor dollars, buy the high-dollar equipment, and show us how good you are. The oppertunity is there!

[K_Mac]

preach4bass is exactly right. There are tens of thousands of bass fishermen who would love to make a living fishing. There are only a very small number who actually do. Yes there are many that cash a check or two once in a while, but not many that actually pay the mortgage fishing. The ones that do are gifted with physical and mental abilities that most of the rest of us don't have. Yes, maybe it takes a little luck, but luck is more often about hard work than anything else in my experience. It takes real guts to sleep in your truck with everything you own on the line, literally. It takes real guts to put it all on the line to enter a tourney with the likes of KVD, Skeet Reese, or Chris Lane and say I can beat these guys. Sometimes it happens. More often it doesn't, and eventually the dream ends for all but a select few. I don't know what the bass fishing equivalent of hitting the 100MPH fastball is, but KVD can do it. Grab a stick and take your cuts, we are all watching. One more thing; it has nothing to do with the stick...

[FD.]

You are kidding yourself. If it were that easy everyone would be doing it.

I have all of the "toys" on my boat. I had to do a list for the insurance company and it comes to over 10K in "stuff" on it. I just topped it off with the side imaging.

It makes a difference against your local competition, but not against those guys. I fish with and against several of the Elites and can tell you first hand that it is 99% knowledge and 1% equipment.

[Michael DiNardo]

Thank you FishinDaddy, you made my point. It is 99% knowledge gained through experience. You don't have to run a 4.3 40, be able to tell the difference between a curve and a fastball or skate better than you can walk. There is nothing that they do physically that you can't do. Sorry there are too many shapes and sizes and ages that are succesful to say it is physical talent.

Mike

[evrgladesbasser]

I think once you learned how to use the electronics you would do far better than you would think. I know there is a lot of knowledge involved with the pros, however the electronics these days that most of us can't afford paint a very vivid picture of where the fish are!

This arguement might hold water, except for the fact that many of these anglers have been doing this for 20+ years. Long before the great equipment we have today came along. What good is a fishfinder on Lake Okeechobee? Your fishing in 5ft or less of water. What equipment are they using there that gives them such an edge? Anybody in a bass club or who fishes tournaments can tell you that equipment is a lot less valuable than many think. Especially when some old man in a 1982 tracker with a 25hp pulls up next to your 2012 ranger with a 250hp, then proceeds to pull 20lbs of fish more than you out of his livewell. Experience, knowledge, time on the water are worth more than electronics. Some of these guys have an intuition and understanding that most don't have.

[tomustang]

but they aren't Supermen. Just look at the results of the FLW Tournament in Pittsburgh.

You can't compare PA tournament notes to everything else. Any pro will tell you PA sucks for getting big numbers. Only good thing we got is Erie and that shared with two other states

[K_Mac]

Knowledge+Experience=Success. It is a fine formula that is at work in all areas of our lives. Yet it no more defines how to achieve bass fishing fame and fortune than Einstein's e=mc2 defines the workings of the Cosmos.