Wheeler

[DitchPanda]

9 minutes ago, RichF said:

This one wasn't meant specifically for you. I totally get your point though.  I, however, was shown the photo by another Elite Series angler so I have a different opinion, that's all.

 

Yes, this is true.  I believe the vast majority of Elite level pros have a boat deal, but those deals aren't always created equal.  For example, I was paired with Ish on the final day of the BASS Open he won on Oneida Lake back in '11 and he told me his boat deal with Ranger was pretty sweet.  They gave him 2 boats at the start of the year, one of which he would sell outright to essentially fund most of his year on tour.  Ish is in that top 1% of anglers and I highly doubt the lesser names have deals like that.  A lot of guys will get the boat up front but HAVE to sell it at the end of the season or they're on the hook for it.

 

To be fair, you can't really get away with too many infractions on the water when you have a marshal, co-angler, or cameraman with you.  

 

Again, I'm not trying to accuse anyone of anything.  I'm just sharing things that I've seen/heard while trying to put forth a different perspective on pro bass fishing that I don't believe a lot of fans of the sport think about.  

Fair enough I just have a hard time even hinting at somebody doing something wrong because if you even stir the thought of cheating in peoples minds you can ruin there image. Now if you have seen something that makes your mind up then I understand your position on it. Also I'm not saying its as easy as hey just quit your job and make it happen that was a simplified version of it...but I was just just saying it to illustrate a point. It can be done...hell Clunn sold a rifle to fund a tourney back in the day. Sometimes you gotta roll the dice.

[RichF]

6 minutes ago, DitchPanda said:

Fair enough I just have a hard time even hinting at somebody doing something wrong because if you even stir the thought of cheating in peoples minds you can ruin there image. Now if you have seen something that makes your mind up then I understand your position on it. Also I'm not saying its as easy as hey just quit your job and make it happen that was a simplified version of it...but I was just just saying it to illustrate a point. It can be done...hell Clunn sold a rifle to fund a tourney back in the day. Sometimes you gotta roll the dice.

All of these points are 100% valid.  

[GReb]

I’d love to see the map pic since Barnett is my home lake. Interested to see who the “local” is. I do find it ironic that two guys viewed the map and one won the event but the other didn’t finish in the money. That event was crazy to say the least. Terrible weather and high winds

[Shimano_1]

Lots of good points being made. I have no info to add to it other than...if I'm wheeler and I know its floating around out there that I'm cheating...I think I'd walk the line for a while and not do anything that could be misinterpreted.  If he's never cheated then yes maybe a little unfair, but he's still a young guy and if he intends to do it for another 30 years does he really wanna do that with those accusations following him around? As for the calling in and telling on himself for breaking the rules...kind of hard not to with an official and a camera in your boat. I personally kind of like the guy but can't stand the thought of anyone cheating so I have mixed feelings. Also agree that it could be something someone started because he took their money.  He should just make sure going forward there's nothing he does that is anything like a gray area. Id think it would be hard for a guy at his level to cheat much and it not be public

[Daniel Abram]

I always thought the offical was there to make sure you fellow the rules. If he is cheating on the water would not that be hard to do with the boat offical there. Not to mention the camera man. If he is cheating that much then he must be paying someone to look the other way. And I'm sure maybe some might but not all. IMO if he has been cheating. He had a lot of his boat officals helping him or he wouldn't get by with it. And not to offend anyone. IMO gray area is not cheating. 

[DitchPanda]

On 12/19/2020 at 7:43 AM, Shimano_1 said:

Lots of good points being made. I have no info to add to it other than...if I'm wheeler and I know its floating around out there that I'm cheating...I think I'd walk the line for a while and not do anything that could be misinterpreted.  If he's never cheated then yes maybe a little unfair, but he's still a young guy and if he intends to do it for another 30 years does he really wanna do that with those accusations following him around? As for the calling in and telling on himself for breaking the rules...kind of hard not to with an official and a camera in your boat. I personally kind of like the guy but can't stand the thought of anyone cheating so I have mixed feelings. Also agree that it could be something someone started because he took their money.  He should just make sure going forward there's nothing he does that is anything like a gray area. Id think it would be hard for a guy at his level to cheat much and it not be public

Kinda...but how many officials even know all the rules? Anybody can sign up and pay $99 bucks to be a Bassmaster Marshal...its not like all of these people are trained officials 

Also its not like every competitor has a camera guy all 4 days of every tournament. If they have 8 to 12 camera guys and the first 2 days they have 100 to 200 competitors there's alot of guys not being watched...throw an inexperienced marshal in there and there's alot of guys on the honor system.