The Melding of Two Pro Anglers ~

[A-Jay]

 Yes it’s January and here in the north woods, the days are short, the nights are long, and the water’s hard.

So I bang away at this keyboard not really ever knowing what might come out next.

And then there’s this . . . .

 

I’m a fan of watching bass tournaments, both old & new.

Most recently all the LIVE derbies we now have available.

I like most everything about them, but one of my favorite parts of these deals,

are the live post fishing day interviews with the contestants. 

This includes but may not be limited to those that were successful that day,

those that were unfortunately unsuccessful, and everything in between.  

So often there’s much to learn as well as a bit of comic relief from the participants. 

 

 I started thinking – what if we could combine two Pro personalities (past and or present).

 What type of beyond amazing fishing skills would or could result ?

And what would those post day interviews be like ?  

 

I have a few right off:

 

Rick Clunn and KVD

Perhaps building the perfect beast

 

Mike Iaconelli and Mark Davis

The Ying & Yang

 

Gerald Swindle and James Watson

Just for pure comic relief

 

A-Jay

 

 

 

 

 

[12poundbass]

If he were still with us 

 

Aaron Martens/ Dean Rojas

 

I guess I should elaborate. 
 

Polar opposite. Martins was a finesse guru and made a ton of money on the drop shot. Rojas is a power fisherman and has made a ton of money on his frog. 

[Deleted account]

Larry Nixon/Hack Attack

[Team9nine]

Some low hanging fruit here, and probably too obvious of pairings...but here's a few thoughts;

 

If I could pick two anglers at the height of their professional careers from a similar era and pair them up against two greats from a slightly different era, etc., then have them fish off in a series of Championship Team events for all the marbles, I'd go:

 

Bill Dance & Roland Martin

vs.

Rick Clunn & Larry Nixon

vs.

Kevin Vandam & Jacob Wheeler

 

All 6 of these guys dominated their respective eras. As a different twist, pairing a couple somewhat obvious anglers with specialties in a boat for a day, just so I could sit back and be an observer and listen to them talk technique back and forth out on the water while fishing, I'd throw these pairings out there:

 

Alfred Williams & Dean Rojas (frog fishing) ...sub - Ish Monroe

Tommy Biffle & Denny Brauer (jig flipping) ...sub - Greg Hackney

Charlie Campbell & Zell Rowland (topwater) 

Doug Hannon & Bill Murphy (big bass)

 

The last two are not "pros," but... 

 

 

[A-Jay]

34 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

Some low hanging fruit here, and probably too obvious of pairings...but here's a few thoughts;

 

If I could pick two anglers at the height of their professional careers from a similar era and pair them up against two greats from a slightly different era, etc., then have them fish off in a series of Championship Team events for all the marbles, I'd go:

 

Bill Dance & Roland Martin

vs.

Rick Clunn & Larry Nixon

vs.

Kevin Vandam & Jacob Wheeler

 

All 6 of these guys dominated their respective eras. As a different twist, pairing a couple somewhat obvious anglers with specialties in a boat for a day, just so I could sit back and be an observer and listen to them talk technique back and forth out on the water while fishing, I'd throw these pairings out there:

 

Alfred Williams & Dean Rojas (frog fishing) ...sub - Ish Monroe

Tommy Biffle & Denny Brauer (jig flipping) ...sub - Greg Hackney

Charlie Campbell & Zell Rowland (topwater) 

Doug Hannon & Bill Murphy (big bass)

 

The last two are not "pros," but... 

 

 

I like it ~

A-Jay

[Mobasser]

I'll say Larry Nixon and Tommy Martin. A great duo.

[LrgmouthShad]

Greg Hackney and Taku Ito perhaps for the combination of fishing skills. That would be interesting

[Glenn]

15 hours ago, A-Jay said:

Yes it’s January and here in the north woods, the days are short, the nights are long, and the water’s hard.

 

The cabin fever is strong in this one.

 

 

 

[MN Fisher]

10 minutes ago, Glenn said:

 

The cabin fever is strong in this one.

 

 

 

Gotta remember that it's Andy....his life 'goes to the dogs' quite regularly...Lynn is only able to keep him partially sane.

[Choporoz]

12 hours ago, Team9nine said:

 

If I could pick two anglers at the height of their professional careers .... and pair them up 

3 boats; 2 pros on each:

Ike & KVD

Ish Monroe & Keith Poche

Dean Rojas & Alton Jones 

 

I'd pay to watch...lol

[A-Jay]

33 minutes ago, Glenn said:

 

The cabin fever is strong in this one.

 

 

 

Admittedly 

Probably no reason to expect anything less and it has a likelihood of getting worse before it gets better. 

A-Jay

[Team9nine]

47 minutes ago, Choporoz said:

3 boats; 2 pros on each:

Ike & KVD

Ish Monroe & Keith Poche

Dean Rojas & Alton Jones 

 

I'd pay to watch...lol

Not sure if I should ?or ? - Maybe add a 4th boat in this competition; Wheeler & Lucas

[Choporoz]

17 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

Not sure if I should ?or ? - Maybe add a 4th boat in this competition; Wheeler & Lucas

I'm unfamiliar with that pairing....but while searching for info about it, I did happen to find Drew Hinton calling Scott Martin a cry-baby...lol

[DitchPanda]

18 minutes ago, Choporoz said:

I'm unfamiliar with that pairing....but while searching for info about it, I did happen to find Drew Hinton calling Scott Martin a cry-baby...lol

Oh yeah you mean Drew Benton..I remember when he was fishing "scotts spot" even tho he had fished it all tournament so Scott was whining at him and he says fine you can have it I don't do well with cry babies. Scott says I'm not crying I'm just then Drew says no your crying..cuz your a cry baby. Classic!

Btw how do you meld really well rounded guys like Feider or Palaniuk? I've seen Brandon win power fishing and win finesse fishing. Seth has won dropshotting and he won angler of the year last year flipping and spinnerbaiting no deeper than 8 ft of water.

Martens was another guy like this..RIP hog snatcher. Dude was known for his drop shotting prowess..but he dominated Chesapeake bay with a bladed jig and spinnerbait..that year he also crushed everybody at havasu flipping heavy reeds with 50lb braid and a slither rig. A few years prior he won the all star championship in Decatur Illinois shallow cranking. He was the epitome of well rounded.

[HaydenS]

Not old and new, but Wheeler and Paulinuk would be crazy combination!

[Mobasser]

Going back some time: A deep clear lake tourney- main species, small mouth bass.                                 The team of Charlie Brewer and Billy Westmoreland. I still tend to think they'd be hard to beat, even today.

[Columbia Craw]

I’d like to see Bryan Thrift and Andy Morgan in the same boat.

 

Also, Greg Hackney and Todd Castledine