The pros dont know much more than we do

[LrgmouthShad]

29 minutes ago, T-Billy said:

Monkey beat me over the head with a 25% off sale on 'em. Couldn't help myself.

Don’t worry. I’m right there with ya. Monkey had not bothered me for a couple months and then he imposed havoc on me during this Labor Day timeframe

[NorthernBasser]

Forget the knowledge and skills involved in being a pro angler. Most of us here wouldn't even be able to handle the stress and pressure that goes along with being a professional angler. 

[Jrob78]

11 hours ago, Robnkey said:

Hey I believe the pros are in perfect water at perfect times of the year. Very seldom are they actually looking for places to fish. Its just a barrel Fishing "smallmouth". Drop your rig straight down and look at forward facing rader and fish on. Fishing on a perfect lake at perfect times we all can make money. Pros are just like every other angler there just fishing in bass factories. 

It's ok to just say you don't know anything about profesional tournament fishing.

[Triptych]

I used to think I was a great bass fisherman and could compete against anyone. One day I decided to join a kayak bass tournament. I got spanked hard! I finished 17th or so out of 30 anglers. It was a humbling experience. This was not even pro level stuff just a bunch of locals.

 

I instantly demoted myself to ameteur bass fisherman after that and because of that have been learning so much more about where the bass are, what lures to use, etc. since that event a couple of years ago. Now I get lucky and usually finish in the in the top 10, but still get spanked by the local hammers!

 

So if you're soaking a senko and catching bass while the guy next to you is throwing a frog getting skunked and think you have what it takes and think you can hang with the pros, think again. It's another level.

 

Oh yeah, the adrenaline rush you get when you hook onto a big one that may cash you a check is way different than if you were fishing for fun. You panic and fidget way more than usual which sometimes causes the fish to come off. Then the emotions hit you and you start side tracking switching to lures and techniques you think will get you another big one, and then you end up catching nothing else and it's time for lines in. The pros fish and practice so much that they don't worry about that stuff anymore. It becomes second nature for them about what to do next and how to land each fish without making mistakes.

[Kelvin]

Working in healthcare I've got a chance at being around some pros from all walks of sport.  NFL, MLB, PGA, NHL.  One day at during a break at my office I had a chance to toss a football with an NFL wideout.  I was maybe 20 yards away and he was barely throwing and he nearly broke my hands.  He then threw left handed and the sound and velocity of his throws from his left hand (he's a righty) were insane.  He was throwing behind his back with velo and accuracy.   

 

Same thing happened with my PGA pros they were smoking and joking and hitting shots off handed much much better than I did during a range session.  Trick shots, one handed, blind shots....they were other worldly good at their sport.   And this was practice no less. 

 

Played a pick up game with a former NBA'er.  He was d**n near 50 at the time, high as a kite and skinny as a rail and moved with an ease and quickness most can only dream about.  It was insane.  He was so much better than anyone on the court it was not even fair.   He had to slow down to catch my passes bc I wasn't used to his speed and he still put on a clinic. 

 

Point is:  There are levels to everything that no one really knows until they are side by side next to a pro when they are locked into game mode that no amateur is even remotely aware of.  I'm certain when I meet a bass pro fisherman he'll be next tier for sure.

[Mobasser]

In some ways this reminds me of a big club tournament I fished 30yrs ago on Missouri's Truman lake. My partner and I thought we were good at the. We were really fired up to fish this one, and studied maps along with all sorts of other preparations.                                      To sum it up,we came in second to last place. It was a humbling experience. At least we didn't get totally skunked. The Man who won the event had never fished that lake before, and brought his club in from Oklahoma.          " Be the best in town, until the best comes to town".

[Deleted account]

1 hour ago, Kelvin said:

Working in healthcare I've got a chance at being around some pros from all walks of sport.  NFL, MLB, PGA, NHL.  One day at during a break at my office I had a chance to toss a football with an NFL wideout.  I was maybe 20 yards away and he was barely throwing and he nearly broke my hands.  He then threw left handed and the sound and velocity of his throws from his left hand (he's a righty) were insane.  He was throwing behind his back with velo and accuracy.   

 

Same thing happened with my PGA pros they were smoking and joking and hitting shots off handed much much better than I did during a range session.  Trick shots, one handed, blind shots....they were other worldly good at their sport.   And this was practice no less. 

 

Played a pick up game with a former NBA'er.  He was d**n near 50 at the time, high as a kite and skinny as a rail and moved with an ease and quickness most can only dream about.  It was insane.  He was so much better than anyone on the court it was not even fair.   He had to slow down to catch my passes bc I wasn't used to his speed and he still put on a clinic. 

 

Point is:  There are levels to everything that no one really knows until they are side by side next to a pro when they are locked into game mode that no amateur is even remotely aware of.  I'm certain when I meet a bass pro fisherman he'll be next tier for sure.

 

Yup. I'm always amused by guys that think they can hang with pros in any sport.

[Catt]

The pros dont know much more than we do

 

Know: be aware of through observation, inquiry, or information.

 

The same information is available to us that is available to the Pros. The difference is what you do with the information.

 

The question was NOT if we can compete with the Pros. 

[Mike L]

10 minutes ago, Catt said:

The pros dont know much more than we do

 

Know: be aware of through observation, inquiry, or information.

 

The same information is available to us that is available to the Pros. The difference is what you do with the information.

 

The question was NOT if we can compete with the Pros. 

Exactly!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mike

[Bankc]

If you watch most professional sports, you'll notice a lot of these guys don't do thing "correctly".  It's not uncommon at all to see NBA players with ugly shots, PGA golfers with ugly swings, baseball players with weird pitching deliveries or batting stances, etc. 

 

What makes a pro a pro isn't their wealth of conventional knowledge.  It's their application of that knowledge.  

[king fisher]

     I was fishing this past weekend with a friend on a lake where he lives.  The first day we fished a familiar pattern and caught 65 bass.  My friend bragged that he knew that lake better than any one.  The next day we fished, and the wind blew hard.  The previous  day's pattern was not working, and we struggled to catch 14 small bass.  We had brought a novice angler wit us the second day, and he kept saying the bass must not like to bite on windy days.  My friend would agree and all day long they both kept saying we should just go back home because it was to windy to catch bass.

       I don't get many chances to fish, and begged them not to give up.  I pointed out that the bass still lived in the lake, and had to eat in order to survive no matter how hard the wind blew.  I told them the wind may make the fishing difficult, but the fish were as willing to hit lures, as they were the day before when the wind was calm.  We simply needed to figure out where the fish were, what they wanted, and if we could present the baits properly given the conditions.  I told him I'm sure a professional was adjusting for the wind, and catching fish at that very moment.  My friend disagreed, and said no pro would be doing better than us.  He new the lake well, and was a excellent fisherman, the bass simply did not bite on days the wind blew this hard. 

      The next day I looked on line to see how one of the local guides did on the lake that day.  There was a picture of two happy clients each holding bass that looked to be around 8 pound's.  The date was shown to be the previous day, and I could see the white caps on the water in the back ground.  He put the numbers down at 46 smaller bass along with the two big ones in the picture.

      The guide makes his living fishing for bass.  Not only did he have to find bass that would bite, he had to find a way for his clients with different skill levels to catch them.  If he can't get his clients fish on windy days, than he doesn't stay in business very long.  Any one that makes their living fishing has to be exceptionally good, or they wont be making their living fishing.  Many amateur's can be very good, or even better than pros some of the time, but to be a professional, means you have to be good all of the time. or you wont get paid.

      I was going to send my friend a link to the website and show him what a professional caught that day, but I decided I want to go fishing with him again, more than I want to prove I was right.

       

 

       

[Mobasser]

I think a big part of this is the pressure that top pro's have on them. They're sponsored of course, but all eyes are on them to make a good showing in every event.                  They're expected to do well every time. In many ways they do know more. If one pattern doesn't work out, they have a solid back up plan, and can make it work also. How many times have you heard guys say" my pattern fell apart".

 

[Mobasser]

I always admired Larry Nixon. I followed his career years ago. I later saw a video of him fishing. The first thing in my mind was, no way! No way could I ever compete against him. Every cast was on target perfectly, and if something didn't work out he didn't waste time changing up. He had a back up pattern ready to go at all times.                   At least for me, I've never been that good. I probably won't ever be either. I have no doubt that he knows more about bass fishing than I do. He is just one example. There are many other pro fisherman that are like this also.

[Greenfrog]

11 hours ago, Jrob78 said:

It's ok to just say you don't know anything about profesional tournament fishing.

Its okay to say what you like. I haven't had very much experience with tournament fishing yet. Soon my friends. 1 will rule... oh "professional" fishing you mean. It will be challenging but I will prevail. 

[Johnbt]

The pros may not know much more, but that's usually enough.

 

After all, a .250 hitter is just so-so average, while a .300 hitter is probably in the Hall of Fame.

[Cgolf]

I do think the pros are better than us for sure at being able to go to different lakes and catch a limit of bass most of the time. The argument that they go there at prime times kind of works, but the Covid year shifted the schedule and they did alright. Personally doing vacations around supposed ideal times only to see Mother Nature crush my hopes and dreams happens to them too during the tournies . And yeh on my adopted home lake or a lake with reeds I could probably hold my own, but put me on other lakes I would suck. I guess they would be considered a Jack of all trades. 
 

Generally they don’t capture the largest fish, but seeing a fellow Wisconsinite hit the century mark with smallies impresses the he!! out of me. The big bass specialists like Tom and others are special fisherman and I honestly don’t know how many of them tourney fish as well. I would think the mindset shift would be difficult. 

the only worry I have is the new sonar technology will make it too easy, but time will tell with that. 

 

[PhishLI]

On 9/6/2022 at 8:47 AM, Catt said:

The question was NOT if we can compete with the Pros. 

Whatcha talkin' 'bout, Willis? Dude didn't ask any questions. He was just riffing. Here, look. 

On 9/4/2022 at 8:35 AM, scaleface said:

  Looking at the lures that the top ten pros used at the recent Mississippi river tournament in Wisconsin . Gerald Swindel used dark frogs for dark skies , light frogs for bright skies . Chris Johnston , on the other hand , used light frogs for dark skies and dark frogs for sunny skies .  Just goes to show it wasnt the colors but the people throwing them .

 

[Catt]

2 hours ago, PhishLI said:

Dude didn't ask any questions.

 

Kinda made my point huh?

 

[T-Billy]

I see pros breaking fish off all the time because they're pitching into cover with flouro. They don't seem to know much about proper line selection. ? #STRAIGHTBRAIDBRIGADE

[RDB]

Know:

• intransitive verb To perceive directly; grasp in the mind with clarity or certainty.
• intransitive verb To have a practical understanding of, as through experience; be skilled in.
• intransitive verb To have fixed in the mind.
• intransitive verb To have experience of.
• intransitive verb To perceive as familiar; recognize.
• intransitive verb To be acquainted with.
• intransitive verb To be able to distinguish; recognize as distinct.
• intransitive verb To discern the character or nature of.

 

Strange logic…I guess that means if information can be acquired, you know as much as the next person.  That explains why I failed advanced statistics in college.  I knew as much as the professor, I just didn’t apply it properly.

14 hours ago, Catt said:

.

 

[RDB]

18 hours ago, PhishLI said:

Dude didn't ask any questions

Your right, he made a statement.  Read the title of the post.

 

If I didn’t know better, I would swear my teenage kids are posting under aliases.  They think they know more than everyone else too.  Maybe this application of the word “know” explains why.  

[813basstard]

Haha..don’t forget about the sacrifice. A lot of dudes complain when they click out 4 minutes late. 
Try taking that on that road and missing birthdays, anniversaries, for the hell of it parties and such

[Catt]

Just because someone ain't a "Pro" angler doesn't mean they don't "know" how to catch bass or they couldn't compete at that level. 

[Cbump]

There was a “non working man” tournament on a local lake here on a Thursday morning a few months ago. 6-11am. My friend and I had the day off and just KNEW we could go win that thing. All the hammers would be working right? How could a bunch of old retired guys beat us? 
Wow, we got smoked. Dead last and It wasn’t close. Apparently when you’re retired you get to fish a lot more than we do lmao. Also pretty sure that group of old men put that tourney on to hustle people just like us! Lol

[gim]

On 9/5/2022 at 11:42 AM, DitchPanda said:

age gets everybody in every sport eventually

Not Tom Brady.  He's the ageless wonder playing a full contact sport at the ripe old age of 45!