What the Pros will tell you

[Catt]

I have pondered how to approach this subject for a couple months now and the discussion over in Chris post about crank baits brought it back to light.

First one must keep in mind that what is printed in magazines or on web sites about views of a Professional Angler is limited; each will have a certain number of words, paragraphs, or pages to dedicate to a certain subject. What is printed is a brief summary of the major points, either as prose or as a table; an abridgment or condensation of a work.

Second is the thought that these Pros will not share information without you paying them or that they will in some way deceive, mislead, or straight out lie to you; nothing could be farther from the truth. They do have contractual obligation to sponsors or during a tournament when they are trying to kept a edge over fellow anglers they may embellish details. To think that it is a conspiracy to keep information from the average angler is simply not true.

Having fished Toledo Bend Reservoir 38 years I have on many occasions meet a dozen or so top Professional Angler during the off season or between tournaments at a Caf é, grocery store, camp, or public boat launch. These guys are just like me or you in that they love bass fishing and are very willing to discuss any subject from lures, line, rod/reels, techniques at the drop of a hat and most will drop the hat. For instance I ran into Ben Matsubu in the parking lot at Sportsman's Caf é waiting for it to open, not only did we discuss in detail his new Legend Bass Boat but the problems with finding pre-spawn bass.

I'm sure many other members have similar stories they can relate

[Paul Roberts]

Very well put, Catt.

I think a lot of such griping is sour grapes. But I understand at least some of the reasons for that feeling. When you are thirsting for knowledge, and a then you read something from a pro that is obviously coming from the selling side of his persona -it can tick you off.

Problem for the pro is, they only get so much air time, and that is usually sponsored time. The companies make darn sure the air/ad time they pay for is covered. After this, the pro is 'free' to talk turkey. But few of us get that time with a pro.

Not being on Toledo Bend or other big name waters, I won't be running into big name pros in the parking lot. So a lot of what I read from top pros does sound like, and often is, advertising. So, I can understand angler's frustrations.

But there are good pieces out there -like that interview with Paul Elias. I also know he's not covering all the bases -writing a book before our very eyes! He's offering insights and A LOT of what we get out of such stuff comes from what we bring to it. In education circles it's called "transfer" -the knowledge and experience we have allows us access others won't have -the ability to read between the lines of what's being offered. I find that the more I learn, the more I get out of a good piece of writing. I just don't read something once. I'll re-read good material a year later and get knew insights I'd overlooked before.

There's good stuff out there. But nobody is going to teach you to fish by talking at you. Fishing is a DIY kinda thing. Thus, I CAN see how frustrating it could be for a novice to feel roped in to the advertising, which, in many parts of the fishing world is the last bastion of the "snake oil salesman". Read the descriptions of lures in the catalogs -it's enough to turn my stomach.

[cart7t]

Most of the Pro's are well versed in most all aspects of lure types, presentations, finding and fishing various types of structures, seasonal patterns, etc.

Any one of them can come here, a seminar, a TV show, a magazine article, etc. and teach most typical non-professional fishermen most of what they need to know about a subject to more than get them started.

Having said that.

These guys are in a profession that involves competing against one another week in and week out. It seems natural that a Professional would've learned "tweaks" and "secrets" that have worked for him that he obviously won't disclose in an open, public forum regardless of media type. I don't blame them nor is it important for me to know. Doing so would only eliminate an edge he has on his competition. Once I've been given the general information on how to use a bait or a presentation type, I'd like to be able to change or modify it to suit me and my needs since often what works for one angler won't work for another.

BTW, just walk up to Bill Dance and ask him some specifics about a technique, he'll talk your ears off and this is going back to a time when he was still fishing competitively.

[TimJ]

Paul, not only do I re-read the good stuff, I also treat it like a school book and mark/highlight stuff that I will use. Makes it easier when I go back to it.

Quite awhile ago, Jon Bondy and I were fishing a St.Clair club event and along comes Mickey Bruce, pre-fishing for a B.A.S.S. event. He was quick to share ideas and Jon started a friendship with him which, I believe, exists to this day. Jon has done well himself, too.

Having been lucky enough to fish in 3 Elites/Top 150s on St.Clair (as an AM), I found that the pros were very open to discussing just about anything. Sitting around in the boat pre-tournament chatting about the business side with Woo Daves was out there...and this was after his Classic win!

Tim Jarrold

[Paul Roberts]

Fishing is too complex for there to be one way to catch 'em.

Buck Perry said, repeatedly, (paraprased): "If you are relying on some secret twitch (in your lure) to carry you, you are sadly mistaken, and will wind up disappointed."

This idea is certainly not news to the pros.

There's no reason not to share -unless you happen to be working on something particular that is sensitive in timing or location. And that's understandable.

[Catt]

My point is away from the tournaments, interviews for magazines, or TV cameras every Pro I have came in contact with will offer up more learned "tweaks" and "secrets" than you can remember.

These guys are just like us in that they can not help but talk bass fishing

[Tin]

My point is away from the tournaments, interviews for magazines, or TV cameras every Pro I have came in contact with will offer up more learned "tweaks" and "secrets" than you can remember.

These guys are just like us in that they can not help but talk bass fishing

When you get that package from TW you better not let meYsecrets out... ;D

[RazorBassin]

Well I haven't personally had the pleasure of speaking with a Pro, but I could see where they are coming from as well as the average fisherman.  Hopefully one day I'll get to.

[CJ]

I agree Catt. To add to that, most pros are a vault full of great knowledge but they are also smart enough to know they are also still students of the sport. The tide changes with bass fishing often. There is and always will be more to learn.

[Dalton Tam]

I'm glad you made this post Catt... I have been trying to get a message out that is similar to this. This is my message: I don't come from an extrememely wealthy family, Although I make good grades, I am not the smartest person either. My father is a carpenter and my mom is a pharmasist's technician. What I can say is that I do have a dream of becoming a professional angler. THE BIG MESSAGE, "Don't ever believe you can't do something." Don't be too modest to click the contact button on your favorite angler's website, or your favorite music artist etc. Recently I have had many doors opened for me just because I am outgoing and I have the heart to go forth and conquer. One day , while in a local store, I met up with Jeff Conella who fishes in the BASS weekend series. He was very willing to teach me many things that he knows about fishing such as the benefits of flourocarbon and tungsten weights. MATTER OF FACT he was on his way to fish a tournament on Toledo Bend. It was a great experience. Also, thanks to this website I got in touch with Mr. Bob Lusk who owns pond boss. When he told me to call him up about some info about his career, we fell into conversation about me and my passion for fishing competitavely. Now I will get to meet him at the classic in Alabama this year and he is going to introduce me to a few pros and help me learn a little bit about the professional world. Another Example is when I was on one of my favorite angler's websites, Randy Howell, and decided to click the contact button to tell him how big a fan I am and asking him to lend me a tip or two about my dream. Sure enough, two weeks later I recieved an email from Mr. Howell, which I still have saved, with many good words of enlightenment and advice. Hopefully God will keep opening doors in my life and one day I may become pro. Just never be too modest and always be outgoing and you will be surprised what can happen.

[90gambler200hp]

To quote Ike "NEVER GIVE UP!"

[Chris]

When I grew up in Florida. I spent my time after school working in a bait and tackle shop. Many of the B.A.S.S. tournaments that was going on at the time would trickle in Pro's at this shop. Many trying to get details about this and that water. Because most of these guys not all where not from Florida they came to us to get a little inside information. Most of it was about where to go and what was working. So at a young age here is this teenager (me) shooting the breeze about fishing with some of the top pro's in the business. I remember one time Peter Thliveros was fishing a St. Johns tournament and was asking Greg about a old dike that was on the river that Greg had won on. It wasn't until a hour into the conversation that I realized who he was talking to. The guy who owned the shop at the time was a well respected local tournament angler so for me the job was more about the education than the money. Up the road from that shop next to a lake I fished quite often was another tackle shop that was owned by B.A.S.S. Pro John Bitter and run by local Pro Doug Gilley or John depending on the day. I spent much of my time if I wasn't catching anything picking their brain about fishing one bought lure at a time lol. John and the other shop owner where friends so over the years got to do a lot of brain picking. Later when there was a lure company who was just starting out that myself and Greg took under our wing to show him how to break into the tackle business. Part of his line up was Lee Sisson products that he sold to other companies. The company took on Charley Youngers as their Pro. The company was making crankbaits and I got to pick Charleys brain quite a bit while he was remodeling the tackle shop. I also had the chance to meet Tom Mann as a teen and got to pick his brain about fishing plastics and Roland Martin while at a boat show. Jim Finley who fished B.A.S.S. tour and also moonlighted as a camera man who filmed a few of Shaw Grigsby shows and others came to our shop. He actually taught me to tube fish among other lures. Greg MacIntosh (The shop owner and not a Pro but should be) taught me to spinnerbait fish and worm fish. We spent hours pitching into a cup to pass time and played a game that we called the world of oz where we thought outside of the box about bass fishing. It was in these long conversations about technical bass fishing as a teen that educated me about bass fishing. Other Pro's I have had conversations with through the years that have I learned a lot from where David Fritts, Larry Nixon, Guy Eaker, Dion Hibdon, to name a few.

[Buckeye1955]

I still chuckle over being on Lake Norman when some of the pros were in pre-fishing. Ran down one side of a cove while a couple of them were working down the other. Me - 2, Them - 0. Didn't take them long when we met at the back to take a look at what I was using...

I chatted with them a couple times at the docks coming and going. Good guys all. Very open and forthcoming with tips. We're all members of the same fraternity. It's great to get the chance to be around them some.

[Bassnajr]

I had the pleasure of meeting both Tim Horton and Brent Chapman at the B.P.S. near me. I was in the store a while before their presentations and got to speak with both of them. I agree, regular guys. Spoke with Tim Horton about my total lack of crankbait experience and he took the time to give me a "Cranking 101" crash course. I spoke with Brent Chapman about plastics etc. I was VERY surprised that during his presentation, Brent's biggest advice was to pick a few of your favorite brands of plastics and colors and stick with them. He had unloaded 100 lbs. of plastics from his boat the week before and actually DISCOURAGED the crowd from buying tons of plastics they would never use.

[bassattackerdad]

90% or more of the pros we've talked to, and we've talked to plenty, are very forthcoming with information about baits, etc. Bass fishing is pretty transparent these days. the huge difference between them and us, I think, is their synthesis of information and continual time on the water. As the old addage in real estate goes: location, location, location. in my opinion, this is numero uno in bass fishing. Baits and techniques are secondary. Finding fish and finding big fish is the first step. All the baits and techniques are out there. These pros love to share their stories, just like any other fisherman. We spent about a half an hour with Scott Suggs as he described in detail how he managed to win the FLW Cup worth a million bucks. He told us exactly where and how he did it. We live near Jay Yelas and have become friends. When my son was going to fish in a national tournament, he showed Jay his tackle and Jay pointed out a number of things to throw and not to throw. I believe when these guys are on stage or on tv or in an ad they have to preach about the sponsor's gear, but when you are one on one with them, they give you the straight scoop.

[WRB]

Out west the B.A.S.S. touring "pro" bass fisherman doesn't get out our way often. We have few tournaments occasionally and the US Opens that draw them out this way. The venues that gets the average bass angler close to a pro are events like Anglers Marine Bass A Thon or BAT held each year.

This is a good event where the pro's mingle with everyone and have table top mini seminars and main stage promotional seminars.

I try to go each year to talk to old friends you only seem to see at events like this.

Last year I was chatting with Butch Brown and Mike Long, talking fishing when we noticed a few pro's were ease dropping and we invited into the conversation. Trophy bass fishing talk is very different from what the pro's are exposed to and they are curious just like anyone else to learn something.

This year while visiting with Don Iovino at the Lowrance both looking at the Structure Scan screen shots he made the day before on at Castaic. Don was pointing out how detailed the new technology was and a couple of guys were looking over my shoulder. One recognized me, and old friend from my Pisces days, Dave Nollar, the other was Larry Hooper, both well known local pros. We got together and started talking about old times and jigs and it wasn't long before a crowd started to gather. The BAT is lots of fun with impromptu conversation and a chance to meet pros in a low key venue.

The point being a pro is another good bass fisherman who also learns from your experience, it's a two way street for everyone.

If you recognize a pro, be polite, introduce yourself and ask whatever question is on your mind. I guarantee you will get an honest answer as possible.

WRB

[b.Lee]

Its good to knew the world is not full of jerks