Fishing stock ponds for T.V. shows....

[Paul Roberts]

A common initial reaction might be "Yeah, come fish in MY waters...blah blah blah. These video spots aren't to prove that KVD or others can fish lol, it's to highlight techniques (like Dance) or promote lures -usually good ones.

The "come and show me in MY lake" misses, once again, the fact that NO lure can make anyone a pro. What I'd like to see is some real details on when, where, and why a given lure shines, instead of the usual "This lure is awesome; It catches the big ones where-ever they are!!!" Where's the gag-me Smilie?

[burleytog]

I would rather they use footage from a tournament (or mock tournament) using real fishing, not some staged private pond with monster fish, that shows a lure actually working in the real world...

Mock tournament?   :-?

[BigJohnny]

It's advertising...

[Jay_G]

I like watching these shows, no matter where they are fishing when there is 6" of snow on my porch and 5" of ice on the lake. Sometimes they do go overboard on the promotion, but I am still thankful I can watch a fishing show in the middle of winter.

We have filmed on El Salto a few times and each time, the bass seem to know the cameras are there. No ducks in a barrel on one of the best bass lakes in the world. 6 Days of filming to get less than 18 minutes of footage.

[CWB]

Yeah SK pro team journal is a joke. 9 times out of 10 they are fishing the same private tank and getting bit on every cast. You could kill them on any bait in there. Can you say ragetail every other word? They can.

Now the few episodes where they were on public waters i actually watched and enjoyed.

The others get deleted five minutes in on the DVR.

I have to respectfully disagree. Although I haven't seen all of them, recently I have watched KVD on Kentucky Lake, George Cochran on the Arkansas River, Mark Menendez on the Coosa River and KVD on Lake St. Clair, all very public waterways. I did see Greg Hackney using his namesake jig on what might have been a private lake etc. but that's it. I really like the Angling Edge show with Al Lindner. He's always on public water and always catches fish. Good explanations of what he is doing also. Classic Patterns and Bass Pros are pretty good too. There is a show called Time On The Water that is filmed on waters I actually fish and that's probably my favorite. I will never watch a Bill Dance show again. Nothing against Bill, who in his prime was arguably the best there was, but I can often see him get bites by the way his rod reacts before he says his signature "there he is". Although I do *** his having a place like that to fish. 

[Bass Tracker 20]

I'd rather watch fishin shows than all the other crap shows on tv ;D

[BrandonD]

Funny how everyone still likes watching though lol

[cart7t]

Quite a whiny bunch around here.

[BigEbass]

I got no big beef with the stocked ponds deal. And I suppose while bass are bass are bass and they still have to be caught, that these ponds do not significantly represent the waters that most viewers are accessing.  But I have learned key things form Bill's show I would say - he does instruct well and has the experience to back it up - the fish he catches are more for show and some substance as well, but it really aint the same.  I frankly get tired of seeing him catch every single bass that is well over 3 pounds - it is just weird somehow to me - but I still watch him and particularly I listen to him - I think he gives good advice about presentation, bass habitat, equipment, etc....The fishing on these ponds just makes in my opinion for a fun backdrop for the fishing academia.  In an ideal world he would have to go out on "a real lake" and figure out the fish and report back to us - but I am sure this is quite difficult for these guys - I am sure his advice on these shows are always sound advice for amateurs like myself - I dont let the bait monkey take me too far though with all of his lures etc..he uses on the show.

I actually tune in more so now to other shows that are more what I see as "real life" fishing - lunkerville is always fun and includes good instructional pieces too. 

Roland martin kinda gets on my nerves for some reason, but he seems to fish more "realistic waters" in his show.

I like to watch them all though from time to time - always something to pick up from these guys!!  But the massive pig caught back to back to back is kinda funny to me - but I still love ya Bill

[Mike D from Lunkerville]

I actually tune in more so now to other shows that are more what I see as "real life" fishing - lunkerville is always fun and includes good instructional pieces too.

thanks for the props BigE... we go for a mix of entertainment, tips and tactics and most of all, real people in real fishing situations... and this season we're making an extra effort to include more instructional segments from our guests, because that's what our viewer wants to see!

[BassThumb]

I hardly ever tune in on Sunday mornings, but I like to watch short clips and instructionals on the internet. Some may have issues with these shows not being authentic, but the truth is I wouldn't watch if they weren't having any success.

There's still things to observe and learn from. I watch rod tips and retrieves, listen to some tackle tips, and also admire the ease at which these guys can cast ambidextrously.  Thats what I'm working on this year.

[SirSnookalot]

Only watch Mark Sosin ,Jose Wejebe and Capt Rick Murphy imo best in their field.

[paul.]

us bass fisherman can be quite an odd bunch sometimes.  complain when the fishing is too hard, and then turn around and complain when it's too easy.  seems what we really wanna do is catch a bunch of big fish on highly pressured water or under tough conditions before we think we've done anything significant to actually be proud of.  for the life of me, with the exception of tournament anglers who HAVE to do this if they are gonna be successful, i can't see why we put so much pressure on ourselves.  isn't this supposed to be fun? :-?

[RiverFisher13]

North American Fisherman about two weeks ago ran a show where the when to a random new body of water and showed them struggling while trying to find the fish. And i feel that bill dance, given it might be on stocked ponds, is about the most informative fishing show out there right now (the 2010 series of bill dance at least).

[VolFan]

us bass fisherman can be quite an odd bunch sometimes. complain when the fishing is too hard, and then turn around and complain when it's too easy. seems what we really wanna do is catch a bunch of big fish on highly pressured water or under tough conditions before we think we've done anything significant to actually be proud of. for the life of me, with the exception of tournament anglers who HAVE to do this if they are gonna be successful, i can't see why we put so much pressure on ourselves. isn't this supposed to be fun? :-?

X2!  It's supposed to be fun.  Relax.  We're trying to outwit something with a brain much smaller and simpler than (most of) ours.

[roadwarrior]

us bass fisherman can be quite an odd bunch sometimes. complain when the fishing is too hard, and then turn around and complain when it's too easy. seems what we really wanna do is catch a bunch of big fish on highly pressured water or under tough conditions before we think we've done anything significant to actually be proud of. for the life of me, with the exception of tournament anglers who HAVE to do this if they are gonna be successful, i can't see why we put so much pressure on ourselves. isn't this supposed to be fun? :-?

Ya know Paul, my ponds are public. I don't

catch a lot of fish out of them, but the ones

I catch are pretty nice. I don't get to jazzed

with people that snub their nose at pond jumpers

or guys fishing from the bank. As you know,

I like live bait, too!

So, my take is this: Enjoy what you do, catch

some big fish and don't pay attention to the nay

sayers.

Back on topic: Stocked ponds on tv make sense

for demonstrating technique and promoting gear.

For my money, big water fishing (In-Fishermen)

is much more fun to watch!

8-)

[Dan:]

I guess the only thing I would say is that part of it for me is personal achievement. I don't value a bass caught from private water as much as a bass caught from public or pressured water. It might sound stupid but I get satisfaction if I can be successful in difficult scenarios. That's part of the whole challenge to me. Yes, I enjoy catching fish, but I enjoy being able to catch fish when others can't even more.

I want to be able to succeed in any conditions, not just the easy ones. You don't get better by not challenging yourself.

[Tin]

I guess the only thing I would say is that part of it for me is personal achievement. I don't value a bass caught from private water as much as a bass caught from public or pressured water. It might sound stupid but I get satisfaction if I can be successful in difficult scenarios. That's part of the whole challenge to me.

I want to be able to succeed in any conditions, not just the easy ones. You don't get better without challenging yourself.

Totally agree Dan. I would take a 5 pound fish out of a highly pressured body of water over a 7 pound fish in a private area (unless it is a tourney). I like the challenge of tough conditions and tough bodies of water. It is great when you finally figure it out and feels like you have applied what you have learned.

[BigEbass]

This same basic discussion is parralleled in other arenas as well.  My family are a bunch of musicians and they are very opinionated about what is good and what is bad - this is the right way, this is the wrong way.  Photography too - you have to use "natural light" - cannot use the in camera meter if you want the best results. 

Rules rules rules....fishing and all other types of activities for some people is purely for fun and enjoyment and of course the challenge.  There are those that will view fishing from private ponds rich in quality bass ripe for easier catching as "the wrong way". 

Alls I can say out of my limited experience is this.  When I fish in the private ponds here in bama, I have a great time.  We catch alot of bass and big ones at times.  As a beginner it gave me alot of confidence that was greatly needed.  Now when we go to local public waters - I feel accomplished in catching even a few good ones.  Which one do I value more than the other?  I like both personally - not everything has to be made into a battle one vs. the other - they are just different.

Having said that, we all are aware that Bill Dance's show is more on the stocked or private type waters, but its just a show - its just a background for him to lecture about fishing tactics.  I tune out specifics about lures cause lets face it, they are there in part selling crap as are all the pros - the whole industry is centered around selling stuff, nothing evil about it necessarily (its the same in many arenas) - but just recognize that.

I just love how every arena has its "purists" that see how people "should" do things - just chill out people - it is more of an accomplishment to catch big ones from public waters sure, but not everyone fishes for ego

Yo Mike D - no problem man - FYI my name is Ellery - I post on your facebook every week or so - take care!

[Fish Chris]

Well the OP said

Bill Dance's show's are all about...catching numbers of huge fish

"Huge" is a very relative term. I see Bill Dance catch a bunch of "nice" fish..... about like what one could expect on a good day to Clear Lk. CA, or the CA Delta.

But rarely does he catch any legit DD bass, let alone 13's and 15's.

Bill seems like a good ol' boy though. I turn on the show for background noise sometimes while I'm on the PC, and if I hear him really flip out about it being a giant, I might glance over my shoulder at it.

But anyway, the funny thing about those stock ponds, is that they often produce good numbers, of nice sized fish, but rarely do they produce the monster, top end sizes that public places do. Of course they are harder to catch, and their are way fewer of them. But that is exactly why the biggest ones, get bigger yet.

I used to really be drawn to those private places as a kid (like sneaking on at night and never caught a bass over 8 lbs. But since then, I have caught so many giants (well, all of them) fishing on public waters that get hammered on constantly.

I think the best reason to watch Bill Dance, is just for entertainment. As was said by somebody earlier, it beats the heck out of those lame "TV reality shows" 

Peace,

Fish

 

[roadwarrior]

Geez...

Welcome back...I just referenced you on

another thread and like magic...Here you

are!

p.s. My comments on the other thread were

meant to paraphrase a theme, not actually a

quote. If there is any issue, please let me know.

-Kent