Weight It In Or Keep Your Mouth Shutt!

[roadrunner]

Bill,

I definitely agree with you about the guys standing around after a derby saying, "if i only would of had a 6 pounder I would of won" Yea so would fifty other guys!

There is a guy that fishes the ozarks by the name of "Cowboy" who is famous for saying these exact words. It has gotten to the point where people actually egg him

on after the tournaments about how many big ones he lost, just to get a big laugh!! One thing I do not agree with you Bill is about the unprofessionalism of the FLW

boys. I have fished both BASS and FLW co-angler and I just fished FLW this past week, The one big difference I noticed this week was the LACK of EGOS the FLW

anglers have compared to the BASS guys. For the most part the FLW anglers were good ol' boys just like us having fun fishing. I would guess that out of the 150

anglers 100 have real jobs when they are not fishing. I did not see any guys like Skeet or Rojas or Swindle who think they are to COOL for everyone else. I fished

with Andy Montgomery and Brandon Coulter, both guys gave me plenty of water and went out of there way to net my fish. I can't say the same thing about Ken Cook

on Grand lake two years ago (complete jerk)! Anyways I finished 49th and had a blast!

[Bill Babler]

Doug, No your post was not really apart of this and for gosh sakes congrats on being chosen to get to do this. I mean that with all my heart.

This was just a rant, cause I'm tired of fishermen, trying to be more than what they are.

My post was coming from the last couple of weeks. Lots of us took FLW touring pro's on guide trips before the cut off. Against the rules, had some texting us during the derby, wondering how to catch-em. That is a big NO, NO.

Roadrunner, great to hear as far as the ego's, but after being around them for 3 weeks, my experence was quite a bit different.

Two different guys I guided were first timers, and they both said fishing the entire circuit that for the most part lots of the guys were premadonas.

Both had fished numerious events as amatuers, both Elite and FLW and said they prefered the Elite anglers. The reason they were fishing FLW was it required no qualification, only MONEY.

You know alot of those guys as long as they pony up the bucks for the entire circuit have no qualification requirments other than own a Genmar Boat and they are ready to go.

I find it very hard for a fisherman to have an ego. What in the world have you contributed to society?

My admiration tends to go toward, Teachers, our Military our Medical Researchers, Or people helping people.

I guess we just need to put it in perspective.

What got this whole She-bang started was the Wouda-Couda-Shouda I heard fisherman after fisherman make this week. It is a flat ego thing. I'm really better than you, I just had bad luck and lost a fish, or I wouda beat you. I couda had a bigger fish and I shouda had a better bag. Bad luck the fish got off.

Why not congratulations on a great bag of fish? Or saying, "I didn't have them today, they had my number."

Did not hear that ONE TIME. Always an excuse.

Then again maybe this is what makes a competitive edge. You always have to think you are better than the next guy. Don't guess I'll ever be like that. I like to see the other guy do well also, and don't make excuses when I fail, and in fishing its a lot for me.

Sorry about the post, and Doug have a great time and great to hear of your adventures, we all would have really loved to be In your shoes.

[Doug Weston]

OK Bill thanks for the reply. I really do have a Jerkbait for you to try... I'll try and call you this week. I do agree with you however. I heard some thiings behind the scenes that fits right with what you are saying from some of the guys. In fact, I was hoping I would get to go out with Scott Martin, but after getting to know him a little bit, I am glad I got the guy I did, enough said about that...

Thanks again Bill

Doug

[Stragler]

I am and so are most of us tired of hearing what someone caught in practice that they never weighed in, or for that matter, never really weighed on a certified scales but guess at.

I am also sick of hearing who designed this or that and how they fish it. Keep your mouth shut and just fish. Let your body of work speak for what you have done.

I am also sick and tired of hearing about the one that got away!!!

Here is a news bullitin. If it got off, "YOU DIDN'T CATCH IT'. You didn't have a chance at it, cause you didn't get it in the boat. It is the same as if it never bit. "PERIOD"...... It did not happen, you messed it up or it was not to be. Shut up and Fish.

In this FLW Bunch, I have never heard all the B-t---N about I had this or that on, and it got off. Bull-Pucky!!!! You didn't catch it and it does not count. I have caught 10'S of thousands of bass, more than most of these FLW Hero's that are fishing here, and I cannot tell you what the one that got off my line weighed before I even got it in the boat. I can't--you can't-- and they can't. If it got off, "IT DON'T COUNT". IS THAT CLEAR!!!

If you are fishing a derby or just fishing and you loose one, that is fishing. Keep your mouth shut and go about your business, don't say, I would be here or there if I had not lost a 6 pounder. That is perhaps the biggest bag of sour grapes you as a fisherman can spit out. "NEVER, AND I MEAN NEVER, SAY I WOULD HAVE DONE THIS OR THAT,BUT I LOST ONE AT THE BOAT.!!!!

This seems to be the FLW theme song. Very unprofessional.

This is getting to be super old news, and I for one am ready for them to go away.

For cripes sakes, Dave Barker and Tim Sainato had bigger bags that they weighed in today than the FLW dudes.

Walker, had a big day, and my congrats to him on one of the best days anyone has ever had on the rock, but now reality has sit in.

13 to 16 pounds a day, is what we catch here, on an everyday basis, reguardless of weather.

Walkers 26 was fun, but I'm tired of it now, lets go catch our own fish.

The Elite boys were fun. Can't say the same here.

Bill I have only heard you this upset one other time and that was last year. I appreciate your opinion but don't lose sleep over it, your too great a guy. just keep doing what your doing for the betterment of all of us other folks..

[Sam]

Personally, I kinda prize my "one that got away" fish, because those are the ones that may grow a little every time I tell the story. The ones I get in the boat don't do that because they get measured.

But I'm not a tournament fisherman. I don't have any tackle-company patches on my shirt, and I don't even own any wrap-around polarized sunglasses.

[CMAC]

Ya'll know what a basement full of fisherman is???

A Winery!!!

[Tom Spence]

Ok Bill heres some humility for ya. I fished the Heartland Pro Am today. I was way down in the standings because I fished like S--T! I had the bites and missed several, plain and simple. Don't know how big they were and don't care. They never made it to the livewell so it don't matter. On a good note, my non-boater had a limit of 3 for 7th place. Was very happy for him.

For those who haven't been on the water the week heres the scoop. Water temps in the James were 2-3 degrees warmer than down lake. I had 51 in Flat Creek, 50 by Wooley, and 47-48 in Aunts. James has done some clearing in the cape Fair area the past two days, but still has a very mild stain. For you white bass guys, I got into a bunch today on a wiggle wart in Flat Creek just north of the split with the James on the east bank where it gets rocky and steep.

[Mike3004]

On Friday we launched at Cape Fair and had our best catch rate just inside the coves/cuts off the river channel with stickbaits and wiggle warts.

[Phil Lilley]

Ya'll know what a basement full of fisherman is???

A Winery!!!

I LOL big time!

Thanks for the reports guys. Should be a good week on the Rock this week.

[Doug Weston]

Oh guys I almost forgot, just to keep the good feelings going... I took my boat down there to Branson on Wednesday when we were setting everything up for the tournament. I was going to have a couple of hours free, so I was going to try Taney. I parked it in the Convention Center parking lot. Now I do understand that they were staging boats for the TBF tournament, however... I have a Ranger 520 with a Mercury. I came out of the building to leave for the day and there were some guys by my rig. Now I was parked away from the other boats. This guy Identified himself as an FLW official and thanked me for my service (I was in uniform), thanked me for buying a Ranger, but informed me that I could not park my rig in that parking lot because I had a Mercury hanging on it. I told the guy that I was working at the event for the National Guard (the title sponsor for the TBF event). He said he didn't care, Yamaha and Evinrude sponsored the event too and I needed to move. I just told him I was leaving for that day and I would not bring my Ranger boat back. I tried to be understanding, but the more I think about this, the more it rubs me wrong. In fact, Chevy Sponsored the event, but I seen many other vehicles of other brands there.... This guy was not the only one to say something to me either, in fact an Evinrude mechanic (was much more diplomatic) said, "they will probably give you a hard time about having a Mercury in the parking lot." Another guy that had been practicing at Bull Shoals for the TBF, overheard me telling the story to someone else, and told me he was told to move his boat out the parking lot too. Take what you want from this, but I can't see doing this to someone, expecially when they were working/participating at the event. Hell it don't matter what I was doing there. I wasn't parked in their roped off areas. Ok, Ok Rant over

Doug