I know I'm beating a dead horse.......

[snagged in outlet 3]

2 hours ago, Flysmallie said:

It might as well be. Even if the rest of us was triple we still don’t bring in the cash. Just another reflection of our society. 

I still don’t get why “pros” pay to be in tournament.   They aren’t making a living at it.   At least judging by the YouTube videos from “pros” outlining their budget and winnings.  I assume The tournament organizers are the ones netting a profit??

[Gavin]

It would be hard to put the toothpaste back in the tube at this point. On the other hand, my buddies nephew Trey just qualified for the Bass Master Classic.

[jdmidwest]

4 hours ago, Flysmallie said:

It’s all about the benjamins. Nobody gives a big F about conservation until you fry up their swimming profit. It will never go away. 

There you go, lets all start eating bass.  White worms and all....

[jdmidwest]

2 hours ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

I still get why “pros” pay to be in tournament.   They aren’t making a living at it.   At least judging by the YouTube videos from “pros” outlining their budget and winnings.  I assume The tournament organizers are the ones netting a profit??

I have fished one Tourney in my life, buddy suckered me in at Terre Du Lac one day.  $25 entry and it took all the fun out of the day.  Winner was a local that pulled up to his dock on the lake and filled his live well with bass he had been collecting.  Because he always wins it and nobody knows why....

It has never made me want to watch a tourney, fish a lake because of it, buy anything because a pro used it to win one.  I check schedules and avoid the lakes if there is one coming when I want to fish it.  Drop down in the river below and catch more fish without the crowds.

[Al Agnew]

1 hour ago, jdmidwest said:

I have fished one Tourney in my life, buddy suckered me in at Terre Du Lac one day.  $25 entry and it took all the fun out of the day.  Winner was a local that pulled up to his dock on the lake and filled his live well with bass he had been collecting.  Because he always wins it and nobody knows why....

It has never made me want to watch a tourney, fish a lake because of it, buy anything because a pro used it to win one.  I check schedules and avoid the lakes if there is one coming when I want to fish it.  Drop down in the river below and catch more fish without the crowds.

Oh, that brings back memories.  Back when tournaments first came onto the scene, we started a local bass club.  I was fresh out of high school but I knew how to catch bass back then (ain't worth a crap at it on reservoirs now).  We didn't fish for money, we just got together for the competition and bragging rights.  Got a 10 dollar trophy if you won.  None of us had what passed for bass boats back then (and the "new" bass boats would be laughed off the lake these days).  Heck, some of us fished from canoes with a trolling motor, and I had a 12 ft. aluminum johnboat for fishing the lakes.  There were only about 15 of us in the club, so usually no more than 6 or 7 boats, and we mostly fished the local public or semi-public lakes like Bismarck Lake and Sunnen Lake; we fished Wappapello and Clearwater once a year.

Well, Terre du Lac hadn't been a thing for very long at that point and they were still trying to sell lots, so they contacted us to help organize a tournament to publicize their lakes.  So of course we fished it.  You could fish any of the three biggest lakes.  One lake had the reputation of being terrible fishing.  One was muddy.  So I fished the third one, along with about 10 other boats.  We just all kinda lined up and went around the lake fishing the banks...over and over and over.  I just used my favorite crankbait and kept casting, and at the end of the day, I had the biggest bag...on that lake.  A couple guys fished the muddy lake and blew us out of the water.

[Quillback]

9 hours ago, jdmidwest said:

I have fished one Tourney in my life, buddy suckered me in at Terre Du Lac one day.  $25 entry and it took all the fun out of the day.  Winner was a local that pulled up to his dock on the lake and filled his live well with bass he had been collecting.  Because he always wins it and nobody knows why....

It has never made me want to watch a tourney, fish a lake because of it, buy anything because a pro used it to win one.  I check schedules and avoid the lakes if there is one coming when I want to fish it.  Drop down in the river below and catch more fish without the crowds.

And the lakes around here are so busy on a spring Saturday, I have never understood how fishing a tourney can be fun when you've gotta deal with so many other boats, crowded launches and everything that goes with being on a lake with so many other people.  Fishing has always been to me a way to get away from the world.  Now the world comes to the lakes.  I am fortunate to be retired and not have only Saturdays to fish.  That being said, there are still a lot of people out on the lakes during the week.

Hard to predict the future of bass fishing, but there sure are a lot of youth tourneys. Pre-high school, high school and then college.  Kids are accustomed to fishing out of fully rigged bass boats from age 12.  What they see on a Saturday tournament morning is normal to them.  It is so different than the way many of us older folks fished years ago when we were 12 years old.  

Hard to see it changing much in this area, things are booming here.  Booms end of course, but the people are here and some of them will fish or boat out on the lakes.  

 

 

[tjm]

About 15 seconds in hot oil will make those worms edible. I can recall decades ago people on the east coast being upset by a newspaper story mentioning worms in store bought ocean fish. I don't recall the details of the story but the gist was that all fish have  parasites, that parasites are usually species specific (so don't harm humans), and that cooked worms are easily eaten if you aren't told about them.  The next week, at the super market every package of fish that I examined did seem to have worms. So, yeah, eat more bass.

[BilletHead]

4 hours ago, tjm said:

About 15 seconds in hot oil will make those worms edible. I can recall decades ago people on the east coast being upset by a newspaper story mentioning worms in store bought ocean fish. I don't recall the details of the story but the gist was that all fish have  parasites, that parasites are usually species specific (so don't harm humans), and that cooked worms are easily eaten if you aren't told about them.  The next week, at the super market every package of fish that I examined did seem to have worms. So, yeah, eat more bass.

  Parasites in fish is a thing no matter what you catch other than some palegic ocean fish. If you can see them cook them up! More protein. I do flick out the yellow grub deals in bass. The tip of the fillet knife makes quick care for that. @curtisce should have a good supply of worms now because he makes cervechi out of white bass with no ill effects. Come to think of that he's tall and skinny and this could be the reason. Another deal if eating bass is holding you back . Freeze your tasty fillets for -4 for 7 days or -35 for 15 hours. Then you can eat it raw. Bon appetit 😁

[Flysmallie]

1 hour ago, BilletHead said:

Then you can eat it raw.

Nope. 

[Flysmallie]

I actually did fish a lot of tournaments. It was a blast. But the late 80’s, early 90’s, was a different time.