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

[DADAKOTA]

On 4/24/2025 at 3:52 PM, 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. 

Only a couple actually make money in most derbies.  The break even line goes much farther down in the professional tourneys.  For some it is about ego and thinking they are a pro.

[Seth]

On 4/24/2025 at 10:32 AM, snagged in outlet 3 said:

Wouldn’t it be nice to lay off them for a couple years just to see how good it could be?   

It wouldn't bother me. The last time I purposely went after bass in the spring was in 2020. I'd rather spend my time chasing whites or crappie this time of year. I get my fill of bass in the summer and fall.

[Seth]

On 4/25/2025 at 5:39 AM, Quillback said:

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.  

I love the competition factor. Anybody can go catch em when conditions are perfect during the week. When you go out and fish the same day and conditions and whoop everybody else, you've proven that you were the better angler that day. Do it over and over and you'll know that you're a better angler overall. It's not for everybody, but some of us love it. Heck, I won't hardly fish for bass unless it's a tournament. If I'm just out fishing for fun, I'm probably going after something I enjoy eating more than a bass. To be honest, I'm not sure how people do nothing but bass fish when there are so many other types of fish to be caught.

[Quillback]

12 minutes ago, Seth said:

I love the competition factor. Anybody can go catch em when conditions are perfect during the week. When you go out and fish the same day and conditions and whoop everybody else, you've proven that you were the better angler that day. Do it over and over and you'll know that you're a better angler overall. It's not for everybody, but some of us love it. Heck, I won't hardly fish for bass unless it's a tournament. If I'm just out fishing for fun, I'm probably going after something I enjoy eating more than a bass. To be honest, I'm not sure how people do nothing but bass fish when there are so many other types of fish to be caught.

That's cool.  My view on fishing overall is I do what I find to be fun.

[fishinwrench]

3 hours ago, Seth said:

To be honest, I'm not sure how people do nothing but bass fish when there are so many other types of fish to be caught

There was a time when I was proudly consistent on tournament day.   But the only way I could maintain that was to spend as much time as I possibly could doing nothing but things 100% related to BASS FISHING.     I really worked at it !

Fishing for Crappie, Whites, River Smallies, Trout, or anything else was "wasting time" and detrimental to my game.    

If you really want to do well, consistently, then you have to truly get after it !   

And LIVE IT.   If you haven't blown multiple powerheads, and shelled a few lower units.......You ain't even started trying yet. 😉

[Terrierman]

45 minutes ago, fishinwrench said:

There was a time when I was proudly consistent on tournament day.   But the only way I could maintain that was to spend as much time as I possibly could doing nothing but things 100% related to BASS FISHING.     I really worked at it !

Fishing for Crappie, Whites, River Smallies, Trout, or anything else was "wasting time" and detrimental to my game.    

If you really want to do well, consistently, then you have to truly get after it !   

And LIVE IT.   If you haven't blown multiple powerheads, and shelled a few lower units.......You ain't even started trying yet. 😉

You make it sound like so much fun. 

[fishinwrench]

7 minutes ago, Terrierman said:

You make it sound like so much fun. 

When it's all you live for, and all you can ever think about ....it IS fun.  😊

Like anything else a person becomes obsessed with, it becomes a way of life.