B.a.s.s. For Her?

[Trav]

There is something that really annoys me.

Why do women in the B.A.S.S. need to have thier own tourney trail? Its not like bass fishing is a contact sport. Why cant they just compete in the same tourney as everyone else?

Im not sexist by any means,(so lets not debate on it please) but it seems to me that if women want equal opportunities in the B.A.S.S., they should want the same as the guys by competing against the guys. After all, being a man doesnt give you any edge over a woman when it comes to bass. I have been in plenty of non-B.A.S.S. tourneys where the ladies did very well.

Why seperate the sexes in the B.A.S.S.?

[vince]

Good point. The only advantage I see is most guys have been fishing since they were young, but not all, it would be the same if a guy didn't fish till he was later in life.

[Chief Grey Bear]

Right on Trav. And they should go braless too!

[Danoinark]

Trav, I have to agree with you. That sounds very logical. I am sure it has to do with the politics of the two groups. No body wants to give up anything.

But its a dang good idea.

Dano

[Trav]

I discussed it with my brother in-law who is involved with the B.A.S.S. Federation and he speculates that it has do to with the same issue that caused myself to wash out after just 5 events and why he doesnt take the leap into the Pro sector.

Sponsorship. Without it you can end up in the poor house fast. Since sponsors want elite anglers to promote thier products, it has to be difficult for females to obtain the funds through sponsorship to make it through a whole tour. I know alot of males who learned that reality the hard way. Myself included.

Might also explain why the woman's trail has only a third of the events that the Regular Tourney has.

Now comes another question.

If that is the case, Is it fair to those anglers that are not funded very well to see a female in similar financial strains get an advantage to stay a Pro just because of thier sex?

Are thier any Lady OAF members? Would love to hear an opinion from the other gender on this subject.

[Project Healing Waters]

Like your b-law explained, I think it started out that way as an affirmative action program for lady comp anglers. The top men crowd out newcomers of both sexes on the funding/sponsorship issue. So...if you want more women in the mix...you have to give them an advantage for awhile until some of them get to the big leagues and establish their own "turf" on the food chain. Affirmative action programs are NEVER about fair competition. They are about intentionally changing the demographic status quo.

[troutgal]

I personally, (as a female) don't see any reason to separate the genders in this case. Sponsorships included. As was stated in the earlier post, why should the women have an advantage in gaining sponsorships if there is no advantage given in other areas of the circuit.

I do, however think that the earlier statement, that the only advantage might be that a man has fished since a young age is offensive to those of us who happen to be female and have also fished for our entire lives. Advantage is moot in this case.

Just my 2 cents....

[jjtroutbum]

Truly not meaning for anyone to take offense to my following statement. That said.

I would rather watch paint dry than a televised fishing competition.But have been In several bass tourneys.

And I can't stand or hardly understand tennis and never have played, but I can and sometimes do watch a tennis match strictly for the view.

[hoglaw]

I don't think you can say that it would be unfair for a female professional angler to get sponsorship money where a male angler of equal skill wouldn't. My girlfriend has an uncle that fishes FLW and BASS, and a couple of close family friends that do as well (she's from Hot Springs, and lots of those guys are pretty close). What I've learned from talking to her uncle (who is a household name among fishing fans) is that for the long haul, marketing is more important than fishing ability. He told me that if you want to get started, you have to win some tournaments. If you want to make it in the long run, you have to have the ability to market yourself. He works equally hard at fishing and networking. He is constantly building relationships with potential and current sponsors. I certainly don't mean to downplay his fishing ability, he's darn good, but he knows what it takes to make a career out of fishing. For those that can't market themselves as well, it's simply unrealistic to believe that your fishing skills are so extraordinarily above the competition's that the sponsors will beat down your door on merits alone.

If I were in a business that would benefit from sponsoring anglers, I might well consider sponsoring a female angler for the simple reason that she'll get more face time than competitors of equal skill. I would probably be less likely to contribute the same level of sponsorship if she were fishing on a woman's only tour, as that doesn't get my product the same amount of camera time. Whether there's a women's tour or not doesn't really matter. The sponsorship money will still flow to the people that get in front of the camera.

[Trav]

I guess the main reason why I get so annoyed is because I blew 50 grand just to "try" to be competitive only for the "rich kids" to out-spend me. So, when I see anyone, female or not, catching a break in the sport, I feel all urked inside.

Marketing is key as Hoglaw pointed out.

When I was on about my last nickel I conveyed my concerns to Bo Dowden, whom I was paired with as a non-boater on Lake Lanier, and he stated, with as much tact as he could, that without a sponsor I was just spending the groceries out of my kids mouths. It really hit home. My kids were babies and times were hard. I was a young man chasing dreams and by then I was bewildered. Needless to say, that was my last poke at the BassMaster Trail.