How many follow professional Bass Fishing?

So what about the thousands of guys that didn’t make it despite fishing their home lakes down south? Seth (like many others that are still on the tour) work their butts off to improve in the styles of fishing that aren’t their strengths. He may not have done well his first season but look at his second year and now this season. He is in the money almost every event no matter if it’s down south or on smallmouth lakes.

The skill and variables are what MAKE it a sport. It’s what makes it interesting. Now I’m not going to call these guys athletes, but it’s a sport.

Sport, not a sport – Doesn’t matter at all to me. Much like other “ sports” these guys have a little extra something that most who fish do not. If anyone thinks they can do it, There are a lot of different tourney trails where they can give it a shot and see how they do. I would bet that you could take one of these guys from the bassmasters and give him a 1/2 day to practice on your local lake that you have fished your whole life on, and he would out fish you In a 1 day tourney. The way some of these guys adjusted over 4 days was the difference that got them into the top 10. Water that went up 5-7 feet from the last practice day till the 1st tourney day, and then fell about 3-5 ft on them on final day was challenging to say the least.

Don’t know much about Kreiger, but felt bad for the guy. Had a solid shot at the top spot in the bag until he couldn’t get his 5 on day 3. Finished 11th.

From dictionary.com…

Sport

noun
an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature, as racing, baseball, tennis, golf, bowling, wrestling, boxing, hunting, fishing, etc.

Joe Jarl wrote:

From dictionary.com…

Sport

noun
an athletic activity requiring skill or physical prowess and often of a competitive nature, as racing, baseball, tennis, golf, bowling, wrestling, boxing, hunting, fishing, etc.

HAHA. It’s in the definition. That’s pretty funny.

Fishing is more like an outdoor activity to me rather than a sport. But in this case, it’s very competitive at a high level so you might be able to call that version a sport.

What anglers are definitely not: athletes. That is quite obvious. Golf isn’t much of a sport in my book either but they are still very competitive at a high level. Certainly there is some balance, coordination, and skill involved but you don’t have to be in great physical condition to fish or golf.

Love that Seth won that year.

I went to a weigh in one day both in 2015 and 2016 when it was at Mille Lacs. It’s quite a spectacle when those guys weigh in. It’s really interesting when they comment about their day too.

In 2015, Feider was sitting outside the top half of the standings with 2 events remaining. He needed a top 5 finish at LaCrosse to be eligible to fish the AOY event at Mille Lacs. I think he finished 3rd at LaCrosse so he qualified for Mille Lacs, and then ran away from the competition at the event. He weighed in 15 smallmouth for a total of more than 75 pounds which is outrageous just for smallmouth.

Prior to LaCrosse in 2015, by his own admission, he was nearly burned out and ready to quit the elites. He had used up too much of his own personal income and wasn’t getting the results he wanted. Those 2 events in 2015 turned his pro career around. In 2016, when AOY returned to Mille Lacs, he didn’t do quite as well. I think he finished about 10th because the other anglers had also kind of figured out the lake, an advantage he had lost from the year before.

Seth’s story is similar to Ike’s in lightning striking at just the right time. Ike was going to quit the Tour without a top finish in the “Never Give Up!” Classic. The rest is bass fishing history. I think Seth has proven he is going to be a force for years. The guy has figured it out and is now one of the top guys out there. He is racking up top 20 finishes regularly now.

There are fewer and fewer professional Bass fishermen making a good living these days. The sponsorship money is REALLY down from the glory days. For ever one of those guys who seem to be doing well, There are probably 20 guys who drive to events and end up sleeping in their truck or a campground to save money. Some of then need to just cash a check to have enough money to get them to the next event. It all looks glamorous and fun but its much harder work than a lot of people think. I’m looking forward to the next event on the Sebine River in Orange Texas. Its says BASS have been there 3 time previously – I just cant remember any of the prior events to that area.

I’m pretty sure Todd Faircloth won one of the tournaments. I think Hack might have won the first time they were there (Nope it was the 3rd Time. Faircloth won the first and Chris Lane won the second. I remember Chris Lane’s win distinctly with Mike McClelland making the long run to Houston and almost winning. That’s one hell of a run to Houston and back. Have to run on the Gulf for an extended time if my memory is right. I think that first tournament was when Alton Jones and Dean Rojas got in a kerfuffle on what would have been the winning area had either of them had it to themselves.

New bassmaster event started today. When you think of Texas you think of BIG bass. So far this one seems like a battle of Dink fish. I think the leader had 5 for like 10 Lbs and is really happy about it. They are talking like a 15-16 Lb. 5 fish limit will be a huge bag. Not near as exciting watching them catch 1-2 Lb. fish. Its hard to believe that we have a Tourney here in Minnesota where fish only grow about 7 months a year and a 20lb limit is just average, and then go to Texas where they grow year around and they are saying a 15 Lb. limit is a huge one.

Yeah, I don’t really get why they keep going back to Sabine. But I guess it does make every single once count.

Just looked at Basstrakk. One gentleman had 4 fish for 3-0!

Not an impressive 4 fish bag. Although there are about 20 other fishermen who would probably be happy with that 4 fish weight right about now

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Bob Downey is sitting in 10th at the moment! GO BOB!!!

Hearing that a bunch of pros got their Catalytic converters cut off in a hotel parking lot last night.

I see that Seth got off to a hot start this morning. Basstrack has him as the current leader. It would be nice to see him make another top 10 cut. If he does he most likely with be the leader in AOY after this event. There is a lot of the season left, but if he can stay near the top till the northern swing I think he will have a chance at the AOY title.

munchy wrote:

Hearing that a bunch of pros got their Catalytic converters cut off in a hotel parking lot last night.

With the # of times these guys get thing stolen at Events you would think a bunch of them would get together and hire a security person to watch their equipment overnight. I hate criminals. The criminals better be careful with some of these guys. I would not be surprised if more than a few of these guys would be carrying. One of these days they will pick the wrong guy to rob.

luttes wrote:

Bob Downey is sitting in 10th at the moment! GO BOB!!!

I see Bob is hanging near the cut line. he’s had a slow day with only 2 fish in the livewell. Hope he can add a few more fish and get himself up the leader board. Just watched the getting to know Video. He seems like a nice young man. Did not realize he was originally a Minnesota boy from the Eagan Area. In the video he says when both Seth and him were young he got paired up with Seth in a pro/am tourney and they won it. That is cool and now they are both fishing the pro tour together.

Was just watching some coverage and they said someone weighed a 5 fish limit yesterday that only weighed 4Lb. 2 oz. That’s Crazy small.

Currently based on Basstrakk, a 2lb average will get you in the top 5 for the first two days. I know there are a few people who like these “grinder” tournaments, but I just can’t bring myself to watch this. If I wanted to see small bass being caught, I’d watch MLF.

Seth Feider is currently in first place after 4 events in the AOY standings. He has an 8 point lead over Patrick Walters.

MN represent

Here we are only 2 weeks later and maybe a 100 miles away and all the dink bass are being replaced with big ones. They are only a few hours into day 1 and they already have like 12 bass bigger than the biggest one caught for the tournament at the last event. They have a camera on Seth today. Hopefully he can give them some good footage. So far he’s off to a slow start. 0 fish in the livewell. This should be a much more fun tourney to watch for sure. My guess is it will take real close to 100 lbs to win this one.

And they set a new attendance record two weeks ago in Orange, TX with those small fish. It’s so weird to me. I didn’t watch them weigh-in, but did Dave Mercer still say gi-gi-gi-giant bass for those 2lb fish?

blank wrote:

did Dave Mercer still say gi-gi-gi-giant bass for those 2lb fish?

Yes, yes he did.

Have you noticed if any of the Humminbird guys are running a Mega Live? Feider hinted on Fan Outdoors a few weeks ago that they may be getting it very soon.

I see the other Minnesota guy Felix is having a Great morning so far – Good to see the Minnesota Guys doing well.

Lake Fork is probably the best Largemouth fishery in the US, so I won’t be surprised to see some of these guys bring in a dirty thirty.

fishingdakotacountymn wrote:

Lake Fork is probably the best Largemouth fishery in the US, so I won’t be surprised to see some of these guys bring in a dirty thirty.

Already have 1 guy with 32+ Lbs. And that official weight because at Fork they are weighing and recording every fish caught. That’s a 6.40 Average – WOW !!!
They thought this would be a sight fishing showdown. The guy with 32 has caught them all offshore. The new Electronics are a game changer in offshore fishing. As the day warms more and more big females with move to the bank to spawn. There are going to be a ton of big bags. It may take 20+ a day to make the cut for the final day.