bass tournament bashing article

If you haven't been to ISportsman lately, this topic has gone RAMPANT!!!

 

Wow!  I just skimmed most of that but it sounds about like a good ole IS thread.  Been a long time since I read much over there.   Looks like its still about the same.  

I wonder the last time a letter to the editor in the Gazette got this much press?  

I don't see any sort of peaceful outcome to any of it.  

Fact is bass fisherman are known to most of the outdoor world as assholes.  That is a fact.  So many of us that have done it for so long know otherwise and people that know us well know that couldn't be farther from the truth.  Doesn't change that a huge group of people in the outdoors believes we are assholes.  So be it.  

Perfect example.  My wife (who is a bartender most of you know) who's life largely revolves around the local gossip going on or listening to people vent while they have a cold one.   Has come home to me on several occasions and said,  "Had an interesting conversation today, couple guys came in or a group and were talking about a fishing trip they took, or vacation or just that they had just come off the river."  She always gets in on these conversations, (she gets in on most conversations period though lol).  Guys start talking about fishing and next thing you know the conversation turns to someone they seen bass fishing, or a bass boat blasting past them in there little jon boat, or being on there favorite crappie tree or whatever.   Then it happens  "Those bass fisherman are the biggest f'in asshole peices of chit bla bla bla bla bla!  With there fancy boats and tournaments and so on and so forth."  My wife just listens and continues on with the conversation and then goes on about how she loves to fish, spends countless hours on the water and traveling around for her husband to fish and so on and so forth.   Then the question comes out.  "What do you guys fish for?"  Her response "BASS, my husband fishes tournaments and I have fished a few with him!"     She then proceeds to explain to them about the great people we have met via hawgz, f4f, and tournament fishing and traveling around to do (granted not all of them are bass fisherman but many are).  About them offering up anything to help a fellow angler, about people you didn't know a couple days ago and now you are life long friends because of bass fishing, about them buying you a drink or the food off there table (which fits perfectly while these fools are sitting at the bar, they can relate) and just about the truly genuine people that bass fisherman truly are and how if those that didn't do it would give them a chance instead of in a lot of ways be jealous or believe that bass fisherman think of themselves as "celebrities" because that is how too many people view bass fisherman and tournaments.  They might actually become bass fisherman themselves.    

It generally makes her day.  They generally shut up quick, try and figure out how to get back on the good side of the bartender (buying her a drink or whatever, cause no one wants to be in a bar where they are on the bad side of a bartender) and that is that.   Its funny, funny chit!    

Its also funny when you walk into a bar, restaurant, or any place really wearing a fishing jersey.  All of a sudden everyone gravitates to you.  They want to talk about "did you have a tournament?"  "No I just wear this thing every day!"  "how was the fishing?" "how did you finish?" "how many boats?" "where was it?" Just giving you the third degree.  Which is fine.  Other than these are the same people that otherwise would likely shun the "bass boats" and "tournament fisherman" in a different peer group or conversation setting.   Going back to that almost "celebrity" status.  They want to know where you all fish, how much money you make doing it and just all this crap trying to figure out if your indeed a celebrity and someone they should gloat to there friends about that they met at the bar today or whatever.  What a flippin joke!    I bet some of these same "bass haters" were down getting autographs from the "pro's" when they came to town.  


So what, we're assholes!!!!!  Get over it!     One less fool that can try and convince me to by him a beer or do something nice for him.  I know I'm over it.

rellison8 wrote:

   

It generally makes her day.  They generally shut up quick, try and figure out how to get back on the good side of the bartender (buying her a drink or whatever, cause no one wants to be in a bar where they are on the bad side of a bartender) and that is that.   Its funny, funny chit!    

That is FUNNY, but soooo true!!!!  

This is one that really gets me. The following situation happens a lot when I visit the upper pools. IMAGINE:
- idling down a backwater/slough behind a jonboat or other boat

- this boat waves at another panfisherman, perhaps fishing a brushpile, and the brushpile anglers wave back

- a few seconds later (i was idling right behind the other anglers) i past the same anglers fishing the same brushpile and wave, nothing, not even a head nod....

R U F'IN KIDDING ME!!!!!????? Because i have a bass boat, I'm a bad guy. Learned this a long time ago, but still gets to me.  

It happens so frequently, that my partner Trent and I joke about it all the time. We will wave to the panfisherman, and nothing. So we always just say to each other..."Not even a head nod!"

hotrod wrote:

rellison8 wrote:

   

It generally makes her day.  They generally shut up quick, try and figure out how to get back on the good side of the bartender (buying her a drink or whatever, cause no one wants to be in a bar where they are on the bad side of a bartender) and that is that.   Its funny, funny chit!    

That is FUNNY, but soooo true!!!!  

This is one that really gets me.  The following situation happens a lot when I visit the upper pools. IMAGINE:
- idling down a backwater/slough behind a jonboat or other boat

- this boat waves at another panfisherman, perhaps fishing a brushpile, and the brushpile anglers wave back

- a few seconds later (i was idling right behind the other anglers) i past the same anglers fishing the same brushpile and wave, nothing, not even a head nod....

R U F'IN KIDDING ME!!!!!?????  Because i have a bass boat, I'm a bad guy.  Learned this a long time ago, but still gets to me.   

It happens so frequently, that my partner Trent and I joke about it all the time.  We will wave to the panfisherman, and nothing.  So we always just say to each other..."Not even a head nod!"

Yep, I have seen many of the same reactions. You will get a wave now and then but its generally from the pleasure boaters not the panfishing crowd. Only time pleasure boaters give you a dirty look is when there loud ass exhaust on there wide open Baja gets blown right past by a bass boat while they were trying to gloat to there friends about how fast it is.  

hotrod wrote:

rellison8 wrote:

   

It generally makes her day.  They generally shut up quick, try and figure out how to get back on the good side of the bartender (buying her a drink or whatever, cause no one wants to be in a bar where they are on the bad side of a bartender) and that is that.   Its funny, funny chit!    

That is FUNNY, but soooo true!!!!  

This is one that really gets me.  The following situation happens a lot when I visit the upper pools. IMAGINE:
- idling down a backwater/slough behind a jonboat or other boat

- this boat waves at another panfisherman, perhaps fishing a brushpile, and the brushpile anglers wave back

- a few seconds later (i was idling right behind the other anglers) i past the same anglers fishing the same brushpile and wave, nothing, not even a head nod....

R U F'IN KIDDING ME!!!!!?????  Because i have a bass boat, I'm a bad guy.  Learned this a long time ago, but still gets to me.   

It happens so frequently, that my partner Trent and I joke about it all the time.  We will wave to the panfisherman, and nothing.  So we always just say to each other..."Not even a head nod!"

Well, like I said before, "It's all about me!" They don't want to acknowledge you because that is what 90% of the people are about these days. Ok, maybe not 90%.

My guess is if you look hard enough this guy got his ass kicked in a tourney way back when.

Too funny on Bonnie.