A must read

[dashaver63]

Evidently the guy has some ability just to survive on tour, maybe he's a good spokesman for his sponsor(s). I'm sure it was a case where he was tired of hearing the things he went off about. However, he must be doing something right to be a published columnist on BassFan, and maybe he just had an off day when he wrote that. Not everyone on tour makes a living off of the tour, very few do. Like I said in a previous post, I wish I had the resources and ability those guy's have, and when I say ability, I'm not just talking fishing abilities, I mean the abillity to spend 8 to 10 months on the road fishing tourney's and speaking at promo's. I have a hard enough time leaving for a 2 day let alone for a month at a time without worrying about how my family is doing.

[bassmandan]

for everything that there is in the world, not everyone is good at everything, you either got it or you dont, i dont mean this post to be mean or anything but i think most of you would agree with me

[Cheetam]

Here's a direct quote from the article:

"The first is, "These weekend guys fish just as well or better than the 'pros' (always in quotes), they just prefer to have a day job, don't have the money, blah, blah, blah."

And another:

"These other weekend guys may fish just as well as the 'pros,' but the fact is, they either don't have the guts to pull the trigger, or they lack the talent to raise the money. "

What I find humorous (and somewhat ironic) about this (and believe me I am NOT knocking this guy for his service to the country -I support all of our servicemen and women and thank them every chance I can-, I'm only making an obervation based on what I read) is that he, as a retired Command Sergeant Major, is receiving a full pension - a guaranteed paycheck every month.  Don't knock weekend warriors for not having the guts or for lacking the talent to raise the money, when, in fact, you are getting a paycheck regardless of your own ability or record as a "pro" (sorry, I couldn't resist putting pro in quotes).  This leads me to ask the question...why didn't he become a pro before he retired from the military and before he received a pension?  Guts?  Or, maybe he preferred to have a day job?  Or, he had responsibilities that prevented him from becoming a full-time pro? Hmmmm...

Yeah, he, just like other touring pros, have the expenses associated with traveling, practicing, etc., but how many of those other touring pros have a guaranteed income coming in monthly (some?  a few?).  God Bless the guy for his service, and yes, he is deserving of all of the benefits he gets as a retired service person, but, is he gambling with his financial future as much as the other guys (who just happened to quit hanging sheetrock) on tour?  Sure, his pension is probably no where near the amount of money it takes to becoming a touring pro, but, it's a heck of a lot more than what most of those guys with "the guts to pull the trigger" have...

I do have to give the guy credit though, he created some "controversy" and got his name out there.  Which may, or may not, be a good thing...

[cr]

I think the second paragraph in the article says hes amused by people who think everyone else has to  view fishing with the same passion as they do . I agree with him in this aspect , I'm constantly amazed by people who try to turn something as simple as fishing or hunting into a way of defining who they are . I don't think he meant he personally was putting his but on the line as much as he was talking about the PRO's in general . I'm sure there's PRO's living paycheck to paycheck and going without things we take for granted , like sleeping in our own bed each nite and seeing our loved-ones on a regular basis . Mostly I think he was commenting on the state of fishing at the Pro level and how its changed . It's no longer about who can catch the most fish but more so about who can get more air time on TV or represent a company  the best . I don't see many "good-ole-boys " with wads of chew , bad teeth and a plumbers crack showing everytime they bend over on TV . I am surprised by instead of judging his message some people formed a opinion of him personally . Don't kill the messenger because you dont like the message , or his opinions .

[McCarter]

thank you!

[djkimmel]

I guess I shouldn't take so long to get to my own point - which was since he started out one way and drifted off in several unrelated directions I'm not exactly sure what he wanted to accomplish, which usually leads to a lot of different comments too. Maybe that is all he wanted to accomplish? When you write something that annoys people, they often resort to shooting the messenger.

The sport is changing and evolving. If you know someone who is trying to be a pro while surviving on beanie weanies and charging up all their credit cards, you know the challenges and frustration if you talk to them. Things have to change AND people ALWAYS have difficulty with change. I'm no different. There's comfort in things staying the same, but they don't. The way of things.

[motocross269]

I agree with Dan...His article was more of a rant than being well thought out...
I also agree it is really easy to talk smack about puting your butt on the line when you are a retired CSM with a gauranteed paycheck.And it is even worse than that because he is currently a DOD employee so in essence he is Double dipping...When you are that 20 something year old kid with a wife and family it isn't so easy to quit that decent job..
If you can pay the entry fees (And have a new Ranger) you can fish the FLW tour PERIOD...(This is not a Knock on the guys fishing the tour just a fact)..If he wants to impress me then he would have to show me some numbers in the BFL, Stren, etc..He is basically buying his way on to the tour..He hasn't paid his dues in the BFL or Strens and that shows up in his results on the tour.
There are alot of guys in this area good enough to go on the tour but they aren't willing to take a chance on hurting their family in the process...I would say that is a smart call, not a matter of not having guts...
His comments about the environment were ignorant and made little or no sense at all..Basically from his comments to hell with the environment and safety as long as it is within the rules and he catches a big bag...Good image for tournament fisherman to have.
The rest of the Article he spends bashing the weekend fisherman that may not have the financial means to fish the "Big tourneys"..

I am sorry McCarter but I was obviously not impressed with his views or his article...He has the right to have them printed but I totally disagree and you asked for our opinions..

He sounds like a retired CSM from the MPs....And that statement comes from first hand knowledge.....LOL

[motocross269]

One more comment on this...If this guy would have included ways to improve the situations he disliked I would have bought more into it...Instaed he wrote a slashing article with no solutions...Anyone can do that..even me

[springlakebassman]

I am sorry to beat this thread around one more time but I had some thoughts on all the reponses.  I may get massacred for this but the way I see it everyone on this board is a Pro in some respect.

We all spend more time with fishing than our families would like. We pour over maps when we can't get out to practice.  Organize and reorganize tackle. Have travel expenses and rising fuel costs. Put limits on the board when things go right, and shake our head wondering what we could have done differently when they don't.  Cash checks at tournaments when we place in the money (Not big checks, but it is better than sitting on the couch and watching someone else cash em.)

We have sponsors. We all carry a professional attitude of ethics both on and off the water.  We all have certain techniques we have mastered and seem to be able to make them work no matter what body of water we are on, and most of us are willing to talk to others for hours about those techniques.

To tell you the truth I would rather sit and listen to some of you give a seminar than some of the sleepers I have been through with some of the "Pro" fishermen. We all have a boat, some of us have one that would rival any "Pro". We make ourselves available for the fishing shows during the off-season.

Most of us have fished in at least one Classic.  Some of us compete in tournaments that contain a couple hundred boats easy, on multiple days on waters that are measured in miles of water not just acres.

The way I see it, it is all in your attitude about how you see yourself.  If you see yourself as a professional in the sport you will have that same winning attitude as the guys who have been blessed with the ability to go out there week after week and do the same thing we do week after week.  We just do it on a smaller scale without the cameras.

[djkimmel]

Nicely put. I'm impressed!

[EliteFF]

  As one of my tournament directors once put it. "If you have ever won a dollar fishing you are a pro"
That was his rule for helping to shut the whiners up. He would announce this at the morning meeting and ask for a hand raise if you had never won at least $1 at a tournament. If you raised your hand he would make sure that you just became a pro!

Now getting to the point of this guys writings. I believe after reading the posts on this site, I see the majority of the comments were responded to by the same mentality that he was talking about.

Before I become the controversial jerk here, I mean that as McCarter put it, "you missed the big picture." 

  :-[I see that a few of you jumped right to the history of this man and saw his FLW statistics. How many of you know this man and how many other circuits he has fished? How many of you know that he hasn't had accomplishments that are probably just as valued as the BM Classic or the FW Cup or the FLW Championship.

There are many other circuits out there. There are many other circuits that are just as valued by the competitors that the big two on TV are. Don't let the big money and TV shows be the guidelines for what a professional is. Eric Bond defined these things.

This guy was making a statement about the smack talk. You turned around and did the same thing he just wrote about.  
Granted most of us know our limitations and responsibilities. Yes, there are some of you here that I know would try to make a go of it if you had the chance.
Others of you only dare to dream of it. Then there are some who talked the talk and couldn't walk the walk.

If Robert Hamilton made the same commentary, would you have felt the same way? I don't think he ever won a dollar in any FLW sponsored events.

   
  springlakebassman put it the best:The way I see it, it is all in your attitude about how you see yourself.  If you see yourself as a professional in the sport you will have that same winning attitude as the guys who have been blessed with the ability to go out there week after week and do the same thing we do week after week.  We just do it on a smaller scale without the cameras.

I look forward to one of you being a big name out there some time. Afterwards, just wait until you show up to fish a local tourney with some of the old guys and see how you get treated.

Dan used the term jealousy and I agree. Envy is on that big "no no" list of life.

There are three kinds of people in the world:
1. Those that watch the world go around
2. Those that let the world go around
3. Those that make the world go around

Which one are you? 

Today I am no better than the rest of you for posting on this topic.