Does Bass Fishing Need More Rules?

Do professional bass fishing tournaments need more rules – or at least more specific rules?

The phrase "more rules" makes independent-minded bass anglers cringe, but with the stakes now in the sport – notably the money and the increased exposure to advertisers and the public – that might be exactly what's needed. On the other hand, maybe not.

There's nothing inherently wrong with making more rules. Major sports adjust and add to their rules all the time, including long-time sports like professional football and relative newcomers like NASCAR racing. Bass fishing does too: for example, the FLW Tour requiring a valid fishing license this year and BASS's 30-day off-limits/no-information rule this year. But again, the question is whether bass fishing needs more rules.

Let's take a look at a few current examples.

> The Bassmaster Tour's new 30-day off-limits/no-information rule is a step in the right direction for anglers at that level, and for making tour-level fishing seem more like a "real sport." But that rule still isn't iron-clad. For example, pros can practice with co-anglers, who often are locals, some of whom fished tournaments on the lake before (30 days before) BASS came to town, or know people who have fished it sooner. A few pros seek those people out. So does BASS need more rules to prevent that from happening? We'd say yes, as long as there was enforcement to go with it. Rules with no or token enforcement are meaningless.

> In the case of Tony Christian and FLW Outdoors, it would have been good to have more specific rules so people would have been more likely to know what really happened there. NASCAR, in particular, has no problem publicizing violations and fining violators. Why should bass fishing be any different? Apparently it is. This year, before the tour seasons started, BassFan asked both leagues to provide daily lists of any rule violations or penalties (e.g., dead fish) that occurred on competition days, but both leagues refused. So we have to ask: Why have rules if no one knows about it when they're violated? Are major tournaments only for the participants, or do the leagues want the fans involved? More on that below.

Other Stuff

So the sport might need more rules to clarify or strengthen rules it already has. What about new rules? We've seen a few tournament "tactics" – some of which we think are unethical – start to crop up in the pro ranks.

For example, anglers may now "play defense." In other words, they might catch fish in practice to prevent another angler from catching them. This usually is limited to fish locked into certain areas, like happens with spawning bass and bass on deep structure.

Another example is that pros also might "stack" bass in a remote or difficult-to-reach spot so they can catch them at an event. Catch them here, move them there, try to catch them later.

Although neither practice is technically "illegal," how ethical is it? We're sure BassFans can come up with other examples.

Should these and other tournament tactics be illegal, meaning specifically spelled out in the rules as not permitted? We think so. And if someone is "caught" or at least accused of violating such a rule, the venerable polygraph test (conducted by a good tester) – that Ray Scott, Harold Sharp and others at the original B.A.S.S. used with such success – should be part of the rulebook too. Polygraphs are better at proving someone innocent than guilty, and also are a huge deterrent.

> Note: We've heard (firsthand) of only a few examples of such tactics in the last few years. So don't read this as being a condemnation of tour-level anglers, the vast majority of which only worry about their own fish.

Where Are We Now?

Is professional bass fishing a "real sport" or not? We think so, or it could be, and we'd like to see at least the tour-level events be looked at that way. But we don't believe they are, nor are they looked at that way, now. One rule, no matter how important, won't change that. But we believe that a set of rules that reflects a purpose, a direction and a commitment will.

These rules, like those in all sports, will evolve. Sometimes at the outset they're vague or don't achieve what they're intended to. But then these rules, and ones that are challenged as being bad, get tweaked and reworked. Maybe omitted, or replaced.

One thing we believe in strongly is that the rules as established before the season starts should be in effect until the season is over. Everyone won't be happy with all of the rules, but competitors should know the rules going in and not have to worry about them until the season is over. That sounds like a no-brainer, but that's not how it's been in Bassmaster Tour events over the last 2 years.

This year BASS changed how its tour points were allocated for various things at least twice in a matter of weeks – during its Tour season. It claimed that the pros, as represented by the pro-staffed BASS Athletes Advisory Council (BAAC), wanted the changes, and the pros on that council for the most part feel that the changes made the points situations better. But so what? If the rules were broke going in, that's the fault of the league and the pros.

We applaud BASS for making logical changes and the pros for advocating for them, but if all parties – particularly BASS – had thought the rules out well in the first place, they wouldn't have had to make the changes.

No other sport changes its rules – especially its point system – mid-season, and for good reason. In this case, that kind of dithering surely didn't contribute to the perception that tour-level bass fishing is a "real sport."

So as not to zero in only on BASS, FLW also didn't do the sport any favors with not checking for licenses last year and with the Tony Christian disqualification/ban this year. But at least in the former case it changed its rules, after the season.

Rules or Guidelines?

Should the leagues make a rule for every possible eventuality and add rules as needed like other major sports? Or should they somehow appeal to the sportsman's code of ethics, which has always stressed a personal code or honor in following the rules?

Unfortunately, we believe the latter is an antiquated notion, and not just at the tour level. Why? There's the big money, the need to catch them in 2 days or you're gone, those kinds of things. That doesn't mean that professional bass fishing is corrupt or headed down a bad path. This is just part of getting big.

As a result, sooner or later the leagues will have to make a decision on how to handle the question of the sport's perception and rules. Since these rules affect the anglers most of all, they also should be involved, beyond just the BAAC.

Remember that thing called the Professional Anglers Association (PAA)? That, or something like it, is what's needed here. The failure of the PAA is a subject for a whole separate column, but where was the PAA when the new points system was proposed or announced? How about during the whole Tony Christian thing?

We know the answer: the pros have all but killed the PAA. Infighting between them, the agendas of sponsors and others, apathy, and the unfortunate tendency for many pros to look at how things affect only themselves in the short-term, have gutted the PAA.

For the rules process to work – adding, tweaking, subtracting, disciplining – the pros as represented by the PAA (or a similar organization) should be part of it. If BASS and FLW Outdoors don't want to recognize that the PAA exists, we believe that with a strong PAA that position will ultimately come back to haunt them. Unfortunately, based on what we've seen, we also believe the anglers will never make the PAA work.

But that doesn't mean the rules process should be stopped, if one or both of the leagues want this sport to be "real" and the best it can be. It just means the process likely won't work optimally.

BassFans Involved Too

Last but not least are the fans. What kind of sport do you want to see? What do you demand of the best anglers and events this sport has to offer? BASS and FLW Outdoors are listening. In one form or another, they want your money, your attention and your support. Let them know what you want.

We would like to challenge each angler, whether you compete, are a fan or are just on the outside looking in, to take the high road. Let's bring our sport forward in a constructive and positive manner. If we don't, many of the things we hate about other sports can creep into ours.

It isn't just up to the leagues to build rules to police inappropriate activity. It's also up to each person to get above it. Those of us who follow bass fishing and participate in it need to set the example. The rules do pertain to everyone.

We're on the cusp of either growing our sport or stagnating it. Growth, in some form, is what we all would like to see. The ingredients are there and the oven is at the right temperature. Now let's put the recipe together and let it cook.

Notable

> We've heard people say things that state or imply that some league or person won't tell the whole truth about something or will bury some information "for the good of the sport." Save it. No one was elected or appointed to an "image of bass fishing police force." This sport will survive and, we believe, prosper best with the truth. For an example, look at NASCAR. Only when it got out of the image-control business did it really start to grow.

Terry Brown is BassFan's CSO and Jay Kumar is BassFan's CEO.