One aspect of professional fishing I’ve always enjoyed is the diversity of characters. I love to observe how competitors from different parts of the country break down a body of water. This goes along with my fascination with bass fishing; on any given day, there’s always a bunch of ways to catch fish.
As a young angler, trips to the South were the highpoint of my year. There, I could flip and crank like my television heroes with real hopes of finding a productive pattern for vacation or an out-of-town tourney. Great Lakes roots could be left behind with my spinning rods.
Come bass season around home, though, it was back to big waves and light line, the only hope for securing a paycheck at local derbies. Days off often found me again fishing southern style; lake St. Clair’s healthy largemouth population keeping me entertained and out of rough weather. But there was no money in it.
So it came as a great surprise this week to again watch the best in the sport get down to old-school bass fishing, but this time with a northern twist. As the Great Lakes took center stage for the BPT finale, many competitors ignored the renowned smallmouth populations and instead just went bass fishing. For the first time, they could afford to do so.
What we saw was an event in which Texas rigs played as much as dropshots. Under the BPT format, any fish over 2 pounds was a scorable bass. And, as any western Lake Erie or St. Clair regular can tell you, there’s a whole bunch of those swimming around the shallows. Most are green.
In fact, many area regulars specifically target largemouth bass when “fun fishing." Why not? It’s common to catch 30 or more a day, averaging a couple pounds each. Productive methods include flipping and pitching, shallow cranks and often topwater frogs.
Much of the bass world doesn’t know this. When the words “Great Lakes” are used in southern bass circles, they’re often followed by “8-footers.” Truth be told, there’s great bass fishing in places accessible to a jonboat.
These fish could never play in a traditional bass tournament. This week was a different story. While Michael Neal finessed big brownies, Wesley Strader flipped mats. Both were rewarded.
As a result, guys like me got to see a bunch of things that worked; techniques that might fit my particular style or approach. One thing’s for sure: it’s a heck of a lot better than watching pros troll around looking at their forward-looking sonar.
With the continued gospel of professional tournament fishing centering around expanding the sport, what could be better than highlighting numerous strategies at each stop? And the numerous personalities that make up the sport?
This certainly appeals to more fans. Now please don’t misunderstand my point. Traditional five-fish events up north are being won by outstanding anglers. To consistently catch 5-pound smallmouth in rough water is no easy feat, as evidenced by the continued dominance of those best at that game.
But it’s not for everybody, that’s for sure. Nor is that game accessible to 90 percent of the nation’s bass anglers.
Maybe we shouldn’t care. Perhaps the whole point of the sport should be to entertain viewers with the super-human feats of professional athletes. Like other sports. Let’s face it; very few of us can dunk a basketball or shoot under par, but we love to watch it done.
But from what I can see, the whole concept of professional bass fishing continues to focus on the participant end of the sport as much as the true “fan” aspect. Fans, by definition, are observers, not players.
We’re different in this game. Everything revolves around participation. We see it on the banners and hear it in sponsor plugs. The fish were caught on an ABC lure tied to XYZ line. This is somewhat unique to bass fishing.
So it comes as a bonus, from what I can tell, when a tournament highlights numerous sides of a fishery. It promotes that involvement.
A few years ago, friends of mine visited Lake St. Clair for the first time. As luck would have it, they were greeted by rough weather all week. Many pulled out after a few days, driving back to Tennessee and Kentucky to cut their losses and get back to a more comfortable climate and fishing conditions. Once home, they decided to throw together a club tourney, just for something to do.
This week, Andy Morgan caught more largemouths in a day than that entire bass club did on their home lake. He did it on one of the best smallmouth lakes in the world and took home a pile of money.
I bet my buddies now regret their decision to leave. But how were they to know?
(Joe Balog is the often-outspoken owner of Millennium Promotions, Inc., an agency operating in the fishing and hunting industries. A former Bassmaster Open and EverStart Championship winner, he's best known for his big-water innovations and hardcore fishing style. He's a popular seminar speaker, product designer and author, and is considered one of the most influential smallmouth fishermen of modern times.)
