A couple of clarifications are in order.

Let's start with the whole sight-fishing thing. In the last column I wrote, I disparaged sight-fishing tournaments at the pro level. I said I found them boring to watch. I said a bedding bass probably could be caught with anything. I still believe all of that, in general.

But several friends have reminded me that it's not that cut-and-dried. Bedding bass can be fun to catch, they say. And they're not that easy to catch sometimes. Or even see on the beds.

They're right.

Let me illustrate by two examples that stick in my mind.

BassFan Radio's Terry Brown is a good fisherman. Very good. Last year he went to a Skeeter Boats function at Lake Fork during the spring, and had the opportunity to go out with several Skeeter pros. Naturally everyone was out looking for double-digit bedding bass (pre-spawners too).

Terry has fished his whole life, as have most everyone reading this, and can see fish no problem. But he couldn't see the ones Mark Davis saw. He couldn't believe it.

He also couldn't believe the way Dean Rojas, a well-known sight-fishing master, approached bedding fish. First he spied them from a long way off. Then he performed a series of mental calculations about how best to approach the bass given the position of the sun, the wind, the depth of the fish, the type of lure and who knows what else.

When he figured that out and got it all right, then he started fishing for the bass, which is a whole 'nother story.

The point this proves to me is that sight-fishing can be a lot more than just coming across a hot fish and dropping a lure in its face.



Also, as we all know too well, catching bass is fun all the time no matter how you do it. I have to confess that I feel a little guilty about yanking a male or female off a bed, but once in a while I do do it – because I'm curious about how a fish is going to react, to let my kids reel one in on a slow day or to save a slow day, which admittedly isn't much of a problem in the spring.

I'm also not sure why I feel a little guilty. Is it ethics about spawners (really just spawning bass – I wouldn't feel guilty catching spawning bluegills, catfish or whatever) or is it the touchy-feely-warm-fuzzy times we live in?

Either way, if you release a bass right away, it slowly but surely goes back to the nest. And I have yet to see armies of crawdads and bluegills come in and start raiding a nest if bass are off it. I'm sure it happens, but I haven't seen it.

Back to the ethics question for a sec: Does this really boil down to intent?

If you're fishing shallow water, muddy or not, in the spring and catch fish, they're probably bedding. You might not have been targeting bedding fish, but you're probably catching them anyway – flipping, dead-sticking a Senko, fishing a buzzbait, whatever.

But if you were in the same spot on the same lake and were trying to fish for bedding bass, some would call that bad. Why is that? If you catch the same fish by blind-casting, is that okay? Let me know your thoughts on that.

Nation Clarification

We've heard from a fair amount of BASS Federation Nation members who are concerned about whether BassFan will cover Federation Nation events or initiatives because of our relationship with The Bass Federation Inc. (TBF). The answer is yes – make that heck yes.

BassFan.com covers everything we think our readers will be interested in and which is important in the world of bass fishing. Our readers include TBF members, Nation members and far more who are not members of either group.

And as you already know, just because we have, say, Evinrude as an advertiser doesn't mean we won't cover Yamaha- and Mercury-sponsored anglers. The leagues play the exclusivity game, but we don't. In fact, as a company that covers the news, ethically we can't.

We also don't think you buy the exclusivity thing either. You will run whatever boat and motor you want and will fish with whatever gear you want. Ultimately it comes down to what you like, maybe what a pro or two you follow likes, and what works best.

Our non-exclusive business philosophy goes beyond just the news to everything we do: BassFan Radio, BassFan MAG, the Skeeter BassFan Army and our two events, the Top Gun Championship and the Skeeter BassFan Army Weekend Warrior Championship.

In fact, I should mention that Nation members are welcome to join the Skeeter BassFan Army (which is NOT exclusive to Skeeter boat owners). Participation in the Army's programs (now being updated), including trying to qualify for the Weekend Warrior Championship, is open to anyone.

I hope that clarifies things.