Bassfan Feedback

• Chad Bull of Jasper, AL writes:

  Friday, June 14, 2013

  RE: G. Loomis Owners Tournament – It's going to be a fun tournament! If the turnout is large enough we are debating on turning this into a circuit for next year.

  Back to top Comment on this

• Harold Sharp of Hixson, TN writes:

  Friday, June 14, 2013

  RE: Balog on big boats – Many years ago when B.A.S.S. tournaments were organized, a 115-hp was about the largest motor we would see. Then fiberglass boats started getting larger. So did the motors and so did the horsepower race. We had a shotgun start at each tournament with all boats blasting off together, so the race was on to see who could outrun the other and it kept getting worse. Ray, Bob and I got concerned about everyone's safety and we changed the blastoff to an "oozeoff" and started to have flights to slow things down.

  The boats were still getting larger and so were the motors. At the time, the largest outboard was 135-hp and we knew some outboard companies were working on a 150, so before the first 150 was introduced we set the B.A.S.S. limit at 150 on motors. We did it to halt the horsepower race and get anglers back to fishing instead of racing.

  Soon after Ray, Bob and I were not in charge at B.A.S.S., they changed the horsepower ratings and even had bass boat races at their tournaments. I'm not sure whose idea that was, but it was to encourage sales of larger boats.

  It's past time that the horsepower race needs to be under some control and that anglers start thinking about how to catch bass instead of how to be there first.

  Back to top Comment on this

• Scott Hausman of Sandy, UT writes:

  Thursday, June 13, 2013

  RE: Balog on big boats – Ever read the the book "The Millionaire Next Door?" It is about the wise choices of a few modest earners that separate them from those mired in debt until death. I pull my 18.5-foot G-3 aluminum bass rig with a 6 cylinder mid-sized SUV. I've used it on big waters like Lake of the Ozarks and Lake Powell and it isn't as tournament friendly as a big 250-hp powered 20i or Z21. However, I don't fret about all the cash I burned getting to the lake, on the lake or towing it home. It runs about 40 mph with a Yamaha 115HP and I have on many occasions won some prize money, even on bigger waters. It has more than paid for itself over the years and fishes skinny waters better than any fiberglass boat. I own a Skeeter 200ZX as well and that 200HP keeps up with most of the bigger boats just fine without burning $120 worth of gas in a day. Saving all those dollars just makes "good cents."

  Back to top Comment on this

• Rob Dixon of Lewistown, PA writes:

  Thursday, June 13, 2013

  RE: Balog on big boats – 150 HP is plenty for most bodies of water. I can run 65 with an 18-foot Hydrasport with a jack plate and a passenger. Half the tournaments I've been to as a co-angler the boaters I drew who owned 21-footers with 250s didn't want to drive their precious more-money-than-their-home boats past 65 mph anyway, so I do not understand at all the obsession with needing the biggest, best boat.

  Back to top Comment on this

• Steve Linden of Hickory, NC writes:

  Thursday, June 13, 2013

  RE: Balog on big boats – I agree with Joe Balog that the loosening of boat/motor tournament restrictions increased the level of big rigs. However, the responsibility for purchasing $60,000-plus rigs fall on the fisherman. Tack on a $40,000 tow vehicle and you have $100,000 invested. You would need an annual income of greater than $200,000 to have any chance of responsibly affording that. Add more if your wife and kids have cars. I'm willing to bet most bass fisherman don't make that kind of money.

  Back to top Comment on this

• Chad Hill of Goreville, IL writes:

  Thursday, June 13, 2013

  RE: Balog on big boats – I couldn't agree more. I sold my 20-foot Bullet and have been shopping for an aluminum rig. I spent so much money to run my boat that I could barely afford to fish. I'm at peace with the compromises I will make to run an aluminum rig.

  Back to top Comment on this

• Bill McDonaugh of Thorndale, PA writes:

  Thursday, June 13, 2013

  RE: Menendez update – Hi Mark. Great to hear that your wife is doing so well. You made a wise decision when you put your wife as your No. 1 priority. Too many others do not make this same decision. Wishing you and your family the best in the future.

  Back to top Comment on this

• Harold Sharp of Hixson,TN. writes:

  Thursday, June 13, 2013

  RE: Balog on big boats – I've been paying the same price for my gas for the past 3 years. That's because I never buy more than $20 worth at a time. I pass several service stations and it takes about 3 to 5 minutes to stop and buy $20 worth when I need more gas. I don't haul gas around for the gas companies, if you fill up then you are just hauling gas for the gas companies until you get to the last $20 worth in your tank. You are storing gas and the gas companies are refilling their tanks daily. If the gas companies had to store this gas until someone purchases it they could not fill up every day and the price of gas would go down so someone would buy it.

  If everyone only bought gas when they really needed it then the gas station would have to store it in their tank instead of your tank and the price would decrease. Again, I have paid the same price for my gas the past 3 years, $20 for each fill up.

  Another way to lower this high cost of fishing is to slow down, or as Joe says get a smaller boat and motor, then start fishing instead of boating. A way to do that is to change the scoring system in bass tournaments. Instead of just scoring your five largest bass per day, change the scoring to counting every bass you catch during the tournament day. This will slow everyone down and they will spend their time fishing instead of boating looking for five big bites. Just weigh in your two largest bass each day, but use a scoring system that scores every bass you catch and release. It's not that complicated. Think about how many bass you run by as you speed around looking for five big bites. Just change the scoring to count what you catch and start fishing instead of burning gas.

  Back to top Comment on this

• Johnny McLean of Little Rock, AR writes:

  Thursday, June 13, 2013

  RE: Balog on big boats – Good article Joe. Just another sign of the times and out of control American consumerism. The HP limit for tournaments should have never gone over 200 for the environment and safety. Also, it is ironic to hear these big tournament organizations talk about conservation, all the while promoting a gas-guzzling culture.

  Back to top Comment on this

• Rick Pierce of Mountain Home, AR writes:

  Thursday, June 13, 2013

  RE: Balog on big boats – Joe Balog has some valid perspectives for many anglers, especially the younger generations that should perhaps start smaller. Collegiate anglers should, we feel, look at different packages. Perhaps we fail them in not regulating that as a sport.

  We feel B.A.S.S. was somewhat forced by the participation experienced in the late 80s and early 90s Western events to adopt the 250-horsepower limit or stay at 150. Back then, a majority of anglers out West ran 200 engines. Larger engines were not the minority of sales those last years of 150s either. In the early 1990s, they were dominant.

  In those last 3 years before B.A.S.S. moved to 250 limits, we built between 78 percent and 83 percent of 200-rated hulls with 200 engines and not 150s. The Pantera II hull was a B.A.S.S. favorite and only those on B.A.S.S. had 150s. We all had trouble selling our own tournament rigs outside B.A.S.S.-affiliated anglers as the 200 market was larger. Operation Bass (FLW) had a larger HP limit in those days and allowed anglers more ponies. We built an 18-foot model 175 rated and that model did sell more often with 150s, though the larger boats sold with larger engines just as those do today.

  We have often said that a 225 engine is all many anglers need today, though the 250 limits on T's place the popularity of the 250 greatly higher in sales. The price is inconsequential to those anglers when less than $1,500 retail separates the engine decisions. Buyers expect a 225 rig to be $6,000 less than a 250 though engine pricing is only a fraction. Graphs, batteries, prop, troller and all other parts expected are the same.

  If B.A.S.S. and FLW moved to 300 engine ratings then many would opt for the 300 and the boat market would have more separation. Fuel costs would have more impact on those decisions then.

  Of course, we also sell a 22-foot rig with a 350 VRod and that is ultimate creature comfort, if you can afford it. Have we hit a wall on pricing? Of course, for many. Though for some they still want more and equipment alone is the most escalated cost factor.

  Nice read and some valid opinions there, Joe.

  Back to top Comment on this

• George Kramer of Lake Elsinore, CA writes:

  Wednesday, June 12, 2013

  Will Christie win again? It's possible he'll NEVER win again, not just this year. Then again, he might go on to have as many as KVD. Speaking of which, did VanDam die and I missed the story? I don't see his name on the World Rankings.

  Back to top Comment on this

• Mike Baskett of Salem, OR writes:

  Tuesday, June 11, 2013

  RE: Corkran retires – Don Corkran is a total class act. It was an honor to make the Classic via the Federation with him at the helm. Don is a true professional and a genuine great person. He will be missed. If you read this, Don, hopefully our paths will cross again. You know where I work – I'm easy to contact.

  Back to top Comment on this

• Jeremy McGrew of Madison Heights, MI writes:

  Tuesday, June 11, 2013

  RE: Will Christie win again – I believe he will win at St. Clair this year because he won his first Open there last year the same time of year and has little experience fishing the lake. That is definitely an advantage in a lake like that with so many fish all over the lake. For his win last year he camped out on one spot and didn't waste time running around fishing history like some of the other guys did.

  Back to top Comment on this

• Susan Picken of Wetumpka, AL writes:

  Monday, June 10, 2013

  RE: Balog on Alabama River – It's no laughing matter. On May 9, 2013, my son was fishing on the Tallapoosa River, which forms the Alabama River when it meets the Coosa River. The flood gates opened with no warning heard and he drowned. His body was recovered on May 11.

  Back to top Comment on this

• John Gaulke of Ithaca, NY writes:

  Friday, June 07, 2013

  RE: Balog on Alabama River – Nearly all of the comments I've read thus far make some valid points. But I think B.A.S.S. needs to learn from what happened and also from what fortunately didn't happen - but easily could have – in terms of safety. Given the insane stuff competitors were trying to do, I think B.A.S.S. is going to have to take a proactive approach in specifying off-limits areas. We've all seen automobile drivers who take crazy risks to pass a car (on a double yellow line or something of that nature). Now we've seen the kinds of risks these competitors will take. And they were foolish.

  I'm not sure how clearly some of these anglers were thinking. Flip, mishandle or demolish your bass boat in that kind of current, and you're dead and so is your marshall. A decade or so ago a charter captain and one of his clients went down in the Niagara River. Things happen fast in strong, unpredictable currents.

  Regarding Joe Balog as a guide, I don't know whether he would do trips with clients in 5-foot waves. I would doubt it, but large waves on a Great Lake are more predictable than navigating a torrential flow below a dam, and he clearly has a lot of experience on large waves and the right kind of safety gear and boat. Most people I guide are not interested in any kind of risky trip just to catch fish - even big fish.

  If I was a marshal, I would've told my pro to drop me off before attempting to run up the currents. To think that marshals paid to risk their lives is ridiculous. Either that, or have the marshalls don full survival suits.

  Back to top Comment on this

• Robert Allen of Calhoun, GA writes:

  Friday, June 07, 2013

  RE: Balog on Alabama River – So Joe, when you took all those clients out to fish in 5-foot breakers on Erie for a couple hundred bucks, it was all in the line of duty. But when Elite pros fish in a flooded river with current for $100,000, it's reckless? Seriously? It sounds like you need to change your name to Joe Bologna.

  Back to top Comment on this

• Mark Richards of Houston, TX writes:

  Friday, June 07, 2013

  RE: Balog on Alabama River – While I understand Joe Balog's point about the conditions on the Alabama River, I believe that in this instance, he is dead wrong and B.A.S.S. was absolutely NOT to blame for the situation. Joe makes a common mistake a lot of competitive anglers make - they think that because a tournament organization dangles a big prize in front of them, that waives their responsiblity to BE RESPONSIBLE and make proper decisions on the water that affect not only their own safety, but the safety of the other people in the boat with them.

  In the case of the Alabama River, B.A.S.S. released the competitors into a river that was COMPLETELY safe. There was no rule or stipulation that said you had to fish below any dam, or that you had to try and jump boulders and waterfalls in your boat.

  Yes, B.A.S.S. could have made the dam off limits based on conditions, but dam conditions change by the minute, like the weather. Are they supposed to chase everyone away every time the horn blows and they open the gates? The reason the dam situation got crazy was that certain competitors made poor decisions - period. They didnt have to go up there, there was plenty of safe water in every direction to fish.

  Evers won in what seemed to be quite pleasant conditions. Chapman, who had a real chance to win, showed his poise the last day by saying he was just not comfortable going up there with changing conditions and would fish down. That's called being rational or mature.

  What Balog is saying does apply at a place like Falcon, where the field is launching out of a cove or restricted confines and are FORCED into dangerous conditions. Nobody in the Alabama tournament was forced into dangerous conditions.The people who had problems took themselves willingly into dangerous conditions by making poor decisions. To me, I would like to see such behavior penalized by the tournament officials.

  But don't blame B.A.S.A. here.They had nothing to do with what happened, other than patronizing the results a bit much. No matter what the stakes, ultimately the competitors have a responsibility to themselves and their riders to make proper decisions on the water.

  Back to top Comment on this

• Harold Sharp of Hixson, TN writes:

  Friday, June 07, 2013

  RE: Balog on Alabama River – B.A.S.S. rules clearly give the tournament director the right to cancel or limit the official tournament waters. This should not be left to the anglers to decide as they will take chances to win. If B.A.S.S. had put this dangerous water off limits, then the anglers would have found fish in other places on the river.

  This section of the river is no secret. It is dangerous boating at any time and should be off limits to all boating when water is being dumped at a high rate. But it was not put off limits and the TV crews were there to film it all for a TV show.Are we doing B.A.S.S. tournaments or making TV shows?

  Back to top Comment on this

• Carter Northcutt of Frankfort, KY writes:

  Friday, June 07, 2013

  RE: Lowen's tough luck – Stick with it, Bill. I'm pullin' for ya.

  Back to top Comment on this

• Alton Bentley of Sanford, NC writes:

  Thursday, June 06, 2013

  RE: Balog on Alabama River – Agree wholeheartedly with Mr. Balog. It would have been truly asinine if someone had lost their life for a fish! Like any sport, common sense should be used. That area was an accident looking to happen!

  Back to top Comment on this