The hottest topic right now among pros fishing the BASSMASTER Tour is next season's new 30-day off-limits rule -- specifically whether ESPN/B.A.S.S. should change the rule to make the off-limits also "no-information."
Background
One of the major changes ESPN/B.A.S.S. unveiled for the 2003 Tour is a 30-day off-limits rule. This rule prohibits tournament anglers from physically being on tournament waters 30 days before an event begins.
But many pros would like to see this rule taken a step further. They want a "no-information" or "no-talk" clause imposed during the 30-day off-limits period. Here's the reason: According to current B.A.S.S. rules, a pro can still receive information (spots, lures, conditions, etc.) from local anglers during the off-limits period -- right up until the night before the first practice day.
So essentially a pro can call a local who has been on the water during the off-limits period and obtain as much information about the lake as he desires -- and it does happen, sometimes for money.
Local Help: Is it Wrong?
Is this wrong? BassFan.com asked a few pros what they thought.
"I don't look negatively upon guys who solicit help because they aren't breaking any rules," said Tim Horton. "But I do think it's a disservice to fishing fans who look up to professional bass anglers as the top anglers in the world."
Randy Blaukat is more outspoken on the issue. "Professional fishermen are out there making a good living and finishing high in the points by using local information," he said. "It's a routine part of their gameplan. If you jerk that security blanket out from underneath them, I think there would be a real flip-flop in the year-end standings."
Blaukat said that all pros, himself included, are exposed to local information. But under current B.A.S.S. rules, it is solely up to an angler's own ethical conscience as to how much information he solicits and to what extent he utilizes it.
"We are constantly approached by enthusiastic anglers at gas stations or by amateur partners who want to help us," he noted. "Whether a pro pursues those opportunities is a matter of integrity. If a local shows a pro prime water, brushpiles, ledges or GPS coordinates, doesn't that undermine the very principle of the term 'professional bass angler?'"
Blaukat said that these pros justify the solicitation of local help by saying: "Everybody else is doing it, I might as well." To that, Blaukat suggested the following: "If soliciting local help is such an acceptable practice, perhaps outdoor writers should entertain articles on 'Soliciting Help Like a Pro,' and see how many pros volunteer as sources."
Legal But Unfair
"I don't condemn people who get local help because it's perfectly legal," said Gerald Swindle. "It is a part of some pros' strategies. But it's unfair. Local information creates an uneven playing field."
According to Swindle, the dynamic that creates the disparity is that every lake has 5-10 top local anglers, guys who dominate local tournaments. A handful of bass pros with celebrity status monopolize that quality help and the rest of the field is left with weekend anglers that can offer little substantial information.
"I don't get a lot of help," Swindle said. "It's not that I don't want help. Rather, there's no good help left when I get to a lake."
Blaukat has observed the evolution of local help in pro fishing over his 20-year career. He said that the "information highway," for certain pros, has a snowball effect.
"Certain superstar anglers garner a fanbase. Those fans, all well-meaning people, want to help the angler. As the angler does better, the information base grows, from local lake experts to sponsor networks that use local and regional team members to gather information for national-level anglers."
"That's what makes it an uneven playing field," Horton said. "A Tour rookie simply isn't going to have access to that substantial information base before practice."
- End of part 1 (of 2) -
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