(Editor's note: Harold Sharp was the first tournament director Ray Scott hired. Sharp left BASS long ago, but as all readers of BassFan FeedBack know, he still cares passionately about the sport.)

I've been asked several times: What do you think about women fishing the Bassmater Classic?

I was there when it started, and women weren't allowed to fish BASS tournaments for a very good reason. When the first BASS rules were written, we were very concerned about the possibility that anglers would cheat. Fishermen already had that reputation, so we had rules to try to prevent that.



We installed a rule that two anglers in competition against each other would always be paired together in the same boat and must stay in sight of each other and their catch at all times until the weigh-in, which was usually 6 or more hours covering many miles of water.

Not many people can go this long without a bathroom break, which isn't a problem for males, but it would create a problem if a female was in sight. So for that reason alone, women weren't allowed to fish BASS tournaments.

Then one day I got a call from a BASS club member informing me that one of their club members, who was a female, had entered our upcoming tournament in New York. I checked our entries and found her name listed. A look at the entry form she entered revealed the box "male or female" wasn't checked, so we returned it and asked that the entry form be filled out correctly.

A few days later it came back checked female, so we refunded her money and rejected her entry. Soon she had lawyers and a court date set against BASS for violation of her civil rights, and BASS had to go to New York to defend itself. BASS hired a New York lawyer and instructed him to fight the case based on the civil rights of the male anglers in the tournament.

BASS gave the judge the BASS Rules, and explained the reason they must stay in sight and that BASS would be violating the male angler's civil rights by forcing him to relieve himself in sight of a women that he didn't know. The judge promptly ruled in favor of BASS. The rules were later changed and women were allowed to fish BASS tournaments.

My personal thoughts are that the sport of professional bass fishing wasn't designed or intended to include women. The name has always been the Bass Anglers Sportsman Society. It does not say Sportsperson's Society because it was always intended to be a man's sport, just like professional baseball, football, basketball, golf and boxing.

These other sports have women involved, but with the exception of golf, they don't have males and females competing against each other.

There are many other reasons why these pro sports shouldn't allow both men and women to compete together. One is the WBT rule that prohibits men from entering WBT events. It wouldn't be in the best interest of any woman to be forced into a boat ride of 50 miles up some lonely river with a strange man when a potty break is needed by either, and WBT was very smart to include this rule in the official WBT rulebook.

Professional bass fishing is not a sport designed for both male and female. It's not always played in front of spectators with a restroom in walking distance.

Having said why I think it's not a good idea for a women to be in the Classic, I also wonder why any woman would consider it to start with. Whoever qualifies as the first woman will be the one with all the media attention, which won't help her ability to concentrate on fishing, which is very important. If you get all the media attention and finish near the bottom, then you get the backlash that says: "You had no business here to start with." Look at what happened in golf.

I remember in the early days of the Classic when we hired film crews to film, and they decided before it started who they thought would win (such as Bill Dance), and they followed them every day. It disrupted their concentration and they finished on the bottom. Then BASS had no film they could use and the angler's reputation was damaged by a very low finish. So the first lady Classic angler will not have a easy time.

BASS should take a long look at the WBT and turn it into something all women can be proud of, instead of putting all the female anglers in one basket to produce the first WBT Classic angler. That's just a PR stunt.

The WBT schedule of four events has a big price tag with little or no return for the anglers. A $650 entry fee with $2,000 travel cost per event, plus $300,000 insurance on a $30,000 boat, is a big investment for little return.

You must enter four events at an average cost of $2,600 per event. If you place 10th four times you win $6,000. Place 9th four times to win $7,000. Place 8th four times to win $8,000. Place 7th four times to win $10,000. But you'll spend $10,600 or more to fish four events, so you must place in 6th or better four times to make any money.

But they're going to the Classic? So is everyone else. The women anglers deserve more.