Women Anglers Not Getting A Fair Shake

Tuesday, November 25, 2003
by Scot H. Laney

Here we go again, another trip back to 1950.

There are a few simple facts in our sport. One is that the pot-bellied, bubba, redneck stereotype is the biggest barrier we have in terms of mainstreaming bass fishing. I see it all the time. All you have to do is talk with some Madison Avenue types and you will see for yourself. I cringe with every "hoo- wee" and "yee-haw" I hear on the water or the weigh-in stand. If you care about the sport, you should too.

So it comes as little surprise that we need, apparently, to discuss the role that women have (or will) play in professional bass angling.

Just in case a "mere woman" gets successful on the tour, we already have it all figured out. She's a lesbian, she's out there just to chase a man or she just plain got lucky. That keeps some intellectually flabby cave dweller safe in case he finds himself in a position that he got "beat by a woman." That don't go over too well with the boys down at the barbershop. A guy might take some serious ribbing if it ever happens.

Heaven forbid that same jack-handed Neanderthal ever changes a diaper.

Truth and Lies

It all shakes out like this, and we'll go slow so no one loses their spot:

> Bass fishing is the one sport in the world where it should make little or no difference if you are a man or a woman. The fish can't tell.

Now I know that we occasionally build a case that you have to be in pretty good shape to fish well. There is something to that, and I'm sure a woman would work as hard on conditioning as some of the male anglers do. But there have also been some successful anglers that are so large that they have their own private zip code.

Our sport also requires an uncanny ability to concentrate. Neither sex has a lock on that. But don't confuse that with brute strength. Actually the two (mind power and physical power) are rarely in the same person. Happens, but it's rare. That's why the real brutes of the strength sports (boxers and football players) so often have trouble stringing even the simplest of sentences together. Most smart people have a brain that instructs them to avoid pain, the Stanford football team excluded.

> Women have already proven that they can't be successful on tour, and none of them who have tried have won a Classic, which proves the point.

Really? You mean the couple-three women that have tried the tour have now provided us a statistical example so compelling that it proves this point? Okay, so what about the 80 or so tour anglers that are men that have not won the Classic, or the 60 or so that have never even won a single event? Obviously they can't fish either. Get them out of there -- they're bums!

Give me a break. You put 50 good male anglers and 50 good female anglers on the tour and guess what: you get a mix of males and females winning events. The current dynamic is reflective of underrepresentation, not a lack of talent.

> Just because she's a woman, she would get more attention and sponsorship deals if she does go on tour, so that would somehow be unfair.

This may be true in the short run because she will give a sponsor an opportunity to be different. But as more and more women came on the tour, we would go right back to the sponsorships going to the anglers that deserve them and have proven that they can promote, regardless of gender. Plenty of good anglers today have problems finding sponsors while less-successful anglers seem to have lots of them. Comes down to the fit with the company and how personable and dynamic the angler is.

> Women's sport leagues almost always fail so this must prove something.

The fact that women-based sport leagues have had a tough go is a reflection on the ability of non-traditional or fringe sports (like bowling and soccer) to make an impact, as well as the economic tolerance of anything new right now. Let's face it: You could pick a better time to bring anything new to the market. The fact that all of those leagues having trouble are run by men is, I guess, beside the point.

Final Word

And as for Annika Sorenstam not making the cut at the Colonial? Point taken, I guess. But I watched her play in the Women's U.S. Open this year, and followed her for several holes. She can beat me. She can beat you too.