Why we talk about “How we did it”
At this past tournament at Tenmile 8/29-30/2006, I ran into a gentleman at the campground just outside the restrooms. He was practicing for the Tenmile Open that was coming up on 8/5. He informed me that he was from the Emerald Bass Club and asked what club I was from. I told him. He then asked how everyone did out there and I told him that one team had caught 12 keepers and another caught 11 and so on. He looked at me with amazement and I could tell that he was curious to how I knew so many specifics. So I stopped and proceeded to tell him how Crater Bass participates in sharing information after the tournaments. His eyes got really wide with amazement and he commented, “why would you share your secrets?” “I have never heard such a thing” . I then gave him some compelling reasons why; which in the end he said he never looked at it that way and realized why we do things the way we do.
1. The most obvious reason why we share info is, what does it hurt? Do think that if someone else knows how and where your catching fish will change your catch ratio? Perhaps, but you have to consider the top anglers in B.A.S.S and FLW. Let’s take Kevin VanDam for example. No doubt he’s one of the best anglers of all time and consistently takes home a check. Why is that? Is it because he holds all the secrets and no one else knows of the secret baits and places? I don’t think so. Everywhere the top pros go, a camera is on them the whole time showing where they’re fishing and what they’re throwing. Even how they’re working the bait. You don’t think that other anglers watch the tournament tapes? So why do winners keep winning and the losers keep struggling? It’s not that they have any secrets. In fact Kevin VanDam wins most of his tournaments on Spinnerbait’s. Is that the big secret? Wow! I think pretty much everyone on the lake has a spinnerbait tied on. and everyone on the lake probably knows where he’s fishing. It doesn’t matter. He catches fish because he can visualize what his spinnerbait is doing at all time, almost as if he becomes the spinnerbait. That’s something that can never be stolen through words. I like to give my example last year at our April Dorena tournament, I had the pleasure of fishing with Brady Dunn on his first tournament ever. He, up until that very weekend, had never thrown a Senco, much less heard of one. We both threw the same Senco, on the same hooks, with the same rod and reels with the same line; out of the same boat, and you know what? He out fished me NINE to ZERO! Why? I tried to duplicate his every movement and for some reason, couldn’t duplicate his catch ratio. Something I couldn’t learn even with him in the back of the boat. I hear this a lot on Pro-Am Tournaments. That day, I was the Am.
2. Lack of learning kills Bass Clubs. I have had the luxury of fishing with 4 bass clubs in my short 12 year tournament career. And what I’ve noticed in every club is that the winners keep winning and the losers keep struggling, just like the pros. But one big difference between the pros and the clubs is that there are no tapes to review after the tournaments for the club anglers, so the cycle continues… the winners keep winning and the losers take up Golf or Water-skiing. I’m a firm believer that even if you win every tournament or if you take last in every tournament, if you don’t learn something, you’ve wasted your time...Period! If you didn’t learn even the smallest of things to help your catch ratio in the future or help you duplicate or improve your success’s, your doomed to struggle and take up Golf; and that my friend, is what kills Bass Clubs.
Let’s face it, losing sucks and winning is sweet. If your competition is annihilated by you every tournament and feels they haven’t learned anything , you’ll find yourself fishing alone or at least with less competitors, which makes winning less sweet, and the cycle repeats itself. Look at Clubs that fish only individuals. It’ too can be a good format if the knowledge is shared... but, if not, the chances of a new non-boater finding the enjoyment of Bass tournaments are slim. Typically what happens is they don’t catch as many fish as the boater and wind up donating their money every tournament. And to make matters worse, the boater does little to help their catch ratio. You can find many of them on public golf courses today. The old adage, “keep your friends close and your enemies closer” couldn’t ring more true. Except the word enemies should be switched to competitors. Help them out and share your knowledge. It will only push you to become a better angler yourself and winning will be sweetest of all. And besides, the time you quit learning something yourself, is the time you’ll get left in the dust and should hang up the buzzbait. Throwing all the knowledge out on the table will truly prove the best angler and not the one with the most secrets. The pro’s do it every day.
3. Club fishing is for entertainment, learning, and friendship purposes only! I have seen far too many friendships lost over $15 and a five dollar trophy. Really, what is important? Fifteen dollars? Trophies? Or could it be friendship, sportsmanship, and a way to hone and improve your fishing skills while participating in a friendly tournament? No one is making a living fishing Club tournaments and a Club is a place to push one another by sharing and improving so we can participate in the next level; say… ABA, FLW Stren series, or even higher. It’s a place to find friends with a common interest. We need to make one another better anglers and help each other out to improve everyone’s catch ratio. This will help in ensuring new people joining in on the growth of Bass fishing in Oregon. This will start the perpetuating cycle and stifle the problem that plagues so many Bass Clubs... member participation. Crater Bass can excel to a place where the top three teams at your local Invitational, Open’s, ABA’s, etc. are Crater Bass members. Or even one may hear of a former Crater Bass member who just qualified for the BP top 150.
Every Bass Club is what the members make it.
It’s a product of it’s environment... It’s up to you. <‘(((><
