It seems like everyone wants to know what it is like to be a professional bass angler. Sounds like a good idea for a website (hint). Maybe within such a website, one such pro angler could give a piece of information about being a pro that nobody ever thinks about. Being the Champion of What If is one of those unknown titles.
Over the 11 plus years I have been fishing full time, I have run across many, many different situations. It also has occurred to me that out of all the pro anglers on tour, they come from many walks of life and various situations. One of the unknown common factors to most all, successful pro anglers are Champions of What If.
When you hear the terms, “anywhere…anytime,” you know someone has started some static. It is a reference to being ready to defend yourself or be challenged at any place and at any time. That is exactly how I feel about fishing tournaments in regard to the places and times we go.
If someone actually could calculate the amount of time that I think about bass fishing, ways to tweak lures, setting up my boat, new ways to catch fish, and so on, it would scare you. I don’t have any percentage of the waking day to throw out but it would be a lot. It would beg the question about obsessing over bass fishing.
Last week, Paul Elias introduced the world to the Alabama Rig. After seeing it and the unbelievable results, I think calling it the WTF Rig would be more appropriate. It makes perfect sense but it looks so crazy. People that see you throwing it would say WTF. When you begin catching big fish after big fish, you will also say WTF.
It seems like the sport of professional bass fishing has evolved immensely over the past 12 to 15 years. Once there was only BASS or B.A.S.S. or whatever it is today. Ray Scott and B.A.S.S. put tournament fishing on the map and built a house that professional anglers could play in. Then along came FLW Tour. They brought huge purses and raised the stakes for everyone. Logo usage issues, boat usage issues, and other control based issues came with the FLW Tour and many of the pros started the Professional Angler Association about 6 to 10 years ago. Now we have the Major League Fishing, aka MLF that is trying to evolve the sport further.
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