In today’s tournament bass fishing world, if you listen closely, you’ll hear the music to the popular soap opera TV series “The Young and the Restless” or maybe “The Bold and the Beautiful.” Today we’ll take a look at all the drama tournament bass fishing is going through that would make any soaps fan jealous.
If you noticed, I was not specific to professional bass fishing. That’s because there’s drama on all levels of tournament bass fishing. Whether it’s a local bass club event, BFL’s, ABA’s, Toyota Series or a benefit tournament, no event is immune to drama.
People have often asked why all the drama today? Well, I personally think a lot of this started when the Bassmaster Elite Series decided to split with over 80 anglers jumping over to the newly formed MLF known as Major League Fishing.
Tensions were high during this split in 2018 as anglers made career decisions on whether to stay with B.A.S.S. or go to MLF. Friendships were lost and enemies created over these decisions.
This split was similar to what happened with professional golf as the PGA Tour and the LIV Tour created a lot of drama as golfers made decisions based on the opportunity to earn more guaranteed money.
Social media has thrived with controversy swirling around tournament anglers. Disqualifications for rules violations by highly regarded anglers has had both of the professional organizations dealing with constant negativity.
The “no information” rule has also been a problem as anglers have been failing polygraph exams. There’s also been controversy with anglers cheating when catching bass outside the mouth when site fishing, which is a rules violation.
But in today’s world, bad behavior is rewarded with social media clicks. Anglers know that it’s all about how many “views” or “likes” they can gather on social media which draws more attention to them and their sponsors.
It goes back to the adage, “There’s no such thing as bad publicity.” Sponsors of both B.A.S.S. and MLF have learned to turn their heads when it comes to bad behavior with anglers not following the rules.
So, back to our original question…Is social media good or bad for competitive bass fishing? It all depends on who you ask. As far as the sport of bass fishing goes, I think it has been both good and bad. The good part has been the amount of information anglers can get about a particular body of water. It can also be a great place to share fishing information and celebrate a recent victory or a high finish.
The bad side of social media is when people spread gossip; most of which is not true. They use it for what I call “feeding the beast.” It has also been known as a place where people vent their frustrations and express their feelings waiting on anyone to respond so they can engage in hate.
Like so many other things in today’s world, social media divides us and has become a landing spot for negativity. It’s up to us as individuals if we want to participate in the hostility or just keep on scrolling. Till next time, good luck with your fishing and stay safe.
