I’ve always enjoyed remembering how things used to be, and I look forward for what the future holds with regards to the tournament bass fishing. Today we’ll step back in time and look at how tournament fishing was in the early days.
As I’ve noted in past writings, my tournament days go back to the early 1990’s. To say that times have changed is truly an understatement. Things are different today in several ways and the first thing that comes to mind, is how anglers had respect for each other on the water. Anglers were always conscious of fishing too close to another angler and never wanted to invade another their territory especially if he was leading the tournament. THAT’S NOT THE CASE TODAY!
To use an old phrase, “back in the day,” anglers showed respect for each other by not fishing areas on the lake that someone found first. Unfortunately, anglers today tend to hold no regard or respect for another angler’s area.
Many of our younger anglers tend to think that all water is open for anyone to fish any time during the tournament. But I’m not going to throw shade just on our youth for all the issues taking place in tournaments. It’s not really their fault, as 95% of both high school and college anglers have never been exposed to the unwritten rules of tournament bass fishing. Etiquette has been forgotten and not being taught.
Another issue today that anglers have is the disregard for the “no information” rule. At no time has this rule had more attention than it has this season. Several touring pros have been disqualified for violating this rule in 2025. Most tournament trails have a written rule that does not allow anglers to receive information about a particular body of water within a specific time frame. Without a doubt, this is the most abused rule on every level!
Anglers back in the day, were held to a higher standard than they are today. Some tournament organizations are turning a blind eye to some of the infractions and are not holding anglers accountable. This is why anglers continue to bend the rules and is one reason tournament entries are down nationwide.
Until organizations decided to preserve the integrity of the sport, and drop the hammer on these rule breakers, nothing will change. Some anglers will stop at nothing to gather information like waypoints, best areas to fish, and what baits to throw from guides and other resources.
While there are ways to gather information legally, some anglers ignore the rules and show no regard for doing things the right way. Once again, back in the day if an angler violated a rule, he was pulled aside by other anglers and asked to explain himself. The older generation held each other more accountable.
Oh, how I yearn for the days of old where you did not have to worry about who or how someone was possibly cheating or bending the rules. Your reputation as an angler was more important than winning any single event. You would rather sacrifice a win and still have the respect of your fellow competitors than to cash a check doing something shady.
But the philosophy today, is to win at all costs no matter what the consequences. This is pretty much true in all sports, especially on the high school and collegiate levels. Today it’s all about the money being made and if a kid is not happy where they’re at, they transfer to another school that is willing to pay them even more. They even paid in advance on potential and not on their body of work!
I’ll wrap up this gripe session with this; if we as anglers don’t start demanding organizations enforce ALL the rules, nothing will ever change. We must demand transparency from all tournament organizations. Till next time, go fishing every chance you get because you never know when it might be your last.
Contact Steve at sgraf26@yahoo.com
