How they are considered Pros

I knew that the tournament pros get into the best equipment but can't you possibly win without the best of the best?


They're bass pros for a reason

By Terry Knight -- Record-Bee outdoors columnist
Updated: 04/14/2010 01:20:55 AM PDT





The recent Bassmasters tournament at Clear Lake showed just how good these full-time professional fishermen are. Most of the 94 fishermen in the tournament were from back East and many had never been to Clear Lake before, or, at the most, only one or two times. Yet these pros managed to catch some heavy weights.
How did they do it?

To start with they had the best equipment money could buy. In fact, their bass boats resembled spaceships with all their electronic gadgetry. For example, their fish-finders not only could scan straight down beneath the boat but off to all sides. These fish-finders can pick out the smallest bass that is hiding beneath all types of cover. In addition, the units have the latest GPS features that can log in all the fishing holes. The units can cost as much as $3,000.

The fishermen also had the latest and most expensive fishing rods and reels. They use a different type of rod and reel for each type of fishing. There is a special rod for flipping, another for drop-shotting and another for casting swimbaits. These rods and reels can cost as much as $1,000 each.
Last but not least are their bass boats. Most of the boats were rigged with 250 hp outboards and were 21-23 feet long. They are built to go as fast as 80 mph and can handle the roughest water. The boats were equipped with hydraulic units attached to the transom. When the fisherman gets to his fishing area he can lower these long steel rods into the water to hold the boat steady.


Of course, they also have the strongest electric trolling motors to move the heavy boat along the shoreline. Typically a bass boat of this type cost in the neighborhood of $75,000.


The fishermen themselves are considered to be the top in their craft. These guys can cast nonstop for eight hours and not even take a drink of water. They do this in all kinds of weather from 5-foot waves to 100-degree days. They can also read a lake and locate fish. For example, the winner of the tournament, Bryon Velvick, only visits Clear Lake about once every three or four years yet he can instantly locate fish. The same applied to the other contestants. Typically they will prefish for three days before a tournament but in that short time they can catch more bass than a local angler who fishes the lake a hundred times a year.
Of course these professionals are out on the water at various lakes around the country 300 days or more a year.

What amazes me is their casting ability. With a flip of a wrist they can send a lure out 40 feet and hit a little pocket in the tules with the precision of a surgeon using a scalpel. They do this at a rate of 30 or 40 times an hour. When they go down a bank they rarely miss a fish and when they do hook one they can get it in the boat in a matter of seconds. They rarely play a bass for more than a minute and they lose very few fish.

Another thing that amazes me is their physical ability to fish day after day without a break. For example, prior to coming to Clear Lake they fished for seven days in the Delta and then started right away at Clear Lake and fished another seven days. Immediately after the tournament at Clear Lake the pros had to drive all away across the country to Virginia and fish in another tournament. Most of these bass pros are in their 40s and 50s, not young athletes such as baseball or football pros. In fact, one was even 70 years old and he ended up in third place, a remarkable feat.
The worst part of being a national bass pro is that for all their work it doesn't pay all that well. With the exception of a few who make a seven-figure income, most are struggling financially just like the everyday worker. Why do they spend months away from their families and live in motels and eat fast food? It's because they love the sport of fishing and one day hope to win the big prize.