GLBass.com Bass Fishing Perspective and Opinion

My cousin sent me this article about an angler on a billfish fishing team who told his team mates he had his North Carolina fishing license - a $30 expense for nonresidents. After the team weighed in the winning tournament record 883 pound marlin to win the June 11-19 Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament, officials found the member did not have his license! The fish and team was disqualified.

No record. No win.

The cost to the team? $999,453 in prize money that went to the 2nd place team instead!!! That is one expensive mistake! I'm betting this person waits a while before the next time he's asked to go fishing! Even if not done on purpose, this small mistake turned out to be one huge one. Always follow all the rules. Always consider your team mates and the sanctity of sport and sportsmanship. Original story found here http://bit.ly/cAvMpm

Today, I write as a concerned sportsman that feels a little bit better. I feel like there is a movement back to caring about America and each other as Americans no matter what region we are from.

Recently, I was sitting at the bar in an Irish Pub at Midway Airport heading back to Detroit from Chicago. At the bar was a guy from New York, a girl from Chicago and a really funny Bostonian. We shot the breeze about sports the most of the time, but one key thing stuck out: we are all becoming a little more patriotic in this country. There is a shift that is real.

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A concerned Sportsman must realize the Auto industry and the Outdoors are tied at the hip

As I sat watching The Outdoor Channel this morning, an interesting bow hunt was on. It kept me thoroughly entertained and my mind off of business, not to mention all of the hurt in my community. The heavy realities of what is happening here in Michigan have been weighing on me. I have watched so many friends struggle. People that have businesses of yesterday are falling so quickly. I have started to dread the call when an old buddy rings me out of the blue and I see their name on my caller ID. I just know that it is not a, “Hey how are you?” type of phone call.

As the commercials continued, I realized a common theme. The outdoor industry and the auto industry are attached at the hip. Whether it is the show sponsors, product placements or simply the commercials, I realized the truck industry is endemic to the outdoors. There is no doubt about it.

As a man who makes his living within the outdoors, I am always focused on what is good and what is bad for the industry. I think of small towns around the country that have literally been built around a manufacturing plant. I think about communities and their reliance on car dealership’s support.

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This whole debacle with the American car companies has been pretty hard to stomach if you live in the Midwest like I do. Today marks a very sad day for Detroit and our region. One of the most philanthropic companies in the world will move into bankruptcy, a thought that is still surreal.

As the bankruptcy filing moves through its course, there will be hard losses for many to endure in this process. It will no doubt sting badly for many aspects of the industry. There will be more job losses. Dealerships will close and dealers will lose their life’s hard work. Other businesses will not be able to weather the storm, most likely closing their doors. But when it’s all said and done, I expect General Motors to come out as a stronger company, one that will finally be a healthier and more flexible business.

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Thank goodness this doesn't happen often, but I get these calls. They have a common theme and still happen too often. The last one went like this. "Hello Dan. Bob* here. Hey, I'm not super well known or anything and I didn't want to get a bad rep, but something happened to me during that last Big tournament and I need to talk to someone about it."

"I drew one of the top sticks in the event, but it didn't turn out quite like I hoped. Later in the day, this well-known, successful and popular boater started 'joking' with me about trading bass. He had a couple nice ones, but the rest were small. I had a couple nice bass too and he 'joked' that if I gave him my nice bass to weigh in with his, he'd get in the money. 'Hey... when you think about it, how would anyone know,' this well known popular angler says. 'Ha ha... we could split the money. Better than both of us getting nothing ha ha.' He says it like he's joking and of course we can't do it... but mentions again 'how would anyone ever know...'"

"It made me very uncomfortable because he kept bringing it up near the end of the day," continues Bob. "I didn't know what to do. I wanted to tell him to stop, but he's the well known, well liked boater, not me."

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I woke up yesterday morning and read the headline GM may go bankrupt. Excuse me, what did I just read? The first time I heard this I actually laughed at how ridiculous this sounded. Unfortunately this has become a reality that we must seriously understand. This is the very company that I have watched and loved since childhood. Come on, the old school Camaro, or the Trans Am, and of course the legendary Corvette! The Blazer, the Tahoe, the Yukon! The Silverado, the Avalanche the suburban, and of course Cadillac convertibles, trucks, and sedans, this is General Freeking Motors! Let’s not let this company go bankrupt, or let this legendary brand disappear. A bankruptcy would be yet another brutal blow to its ability to sell cars. Eventually the negative media needs to butt out and we need to see cars move. The frenzy of sensationalist media around a GM bankruptcy would cripple GM’s ability to sell cars.

As you look around our country we begin to realize just how regionalized this country has become. So many people rip on Detroit, the whole midwest and the big 3 with no mercy. It’s as if people have dreamed up this idea that a GM bankruptcy will not affect them, and it is indeed a dream to think those thoughts. Well I’m sorry if I am in the minority of people that not only still care about our American Automotive Heritage, but I live for it! I love American cars, and Trucks. Heck, I love cars, period. Since I have been a little boy I have loved seeing the new cars that Motown pumps out. I love seeing that new model truck and the ever so slight curves on the hood that a company tweaks in a given model change year. I love American Cars, and I love GM!

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I LOVE fishing. I love fishing tournaments. I remember a while back when I thought I wanted to be a full-time touring bass pro. I wanted it very bad. Bad enough to put almost everything else on the backburner.

What's not to love!?!

Getting on TV! Getting your picture and your name in magazines! People wanting to be your friend (especially right after you win a tournament). That was especially before I began to learn the reality of what it means; What it takes to be a real professional bass tournament angler. Before I really knew the true cost. Not just in money and time, which is vast, but in the cost to everything important in life.

That was also before I had a significant job. Before I had a wife. Before I had a new family. Before Godchildren. And pets. And a house payment. I sometimes think I felt more free then... In reality, part of the freedom was an illusion. An illusion supported by ignorance of what is really involved, truly in the sport and business of professional bass fishing. Although the 'job' of pro bass angler is not taken seriously by most outside of the sport, it is one of the toughest, most difficult, exhausting and long-houred vocations you can ever pursue.

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