Have you noticed?

[DJD]

I have noticed and have been disappointed. I know change can be a good thing but the bad things can come with change as well. I can see how ESPN will attract some younger viewers with their over the top approach but it has not worked for me. I find myself pulling for the veteran fisherman more than the new breed of young guns.

[HoosierDon]

If ESPN wants to maintain it viewership it had better attract a BUNCH of younger people. I believe for every new viewer they attract with their stupid antics they are loosing two oldtimers. And, they should have sense enough to realize who has the most disgressionary dollars to spend on their sponsors product. Just a thought.......

[buzzking]

Alright guys heres my take, I am a younger guy, 22, but I have been raised with the same morals and beliefs as you "old timers" so heres another view. Times are changing, everywhere you look, progress in inevitable, in society, sport, and life. Five to ten years ago fishing was on a decline, yes we all fished but its popularity was flat. Now some of you may want this, to keep the lakes to you and yours but for the future of our sport to maintain what it is and once was, the younger generation MUST be involved. Now, hold on a minute, I don't exactly believe in exactly everything ESPN AND FLW does to our sport and this is why I am no longer a member to either. BUT I see everyday the rebound in youth involvment in fishing. I get calls weekly from college kids who want to join my team for a chance to fish some of our tournaments, ALOT of them come to me with stories of how they use to fish a lot when they were little but just lost interest, and now things like the ESPN and FOX college series are a chance for these kids to get back into our sport. NOW for every 5 youth IKE and his LIKES bring in, lets say at best 4 of them will model his antics and fish only for popularity and $$ and drive some of you CRAZY, but you have to believe in you hearts that one out of that five have the right background and morals to actually give back to the sport and build the future of it. Some of you may say, well that 1 would give anyways, but the undeniable truth here is that the recent popularization of our sport is bringing in the younger generations. AND for anything on this great planet to last it must progress and be passed on. With the way this country is progressing it is my opinion that without the leaps (disagree with me if you may) televised fishing is making these days, the sport would be dead within fifty years and our waters would be polluted, without a fish to be found. I dont like watching some of these guys on TV these days, so I TURN THE TV AND COMPUTER OFF, and hit the water. But times are changing guys, its evolution, and if you want to be able to have your great grandchildren involved in this sport its attention like IKE that appeals to them. It may not appeal to you, it may turn your stomach but they are not you, if a small child sees G-man ranting and raving about a fishing spot and gets excited about it, then it has served its purpose, and at that point you step in and imply how it should be and how he was in the wrong, BUT it still go their attention into fishing. Some, okay alot, do not agree with the direction fishing is heading these days but to stay with the times and society this is the way it is going to be. I have enough experience and enough maturity to see that the ends justify the means.
Kyle Crager

[Danny]

Kyle,

Change for the sake of change is not progress. Things can change, and actually regress.

Think about the number of really violent crimes that are being committed by children. Then think back just about 10-15 years or so ago when Mortal combat came out. That was the first, that I can remember, video game that glorified the killing of an opponent. You could rip his heart out, and still see it pumping in your annimated hand.

Times are a changing, now CBS and USA routinely allow actors to use the Lord's name in vain on TV, and in the case of the USA network, it was right after church let out on a Sunday. Do you call that progress? It is certainly change, but I don't call it progress.

Further, in your example you are suggesting that a whopping majority, 80%, yes 80 out of 100, are now fishing for the wrong reasons. 80 out of 100... hmmmm, we see the affects of glorified violence all the time, how about road rage... folks actually fighting and shooting each other... soon it will be boat or lake rage. Oh wait, we already have had several instances of people shooting at anglers, running the air boat right by the angler to spray him with water, a boat run in front of an angler trying to mess up his fishing ... fortunately he still caught a 6 lber. We have already seen Skeet Reese making fun of people who have mental development problems, we've seen the "G-man" go postal, or should I say go lakal on Zell Rowland, claiming he did not fish there the day before, never mind there was actual footage proving Zell was there the day before, and let's not forget the BEEPED out obscenty laced explosion from our man Ike at an E-50 last year.

Yep, that's proof, things and times are a changing, but I would argue it is not progress.

Danny

[Danny]

How about the new Gulp commercials depicting naked fishermen, Ike and Skeet??

Yep, let's encourage our kids to go on the stage naked to weigh their fish. At least they won't have any problems with competitive logo sponsorships being shown on TV.


Sheesh....

Danny

[buzzking]

maybe they could just tattoo the logos on their bodies that way a sponsorship deal would be forever.

[Chubminnow]

As I stated earlier on this thread, I don't watch much television...Is Hank Parker or Bill Dance either one still around, if so are they still doing fishing shows?

This has been years ago, but I was with a buddy of mine one time that decided to use Bill Dances advice while using a buzz bait...he said he watched Bill do it and it seemed easy enough...what he did was reel his buzz bait in on a steady retrieve, pulling it in just slow enough to keep the blades turning and also making sure to bump it into a piece of standing timber on the way back. As soon as the bait bumped the timber he'd stopped retrieving and let the bait flutter down for a second or two before reeling it back in...by golly if he didn't hook into a 5lb largemouth using this method...the fish hit right at the timber as the bait was falling...

[Danny]

Not to sure if Bill D still has a new show on, if so maybe it is on OLN, as I no longer get that network. However, Hank Parker is still on. His show is on the Outdoor Channel. This past week was about him and his family on a barbeque picnic, and fishing while using the hobycat kyaks (spelling?). Two weeks ago he was on Lake Barkley again, and this time he had one of the guys from the Knight and Hale bird calls. A lot of the background looked familiar, but then most of the bays with rip rap points look a like if the homes themselves are not shown. It could be they did all their fishing in Little River, or some shots even looked like McNabb bay, about half way back.

He has expanded his fishing thought to include redfish, bonefish, etc... and I would really prefer just bassfishing. But I guess maybe he gets tired of just bass fishing, and I imagine there are a lot of folks out there that like to see the red fishing too.

BTW, I think his show is on Monday nights at 9 pm central time. This is a replay of the show, as it is on several times a week. You can go to theoutdoorchannel.com and find the schedule.

I hope this helps.

Danny

[HoosierDon]

My goodness, did I really read that correctly??? Does the end REALLY justify the means???????? Its worse than I thought......

[buzzking]

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Feb-08-06 AT 09:54PM (EST)[/font][p]what is worse than you thought don?
you were right DH, now i see why the post gets a little flame beside it when enough hit it, I got a little hot behind the ears. :) dang it, sucked me in again

[Devils Horse]

Buzz, what's with all the anger? You sure are quick to tantrums when you're opinion is not in the majority. It's okay to have a different opinion than others without losing your temper and going on the "another whining thread" or "useless flameout" rant. I didn't see a single person pigeon hole you as an ESPN undercover agent or label you in any way. You obviously care deeply for the sport and it's future, but it's going to be hard to sway people's opinion by force. Lighten up, you don't have to choke slam someone for joking or disagreeing.

On the BASS/ESPN subject. Bassmaster ragazine and B.A.S.S. has been about little else but selling boats and products for a long time. That's just the way it is.

I don't dislike Ike, Swindle or any of the brash youngsters, in fact they're pretty entertaining. My concern is if they're the future, where does it go from here? When the loud antics get old what do they do next? What does the next young guy coming up figure he's going to have to do to stand out and get attention? Now it could be, and hopefully will pan out that there's plenty of room for the more quiet Aaron Martens types and the Ikes of the fishing world too. I'm not real tore up about it either way, because all the pros and most of us wannabes across the spectrum support youth and conservation efforts.

[steve604]

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Feb-08-06 AT 10:41PM (EST)[/font][p][font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON Feb-08-06 AT 10:40*PM (EST)[/font]

Man I can't wait for the FLWWF! If he beats you on the scales, bash him in the head with a chair!!! Would be great for ratings ESPN! .... sorry, just ranting. Last time I looked, this was still a gentlemans sport. A sport where two guys who don't know each other can pull up, talk about fishing, where they caught them, and on what, and have a friend the next week when they pass each other on the water. And it doesn't seem to matter if one is a millionaire stock broker and the other is a poor man in a hundred dollar flat bottom.
When this is gone let me know. It'll be time to burn the boat.

Steve