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like a stray dog trying to find a home . But I gained so much respect for Roland , and he and I talk pretty regularly on the phone today .
And I met guys like Larry Nixon , one of the best damn fishermen in the sport ever .
It seems like as a tournament director you ’ ve had the chance to impact a lot of folks over the years .
I hope with anything I accomplished in the sport that people respected me for how I handled them and talked to them in different situations . Whether it was family issues or financial issues , it ’ s amazing how many people talked to me about those situations . It gave me a great feeling to know that maybe I helped somebody in that category . It ’ s been a great ride .
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won the first tournament in the Mountain Division when we started that .
Working for Operation Bass and FLW , you saw a lot of future pro anglers come through in front of you . You ’ re pretty proud of that , right ?
I watched Bassmasters , and I watched the growth of Major League Fishing from their startup . The Forrest Wood Cup , I looked at those rosters and every one of those rosters said the same thing : that 85 percent of those anglers had started at Operation Bass or FLW , and it continues today . Our company , we groomed these guys , and it was quite the honor just to have a small part in it , that all these anglers started with us .
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everything else , some things stay and some go .
I ’ m for anything that grows the sport . What I mean by that is , our ability to catch fish , if it ’ s legal within regulations , I ’ m for that . Whether it ’ s the [ umbrella rig ] or forwardfacing sonar , I ’ m for that .
With the guys out offshore fishing with forwardfacing sonar , for the guys that don ’ t do that , it opens up tons of water for them . The bank beaters , there ’ s no difference in the way they fish , and they ’ re getting more areas to fish .
For anybody that ’ s against it , it ’ s more than likely that they want to make excuses because they can ’ t compete . The guys that compete at the highest level are going to learn to compete with whatever techniques . The same guys that won before are still winning if you look at it . Those guys are just good at every technique out there .
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Plus , you ’ re never going to get a schedule that is entirely offshore . Some folks might not like sightfishing events , or not like Florida events . Looking at next year for the Tackle Warehouse Invitational schedule , I think you could hand the Angler of the Year trophy to Andy Morgan after the first event .
I saw that . I agree 100 percent . They have a great schedule , not only the Bass Pro Tour but the Invitationals . There ’ s going to be a lot of shallow-water fishing in all of those events .
I know Michael Mulone and Chris Hoover , who set most of those up , and those guys understand fishing . They try to do the best they can to make sure there are diverse fisheries in that schedule , and that creates interest in the schedule . For Lake Champlain , they know when to go there , and they also know when to go to the Arkansas River .
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Are there any changes through the years that you had a hand in you ’ re particularly proud of ?
I remember when we discussed running two tournaments in one . Why don ’ t we let the co-anglers fish against the co-anglers and the boaters fish against the boaters ? From that discussion came our format of boater and non-boater . I was still fishing the events part-time at that point . As a matter of fact , my co-angler
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One of the hot topics on the internet these days is forward-facing sonar . What do you think about it ?
Let ’ s back up a little bit . I can remember when flipping was first introduced by Dee Thomas . It was too good , too easy to catch fish . It penalized the angler in the back who wasn ’ t running the boat . It was too hard on [ the fish ] when you jerked on them . Some organizations limited the rod length you could use , and like
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A lot of the argument against forward-facing sonar is that it ’ s boring to watch on TV or live . How much do you think we should prioritize entertainment at the top level compared to letting the anglers compete with everything they can ?
As a tournament fisherman that watches about every minute of online coverage , it can become just a little bit boring . There ’ s nothing like a Spook bite , or a surface lure strike with a great videographer .
I watch these guys that are really good offshore , and then they go to a lake and beat the bank and they ’ re still good . I think there ’ s room for both – forward-facing sonar is not an easy task to learn . And I would say of all the pros out there , there are a lot that still are beating the bank .
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There are a lot of cool things about working in tournament fishing , but it ’ s still work . What was your least favorite part of the job ?
I didn ’ t have a least favorite part of the job . I really enjoyed the scheduling part when I was involved ; that was one of my most favorite things that I did .
I really loved the scheduling . I really loved setting up for a lakeside weigh-in , getting the flow for parking . I loved making sure I knew the water well enough to know where the off-limits [ areas ] should be , or what the regulations should be . And I loved being at the tubs and seeing the anglers come in .
The hardest part of my job was having to disqualify or penalize an angler for a rule violation . I ’ m not talking about someone violating an off-limits or information rule
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