As Benjamin franklin once said,“ it takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it.” Yet, a reputation is not always the truth, or at least the whole truth. so how does one manage his reputation, especially in a tight-knit sport like fishing?

“ You adhere to the Golden Rule,” says larry nixon.“ do unto others as you’ d have them do to you. often, it’ s as simple as that. You do that, and you’ ll build a good reputation, and you want one in this sport.”

With more than 40 years in the sport, nixon has seen the power of reputation. Whether for attaining sponsors or garnering respect from other anglers, an angler’ s reputation is often as important as his fishing ability, according to nixon. it’ s something that can be groomed through media appearances, fan interaction and social media, in ways that can help an angler build his brand and protect his image.

Yet, on the water is where a reputation really develops, and that’ s where it gets tricky, because following the Golden Rule has shades of gray depending on an angler’ s interpretation of what’ s acceptable in any given situation. there’ s an example – quite common in tournament fishing – that can help illustrate the point, and the reasoning behind nixon’ s suggestions for handling it can be applied in similar encounters. say angler 1 pulls in on a spot on day two of a tournament. he didn’ t fish it the day before, but did in practice. then angler 2, who is leading the tournament, pulls in shortly after. how does angler 1 proceed? he was there first, after all, but will he be labeled a“ hole jumper”( the deadliest sin on nixon’ s list in terms of reputation) for seemingly weaseling in on angler 2’ s area? and what if angler 1 is also in contention for the lead? such interactions contribute to building a reputation, and it’ s also where“ unwritten rules” come into play. there are no rules that stipulate angler 1 has to leave, but if he doesn’ t his reputation could be tarnished even though he didn’ t intentionally steal the leader’ s spot. nixon has lost count of how many times such situations have arisen in his career, but because of that, he’ s come up with some unwritten rules of his own to deal with them.

“ the first day of the tournament, anything goes,” says nixon.“ i don’ t know who practiced where, but once you get to day two, if you haven’ t seen someone in your area, but then you do, that’ s when it gets questionable. that’ s where communication becomes so important.” let’ s look at the prior example. if nixon is angler 1, the second he sees the leader or even one of the leaders come in, he’ s either leaving the area out of respect( if nixon is far down the leaderboard) or at least trolling over to communicate his situation( if nixon is in contention). it’ s worth noting that in either scenario, nixon approaches on his trolling motor, not idling.

“ have respect for the angler. You idle over and you could be ruining his area, and just taking off on pad when around others; that’ s just disrespectful. trolling motor out 50 yards before you fire up.” say nixon is the leader in the previous example, and he pulls in and finds angler 1 already on his spot. if angler 1 doesn’ t communicate with him, nixon will be sure to go over and communicate with angler 1 to work out a solution.

“ a lot of it comes down to communication,” says nixon.“ i’ ll never be blunt or cuss. Just have a friendly conversation to try and clear the air, but you have to say something.” nixon says that he has seen many young anglers err in such scenarios as their competitive ambitions often get the best of them.

“ they’ ll be in 120th, and the leader will show up on a spot, and they won’ t leave or even bother to ask if it’ s his main area,” says nixon.“ Money is such a factor. they just don’ t understand the proper way to play the game.

“ that said, i’ ve seen many young anglers who, as they matured, were able to repair their reputations as they had better respect and etiquette out on the water as their careers progressed.”

Few anglers are as adored by fans and fellow competitors as Larry Nixon, who says adhering to the Golden Rule is the best way to develop a good reputation in the industry. photo by coLin moorE

FLWFISHING. COM I MAY-JUNE 2018

Bass Fishing May - Jun 2018 | Page 28

MANAGING REPUTATION eaRninG Respect is aBout MoRe than Just catchinG fish

As Benjamin franklin once said,“ it takes many good deeds to build a good reputation, and only one bad one to lose it.” Yet, a reputation is not always the truth, or at least the whole truth. so how does one manage his reputation, especially in a tight-knit sport like fishing?