What the fisherman got right

[WIRiverRat]

As we came around the corner of the river this morning for our dawn patrol ski we were quite surprised to see the site of 110 fully loaded bass boats getting ready to take off and raise all heck on our glass calm water as the Bassmaster fishing tournament is in town.

One of the guys in our boat mentioned how cool it would be to be a co-angler in a boat and I asked what that was. Apparently local people get the opportunity to go out with the pros and fish with them for an entire day. They use the sponsored bait and get tips while in the tournament setting. Many of the top boats will raffle off their co-angler spot through their sponsors.

This is a really cool idea that could be adapted to grow our sport. Wouldn't it be awesome if you got to spend some practice sessions in the boat when Nate or Freddy skied and then got to demo a new ski they set up for you? Or even at the local level to team up a new skier with a top skier to show them the ropes.

As I look at a park filled with tents, semi trucks, and a $650k pot for reeling in a big fish it goes to show what you can grow through sharing the sport to get someone hooked.

[klindy]

At the night jump event at the Nationals this year, the "middle seat" was auctioned off with the proceeds going to Junior Development. A couple of the upcoming B2/B3 skiers got the chance to ride in the boat for the whole event. I'm sure it was a thrill and JD did pretty well too!

[gregy]

That is a good idea, I'd be all in. But I'm not sure it would grow the sport because your target audience is already tournament skiers more than likely. From my market experience I'd say it would be more about promoting a brand within the ski community.

[BOS_Shirts]

@WIRiverRat Talk about growing the sport, did you offer to pull any of the bass fishermen skiing? :smile:

[Ralph Lee]

If we can figure out a way to get fat, lazy guys who don't want to expand more energy than suddenly jerking on a 8 ounce rod, then moving their wrist in a circular motion a few times a day into slalom skiing, our sport would sky rocket!!

[Ralph Lee]

Like my fat lazy fisherman brother always says, ''slalom skiing is a drag!''

 

Some fisherman are pretty cool, most are slobs trying to get away from their wives and children.

[Orlando76]

Here we go, trash the fishermen. Parked beside my two Ski Nautiques is my Carolina Skiff flats boat. I spend three days a week fishing, 12 months a year, gotta rest up in between the days I ski. I'm just as fit as any of the other joes on here so watch the negative comments about fishermen @Ralph Lee

[ALPJr]

Love to get a day here and there through the summer surf fishing along the coast from Stonington to Charlestown

[Ralph Lee]

@Orlando76 fisherman must be different in Orlando. In Oregon they are horrible people!!

[Ralph Lee]

Just kidding, our Nautique is actually half ski equipment half fishing gear. That said, my personal tackle box only has binding and fin tweaking tools. :o

[paco]

@Ralph Lee you are spot on! Oregon sounds just like Alabama!

[Stevie Boy]

Here in the UK we have Carp fishermen, they turn up with tents to sleep in, they use remote control boats to drop the bait where they want it, they have alarms on their rods so that they know they have a bite, they have crates of beer that they drink until they are in a comatose state then they collapse in their tent until they wake up in the morning.

And they call it a sport.

[spicoli]

I ski course year round dry suit the works luv it but next to my nautique is a champion bass boat I fish bass tournaments regularly so there are fat lazy skiers to, like me.

[Booze]

a) I agree with the riverrat, I thinks it's a good idea.

b) As for the fishermen comments, try actively bass fishing a large body of water (like Barkley) in sometimes gnarly conditions for 8-10 hours. It's not for the meek or lazy.

c) I love skiing, and bass fishing is a not too distant 2nd.

c) Fish n Ski?

 

 

[Kelvin]

We have enough catfish to do a fish fry. We could combine a ski tournament with a catfish tournament for an overall winner of the weekend.

[DW]

@Mark_Matis : You need to google 'Peoria Carp Hunters' and watch the You Tube video(s), I & II...

[keithh2oskier]

 

This looks like an insane amount of fun.

[lpskier]

@Orlando76 I'll be back in Otown in October. I'll be your bass buddy!

[Orlando76]

@lpskier from what I understand LaPoints has some good bass there.

[Andre]

I love Bass too!

 

[Texas6]

fish and ski.

 

[lpskier]

@Orlando76 Only of you think an 8.5 pound bass in a ski lake is good fishing...

[Orlando76]

@lpskier think I will have to talk to KLP about letting me fish there on my lunch break. Shoot, teach my son to fish there for the first time.

 

For all the haters, here's a crazy thought. Maybe allow bank fishermen to do catch and release for $10-15 a trip. Throw that money towards that $650k purse, oh I meant $10k purse.

[lpskier]

I know at least one man made ski lake that has fishing members. The lake is a former gravel pit, though, not a trench.

[Waternut]

I love the concept but honestly, I don't think our sport can support it. When you can practically count all of the sponsored skiers on your fingers and toes, it makes it difficult. I don't think it has anything to do with fat and lazy vs physically fit people....IMO it's more to do with learning curves. You can teach someone to fish with the right pole and bait in a couple hours and if they get lucky and follow instructions, they can catch that big fish on their first day. On the other hand, you can teach someone to get up on ski's in a few hours and if they're athletic enough, you might be able to get them on a slalom ski in a day but getting them through the slalom course could take years.

[Orlando76]

got up at 6:30 this am, kissed my sleeping wife good bye, on water at sunrise. Come through the canal heading to ski partners house to pick him up, pass a bass boat fishing the shoreline. On the back is a very nice looking ASSet. I pick up partner, I see plumbers crack as the Suns rising, so was the moon. Idle to the course, pass another bass boat with very nice natural floatation devices. In my boat there's body sounds escaping. We have hair coming out of places on our bodies I didn't know exist. There's a fowl odor that can't be described. 8 am we work up a sweat chasing buoys and stink to hell. Propped up on the pylon as we wait for a set of rollers to pass is a funky foot with black toe jam. We watch as the third bass boat of the day blows by, his partner has long blowing brunnette hair. We are bald, ear hair is the closest we have to hair on our head. I take a slow cruise back to the house after skiing and find another dozen bass boats with some of the sexiest, firmest, sun kissed women I have ever seen. That is what the fishermen have right.

[Ralph Lee]

@Orlando76 And then you woke up.

 

Just kidding. I've fished and skied in Florida and that sounds about right! The same scenario does not hold true in my home state. The fact is, the majority of fisherman here are FAT LAZY jerks who not only see any watersports enthusiasts as an adversary, but they see anyone with a better boat and better gear as an adversary. Your story made me want to head back to Florida, that's for sure!!

[Than_Bogan]

As much as neither group wants to see it sometimes, the fisherman and the waterskiers are compatriots. The details at the end of the list get pretty different, but we begin with a GREAT deal in common, most notably our reliance on the resource.

 

The enemy is the movement that wants to stop recreation on lakes, and they usually see little-to-no difference between the various activities. If we spend our effort fighting fishermen or wakeboarders, we risk losing what's really important.

 

Of course, I will still make fun of wakeboarders. I mean, that's just silly.

[DW]

Happened to be channel searching (for the F1 race) and to my surprise, a fishing tournament was on FS1 (the reason I note the channel is FS1 happens to broadcast several 'top tier' sporting events). Stopping for just a short pause, maybe because of this thread triggering some sub conscious reaction, but several things were apparent: the announcers were extremely well versed on the subtleties (at least to someone ignorant of the sport), it was highly competitive, all of the participants were well sponsored (at least to the casual observer) and dressed similar to a racing pit crew to highlight all the sponsors. Somebody is paying for that exposure so there must be ROI at a variety of levels.

 

As I do some channel surfing across the sports broadcasting networks, I feel a bit like some are back at the near beginning of cable, televising events that just a few years ago were not on the landscape (poker, fishing as examples). Reminiscent of Hot Summer Nights...