unfair advantage? 2024
looking45 reply :
Here's a question that's been floating around my group of friends with no definitive answer. We all know that the tournament circuits are trying to "level the playing field" so everyone has the same chance to win. Whether it be a cut off period, not being able to gather outside info, only being able to fish water accessible to everyone else, things like that. Whatever they come up with, it's with the idea that it's the same for everyone so no one has a decided advantage. Here's the question. Say a fisherman is sponsored by a certain lure company and the company develops a lure that just plain catches fish all the time, under every circumstance. Is it an unfair advantage if their sponsored guy has them to use in tournaments when they aren't available to anyone else? My group of friends is divided in their answers, I'm curious what you guys think.
Bruce424 reply :
The lures are still available to everyone else. Regardless of sponsors, pros kno what lures are the deal.
Russ E reply :
I dont foresee a time when that lure exists.
If it ever does, it would not be a very good business decision to design a lure and only give it to your sponsored fisherman. They are sponsored to promote and sell the product.
CroakHunter reply :
Still gotta be able to find the fish to be able to catch them. Not gonna be pulling 40lb bags out of a glass of water in someone's kitchen.
looking45 reply :
On 8/15/2018 at 11:19 AM, Russ E said:I dont foresee a time when that lure exists.
If it ever does, it would not be a very good business decision to design a lure and only give it to your sponsored fisherman. They are sponsored to promote and sell the product.
Clarification- the lure is a prototype, available to the public at a later date
Mike L reply :
That's been going on for years.
Van Dam didn't "perfect" his line of sq Bill's in his swimming pool before he put his name on it.
Nor did Skeet Reese or anyone else "perfect" thier line of rods at a local pond near thier house
Point is, prototype fishing equipment are designed, made and tweaked for certain pro anglers who have the record and selling power the manufacturer is looking for.
The best selling point they have is if someone uses it to win.
They still have to find em, hook em and land em like everybody else.
Honestly, I doubt if I'd enjoy bass fishing as much if anyone anywhere can catch a fish with every cast.
But that's just me
Mike
PECo reply :
KVD had and used a Hydrowave before anyone else could. I read an article quoting a fellow pro who believed it gave KVD an advantage over him. He said he put one on his boat before the next tourney.
Was it an advantage? The pro quoted in the article thought so.
But was it unfair? He didn’t seem to think so. He implied that KVD was just ahead of the curve.
Tennessee Boy reply :
Life's not fair and neither is fishing. I've fished lots of tournaments where other competitors had faster boats, better tackle, more local knowledge of the lake, more time pre-fishing time. If someone else has an advantage you can go home and cry about it or step up your game. The playing field will never be level in life or fishing.
J Francho reply :
Magic baits? Okay. It's moot.
roadwarrior reply :
Comfortably Numb reply :
I would say Panoptix could be a G.....No I;m not gonna say it. But possibly could give an advantage in the right situation.
J Francho reply :
On 8/15/2018 at 11:27 PM, Comfortably Numb said:I;m not gonna say it.
I'll suspend you! 
clh121787 reply :
Lures are only effective in the hands of a competent angler. Maybe 100 years ago this maybe a valid question. Today unrealistic. I believe lures aren't as important as being around fish and presenting proven techniques to those fish.
NHBull reply :
I think to argue over this is silly, and let's be honest.....all of this is about the $$$$$ at the top end.
If you wanted to see who the better fisherman was, eliminate electronics and use public charts.
On to your originally scheduled program.....
813basstard reply :
On 8/16/2018 at 4:42 PM, NHBull said:I think to argue over this is silly, and let's be honest.....all of this is about the $$$$$ at the top end.
If you wanted to see who the better fisherman was, eliminate electronics and use public charts.
On to your originally scheduled program.....
You got it..the magic lure is called a fish finder. You want a real deal fishing tournament? Hidden lake, everyone has the exact same baits, boats and knowledge. Ain’t happening
Ratherbfishing reply :
On 8/15/2018 at 10:47 AM, looking45 said:Here's a question that's been floating around my group of friends with no definitive answer. We all know that the tournament circuits are trying to "level the playing field" so everyone has the same chance to win. Whether it be a cut off period, not being able to gather outside info, only being able to fish water accessible to everyone else, things like that. Whatever they come up with, it's with the idea that it's the same for everyone so no one has a decided advantage. Here's the question. Say a fisherman is sponsored by a certain lure company and the company develops a lure that just plain catches fish all the time, under every circumstance. Is it an unfair advantage if their sponsored guy has them to use in tournaments when they aren't available to anyone else? My group of friends is divided in their answers, I'm curious what you guys think.
Such a bait doesn't exist so it's really a non-issue. I imagine, however, that it would be legal/ethical until it was officially banned.
BassNJake reply :
This was kinda like the Alabama rig when it first came out.
After Paul Elias won that FLW event on Guntersville, everybody else caught on and started using it making their own versions of it.
I know a guy whose 5 best bass weighed almost 40 lbs and he was using an Alabama rig on Lake Chickamuaga.
I bet he'd say it was a magic lure that day.
When the Alabama rig bite is on, there's nothing like it for numbers or size IMO.
I just hate throwing it.
J Francho reply :
On 8/21/2018 at 11:44 PM, BassNJake said:I just hate throwing it.
Me too, but in fall on Oneida, you gotta.
Dirtyeggroll reply :
I once fished with a guy who had mastered pooping off of the back of his boat without making any mess whatsoever.
I think he had had an unfair advantage because he could grant himself relief without having to leave his spot or have a smelly sag in the back of his pants.
Sam reply :
"Is it an unfair advantage if their sponsored guy has them to use in tournaments when they aren't available to anyone else?
Happens all the time. The pros get the new baits and colors before we see them and they use them for tournament fishing.
Even if they do not catch anything with "X" bait, they still hawk it on stage or in ads. Listen carefully to the pros when they hawk their equipment. They will not say they "caught that beauty on "X." They will say they used "X" and it was a great help or some other baloney.
So is it fair? Nope.
Is it done? Yep.
Will it change? Nope.
What can you do about it? Become a bass pro and join the club. 
schplurg reply :
If you disqualify lures due to availability then what about people who make their own lures? Won't work.
Sam reply :
On 8/23/2018 at 7:27 AM, schplurg said:If you disqualify lures due to availability then what about people who make their own lures? Won't work.
Good point.
To expand on it, what about what the pros do to their baits that they keep secret?
VanDam changes up his baits all the time.
TOXIC reply :
Every "advantage" is not "unfair".
J Francho reply :
On 8/23/2018 at 8:31 PM, Sam said:VanDam changes up his baits all the time.
The Dream Shot is just a Caffeine Shad sliced in half. You know who was doing it, and a "new" bait was born.
Sam reply :
On 8/24/2018 at 1:09 AM, J Francho said:The Dream Shot is just a Caffeine Shad sliced in half. You know who was doing it, and a "new" bait was born.
I guess it was Glenn and Kevin saw it and used it to win another Classic.
J Francho reply :
On 8/24/2018 at 3:00 AM, Sam said:I guess it was Glenn and Kevin saw it and used it to win another Classic.
Maybe... I heard the story from Big-O. We were talking about how minor things can really define a great bait, like the "rudder" on the Crosstail Shad. He brought up that while many worms will work on a drop shot, some are better at holding in current, and he said that bait was the perfect design for a DS bait. He went on to talk about how the Dream Shot was born. The Shad held in current perfect, but was too bulky, to trim the fat.
The stories from a baitmaker/engineer's perspective are fascinating. Solve a problem. Form meets function. Cool stuff.
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