The sport of bass fishing has become more popular than ever before. Along with bass fishing's rise in popularity, it has spawned a new breed of angler. Gone are the days of the actual weekend warriors. Enter the new, more aggressive tournament angler. The new breed of bass anglers spends every hour fishing or thinking about improving their fishing.
These new anglers had the luxury of growing up watching the likes of Denny Brauer, Rick Clunn, and Hank Parker, to name a few. The advancement of technology websites such as bassresource.com and others have given up-and-coming anglers an outlet. These sites are like online media libraries containing articles from the who's who in bass fishing.
So you say it's time for the new breed to take over the sport. Not so fast. In a recent Bassmaster event on Florida's Harris Chain, the old guard rose to the top, Peter Thliveros 1st, Jim Bitter 2nd, Guy Eaker 4th, and Larry Nixon 5th. This was a sight not seen in many recent events on tour.
You have heard the saying you can't teach an old dog new tricks. Well, why would you want to? These guys have proven they still got it. They have the fire in their bellies. I can picture them now sitting in the take-off line peering over their consoles with a Mike Singletary-type determination stare, knowing that today is their day. It was more like a clinic.
It was a clinic in patience. Many a young angler gets too over-hyped and tends to fish too fast. Others cannot stand the monotony of slow old-school Texas rig fishing. You can't learn everything from a book. Experience is the best learning tool we have. Some of us learn our lessons harder than others. These old dogs learned through their on-the-water experiences to slow down and fish methodically after a cold front.
So congratulations to the old-school anglers. There is a time and place where the old dog reigns supreme, and the young dog tucks tail and walks off into the sunset.