Been crazy busy lately and havent been fishing much. Ive got my boat to a sellable condition and I will be taking it down to Boatboys this week. The new boat has been ordered and I cant wait to get it. Its a brand new Skeeter ZX20 with the Yamaha 250 SHO 4 stroke motor. According to test numbers, it should run in the mid 70s. Thats pretty exciting. As soon as I get it, Ill upload some pics but its prob at least a month and a half to two months away from delivery.
I want to congratulate Fletcher Shryock, dude qualified for the Elite Series through the Northern Opens by finishing 5th in points this season. I talked to him sunday and he is amped to get going. Im going to try to get down to Shreveport to help him practice for the Classic in February but my schedule and his schedule might keep that from happening. Either way, Im sure he is going to do great in the Classic and in the Elite Series next season.
Update: Closure for the Nate Wellman scandle has came about. Wellman and B.A.S.S. came to a mutual agreement that Wellman would not fish the final event of the Northern Opens thus making him ineligible to compete in the Bassmaster Classic. I had mentioned this as a possible outcome a few weeks back to a handful of insiders and we all agreed that it was fitting that he not be allowed to compete. Im glad that whole deal is in the rearview, I think it soured alot of fans of the sport, at least the initial decision.
Now, all Im doing is trying to make some money to pay for the upcoming season, Im looking forward to finding out what the schedules will be for next year and I cant wait to get my new boat. I want to thank Todd Thompson and Skeeter for adding me to the Skeeter fishing team and I hope I can hold up my end of the bargain by doing well in the Opens next year.
Late, S.T.P.
Monday, September 26, 2011
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Its News, Right?
Im leaning towards black eye. They say any publicity is good publicity but I doubt Nate Wellman is agreeing with that sentiment. According to http://www.wired2fish.com/ Nate Wellman has been banned from FLW competions for at least one year. This incident has put our sport in a negative light and the backlash that has transpired from the light punishment laid down by B.A.S.S. has certainly not done much to help our reputation as a squeaky clean organization.
Butt, for every cheater out there, there are 1000 guys that follow the rules to a T. The guys that we should be focusing on are the truely good guys out there. Guys like Edwin Evers, Gerald Swindle, Skeet Reese. Guys like Kevin Van Dam, Greg Hackney and John Crews are just a handful of dudes that we all strive to be like. They embrace the rule book and would never even consider breaching a rule purposely.
Late last year (around this time) I was contemplating signing up for the opens. The first thing I did was read the rules. I prob read through them about 20 times just to make sure I wasnt going to screw something up. Something that stood out was the very rule that Wellman violated.
Because I am such an obscene, joking, fun person, I felt that I had better be on my p's and q's during tournament time because the last thing I wanted to do was say something completely retarded that would get me into trouble. I cant imagine a scenario where I would joke about cheating so I cant really identify with Wellman and his excuse. Its something you just dont do, its bad taste and completely stupid. Either way, he deserves the fallout, more if it was sincere but just as much for being ignorant.
Now its time to move on, he should and we should. Learn from others mistakes and your own. Its the only thing you can do.
Butt, for every cheater out there, there are 1000 guys that follow the rules to a T. The guys that we should be focusing on are the truely good guys out there. Guys like Edwin Evers, Gerald Swindle, Skeet Reese. Guys like Kevin Van Dam, Greg Hackney and John Crews are just a handful of dudes that we all strive to be like. They embrace the rule book and would never even consider breaching a rule purposely.
Late last year (around this time) I was contemplating signing up for the opens. The first thing I did was read the rules. I prob read through them about 20 times just to make sure I wasnt going to screw something up. Something that stood out was the very rule that Wellman violated.
Because I am such an obscene, joking, fun person, I felt that I had better be on my p's and q's during tournament time because the last thing I wanted to do was say something completely retarded that would get me into trouble. I cant imagine a scenario where I would joke about cheating so I cant really identify with Wellman and his excuse. Its something you just dont do, its bad taste and completely stupid. Either way, he deserves the fallout, more if it was sincere but just as much for being ignorant.
Now its time to move on, he should and we should. Learn from others mistakes and your own. Its the only thing you can do.
Saturday, September 3, 2011
Mess at Erie
Word has came down that the Northern Open champion Nate Wellman has been penalized for breaking a rule during the Lake Erie tournament. I have nothing to say on the matter as I dont want to be critical of B.A.S.S. or Wellman, I dont know the man and my opinion of him and his decisions are not relevent. What is relevent is the precedent that was set by B.A.S.S. officials in the past regarding rules violations.
The rules are very clear, if you violate a rule, then you are disqualified for either the tournament or the tournament day. Ask Mike Iaconelli. He was disqualified because he threw a temper tantrum after he found out that his fish were dead because a live well was not turned on. Ask Gerald Swindle, also disqualified because he ran on plane too close to another angler during the Bassmaster Classic and the top of the list, ask Kevin Van Dam. Kevin was disqualified before a tournament because he asked his co-angler, during practice, to run his gas motor while Kevin stood on the front deck looking for spawning bass because his trolling motor batteries had died.
I ask a simple and reasonable question, how can you set a precedent of zero tolerance for rule violations then allow a guy who tried to cheat get off with a small fine and probation. No forfitt, no ban, no blacklist, just a fine that is less then 10% of the winnings from that particular tournament.
All in all, I applaud the co-angler for stepping up and reporting the incident, he deserves credit because it has to be hard to be the one to blow the whistle on an elite series angler. I also applaud B.A.S.S. for actually making a decision on the matter, despite my opinion of the decision, I recognize how tough it must be to decide the fate of an angler. I just dont understand the thought process behind the decision, there is a clear history of zero tolerance even for the most popular of anglers. It doesnt make sense to me, but I reckon it doesnt have to. They make the rules, I just follow them. B.A.S.S. is an awesome organization, I put my trust in them that they have done the right thing.
The rules are very clear, if you violate a rule, then you are disqualified for either the tournament or the tournament day. Ask Mike Iaconelli. He was disqualified because he threw a temper tantrum after he found out that his fish were dead because a live well was not turned on. Ask Gerald Swindle, also disqualified because he ran on plane too close to another angler during the Bassmaster Classic and the top of the list, ask Kevin Van Dam. Kevin was disqualified before a tournament because he asked his co-angler, during practice, to run his gas motor while Kevin stood on the front deck looking for spawning bass because his trolling motor batteries had died.
I ask a simple and reasonable question, how can you set a precedent of zero tolerance for rule violations then allow a guy who tried to cheat get off with a small fine and probation. No forfitt, no ban, no blacklist, just a fine that is less then 10% of the winnings from that particular tournament.
All in all, I applaud the co-angler for stepping up and reporting the incident, he deserves credit because it has to be hard to be the one to blow the whistle on an elite series angler. I also applaud B.A.S.S. for actually making a decision on the matter, despite my opinion of the decision, I recognize how tough it must be to decide the fate of an angler. I just dont understand the thought process behind the decision, there is a clear history of zero tolerance even for the most popular of anglers. It doesnt make sense to me, but I reckon it doesnt have to. They make the rules, I just follow them. B.A.S.S. is an awesome organization, I put my trust in them that they have done the right thing.
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