The sport of bass fishing has become more popular then ever before. Along with bass fishing's rise in popularity it has spawned a new breed of angler. Gone are the days of the true weekend warriors. Enter the new, more aggressive tournament angler. The new breed of bass anglers spends every available hour fishing or thinking about ways to improve 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 like it 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 its 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 and old dog new tricks. Well why would 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 stare of determination. Knowing that today is their day. It was more like a clinic.
The clinic was in patience. Many a young angler gets to over-hyped and tends to fish to fast. Others cannot stand the monotony of slow old school Texas rig fishing. You can't learn every thing from a book. Experience is the best learning tool we have. Some of us learn our lessons harder then 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. It looks like there is a time and place where the old dog reigns supreme and the young dog tucks tail and walks off into the sunset.
