Have the tournament pros taught us anything?

William likes to refer to himself as "Angling Wild Bill." He claims he spends two days working and four days fishing. Not bad, if there's enough food on the table.

Anyway, Wild Bill sent me a note about my avoidance of pro bass fishing tournaments. Here's a snippet of his e-mail.

"I've been reading your columns for years," he wrote. "You rarely mention the top finishers in the big professional bass tournaments. You must have something against these people."

Spence Petros, my friend of over three decades said it all when he described professional bass fishermen. "They're nothing more than one-dimensional fishermen, and if they didn't have a shoreline to cast to they'd be lost."

A couple years ago Petros and I discussed this issue for hours over dinner. Mind you, Spencer has done it all, in that he's chased fish all over North America, Central and South America, and Europe. His angling education skills plus his years of stewardship at the old Fishing Facts Magazine earned him a berth in the Freshwater Hall of Fame.

I told him I found it amusing that he and I were catching huge walleyes, bass and pike 40 years ago using three-way setups and Lindy Rigs. We agreed that the pro bass guys appeared to have an epiphany since in recent years they suddenly discovered how to find and catch bass off of mid-lake, submerged humps.

It was the Japanese bass anglers who brought the drop-shot rigs and finesse fishing to the forefront here. All of a sudden the boys with three first names, the ones who fished the southern reservoirs and impoundments, took to the technique as if drop-shot fishing was manna from heaven. And for some it was. Pure Fishing (Berkley) added to its bait and lure empire with special drop-shot rigs and lures, and Joe Six Pack joined in.

But 30 years ago when I suggested to an up-and-coming tournament pro that he should try a spinning rod, light line, and ultra-small jigs for finicky bass he turned and walked away. Without mentioning his name, this egomaniac said he would never give up his 30-pound line and heavy rods and big lures. He even snorted at me when I suggested he look to the deeper parts of a lake for the bigger fish, especially on super-bright and clear days. He told his pro buddies to tell them what I had said, and they all laughed at my suggestions.

Skeet Reese is a west coast pro who took to drop-shot fishing as soon as it was introduced in the states. He's done well with it. Other pros have followed like lemmings.

I don't agree with everything bass guru Ray Scott preaches, but when I fished with him on his private lake he was unveiling his new program of ultralight bass tournaments. I'm talking about anglers using 4-pound test line and spinning rods. In some camps he was laughed at; others wondered if he stumbled upon some fresh, new air that could be absorbed in to the bass fishing community. Unfortunately, old habits are hard to discard.

I still agree with Petros and his conclusion that many of the pros working today's circuits still don't get it - that is, not all big bass reside in shallow water, tucked into the willow bushes near the banks.

So, Wild Bill, the main reason I don't pay homage to the pro tournaments is that I prefer to write about down-to-earth anglers. To quote Ron Lindner, "most of those guys, the pros, are part of the Velcro club. They change sponsors so often they Velcro their sponsors logos on their shirts, and their loyalties change every year as well. Does that mean last year's products are passé?"