The Spoonpluggers Forum

I remember hearing a story, maybe it was Don Dickson telling it but I'm not sure. It's about the reason trolling is not allowed in BASS tournaments. The story I heard was Buck was asked for his input and he said well you better not allow trolling or all the tournaments will be won from guys from my club. Is this story true?

I'm sure you'll get different opinions on this one, and it would be hard to pin down anything as 100% accurate at this point, but based on all the research I've done, I'm going with "false." As best I've been able to determine, Ray didn't allow trolling because it was unfair to the anglers in the boat given the format he set up.

First off, very few bass boats, even in the early days, were tiller steer, so they weren't really set up for trolling to begin with. The pairings rule also meant that you got paired each day with a different angler, and had no idea in advance who that was, except that no two anglers from the same state could ever get paired together. This was to help prevent cheating.

But back on the "fairness," since anglers had to "share' operation of the boat, and since it was a blind draw, it was determined that trolling was unfair to everyone involved since you wouldn't know if you were going to draw a troller or not, would have to drag along all the trolling equipment even if it wasn't used, or maybe not even be able to fish for half the day if your partner decided to troll and you didn't have any trolling equipment with you. Ray had a vision that tournaments were man vs man, one man; one rod; one lure in a cast for cast competition. AL Lindner is on record as confirming this version of the explanation, as he was one of the early professionals on the B.A.S.S. circuit, fishing in events from 1970-1978 and winning two of them.

True!
I heard Buck tell the story at the first spoonpluggers jamboree in 1989.
As Buck told the story, Ray approached Buck with the idea of starting big fishing tournaments. He explained that it would be similar to golf tournaments, but fishing. He told Buck he didn't want any of his spoonpluggers winning it all. Buck said if you eliminate trolling it would more then likely discourage many from joining. But Buck said if a spoonplugger was determined, he would still enter and win it. I was fascinated by the story and remember it like it was yesterday!

Jim,
Thats the same story Tom Ferencek told me as well.
I once asked Bobby Murry after he gave a Presentation at the Indianapolis Boat, Sport and travel show why BASS didnt allow trolling.( I already knew why) but wanted to hear his answer. He looked at me and said, you must be a Spoonplugger! He actually told me that trolling didnt show how well you could pinpoint cast, and find the fish!
I thanked him for his time, and walked away.
Blake Honeycutt was a Spoonplugger and he used to troll and map the lakes ahead of time to find the spots and then cast on Tournament days. Many times he would just call Buck about a lake if he didnt have time to map it himself. then he would go out and win! He had the largest poundage ever caught and his record lasted for many years. I cant remember who broke it, but it might have been Paul Elias. Brian might know.

Steve Craig wrote: ↑Thu Apr 22, 2021 7:11 am
Blake Honeycutt was a Spoonplugger and he used to troll and map the lakes ahead of time to find the spots and then cast on Tournament days. Many times he would just call Buck about a lake if he didnt have time to map it himself. then he would go out and win! He had the largest poundage ever caught and his record lasted for many years. I cant remember who broke it, but it might have been Paul Elias. Brian might know.

Both records still stand. Blake’s for largest total catch during the 15 fish limit era at 138 and change, and Paul’s record for total weight during the 5 fish limit era at 132-8.

I run into Tourney guys a couple of times per year on my lakes. As I go about the guidelines I always think these guys just do not know what they are missing by not being able to troll. Then I remember sure they know what they are missing...the $25,000 to $50,000 dollars they paid for their boats.


Ha!

To add to the story…
Terry and a few other Spoonplugger’s were going to tournaments and winning. People were actually not signing up for the tournaments if they saw Terry and these guys entered. So Ray asked Mr Perry what he could do to make it a more even playing field. The answer was don’t let them troll. They still won.

The final nail in the whole Spoonplugger’s in BASS was the time Mr Perry sent Terry to enter a tournament. First they made the entry fee quite high. Terry didn’t have the money and went back to Mr Perry, who after some disgruntled comments gave Terry the money. People at the entry table refused to allow him to enter because he was ‘Sponsored’ by a Lure Manufacturer. The irony…

Take it as you will but that’s a story Terry told me himself.

Hal Standish wrote: ↑Thu Apr 22, 2021 1:42 pm I run into Tourney guys a couple of times per year on my lakes. As I go about the guidelines I always think these guys just do not know what they are missing by not being able to troll. Then I remember sure they know what they are missing...the $25,000 to $50,000 dollars they paid for their boats.


Ha!

That's just for the motor!!!

GDS wrote: ↑Mon Jul 26, 2021 5:44 pm

Hal Standish wrote: ↑Thu Apr 22, 2021 1:42 pm I run into Tourney guys a couple of times per year on my lakes. As I go about the guidelines I always think these guys just do not know what they are missing by not being able to troll. Then I remember sure they know what they are missing...the $25,000 to $50,000 dollars they paid for their boats.


Ha!

That's just for the motor!!!

You got that GDS!

That's like the story about Don Dickson and his friend who entered a muskie tournament on a clear reservoir after a cold front and looked for the best watercolor and they trolled up 3 big muskie and a big bass by fishing deep water on the fastest sharpest breakline and won the tournament all the other fisherman were skunked and this was after a massive cold front.