why do "pros" keep so many secrets

I am a fan of all types of tournaments. I love bass and walleye tournaments and enjoy watching crutial decisions being made that could cost someone thousands of dollars. That being said what is the deal with walleye pros not giving up how they caught them. They might give you a color like did ted and pat but why get so specific about different wobbles for muddy water and light conditions and not give us the brand lure running. I could care less about color, were you pulling reef runners or taildancers or husky jerks or renowsky's? what is the deal with that? When the bass guys walk across the stage after the last day they give it to ya all. The brand bait, color and how they were working it. Walleye guys say "went west, speed was critical and color was pinks and purples. I've been to a WBSA weigh in and they make those guys tell how they caught them why not the pros? I feel like they owe that to the tackle manufactures at least.

[Work Release]

I found every pro I talked to last weekend was willing to share all kinds of info, AFTER their portion of the tourney was over. Even during their "interviews", they shared quite a bit of info including brand names, colors, depths, trolling speeds, etc. On the other hand, I watched an FLW bass tourney on t.v. Sunday, and got less info from them.

I think you need to just walk up and talk to them to get more specific info, vs. the generalizations while they are on stage ? Given that the "bite" changes constantly the info I gathered help put me on the right track....couldn't ask for more than that.

Just my opinion as well.

[Manxfishing]

My take on that would be

It's politics
Reef runner isn't a sponser of the FLW
And it's that simple

[Juls]

Originally Posted by Manxfishing

My take on that would be

It's politics
Reef runner isn't a sponser of the FLW
And it's that simple

That's not it....if that were the case, then they could have told me what they were using, since WC is not the FLW.

The reason is more like this...

The Pro wins an event, he's not sponsored by the lure company that caught all his fish...he doesn't have to tell the media what the lure was. Instead, he says, "I was using a deep diving lure, at this speed...at this depth, and in these colors". He gives you enough information to go out and catch fish.

What reason might he have to not tell us the name of the lure?

Maybe, it's his own policy not to give a company free advertising.

He is more than happy to tell you personally, because it's not in print or on film.

If the lure company wants to help support the angler, then the angler will be more than happy to tell the media what he used.

The bass guys tell, because they ARE sponsored by those bait companies.

It's not the same on the Walleye side. The Walleye guys do not have the same level of support that the bass guys get. Why? Well, I'm sure there are a lot of opinions on that subject...best left for another thread.

Too many anglers who want to be sponsored are willing to give companies free advertising. Why should the companies give anglers monetary support if they can get their product advertised for free all the time?

It's just business...nothing more.

Juls

[Raybob]

-good take Juls

[Manxfishing]

Juls,

It's a interesting point but I still don't agree
There's allot of Ranger, Evinrude, Yamaha, Lowrance and Berkley free advertising out there.

[Stauff]

Originally Posted by Manxfishing

Juls,

It's a interesting point but I still don't agree
There's allot of Ranger, Evinrude, Yamaha, Lowrance and Berkley free advertising out there.

I think you just named the major manufacturers in the "contingency money" categories. Those companies pay a bundle, just not in a conventional manner. You need to place "in the money" in order to be paid for supporting their products; ie; Ranger Cup, Yamaha Bonus, Evinrude Bonus, etc.

[rabbit]

Again, time is an issue... They may have had to change their programs 4or five times in one day with varying water and weather conditions. Along with that, baits and presentations come into play. Now times that by three or four days of fishing and it can be alot to convey up on stage with over 100 competitors weighing up... If you talk to them on the side they are usually more than happy to say what,where,when and why. If you talk to enough of the competitors you could probably put together a book of the whole water system for all times of the year... There aren't any secrets, just ask until you get the info you want... Remember these guys and gals are tired too. They have been pounding waves for over a week to two weeks. Hard to remember all the technical stuff when you are seeing double from fatigue & your legs are shaking like loose jello...Been there done that..Hope this helps. Most competitors are very friendly and want people to catch fish too. They do stay pretty tight lipped through the tournie as stands to reason so info. may be hard to gather at that time... You also want to talk to people who zeroed to find out what didn't work too. That will help narrow the water and presentaions down.etc..... Paul

[wa11eye]

I would have to say take what everyone has said so far, put it in a bag and shake it up. and pour it out on the table. it's all true to a point. it may also depend on the person in question.
Do they have another tourney coming up on that body of water? are they not sponsored by that lure company? do they have a secret lure like "slow death" that isn't marketed yet and they need to keep hush hush on it until it is?

also as i'm sure you know that the only time if it is ever revealed, it will be on the last day of an event. if somebody is on fish, they don't want any more of a crowd for the final days of fishing.

that being said, Juls was right about the business side of things. why sponsor for free? my thought on the subject would be ----it's hard to get a sponsor if they don't know your doing well with their products.
many times-- two different lure companies don't want to be associated with eachother. such as if I have Rapala as a sponsor and i won or did well with Reef runners, I can't go out and say reef runners were the ticket today because of their wobble and rapalas don't have that action into them. I'd lose my sponsorship from rapala.
by not saying anything, i could have caught them on spinners or some other method and my sponsor wouldn't know and i wouldn't be lying.

it's a fine line that the pro's walk when it comes to giving info. you would think that it would pour out of their mouth when they do good so they get sponsorship. doesn't always work that way.

jsut my 2 cents worth.

chris dymale

Juls is correct.