Does the West have better anglers?

[Turkeyman]

I listened to KB radio show last night with his interview with Skeet. Skeet said he has talked to Jerry McGinnis about bringing opens back to the west, he also said look at the top anglers in both BASS and FLW most from the west. So here is the question, are western anglers better, or are they just more multi talented anglers that can adjust to different conditons whereas the eastern anglers are more one dimentional anglers?

[mcsanders]

I bet on the michiganbass.com site they would think that they have the best anglers

[senkoskipper]

Moving here from Minnesota I'm gonna have to say: no way, not even close. When it comes to bass fishing or fishing in general, California sucks. So many nice bodies of water here but for some reason they make 99% of them off limits to the general public. Unless your a park ranger with seniority, then you get to pick which lake that you like best and the state will build a house on that lake so that his family can have a private lake to fish on while daddy pretends to play park ranger each day. I guess being from Minnesota really spoiled me when it comes to bass fishing. It doesnt matter where you lived, there are 25 lakes with in a 15 minute radius that you can go to and fish and not have to wonder if its protected or not.

[Riplip]

Revelance?

[DL]

Moving here from Minnesota I'm gonna have to say: no way, not even close. When it comes to bass fishing or fishing in general, California sucks. So many nice bodies of water here but for some reason they make 99% of them off limits to the general public. Unless your a park ranger with seniority, then you get to pick which lake that you like best and the state will build a house on that lake so that his family can have a private lake to fish on while daddy pretends to play park ranger each day. I guess being from Minnesota really spoiled me when it comes to bass fishing. It doesnt matter where you lived, there are 25 lakes with in a 15 minute radius that you can go to and fish and not have to wonder if its protected or not.

I think he asked about the anglers, not the quality of the lakes...but I could be wrong...

[Dan200xl]

As with any other sport it goes through cycles or trends. For every "top"western angler name, I can give you a "top" eastern angler name... Good for discussion, no real answer though... Plus where is the boundry?... Dan

[Topwater Terry]

I would say in the west, especially in CA, for a fisherman to be successful, they have to be able to fish pretty much every technique well. You have every type of water here, deep, clear reservoirs, tidal waters, rivers, shallow, stained waters, you name it. Try fishing Castaic all the time, then head to the lower Colorado river. Totally different situation. A pro could be on a clear area of Havasu one week, then Martinez the next, Castaic the next, and then the Delta. Totally different waters each week, gotta stay on your toes. I listened to Shaw Grigsby once at the bass a thon, and he said he had a terrible time fishing once he left the state of Florida to fish, cuz he had never fished a reservoir before. Some states have one basic kind of bodies of water, we have it all here. I do think the west has better fisherman, but the east has great ones too, and of course they will disagree with the west having better fisherman, just for the fact they are from the west...you know, our sport fans aren't any good either...

Yeah, it sucks about paying to play and stopping at dark, never had to do that down on the river, but then again, that was not the point of this post, was it...

[senkoskipper]

Sorry. Maybe my rant went off on a tangent. What I mean is that because California's water is so restricted, you have less people fishing and turning to the sport of fishing. Less people fishing means less talented anglers in general. Where as in Minnesota for example, everyone fishes because of easy access. In a place where everyone can fish w/o government intervention = better anglers in general.

[Gerryjig]

Sorry. Maybe my rant went off on a tangent. What I mean is that because California's water is so restricted, you have less people fishing and turning to the sport of fishing. Less people fishing means less talented anglers in general. Where as in Minnesota for example, everyone fishes because of easy access. In a place where everyone can fish w/o government intervention = better anglers in general.

you should be sorry.......with fewer pro anglers from the west and a good percent of them at the top would explain the talent the west has to offer. Look at Aaron Martens for just one example....... started in the west fishing both fresh and salt for most of his life before he fished the big leagues, SUPER rounded and can read / adjust to most any and all conditions. On these super pressured lakes in the west, you have to develop a natural "instinct" that can't be taught. West coast anglers are way more "fishy" than any other. Heck, I've fished out toward the midwest / east coast and the fish over there are dumb compared to here......enough said.

[Dan200xl]

As I said earlier, every area has enough angler to claim they produce the "best" anglers. You should fish the Ohio River if you want to chase an "educated" fish...

Heck within 3 hours of my house I can fish Dale Hollow ( can see the bottom in 30 feet of water ). Kentucky Lake... Home of the "if you don't have 25lbs don't bother weighing in". Then there is Lake Erie, smallmouth heaven. The Ohio River "home of the 5 fish 5lb limit. We have a couple 5-7,000 acre natural lakes also. Pretty much the only thing we don't have is a tidal system. You want to see crowded come on out...

I'd put up any number of anglers from my area against some west coast guys... except Mike Hart... ... Dan

[robertthornton]

Sorry. Maybe my rant went off on a tangent. What I mean is that because California's water is so restricted, you have less people fishing and turning to the sport of fishing. Less people fishing means less talented anglers in general. Where as in Minnesota for example, everyone fishes because of easy access. In a place where everyone can fish w/o government intervention = better anglers in general.

you should be sorry.......with fewer pro anglers from the west and a good percent of them at the top would explain the talent the west has to offer. Look at Aaron Martens for just one example....... started in the west fishing both fresh and salt for most of his life before he fished the big leagues, SUPER rounded and can read / adjust to most any and all conditions. On these super pressured lakes in the west, you have to develop a natural "instinct" that can't be taught. West coast anglers are way more "fishy" than any other. Heck, I've fished out toward the midwest / east coast and the fish over there are dumb compared to here......enough said.

How can you take anything seriously from a guy who prides himself on skipping senkos. If this were a baseball web site his name would be pop-up-catcher, or a basketball web site it would be lay-up-king. Go back home if you don’t like it “ehh, ya noâ€

[DeltaBound]

Sorry. Maybe my rant went off on a tangent. What I mean is that because California's water is so restricted, you have less people fishing and turning to the sport of fishing. Less people fishing means less talented anglers in general. Where as in Minnesota for example, everyone fishes because of easy access. In a place where everyone can fish w/o government intervention = better anglers in general.

you should be sorry.......with fewer pro anglers from the west and a good percent of them at the top would explain the talent the west has to offer. Look at Aaron Martens for just one example....... started in the west fishing both fresh and salt for most of his life before he fished the big leagues, SUPER rounded and can read / adjust to most any and all conditions. On these super pressured lakes in the west, you have to develop a natural "instinct" that can't be taught. West coast anglers are way more "fishy" than any other. Heck, I've fished out toward the midwest / east coast and the fish over there are dumb compared to here......enough said.

How can you take anything seriously from a guy who prides himself on skipping senkos. If this were a baseball web site his name would be pop-up-catcher, or a basketball web site it would be lay-up-king. Go back home if you don’t like it “ehh, ya noâ€

[bassaddicted]

Sorry. Maybe my rant went off on a tangent. What I mean is that because California's water is so restricted, you have less people fishing and turning to the sport of fishing. Less people fishing means less talented anglers in general. Where as in Minnesota for example, everyone fishes because of easy access. In a place where everyone can fish w/o government intervention = better anglers in general.

ROTFLMAO dude you are so far from reality, does that really make since, read your post before you post it

[VegasBass]

I would say the East is a little better. KVD is the man. I have never heard him whine about conditions, boat traffic, people fishing in his spots he usually just says it wasnt his tournament.........I have seen both Skeet and Aaron........California Boys whining. Brent Ehlers is a class act!

[g-man]

[Andy Giannini]

I would say really good anglers come from everywhere.

Does the western angler stink? Not even.

I can remember a like topic when cycling was really promoting So cal riders, and all the mags were based there.

Nor Cal riders had a tougher time getting equal press, and it caused serious resentment.

How a mag, editor, or photographer could make or break your career. Or screw up, or help your sponsorship relations.

Magazines or TV promotes the most marketable anglers, or if they have to Bubba in a T shirt because he is winning.

Keep in mind, anglers that are sponsored by an event sponsor might get special attention or mention.

This whole topic is funny because Barrack brought up the Jeff Gordon factor some years ago.

.02 A.G.

[fish_food]

I would say the East is a little better. KVD is the man.

KVD aint no easterner. Folks from the Midwest would probably take being called an "easterner" as a great insult! I'd consider Mark Sosin and Mike Iaconelli to be eastern anglers.

[N.A.R]

Skeet said he has talked to Jerry McGinnis about bringing opens back to the west,

This is what matters.....

[Scott Robertson]

I do believe the west creates anglers because of a couple reasons: anyone may dispute this if they wish taking all arguments. The west has way less water then most the fishing here is very limited in terms of amount of water, have to be off the lake at dark in most lakes, very over pressured, deep clear water lakes. If you can master catching fish in the west? the rest of the country is a picnic.
How many guys in the east or mid west ever fished with 6lb test? or dropshotted 4 inch worm. every techniche here is not a texas rig on 10 lb test. I am not saying the guys from the east or midwest cant fish, but they dont have the pressure or the finesse of the western angler. Theres a reason why the guys from the west dominate the standings nationwide. Do the math. skeet, martens, folkestad, velvick, not a coincidence. good anglers all over the country but learn to fish here and you are paving your way everywhere else. hats off to all the west coast boys making a name for themselves on the national tour. Scott

[tunaman]

Said it pretty much as I was going to... although substitute 6# for 4 or 5#...

The high-pressured clear-water reservoirs, the river lakes like Havasu and Mohave, Mead, Delta, Clear Lake... we have some incredible bodies of water that can be extremely challenging to fish, so of course there are going to be some great anglers borne from within.

Midwest and Eastern bodies also present their challenges, but I'd argue that few can offer the levels of difficulty that the Western anglers face day in and day out.

Roger

[Cooch]

So here is the question, are western anglers better, or are they just more multi talented anglers that can adjust to different conditons whereas the eastern anglers are more one dimentional anglers?

If you put any value into BASS' process for determining Angler of the Year, the answer is a resound NO!!!!!!!!!!!!

I don't believe any of them are one dimentional or less talented than the other. There are those though, who are very skillfull at selecting the "lucky" hat they wear on tournament day.

[DeltaBound]

I would say the East is a little better. KVD is the man. I have never heard him whine about conditions, boat traffic, people fishing in his spots he usually just says it wasnt his tournament.........I have seen both Skeet and Aaron........California Boys whining. Brent Ehlers is a class act!

It looks like your a whiner too

[Greg_Cornish]

I think the West does have better bass fishing. In the Midwest and East, fishing for bass is like fishing for carp. Therefore they don't hold the interest it does in the West. We really don't have much choice here.

[toddmc]

Good anglers are good anglers, no matter where they come from. I think a lot of the innovation comes from the West because of necessity. We must fish shallow and deep or donate!

[bigbass111]

To be honest, why does this post continue...

Why do we have to worry about this crap anyways....

You guys keep saying that the East coast guys talk smack about the west. Well I lived out east for almost 5 years and didn't hear that once, not once.

You guys are the only one's trying to prove something..

And even if you do prove it, do we all get a cookie???

dump topic, sorry.

[BassTramp]

Hmm BassFan shows great anglers by state and Avg finish in the majors:

My heart believes the West is The Best F@#$ the rest!

Bring back the California Opens lets show up with our best sticks and rest of us "dauwgs" wishing for our day. California is as good as anyone in the USA.

1 PA - Pennsylvania
Dave Lefebre 30

2 WI - Wisconsin

Tom Monsoor 31

3 NV - Nevada
Tim Klinger 42

4 NC - North Carolina

Matt Arey, Todd Auten, Chris Baumgardner, Guy Eaker, David Fritts, Pat Golden, Brent Long, Britt Myers, Marty Stone, Bryan Thrift, Brian Travis, Dustin Wilks, Dave Wolak 44

5 AZ - Arizona
Brett Hite, John Murray, Clifford Pirch, Dean Rojas 45

6 OR - Oregon
Rick Correa, Jay Yelas 46

7 MN - Minnesota
Chad Grigsby, Jim Moynagh 48

8 WA - Washington
Luke Clausen, Don Hogue, Ronald Jobbs, Jr., David Kromm, Sean Minderman 50

9 CA - California
Michael Bennett, Jason Cordiale, Brent Ehrler, Mike Folkestad, Kevin Hawk, Chad Hulbert, Justin Kerr, Robert Lee, Jared Lintner, Randy McAbee, Jr., Cody Meyer, Ish Monroe, Chris Neau, Skeet Reese, Mike Reynolds, Rusty Salewske, Cameron Smith, Jon Strelic, Zack Thompson, Chris Zaldain 54

10 OH - Ohio
Jody Adkins, Charlie Hartley, Bill Lowen, Chris Martinkovic, Frank Scalish, Dick Shaffer, Joe Thomas, Vic Vatalaro 58

11 SC - South Carolina
Casey Ashley, Anthony Gagliardi, Wade Grooms, Davy Hite, Jay Keith, Andy Montgomery, Michael Murphy, Jason Quinn, Marty Robinson, Jason Williamson 59

12 AL - Alabama
Scott Canterbury, Craig Dowling, Boyd Duckett, Kathryn Ealey, Matthew Herren, Tim Horton, Randy Howell, Steve Kennedy, Kotaro Kiriyama, Chris Lane, Russ Lane, Justin Lucas, Kyle Mabrey, Aaron Martens, Jonathan Newton, Keith Poche, Greg Pugh, Derek Remitz, Robert Robinson, Mark Stewart, Gerald Swindle, Randall Tharp, Greg Vinson 60

13 TN - Tennessee
James Christian, Brandon Coulter, Ott DeFoe, Lewis Denney, Brad Knight, Andy Morgan, Wesley Strader, Jack L. Wade, Adam Wagner, David Walker 65

13 AR - Arkansas
Eric Ambort, Stetson Blaylock, Greg Bohannan, Stephen Browning, Tony Chesshir, George Cochran, Bobby Curtis, Mark Davis, Jim Dillard, Robert Dodson, Travis Fox, Rob Kilby, Fred Martin, Billy McCaghren, Mike McClelland, Larry Nixon, Keith Pace, Clark Reehm, Scott Rook, Mark Rose, Ray Scheide, Kevin Short, Ron Shuffield, James Stricklin, Jr., Scott Suggs, Darrell West, Mike Wurm 65

15 VA - Virginia
John Crews, Jr., David Dudley, Jeff Freeman, Rick Morris, JT Palmore, Robert Pearson, Jacob Powroznik 67

16 MO - Missouri
Chad Brauer, Denny Brauer, Rick Clunn, Dion Hibdon, Guido Hibdon, Stacey D. King, Bobby McMullin, Eric Oliverson, Brian Snowden, Mark Tucker, James Watson 70

16 IN - Indiana
Chip Harrison, Jr., Shad Schenck, John Voyles 70

18 FL - Florida
Glenn Browne, Jake Gipson, Matt Greenblatt, Shaw E. Grigsby, Jr., Johnny Johnson, J.T. Kenney, Bobby Lane, Thanh Le, Scott R. Martin, Bernie Schultz, Terry Scroggins, Terry Segraves, Mike Surman, Peter Thliveros 72

19 KY - Kentucky
Terry Bolton, Jr., Ramie Colson, Jr., John Devere, Tim McDonald, Mark Menendez, Keith Monson, Dan Morehead, Christian Romans, Bradley Roy, Kevin Wirth, Kenneth (Boo) Woods 74

20 MI - Michigan
Art Ferguson III, Kevin VanDam, Nate Wellman 75

21 NJ - New Jersey
Pete Gluszek, Michael Iaconelli 76

22 ID - Idaho
Ken Wick 78

23 OK - Oklahoma
Scott Ashmore, Tommy Biffle, Gerald Brown, Terry Butcher, Jason Christie, Edwin Evers, Jamie Feick, Vince Fulks, Bradley Hallman, Kenyon Hill, Jimmy Houston, Jeff Kriet, Darrel Robertson, Fred Roumbanis, Dave Smith, Mike Todd, Mark Tyler 79

23 GA - Georgia
Clint Brownlee, Glenn Chappelear, Mark Hardin, James (Wil) Hardy, Tim Johnson, Tom Mann, Jr., Pam Martin-Wells, Jason Meninger, Jimmy Millsaps, Troy Morrow, Rusty Trancygier, J. Todd Tucker, Jeremy York 79

25 TX - Texas
Nicholas Albus, Cody Bird, Keith Combs, Todd Faircloth, Christopher Ford, Chad Griffin, Mike Hawkes, Sean Hoernke, Alton Jones, Kelly Jordon, Gary Klein, Ed Melton, Yusuke Miyazaki, James Niggemeyer, Takahiro Omori, Russell Parrish, Bud Pruitt, Tom Redington, Matt Reed, Jason Reyes, Mark Rouse, Zell Rowland, Bryan Schmidt, John Tanner, Jim Tutt, Byron Velvick, Clark Wendlandt, Gary Yamamoto 82

[DeltaBound]

Kevin VanDam could be in 40th place and he still gets press and recognition from the BASSMASTERS TV Show. If Aaron Martens is in 3rd or 4th place he barley gets a mention. Have you ever wondered wy KVD doesn't fish FLW and why he is so loyal to BASS? I'll bet he gets information for locals, I don't care what anyone says.

[bigbass111]

Every single one of them gets info from locals. Thats no secret...

Kevin takes the time with his family, not FLW. He doesn't even fish the BASS Opens or strens like 75% of the other Elite guys....

He's made that clear before...

So think up anything you want on why he doesn't fish FLW...

[fish_food]

Have you ever wondered wy KVD doesn't fish FLW and why he is so loyal to BASS?

Why the heck would he ever fish FLW? Doing so would only dilute the effectiveness of his branding.

[jg]

Why do people want to ride the coat tails of the guys that go out and get it done. It's much more on the person than where he is from.

[VegasBass]

I would say the East is a little better. KVD is the man.

KVD aint no easterner. Folks from the Midwest would probably take being called an "easterner" as a great insult! I'd consider Mark Sosin and Mike Iaconelli to be eastern anglers.

Geography shows that Michigan is on the Eastern side of ths United States. Its not an insult I have family in OH., MI., and PA. they are more East than West!

[VegasBass]

Not whining here I could care less just funny how you cali boys think! Why dont you defend Mike Hart he's a cali boy and a cheater.

[fish_food]

I would say the East is a little better. KVD is the man.

KVD aint no easterner. Folks from the Midwest would probably take being called an "easterner" as a great insult! I'd consider Mark Sosin and Mike Iaconelli to be eastern anglers.

Geography shows that Michigan is on the Eastern side of ths United States. Its not an insult I have family in OH., MI., and PA. they are more East than West!

Nope, Michigan IS indeed Midwestern--culturally, geographically and linguistically. They all speak that flat, nasally Hoosier-Midland variety of American English (the group includes Cheeseheads, FIBs, Yoopers, etc). Just watch Fargo to hear an extreme example of that dialect.

The American Midwest:

[CN]

If the question was are Western Anglers more adaptable I would say no doubt. I dont think they are any better than the guys that have been doing it all over the Country though.

Mike