I read Balog faithfully. I have been fishing for many years in tournaments, as a guide in the Everglades and as a tackle shop owner/employee. Over the years I've met many fishermen who could talk the talk. It is relatively easy to sound like a knowledgeable angler; a bit more difficult to be a successful one. The Mike Long story reads like a Greek tragedy.
RE: Balog on Mike Long I've been tournament bass fishing for 25 years and following the sport at the professional level for 25 years. Pretty sure your knowledge of the professional fishing world is much more vast than mine. Name one other person in the world who has ever tried to hide trophy fish in tanks in his garage and then been accused of catching and weighing in planted fish by multiple people who shared the boat with the accused ... banned by different tournament trails for cheating ... and now has been caught on video snagging fish and then posting the pictures to social media. I've never encountered or heard of a single person with 1/10th of this on their resume. Pretty sure you haven't either.
No one is saying Mike Long doesn't know a good bit about big bass and their behavior. No one's saying that his spending thouseands of hours fishing the world's best big swimbait lakes hasn't made him fairly knowledgeable about throwing big swimbaits for bass. We all know a handful of rule bending/breaking people in this life who, for whatever reason, have proven over and over again that they aren't trustworthy and can never be trusted. It's pretty apparent Mike Long is one of these types of people.
RE: FLW Cup There has been a two-time champion, me, in 1996 and 1998. Only problem, it was on the co-angler side. Still one of the highlights of my life! Thanks.
JT Kenney keeps rockin' on the water. Great finish at the Costa.
RE: Balog on Mike Long I think Joe needs to rewrite that article. Watch the videos and you will see a guy that has deceived the fishing public for years for his monetary gain. You people need to review your writers' articles more.
BassFan says: Oh, we review them thoroughly. However, we pay Mr. Balog to write his opinions not ours or anyone else's.
RE: Balog on Mike Long I've known Mike for 30-plus years and had a dear friend, "Lunker Bill" Murphy, who was the one being attacked in his prime. I have fished near Mike on the same body of water many times and witnessed nothing but true sportsmanship in bass fishing. I have had the pleasure of catching over 50 bass above the 10-pound class so I kinda know what I'm talking about. I've watched Mike catch monster fish using creative but standard techniques and had many discussions with him on fishing etiquette of other bass fishermen who were bad for the sport. Egos and third-hand alcohol-driven stories are usually the history of most stories. As a ranger in my early days, it was quite common to hear people talking trash of others.
If you folks don't get BPT on the TV, it wont fly. Sorry that's what we are hearing here in Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Nevada.
RE: FLW Cup As a man in his 70's and fished Lake Hamilton all my life, I cringe at the thought of fishing in the daylight hours on Lake Hamilton, for the local people who live on the lake sure love their boats and will be out in full force. Big smiles, though, for the fisherman who wins it, for he suffered every minute of it. The midday sun in Arkansas in August is brutal.
RE: Balog on Mike Long I don't want Mike to disappear at all. I would pay money to hear his side of the story. Although it's wrapped in shame, I can't help but be more curious. Personally, I started looking into other stories of frauds and cheats of bass fishing. I find it quite intriguing and can't seem to get enough. Am I crazy?
RE: McClelland's struggles Is he still qualified to fish next year? If so, how long do you get to finish in the last places and still get to fish the following year? I thought I remember not qualifying and new people getting invited?
BassFan says: The Bass Pro Tour anglers are contractually bound to the organization for three seasons.
RE: Balog on Mike Long I have bass fished 56 years now, and like many anglers believed Long was a devoted big bass expert. I started having doubts when Long submitted another fisherman's bass as a lake record at another lake. From what I understand, he was finally banned from tournament competition on those lakes and I am not sure of the circumstances that caused the ban. Butone thing I know is seeing a video of an angler snagging bass and immediately recognizing that video as just that snagging bass.
As to why the writer had such a dislike of Long as to follow him and tape him for 2 years, I have an idea. I too cannot stand a cheater. I find it even stranger that Long has yet to even utter a one-sentence defense of his actions that were portrayed. I also find it strange that Balog, who seems to have talked to Long various times, did not try to reach out and call Long about this matter. The real shame of this deal is that Long has surely spent thousands of hours on those lakes and could surely be called an expert on the life of those big bass. He did not need to go as far as the writer says he went to be a successful YouTuber or product endorser to make his money.
I know this much most of us have a conscience and must live with ourselves and our actions. Shrinks say that something like less than 0.5% of humans have no conscience and can easily do things that make most of us repulsed. I believe Long is like most of us and wants to sleep sound at night. It would help Mr. Long to tell his story, even if it causes some pain.
RE: Balog on Mike Long As we all know, if you are even suspected of cheating in bass fishing you are ruined for life!
RE: Telly award for B.A.S.S. The best tournament coverage going. Sanders, Zona, Mercer, Hite and the crew are the very best at what they do. Awesome job, B.A.S.S.
RE: Wheeler's numbers If Wheeler led in all these and was not Angler of the Year, then the point system being used is very bad.
BassFan says: It's the same system used by other circuits one point per place in the standings and the competitor who compiles the most points at the end of the season is the Angler of the Year. It really couldn't be more simple placement in relation to the field across the entire season is the only thing that matters.
All tours would have statistical anomalies if every catch weighing one pound or more were recorded and tabulated.
These comments about being disinterested with the BPT coverage leave something to be desired, IMO. I mean, what coverage is one actually comparing it to? Both B.A.S.S. and FLW only post 2-3 short clips each tournament day, one has to wait weeks or months to actually watch the coverage of the event. And the live feed ... both venues have limited cameras so there is a fish catch like once in forever throughout the day, otherwise it is just some guy casting with no interaction. The coverage of the BPT events is continuous action, continuous interaction. Camera in every boat, and up to the minute coverage.
I believe BPT and MLF are more entertaining than the the other circuits because of the names and the constant action. I dont really watch the two opening rounds because nobody gets eliminated, so no stress on the anglers. Most shows today are all about elimination because apparently thats what the majority of viewers want. MLF has tweaked their format consistently since it started and who knows what will be next. Maybe a 2-pound minimum or each period, each round, someone goes home.
I am in my late 50s and I went into MLF very skeptical. After this first year I think it is great. Nowhere else do you get the access to the anglers in a true tournament environment.
Tweaks? Sure. Remember, this is the first year. Look at some of the running changes they made.
To come back to Table Rock and having the foresight to change the tournament hours. I thought it was brilliant.
A post below suggested a 2-pound "legal" bass. I thought maybe 1-08 would make things interesting.
If anything, this has brought fish care into the light. When watching the other trails and the anglers mashing the thumbar and letting the bass slam to the deck, they show no respect for the fish. Not appealing at all.
FLW Champlain tournament, all those fish caught off the beds and moved. Don't like it.
A change was needed and to the anglers credit, they had the guts to make it. LaCrosse will be a great Redcrest.
Can't wait to see what 2020 brings!
When MLF first emerged it was a unique format and it was exciting to watch established pros fishing something different. But they were still fishing the regular tours so it was more of side gig. After a few years, though, it got tedious to watch. The format doesn't reward different techniques or doing something different from the field. Grab a bladed jig or square-bill crankbait and hit the bank. I still watch it because it is fishing but find myself fast-forwarding more and more. I've tried following some of the new league online and to be honest, it is difficult to keep track of throughout the day with all the changes in the standings. MLF seems like a really exciting format to fish, but not so exciting to watch.
I still regularly follow B.A.S.S. and those new faces can all flat out catch 'em. Plus I am older and still value catching your best five.
I do wish B.A.S.S. would move toward more on-boat weighing of fish and immediate release like MLF, but not knowing what your competitors have in the boat is just as anxiety-producing as knowing exactly what they have. Just different.
The MLF pros are now true pros. No entry fees. Yet they continue to fish on public waterways. Making comments to local boats doesn't sit as well with me when you haven't even ponied up an entry fee to fish on that water.
I have a ton of respect for most of those pros who jumped to MLF and I wish them the best, but I can't say I am a fan. I just hope B.A.S.S. or FLW makes them requalify if they want to return in the future.
How about a best-five tournament with BPT rules?
I agree with Steve Krakowski about losing interest but still enjoy the final minutes when it gets down to the wire. Kind of like a horse race that you don't get excited till they come around the last turn. I really would like to see how interesting it would be if MLF raised the weight to 2 pounds. That would change things up on the way they fished.
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