Is their any way to compare pro anglers from different decades or eras?

[JYarb]

My brother and I were talking today about how our high school football team back in the 60's would get killed by today's teams. Transferred that thought to fishing. Do you have to consider the time period in which they fished to pick the best pro angler? Go back to the first BASS Tournaments and look at the boats, gear, electronics, lures, etc. Very hard to compare that to today. Look at all the advances in electronics, rods, reels. lures, boats and on down the line. At least in fishing physical size and strength aren't that important. Think about all the information out there for young anglers today. Look at the high school and college programs. All that said and it is amazing that Clunn can still compete. How would Roland, Bill, Hank, Tom Mann and other great old timers do if they were starting their careers today? I would love to see BASS do a tournament where they do like Ray Scott did for the first Classics and let the anglers have so many pounds of tackle, all in boats with 150's and electronics limited to flashers. Go to a mystery lake and give no practice days. No cell phones, computers or information gathering allowed. Would be interesting to make a top 5 or 10 anglers list for each decade from the 60's up to now. Wouldn't be easy to do.

[NW.Ind.Basser]

Ken Duke said he was working on an algorithm that he said would fairly compare the different eras of bass fishing. Of course it was super in depth taking into consideration as many factors as history shows. He either isnt done or hasnt posted it. It would be very interesting to see his take on who is the best ever.

From what I have seen with past MLF/BPT events the best anglers with all the equipment seem to be the same when you restrict the equipment and info. Wheeler, Evers, Lee etc can win no matter what format you use.

[188Musky]

By height.

[Quillback]

Whoever made the most money winnings and endorsements.

[basscat21]

I think the jumpsuit era had more style.

[John Jackson]

Guys in the older era had a big advantage,. Their knowledge, baits, and techniques remained secret for a few years. It was easier to stay on top.
Today, everything is known almost immediately.

[juice780]

No

[BASS2277]

Guys in the older era had a big advantage,. Their knowledge, baits, and techniques remained secret for a few years. It was easier to stay on top.
Today, everything is known almost immediately.

ditto along with the fishing and boating pressure not close to being what it is today

[rtinplnc]

Just ask on here and then you'll know.

[barbarian]

No!
Difference in electronics and of course the added fishing time now days because of boat speed.

But great is great no matter what era. And great in any era would probably be great in any era IMO

[KYSkipper]

That's an interesting question.

The first tournament I ever fished back in the 70's Paul Elias was fishing it. That was before he made it to the Classic. Paul is of course still fishing professionally today.

Looking back, Paul won the Classic on the Alabama River on a 7 fish limit @ roughly 9 pounds a day. A few years ago I rode in a tournament there and All 3 I rode with brought in about 13 pounds a day that I was with them and all but 1 didn't make the day 3 cut and none were in the ball park of the top 10. Paul finished 10th in that tournament with 59-10. Or 15 pounds a day. It took about 18 pounds a day to win it.

I think that 2 things have happened.

Conservation and catch and release has made the fisheries better. I don't think, I know, these reservoirs are producing more quality fish than ever. Maybe not the giants of yesteryear, but the middle of the road 4 pounders and 5 pounders, no. I covered a Megabucks on Douglas many moons ago. I can't remember who now, but he caught like 70 fish one day all about the same size, 13" fish. It didn't take a lot to win that thing poundage wise. Now, in the spring, a 20 pound bag won't be noticed most of the time. It takes 25+ on 5 fish.

The second thing is techniques and equipment have evolved greatly. My day 1 ride on the Alabama River featured an 80 mile 1 way run. There's no way anyone in 1980 would have attempted that. They would have spent 2 hours pumping gas to do it. On Douglas, the electronic guys have a definite advantage. People are fishing off shore stuff that we didn't have the ability to find nor hold onto back in the day. There's 1 thing I notice a lot. When you get to a shallow place like Guntersville where the Electronics aren't as much of a factor, well, I'll point out one more recent, Lake Fork. Who was leading day 1? Rick Clunn. Why? It took away the electronic advantage of the youngsters. Rick's last 2 wins have been on the St Johns where electronics aren't a factor. Look at any of these shallow deals, and you start seeing the gray haired old guys popping up in the Leaderboard. Go to Champlain, and they aren't in the top 80.

[Cbump]

Probably not but no one today will ever be as widely known as the Bill Dances, Jimmy Houstons, Roland Martins, etc.

[okiebass]

Well Clunn has still kicked Butt a cpl times last few years ---and he is way past his prime

[KYSkipper]

Well Clunn has still kicked Butt a cpl times last few years ---and he is way past his prime

I was hoping Rick could do it again at Fork last month but you could tell he was killed after day 1. His body was so beat up he couldn't stand to get on the stage without help.

[BMCD]

yes, but it will only matter to you.

[Jeff Hahn]

Guys in the older era had a big advantage,. Their knowledge, baits, and techniques remained secret for a few years. It was easier to stay on top.
Today, everything is known almost immediately.

And, they could gather unlimited amounts of information from locals, including hiring guides.

[basscat21]

hats- Bill wins

[dwmgg17]

No real fair comparison you can make. Today's anglers have way too much advantages at their finger tips. Pull a guy of the street without a high school education and put him in the equipment we have today and he can have a chance to win anywhere. To think otherwise would be ignorant.

[Landem]

I would like to see how the results would be in a tournament with today's pros only using lures that were made in the 70's.

[BeeNix]

I think a high school kid that's an electronics whiz (today's plethora of side view and such) has an advantage over a 60 yr. old man that doesn't know how to use current fish finders. I'd like to see a big tournament like the last one here on Cumberland, where all anglers are limited to old school flashers only. This would make a more level playing field. Mr. Malone still might have won, but I doubt as many younger men would have done as well as they did. We did some work on a late model bass boat recently, it had (2) 15" screens at the bow and a 12" on each console. The owner said he knows when a fish farts...lol
I'm definitely not a pro fisherman, just don't have the skills to use all the available electronics or the body to take the beating of consecutive days fishin' hard. I applaud those that can.