The best info they get is from each other. If they wanted it to be strictly on the single anglers ability they would eliminate info from others in the tournament. However this would be impossible. If one put rids out on the deck so another could see them that's info without saying a word.

You better have friends out on the Tour. They work in small groups. Room together, travel together, trade all kinds of info. Mainly help each other make the cut.

Thing I found interesting was I rode with Aaron Martens in the TTBC in May this year. He didn't even know then that he was going to Mille Lacs. The camera man who has filmed him numerous times said, " he doesn't know where he is going until Leslie tells him"

Aaron is probably on the low end of getting info.

Swindle said "white Spook". Not what Ott threw.

How would you do this? If they said two words to each other there would be some info in it. Or if one guys put a rod on the deck so Angler X could see it and Angler Y wasn't there it could appear to be info even if he would have put it on the deck with everyone around.

I think BASS has got it right on the rules committee . That would be absurd to have no info between competitors .

I agree with everything you said Fish, these guys spend long stretches of time away from their families so it only makes sense many become close friends. Plus, this has to be one of the most difficult of all sports dealing with weather, travel, maintaining equipment and dealing with sponsors. And not that many make a lot of money, so why wouldn't they help each other out. Good on Swindle for being helpful to someone who needed it. Maybe next time the favor will come back to him.

It's obvious that Ott Defoe earned that favor from Gerald Swindle through good sportsmanship, which is a big deal in sports that often gets overlooked. What goes around comes around. So at the end of the day Ott Defoe earned the win and that's the way it should be, my 2 cents sorry...

Swindle is a great guy, and it was definitely a classy move. Both guys are class acts. But personally, I don't agree with it being that they are fishing at the top level of our sport. You won't see pro football teams (or any other sport) sharing plays out of their play book on game day, or any other time. In my opinion, if you are fishing at the pro level, I want to see what you can do with your talent and abilities. Not what you can do with information that someone else gave you. I am a big fan of Ott, and I know he can catch them...not directing this statement towards him, just in general. Also, to me it's affecting the overall outcome of the tournament, if the information is only shared with one person and not the entire field.

Then you better find another professional sport to follow.

Rule check;

Ott's a great guy and I've known him since he was a child. His Father Bud is top notch! Gerald's a friend and another sportsman with a great attitude. Seth we support and he is a nice young man. Gerald and Ott did nothing wrong. The point is made and well spoken, the position is clear and there is more to consider. No one did anything wrong or illegal here. Sportsmanship works both ways and there is more to consider.

The present information regulations need revisiting. They could police an information rule on the water and the game is about those who choke. These are not team mates, they are competitors in what should be a competitive sport. If Ott were in a position to overtake Gerald and he was struggling as he was, would Gerald have granted him access to those same areas? If the Cowboys are playing the Redskins and someone says during the game from a rival team like the TN Titan's that an edge exists to sway the outcome, is that fair? Legal maybe, fair another question.

These are all competitors and unlike football where 2 teams share a field, these are 108 Elite competitors and the edge given takes away another commitment and sways the outcome. Christie and Iaconelli are 13 and 10 points behind Ott, did this change their position in the AOY race? Could it have impacted a Classic spot by moving a competitor around one or two poiints, or more?

It's time to alter rules with the controversy on Jacob Prowznik and Koby Kreiger, to alter the no information and include an assistance section. This and more situations not discussed show that Bassmaster should revise the information sharing and preference ability that exists. Implement a rule that no competitor can share vital information on how and where to improve their catch, while on the water during the active tournament day. Implement another regulation that no competitors may in any way reserve their athletic involvement or reduce their activity in a manner which either could or would impact the outcome of an event.

It's not fair for the Atlanta Braves to slip back on a game or two. All done in order for a team they are playing to advance in their division on the Texas Rangers, by allowing them to reduce their games back. In essence any time an advantage is given in a sporting event your impacting the outcome or future of another competitor, or team. We have no teams presently in bass fishing. It's like NASCAR owners of teams once selecting who wins.

Legal, happens all the time just 99.9% of the time no one hears about it.

A sports antecedent that would go on to make history.

I interviewed Rink Babka for an article that was later published in a magazine. Babka was competing against the legendary Al Oerter at the 1960 Olympics in Rome in the discus throw and Oerter was really having a bad day early on. So, Babka walked over to Al and said he was making a technical error . . . and told him how to fix it.

The result? Al Oerter beat Babka, who likely would have won a gold medal that day, but got a silver medal instead. Oerter would go on to win two more Olympics, four in a row: 1956, 1960, 1964 and 1968.

The moral of the story? Babka helped a friend, a good thing, but I suspect no one on this board has ever even heard his name, ever. Oerter, on the other hand, went on to become an Olympics legend and a household name.

History and outcomes often pivot on the tiniest details.

I'm neutral on this fishing episode but think it would be best to manage it via rules. Hard to enforce, though, I'd imagine.

Brad