I saw it too. The fish touches the boat and he gets penalized. Pull out a sharpie, signs the fish and nothing? Pretty unprofessional IMO.

That dude is obnoxious. If he's trying to be funny, it ain't workin. Hope he lasts 1 show. What a beating to watch.

Looks like he attended Ike's "How to market yourself 101" class

Guys, I have drawn James as a boater in the PAA & BASS Opens, also pre-fished with him on a few lakes, I've drawn some of the top names & some no names in those & none have been a better boater, he won't cut you off, he'll let you use anything he has, he will make a bad day on the water good & a good day better, he didn't sign the fish (DUH) the fish is wet, did you ever sigh anything wet with a sharpie much less a fish? anyway he is really a great guy and has always been a jokester, you won't find a better guy be in the boat with.

I wouldn't be so fast to judge someone until you know them.

He was ragging Jason Christi a lot.. What was the deal with the pink slippers and little girl toys in his rod locker ??? Anyone else see that ? It was right before 1st take off.. That dude is a nut.. LOL

Him & Christi are good friends.

He reached into his storage. Pulls out a marker, acts as if he is scribbling on the fish and then doors it but you seat he isn't writing on the fish? Ok, right. You do know they make markets just for writing on wet surfaces. Good to have for lures or if in MLF then i guess good to have for your fish

I'm not sure about this guy or MLF's portrayal of him. In the opening scenes MLF shows him with a non-clothing clad poster of a female taped to the underside of his tackle storage locker! Then after he catches the first fish of the competition he takes out a sharpie and signs/simulates autographing the fish! Then he blames his boat marshall for knocking the fish out of his hand resulting in a penalty to which he makes derogatory comments about the boat official and flatulates/simulates flatulence his opinion of the boat marshall.

Does he think he's being sarcastically funny or is his humor out of context for the event? I'm not sure. In our PC world the editors for MLF seem to being putting the future of the show in questionable positions. The portrayal of anglers needs to be elevated and this episode may not have been the way to do it.

What do y'all think regarding the portrayal of the sport and 'professional' anglers? Not questioning 'manly' humor or 'man stuff' just MLF's depiction of their product and the sport as a profession.

That's perfectly fine, and no I do not know him personally. But he came off as an obnoxious azz his 1st time on tv. None of the other guys have done this. He may be the nicest guy ever, but frankly his 1st time on MLF was pretty unbearable. Just MHO. That's all.

See I knew it lol

Yep. I know him and have hung out with him in groups at tourneys all last year. VERY nice guy. And yep, he's a clown. Some, that know him, like him. Some that don't, see this as obnoxious. Haha. He is a REALLY good guy to fish with. He talks crazy talk about people he knows really well. He also receives talk like that back, from these same guys that he knows really well. To an outsider looking in, he's a prick. Or obnoxious. Or whatever face value is for the person that has known him all of three seconds. He "signed" the bass "#1". Haha. I thought it was funny. He also blamed his Marshall for the poor boat flip. Haha. Those guys, marshals, are supposed to be very stern, non biased, and invisible personality wise. I'd be the same way if I had a boring monotone dude watching my every move. It would drive me crazy. At least the cameraman gets to talk a little.

On a similar note....Jacob Wheeler is annoying to me. The guy needs to ease back on his "trying" to be a marketing promoter of his sponsors. We get it Jacob.....we get it. Now THAT GUY is obnoxious. And, from guys that have back seated his boat, is a complete [censored] to fish with.

From what I've seen, James has a unique sarcastic sense of humor. I like it.

If I was in the boat with that idiot it would be hard not to throat punch him and throw him out of the boat