"regulars and homeowners" should have bought or leased a private lake.
My family has land that Fork took, still own the land up to it, and I've had a lake house on Fork since before it was full. It never crossed my mind to be so self entitled as to tell someone I should have it to myself.

All this talk about where the $$ is going? Pro's vs You Tubers? Marketing and such? Did anyone ever think that the old model was broken to begin with or at the least, inefficient at best? For 40-50 years, it was "let's put our money into the pro's" because they are the ones who will sell our products. Granted, that worked for a very long time and was "successful" because it was the only medium they had. For years, the Pro's had a leg up with sponsors and life was good for them, Simple supply and demand, the supply of pro's were low and for the most part, they could name their price. Supply low, price high.

Fast forward to now. Companies have the upper hand!! You own ABC Tackle and you want to get your brand out there. How are you gonna do it? Are you gonna tell me you are gonna give "Joe Pro Smuckatelly" 50K a year to push your brand? Im not. I will take 1/2 that amount of money and spread it out amongst 10-15 You tubers and get infinitely more exposure. Supply is now high with people who will push your product. Supply goes up, price goes down.

Social Media hasnt ruined Bass Fishing. It's only made life a lot harder for those of us who remember the "Good ole days". For the younger folks, it's all they know and the world they grew up in, hence the "ho-hum" attitude that most of them have.

It's Darwinism in Business/Economics......Evolve or die. And remember, youth is undefeated.

No way. Change can only be bad. If I'm less successful than I once was it can only mean the circumstances are wrong for everyone. /s

That is the problem - too many people chasing bass (including me).

Its ruined everything. Internet has too.

Some would say that bass tournaments have ruined fishing…..

Been hearing that sad song for about 40 years now.

Haha!
Exactly!!
Times change, society changes, and those who don’t adapt along with it get left behind.
It’s the natural way of things.

Looking back on my own experiences I think i have witnessed poor etiquette a lot more from recreational anglers than tournament anglers. Some of that I write off as them just knowing any better.
I have had very, very few issues from others during tournaments. Eve then most of that is minor stuff. The most common is guys crowding the loading dock and ramp when other boats are trying to launch. .
I don't understand what is hard about launching then getting out of the way while your partner parks the truck. Someone always wants to Power Pole down parallel to the dock making it impossible to pick up your partner or at the end of the ramp where others want back off trailer without almost hitting them as they tinker with tackle etc.

Just checking, did Mark Jones ever clarify his comment?

No, it was a hit and run

This is, for the most part, true but it doesn’t paint the whole picture. Yes, sponsors are paying much less, (based on what I’ve read), but there are also a lot more potential sponsors in the market. What is 100% true is that the game has changed and so must the professional if he/she wishes to survive in this market.

one thing is sure the dang price of anything fishing is way over the top of what it should be.Paying $25 gees for a motor which if you use it much will blow up is [censored] so many fall into just make payments and trade it in in 2 years . Let someone else take it and blow it up leaving them to spend thousands on the thing . For that kind of $ a motor should last a very long time and should be covered for a very long time

Almost 800 hours on my 2015 SHO. Other than routine maintenance, it has not needed a thing.
While you seem to really be hung up on the past........ it is well known, for a long time now, that outboards don't need a reason to pop, just a place. A lot of the new ones have good records.

I use social media quite a bit, it’s almost required to promote your business these days. I don’t think it’s a bad thing at all. With that said, it’s definitely taken its toll on fishing, especially the big YouTubers. All the ponds around here where I live used to be an easy after work/after school fishing trip. Used to be able to go to any of them, drop a flat bottom in, and catch nice fish often. Now they’ve all gone to [censored] and I don’t even bother

It’s really a double edged sword. I love seeing the younger middle school/high school kids out fishing these ponds after school and enjoying the outdoors, but it’s also taken a big toll on what was once good fishing.