John wrote:
The fishing is compatible for my set
up...no heavy weeds to pull em out of, etc. So, I am just curious as to
the individual "weighing" of the importance of high tech equiptment
(high priced) grin. All other things being equal...what percentage of
advantage do you think you could gain over me in equiptment only?


By making up conditions that "even the playing field" you are negating some
of the advantages that high end gear might bring to the table. In your
imaginary world, there might be no difference. But in the real fishing
world, is tha the case? Not sure about you, but I prefer fishing in the
real world, for real fish.

Joking aside, your line...

If you and I were equally competent as to our bass fishing
skills,


is where the problem is. Most really skilled anglers I know prefer good
gear. Some obsess about it. Rare is the guy in that skill level who doesn't
care enough to use the best that his circumstance will allow.

My kid is an exception. As far as I'm concerned, he's one of the best
anglers I've ever been in a boat with. He can (and regularly did, when he
was a teenager and used to accompany me on trips) outfish a lot of big
name guys. The collection of tackle he had assembled over the years was a
hodge-podge of the best he could afford at various points in time
(including some pretty lean times) and stuff that had been given to him by
well meaning, but non-fishing in-laws. He never disposed of any of it, and
continued to use it and catch fish with the best of 'em on it, until last
year, when all of it was stolen from his trailer.


RichZ©
www.richz.com/fishing