Watchin Aaron Martins WHINE at Guntersville.........

[Jbyrd]

I agree (first come first serve). Aaron had been there for 3 straight days, In my eyes that is "first come first serve". That guy had been watching Aaron catch big stringers for those days and decided he would like to save the fish for his own. What part of that do you see a correct. Aaron makes his living fishing.

How do you know the guy had been watching for 3 Days. Get real, he just decided on the last day to get in his way ? If he wanted to save the fish for him self there would have been more fish to save after day one.AND if he was on the lake as some of you are saying watching Aaton fish why not spend it SITTING on that hole instead of watching him carry 87 pounds or 15 keepers off that spot !!!! Think how stupid what some of you guys are saying really sounds.

[Jbyrd]

Well the way you all see it is that if I got to your place of employment and set at your desk before you get there; it's then my desk... Sorry bout your luck pal, get a new job. It's sad that some people are so unskilled that they have to stalk someone and jump on a spot to try to make a couple dollars and brag to their buddies about how they found their fish and the dumb Elite Series guys were catching the fish he rightfully stole.

WHOA rc5 Get your facts straight first !!!! Those elite guys are good but MOST of them are finding these spots by CALLING locals and good buddies that they have fished with before . IT HAPPENS just ask around !!!! They don't just luck up on these spots... DON't GET ME WRONG THEY CAN FISH... but NOT all the hot spots are "just found"

[Dave Stewart]

Exactly, that is like being $25 short of your rent and you spend the money you have to go to bingo or play the lottery. If you are needing tournament money to put food on the table, it is time to sell the boat and all of the expensive gear and do what is right. Of course in this day and age that is highly unlikely.

If you think these guys don't want to mess with the pro's then you are not paying attention. At Kentucky Lake last year guys were following KVD around and marking his spots and then going out to fish those spots before he could get there, same thing happened to Jeremy Starks. At Smith Mountain Lake there was a planned tournament on the four days of the BASS tourney there. Guess what it was called: Beat The Elites. Fortunately there were not enough idiots and fools to sign up and the tourney never happened.

I guess those Elite guys that followed me around during their practice last year or the ones that followed the locals coming out of the weekly Tuesday night tournament at the Moor's were just sight seeing....it works both ways. I am out there every day making a living also.

[Tim_T]

How do you know the guy had been watching for 3 Days. Get real, he just decided on the last day to get in his way ? If he wanted to save the fish for him self there would have been more fish to save after day one.AND if he was on the lake as some of you are saying watching Aaton fish why not spend it SITTING on that hole instead of watching him carry 87 pounds or 15 keepers off that spot !!!! Think how stupid what some of you guys are saying really sounds.

Most of the time it is on tape and is shown once the tournament airs. Not sure if he was there all three days, but the video tape doesn't lie and he was there on day three as a spectator boat.

I would be real careful calling people stupid on this board. Moderators will not put up with that no matter who you are!

[sflam123]

We have been fishing KY Lake off and on for about 12 years now. During the BASS Elite tourney in 2006 we were fishing a spot I had found on my own and fished for several years when Matt Reed pulled up and asked very politely if he could fish. My wife and I willingly moved. He was polite and courteous. We sat a distance away and watched him fish and we learned a great deal. He positioned his boat very differently from how I typically did and threw his baits at different angles. He caught fish that we had missed. The point being there is a lot to learn by watching these guys.

To Dave Stewart's credit, I have seen him go by spots he would like to fish when other people have been on them. We have moved off a spot when a guide has pulled up out of respect for the guys trying to earn a living on the lake.

Aaron Marten's whining and crying on TV just repeated a pattern that he had already demonstrated several times before. A leopard does not change his spots. With that said...fishing tournament pros and lake/fishing guides are trying to make a living fishing. We are fishing as a hobby. Should we find ourselves in a similar situation, we should ask ourselves "How would I feel if that guy were trying to keep me from earning my paycheck with HIS hobby?" Ultimately though it is an individual decision on whether to move or not.

[Bass Addict 170]

I didn't say Martens wasn't a complainer. The "other guy" does have a right to be there. BUT it has absolutely nothing to do whether or not you have a sponsor? Fact is this guy FISHES FOR A LIVING. It is how he FEEDS, clothes, and provides shelter for his family. I can't believe that most people wouldn't give up a spot if the pro had been fishing there? It is not who has a right to fish there...we all have that right...but morals or ethics plays a factor. If you kept fishing there and the pro that asked you to let him fish it because he had been fishing it....there is a possibility that in this day and time you could cause the pro to lose big money...enough money to make or break him. All of these guys are not independently wealthy, they are fortunate enough to fish for a living and to some one money place could be the difference in being able to pay their mortgage. In other words, just because of PRIDE, some folks would take a chance away for some guy trying to make an honest living by fishing. These guys are not saints as none of us are either but they deserve a chance to make a living by us not being in the way. I mean let's face it, this was one day and one spot?
Tim
bassmaster

I do see your point about feeding family and stuff like that, but if we're all gonna start talking ethics and morals, how about these weekend anglers who lack all repect for other boaters. We don't hve the time or patience to know every angler, and just making an exception for one pro is kinda hard to do. I personally fish some tourneys, and try to be repectful of hoever's on the water, no matter the money at stake. I think first come, first serve applies on public lakes. And after the many rude encounters I've had fun fishing from tourney guys, who wanna cut you off or swamp someones boat because they lack courtesy for others makes the decision to give up a spot kinda hard. Just my opinion.

[mhall]

I guess those Elite guys that followed me around during their practice last year or the ones that followed the locals coming out of the weekly Tuesday night tournament at the Moor's were just sight seeing....it works both ways. I am out there every day making a living also.

Tell'em Dave!

[Jbyrd]

Most of the time it is on tape and is shown once the tournament airs. Not sure if he was there all three days, but the video tape doesn't lie and he was there on day three as a spectator boat.

I would be real careful calling people stupid on this board. Moderators will not put up with that no matter who you are!

READ MY POST a little closer , DID NOT call anyone stupid , said some of the comments sounded stupid. and why wouldn't he sit the hole every day instead of just the last day,And the only one saying he was sitting therer or was following every day was whiney Aaron, AND someone on a spot has never stopped anyone of those guys from fishing..............

[BigPoppy]

This one could go back and forth for days. It has been a while back, but a friend and I were doing some red fishing on a brackish water lake in LA, now for those who have never fished salt water in shallow condititions it is not really if you are going to catch fish or not, it is a matter of what kind of fish that you will catch, there are tons of fish there but the Reds were the target for the tourny guys. The pros had a blast off at 0600 about 40 miles away and these folks did not run one but at least two motors at a time, giving them at least 400 HP to rocket around us poor dumb amatures running our carolina skiffs with 40 straped on the back. We had fished this same cut for about a week and knew we were going to take a few specks and maybe a red or two. Well here comes super dave (no name connected to this board or any members of this board!) He pulls up along side of us and then proceeded to tell us they had scouted this hole all week and we needed to move out so he would stay in the money, Now had he ask we would have let him have the hole but he said it was their spot, and we should move. This cut was at least 50 feet wide bank to bank and it was a out going tide so the shrimp were easy to catch and so were the fish. we were two away for our limit and said guys as soon as we tagged them we would be on our way, this was the gulf of Mexico, not a 10,000 acre lake. when we said wait a few this dude fires up and proceeds to blast through the cut back and forth killing everyone's chance of getting a few more fish then he waked a wave over our bow and had the nerve to tell us if we stayed he would flood us out. Now it is guy's like this that make it a pain on both sides. He was one of a hundred with the nerve to say this was HIS spot. man ask me and I may move to let you in and maybe I won't, but to say this is how they make their living and put food in the mouths of their kids, then they should have more than one spot to fish. As some one else mentioned these are public lakes. first come first serve, if I see a sign saying private waters, stocked by the FLW, Bass Masters or if the lake is owned by a sportsman club then I should not expect to fish there, but hey if it is a public lake and there are two or three TV crews taping the event, you got to figure that there are going to be some guys following the crowd and getting a free lesson.

[Tim_T]

I guess those Elite guys that followed me around during their practice last year or the ones that followed the locals coming out of the weekly Tuesday night tournament at the Moor's were just sight seeing....it works both ways. I am out there every day making a living also.

Never said it didn't work both ways Dave, but were any of those guys trying to beat you to your spot so they could play "Beat the guide?" If so, that is just as wrong as what the guy was doing at guntersville.

[wishniwasfishn]

After reading all these post, one thing comes to mind "Would these guys do the same for you if you were fishing a tournament?" Also, I have been fishing since I was a little kid, and my dad taught me from day one, never ever encrouch(sp) another angler while he is fishing a spot on a lake, and I have taught my son the same thing. I have noticed the last couple of years that sportsmanship, intergrity, ethics, and common courtesy have disapeared, and I honestly think that bass tournaments have caused most of this. I am a tournament fisherman, so I know not everyone is like that, but you see a whole lot more of it on a daily basis than you use too, and I bet Dave Stewart could attest to this, since he is on the lake a whole lot more than any of us are.

[creeker]

Here's the way I see it... If you were up in a deer stand on public land and one of the Drury brothers or Latocki's showed up with with a camera crew and told you that you were in their spot, would you move? What if it was Joe Sixpack who came along? What if it was me?

A second way to look at it is if you go to work tomorrow and someone is parked in "your" spot--not because the spot was assigned to you, only because you always park there--would you expect the guy to move? What if the situation was reversed and there was a spot right up front, but so and so normally parks there, would you park in the back of the lot because of it?

Now, I got to thinking about the whole "interfering with a guys living" aspect. I don't follow tournament fishermen, but I looked up this Aaron Martin fellow. I found out that he's sponsored by the following: Megabass, Roboworm, Gamakatsu, Sun Line, (BSX) Biosonix, Tru-Tungsten, Aaron Martens Lures, Vault Energy Drink, and Ford Excursion. While I understand that winning tournys gets you the sponsors, I don't see how this one spot would make or break a fellow that has been fishing as long as he has. Especially, as he says, "All I've really done is fish" (quote taken from http://www.bassfan.com/profile.asp?pro_ID=14). Frankly, I don't find him to be a sympathetic character.

But in the same vein, I will say that if someone essentially "cut in line" to get the spot, that's certainly in poor taste.