Etiquette or NOT?

[MsgMills]

I personally would move if asked nicely by the Tournament Angler... Especially when they are working at their regular job ( Pro Fishing ).

Seems like the jerks who pulled into Harrods Creek, were what it seems like to be just jealous of the Tournament Anglers. The two locals were probably mad for not being able to fish for the big Bucks like the Pro's and wanted to make it tough on any of the Tournament Anglers who might come into the creek to fish... People have stooped to this sort of low life level before.

But I don't have a problem if someone asks me to fish ahead of me, (if) I'm not fishing a tournament as well. But just fishing for fun, like I said, I wouldn't mind if asked nicely and not asked with a sort of attitude like I owe them the right to go first.

Tight Lines fella's

[fishbum]

I'd like to add that I wouldn't have been done this in the first place. Everybody has an equal right to any given spot, but hurrying out to a spot where you wouldn't otherwise be in the first place just to get in the way of a tournament is pretty low-class.

OK here is an analogy.. YES you have the right to catch a Home Run Ball at Reds Stadium, but it is considered bad manners to do so if the fielder has a chance to catch it.. Same with a foul ball. Remember the poor schmuck at Chicago a few years back??
That is the way tournament guys feel about OTHER BASS fishermen cutting in on them or failign to yield in a tournament when the other guy is pleasure fishing only.. Sort of like getting in the way of the guy on the field.. One is playing the game for real the other is playing for fun. WHEN YOU Play for real you expect the fun players to yield as YOU would.
Jim Dicken

[Moose1am]

Apples and Oranges

This analogy below is not at all like the discussion that started this thread.

First the discussion is about fishing PUBLIC LAKE that are accessible to Everyone with a Fishing License for the lake.

A baseball stadium is a PRIVATE ARENA where people pay to view the baseball game. The baseball players are part of the team which OWNS the stadium. To interfere with the professional baseball player trying to make a catch on a fly ball near the bleachers is much different than some yahoo gambling to see if he can make some money on PUBLIC FISHING WATERS.

This discussion started out with the NON TOURNAMENT FISHERMAN already fishing the spot first and the Tournament guy trying to cut in front. Sorry but the tournament guy is the one being rude.

You have no extra rights to the lake unless the tournament director OWNS the lake or property being fish.

If you want tournament fishermen to have extra benefits over the mass on the water then someone who owns the water will have to give them those extra rights. But public waters are owned by EVERYONE not just the tournament fishermen.

My opinion on tournament fishing would not be well received but I'll be **** if I'll let anyone bump me from a fishing hole that I got to first.

I fish for fun and it's not fun to be run over by some idiot in a big bass boat who cuts next to me going 80 mph just because he didn't leave his fishing hole in time to get to the weigh in on time. That's his problem not mine.

And I feel the same way about fishing guides that think they own a certain spot on any public lake. They too can wait their turn if I am there first.

I grew up fishing KY lake and I was taught to not get within shouting distance of any other boat. But that was back in the days where every Richard and Harry didn't own a boat and the lake was much less crowded. During the weekdays back then you would be lucky to spot one or two other boats on that section of KY lake.

OK here is an analogy.. YES you have the right to catch a Home Run Ball at Reds Stadium, but it is considered bad manners to do so if the fielder has a chance to catch it.. Same with a foul ball. Remember the poor schmuck at Chicago a few years back??
That is the way tournament guys feel about OTHER BASS fishermen cutting in on them or failign to yield in a tournament when the other guy is pleasure fishing only.. Sort of like getting in the way of the guy on the field.. One is playing the game for real the other is playing for fun.


WHEN YOU Play for real you expect the fun players to yield as YOU would.
Jim Dicken

[RoadToad]

OK here is an analogy.. YES you have the right to catch a Home Run Ball at Reds Stadium, but it is considered bad manners to do so if the fielder has a chance to catch it..

LMAO. Sorry, Jim, ya shoulda quit while you were ahead. This analogy's worse than the first one. It's not just "bad manners," it'll get you arrested!

WHEN YOU Play for real you expect the fun players to yield as YOU would.
Jim Dicken

Translation (correct me if I'm wrong): When you fish in a tournament, you expect non-tournament fisherman to yield to you. I do respect you, for what you've done for the local fishermen, but we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one.

[MrSplitshot]

I think this incident boils down to one word: INTENT

What was the intent of the "Good Ole Boys?"

If the intent of the Good Ole Boys was to run blocker, interfere with the tournament, and see if they could one-up some of the tourney anglers by fishing a spot they knew the tourney boys would be coming to, keeping fish in front of them for the heck of it so that they couldn't catch them, etc....then yeah....screw'em. It's absolutely their right to do it, but they're being assholes.

But intent is a tough nut to crack, because everyone's stories seem to differ.

Etiquette is another argument entirely. I'm a heck of a nice guy if I do say so myself...and if somebody came up to me on the water and asked nicely if they could squeeze in with me on a spot, slide around me and hit a bank before I do, then absolutely...come on in. I don't care whether it's a Ranger, a two-man boat, or a jon boat full of Boy Scouts. Now if you come flying in, crowd me up, and act like you own the place, Mr. Nice turns into Mr. Not-So-Nice real fast and I'll initiate a reality check one way or the other.

If I move from a spot that I had first, or give up a bank, or give up a cove, I'll do it because I WANT TO. Not because somebody thinks I HAVE TO because they are entitled to a public spot more than I am. I bought my license, my gear, my boat, my truck, gassed up both, got up early, and drove here just like you did. You're not entitled to jack squat. Be nice to me, I'll be nice right back.

Intent boys, intent...what was the intent? Judge them by that.

(sidebar: I don't like the Good Ole Boy label. I happen to like Good Ole Boys. I don't really like the "Tourney Guy" label either...there's a lot of those guys that I like too. Everyone on the water with a rod and reel is an angler and it really ought to end at that. Some fish from the bank, some fish from big shiny fiberglass boats, some fish from jon boats, two-man boats, float tubes, canoes, they wade, they fish artifical bait, they fish live bait, whatever...they're all fishing public waters and every single one of us ought to respect that. PRO race car drivers compete on a private track...PRO baseball players compete on a private field...PRO fishermen compete right out in the middle of public waters with the public. It would be akin to holding the Daytona 500 on I-75 and watching Tony Stewart pass a minivan in the right lane at 193mph...that would probably cause a little conflict and questions about etiquette. Unless you come up with a way to close down a waterway to the public for a tournament, similar to the way they close down a golf course to the public when the PROS are there competing, there will always be conflicts and differences of opinions on etiquette between the PROS and the NOT-PROS.)

[apb]

.... WHEN YOU Play for real you expect the fun players to yield as YOU would.
Jim Dicken

I disagree. These are public waters that we are talking about. Tourny folks, recreational folks, and guides all have an equal claim on the water. Boils down to who was there first. First boat there has first shot at the water. I don't see why one should expect the other boat to move for them. Now, had I been in the recreational boat and the tournament boat asked me if they could have first shot, I might give it to them. Really depends on how they asked.

Jim, to flip it around on you. Suppose I am fishing with a couple of kids that are new to bass fishing and we come on a spot that I know holds fish. Should I expect the tournament boat that was there before me to give the kids the first shot at the bass if I ask polity? I mean, they are the future of fishing after all. My answer would be no. The other boat was there first, so I would not encrouch on them. Doing so would be teaching the kids bad etiquette.

Andrew

[fishhunter]

I would have spit some beachnut in that dudes eyes and shot him with my 45 . As Hank JR would say. I would have laughed at at the tourney guys while shaking my head wondering how they got so stupid... But that's just me .....Brian

[zx150]

A lot of baseball teams or players do not own the fields/stadiums. Most are owned by the city or larger corporations.

I was at the weigh in yesterday and the angler got up on stage and made the comment about the "local guys" (and that is how he said it) and it sounded like they cut him off and it was on them. He was still respectful about the whole deal but you could tell he was very disapointed.

However I was not on the water so I do not know how happened.

I had talked to this tournament angler while he was fishing and I was on the bank. He seemed like a very very nice guy. A friend of mine came up to the same spot where he was fishing after I had left and thought he was a very nice guy as well.

Everybody is referring to these guys as pros. They are not pros. The tournament angler that is in question is a retired Dallas police officer. Everyone of these tournament anglers have a job or are retired. Except one and he is a stay at home dad. He probably works harder than all of us lol.

[buzzking]

I'm betting the INTENT of these guys was to get-r-done and show up them there pros.........

[Moose1am]

This post reminded me of a time on Patoka Lake when the Crappie USA guys were having a crappie fishing tournament. I was fishing with a friend who showed me an excellent crappie fishing spot for spring, summer, fall and winter crappie. Evidently the crappie guide on Patoka Lake knows this spot well. During the tournament that morning another boat came into our cove and it was a young man and his young son in the boat. They didn't barge in and they asked if they could fish near us as this is a well know spot to the local guide and he must have learned about this good spot from someone. My friend said he didn't care at all and we actually moved across the bay to give the guy and his son more room to fish. We got along fine and we talked and had a good time. The fish were only caught when you went over a certain brush pile in this cove. There are a lot of brush piles in this cove but you must be right over one to catch the fish. They were fishing the tournament so they didn't stick around very long as they didn't catch many fish in the 30 to 45 minutes they fished with us. We ended up catching two limits of 9" to 10" crappie. We were not fishing the Crappie USA tournament. We were fishing for fun and food.

Now another time we were fishing this same area when one of the local guides comes roaring into this same cove and throws a big wave that almost threw both of us out of the boat. We were fishing in a 20 ft long Crestliner with a 150 Merc on the back. This boat is nice an wide and very stable so to rock this boat it takes a good wave or two. The guide came speeding into this small cover and made a lot of waves as he cut the throttle not very far from where we were fishing. We didn't move this time. I think you would have done the same. He didn't show much respect to us and thus we kept on fishing. He eyeballed us for a few minutes and then took off almost as fast as he came into the cove.

Man when you enter a cove where people are fishing on Patoka Lake and you get within 50 yard of them at high speed and then shut the motor down suddenly you are going to throw some waves. That to me is DIS-RESPECTFUL! If you were to come into the cove at idle speed from a 100 yard or more that would be different. But you don't roar into another boats immediate area and then decide to stop just a few yards from them. That's not right. I don't care who you are or if you have money on the line. That's not right and it irresponsible to do that on public waters IMHO.

Now Patoka can be very crowded on the weekend and I remember when the lake first opened back in 1978. I fished the lake then and remember a boat or two in every cove I went by at times, especially on Saturday or Sunday.

The lake I fish now is very crowded on the weekends so I fish it during the week. Even then on a weeknight you will find people fishing this lake. And even after dark there are more fishermen. The last few days the same people have been fishing the launch ramp until well after dark. It's like they have camped out there or something! LOL I would almost feel guilty making them move the lawn chairs off the launch ramp to let someone launch a boat. Well almost feel guilty.

I disagree. These are public waters that we are talking about. Tourney folks, recreational folks, and guides all have an equal claim on the water. Boils down to who was there first. First boat there has first shot at the water. I don't see why one should expect the other boat to move for them. Now, had I been in the recreational boat and the tournament boat asked me if they could have first shot, I might give it to them. Really depends on how they asked.

Jim, to flip it around on you. Suppose I am fishing with a couple of kids that are new to bass fishing and we come on a spot that I know holds fish. Should I expect the tournament boat that was there before me to give the kids the first shot at the bass if I ask polity? I mean, they are the future of fishing after all. My answer would be no. The other boat was there first, so I would not encroach on them. Doing so would be teaching the kids bad etiquette.

Andrew

[know1]

Most people on here can envision a scenario where recreational fishermen, if asked politely by the tourney guys, would probably give up the spot.

Most people on here probably can't envision the scenario where a tournament fisherman, if asked respectfully by a recreational fisherman, would do the same.

That says a lot....

[Dave Stewart]

I think that all the bass tournament anglers should be made to quit bass fishing and made to fish Crappie tournaments. I believe all of us bass guides should be required to quit guiding bass too and only guide for Crappie. As a matter of fact anyone that fishes for bass should be made to quit bass fishing and start fishing for Crappie...because as everyone knows the Crappie tournament anglers and recreational Crappie anglers are angels and would never pull up on top of you.

Just think of the side benefits...we could all tie our boats together and sit around the same brush pile dipping minnows and singing Cum Ba Ya and we wouldn't be taking up so much room on the lake with all those 60 ft casts or leaving those big wakes with our trolling motors.