moral or ethical tournament fishing

[redrockerbassnutt]

what are some of the questionable tournament activity?(any level).one that i saw recently was the 2 official practice days before the tournament a few teams hired guides(there boats never left the hotel).i dont know how they finished and i dont care, but we finished good and found our own fish,which should make you feel better about yourself .i'm not guide bashing buy any means,for these guys trying to make a living on the water i have the utmost respect for them.if i had the money the first thing i would do is have dave stewart show me how to ledge fish(but not the day before our tournament).i wonder if these teams tried to duplicate the guides pattern or just went back to his spot(low rent!).just wondering,thanks,RED.

[Cobra190]

This is a pretty common practice. In most cases it is viewed as part of tourney prep for alot of fishermen who make their living at the weigh in, and even some of the lower level tourney guys will do this. It's no more than just doing extra homework for a tourney, whether it's having a guide show them spots, give them an idea of how fish may pattern at a certain time of year at a given lake, or even marking a map. There's no real difference in this, in my opinion, than in a local small club tourney where you may have a couple guys who can go to a lake and fish it for a couple days before a tourney. It all depends on what you can afford to do to put yourself on fish to bring to a weigh in.

[00SKEETER]

what are some of the questionable tournament activity?(any level).one that i saw recently was the 2 official practice days before the tournament a few teams hired guides(there boats never left the hotel).i dont know how they finished and i dont care, but we finished good and found our own fish,which should make you feel better about yourself .i'm not guide bashing buy any means,for these guys trying to make a living on the water i have the utmost respect for them.if i had the money the first thing i would do is have dave stewart show me how to ledge fish(but not the day before our tournament).i wonder if these teams tried to duplicate the guides pattern or just went back to his spot(low rent!).just wondering,thanks,RED.

Just goes to show what people will do for the almighty dollar. In my opinion these guys care nothing about winning they just care about the money. I've always thought that was pretty weak for a tournament fisherman. No it's not against the rules but how would you consider a tournament win an accomplishement if you were fishing someone elses fish. Like you said I don't know how you would feel good about yourself but I guess guys like that feel good about themselves on the way to the bank.

[Stevens]

This is a pretty common practice. In most cases it is viewed as part of tourney prep for alot of fishermen who make their living at the weigh in, and even some of the lower level tourney guys will do this. It's no more than just doing extra homework for a tourney, whether it's having a guide show them spots, give them an idea of how fish may pattern at a certain time of year at a given lake, or even marking a map. There's no real difference in this, in my opinion, than in a local small club tourney where you may have a couple guys who can go to a lake and fish it for a couple days before a tourney. It all depends on what you can afford to do to put yourself on fish to bring to a weigh in.

i respectively disagree. it may be a common practice but it has to be crossing the line between doing your own homework and just copying someone elses homework.

[dc chopper]

I fished a tourney a few years ago where the guy running it kept some of the fish to stock a private pond. I let him know that I wasn't real pleased with that and not to call me again. we weren't told that he would do that and just assumed that they would be put back.

[SlopFishin]

All pros get advice from locals. That includes KVD, Skeet and Ike.

IMO, a guide can show folks patterns and honey holes, but he can't put the fish on the hook for them. Guys like KVD are better than everybody else because of his focus, insticts and adaptability.

[gocards40]

I would rather for them to pay our guides to learn a lake than to follow them around and steal their spots.

[barryj]

most of todays good money tournaments are not on an even playing field especially for the angler that works 5 to 6 days a week.i have always said someone needs to start a tournament trail where you are off limits to the lake one week prior to the tournament day.you would start seeing different anglers at the weigh in scales instead of the guys that live on the water.

[bassman_ky]

If people can afford a guide that's great but I find no greater satisfaction than finding a great pattern myself. Then when/if I win it feels that much better.

[Stevens]

All pros get advice from locals. That includes KVD, Skeet and Ike.

IMO, a guide can show folks patterns and honey holes, but he can't put the fish on the hook for them. Guys like KVD are better than everybody else because of his focus, insticts and adaptability.

but dont you think its one thing to be given advice, and a totally different thing to be fishing a spot you pretty much bought. and yes a guide can put fish on the hook for you, half of bass fishing is location.

[pastorbass]

It all depends on the tournament rules... Part of the rules for fishers of men is that the lake is off limits the week leading up to the tournmament except for Friday which is the only official practice day. During that time you may not solicite lake information. If the tournament you were fishing had similar rules then you should have turned them in to the director.

Otherwise I do not consider getting a guide to be unethical. Baseball players get pitching and hitting coaches, golfers get help on their swing - all sports have people that take the extra step to get better. Getting a guide especially on a lake you do not know helps out a little. You get instuctions, patterns, ect. No gaurantee that you will be able to fish that spot or that you will be able to catch those fish. Plus if you are going to pay big bucks to fish a tournament you want to increase your chances.

On another note, there are a lot of top notch tournament anglers out there. However, there are a few that tend to do unethical things that give the majority a bad name

[Fishin is life]

Agreed. I fish small a small town bass club and get no greater thrill than carrying the fish to the scale. Does it help to cash a check every once in a while, sure. But if you are fishing solely for the money, you aren't a fisherman, you're a businessman. I love the sport and will probably never make it big, but I will continue to fish "my" fish, win lose or draw.