Tournament Ettiquette?

[OnAFly]

I find it hard to believe that the guy doing jumps over a 4' wake can't handle a little chop.

I know what you're saying, and I don't mean that lakes should only be used by people who want to fish, but a little courtesy would be nice. And many times, it seems like I get the exact opposite from wake boarders.

[Bucksnort101]

Reminds me of a Muskie fishing trip on Deer Lake in Wisc. several years ago.

Was on the lake nice and early and had no clue they were having a tourny that day. All of a sudden heard a huge roar and didn't know what was going on. All of a sudden here comes a half dozen boats around a corner from the opposite end of the lake. On boat came barreling right at us into the small bay we were fishing, shut down the engine and coasted about 50 yards from us, promptly put down the trolling motor and started throwing Mucky baits right at us, several landing a few feet from the boat.

This tended to really cheese me off, so I dropped anchor and kept casting. That really irritated them, good!!! No excuse ofr that IMO.

[Jig Master]

Why do all the recreational fishermen always have to cut on guys fishing tournaments? As with any activity, there's always a few bad apples, but on average tournament fishermen know more about boat driving and preservation of the fishery than anyone. And P.S. to the guy who started this post, you don't own the lake, it is public property.

[DonBo]

Why do all the recreational fishermen always have to cut on guys fishing tournaments? As with any activity, there's always a few bad apples, but on average tournament fishermen know more about boat driving and preservation of the fishery than anyone. And P.S. to the guy who started this post, you don't own the lake, it is public property.

I'm the guy who started this, and if you had read the original post you would know the problem I have is with these people breaking the law. Going full throttle that close to another boat, and going WAY too fast through a slow/no wake zone is flat out illegal, not to mention unsafe and unsportsmanlike. I have no problem with them, or anyone fishing my lake, or "my spot".

[broken_line]

aint it illegal to drive with in 150'of another boat at WOT?

[KG243]

Can't we all just get along!

[TonkaBass]

I almost got hit by a sailboat while I was anchored on lake minnetonka! It passed about 6" away from my boat while my girlfriend and I were trying to get out of the way... With boating accidents striking close to home for me, I ask that everybody on the water to make sure you use common sense and wear your life jacket. It only takes a spilt second for accidents to happen!

[kg2]

Tonka, you don't have your life jacket on in your avatar pic... lol

[TonkaBass]

Good point... While driving!

[Pat K]

A few years ago my wife and I were on the Mississippi by Treasure Island. There was an RCL tournament going on and we were in the No Wake zone by the casino with a few other boats to watch the boats come in.

We didn't see a single boat come in at No Wake speed. Most of them slowed just enough so they were off plane and kicking up maximum wake.

[Grum]

As a fisherman with a canoe I have had my fair share of wake encounters and close calls when being buzzed by every type of water craft out there and I used to let it get to me, but now I just try to ignore the few clueless or out right disrespectful ones. I just take a deep breath and keep quietly going about my business, my nerves are a lot better for it. After all, these are not my personal waters and you can't change bad behavior with angry words.

Maybe if you caught them on camera and reported it to the right authorities (DNR or tourney ppl) you could change a few, but don't let them ruin your day. You will catch more fish with a positive attitude.

[folke2000]

I posted this under the tournament section, but was told that I should post here as another side of the story.....

Why do I fish?

Was out on Whaletail on Sunday with a buddy and my 6 y/o fishing partner. I have never fished the lake before, but decided to try trolling for northerns to keep my 6 y/o interested in the sport. We get to the launch, and notice a lot of fancy bass boat trailers etc in the parking lot. My thoughts were oh no, a bunch of boats speeding around a lake looking for the hot bite for their tournament.

What I did get was a bunch of great fisherman quitely working the shorelines and lilly pads. Most boats we trolled by fishermen smiled, asked how the fishing was, and even directed us to spots on the lake that they had hooked up with some northerns while they were bassin. I even tried to take the outside line as to not bother some of the tournament fishermen, and was told, "That's Ok, my arms need to take a break from all this casting" and then allowed us the weedline to troll.

It was a great experience to explain to my son, THIS IS WHY we fish, and why we like other fisherman. No secret spots, No you are encroaching, but just a whole bunch of people participating in a sport we all love.

My thanks to all for helping teach life lessons to my young fisherman.

Folke

[JimBuck]

Good story folke2000. It really is something special when everyone on the lake is just happy to be there and courteous to one another. Everyone wins. Thanks for sharing.

[MIke A]

Not even a tournament, just weekend anglers last night and I was trolling the south edge of a flat and there was one boat out there that kept cutting me off. I even had the greeen light on their bow and they had my red light, but that didn't stop from from cutting right in front of me, making me cut my throttle so Id come to stop while they passed so I wouldn't hit them. Now I wasn't hogging the spot to myself, as there were 3 other boats all traveling the same path as myself, but we all were running side by side and leaving enough room for each other to turn around. I'm sure this boat was doing the same to the others. Some people just need to work on their ettiquette when just out on the open water.

[tsewdim]

I don't own a boat so I fish from shore more often than not. It's most annoying when I'm on fish and fishermen with boats come and hover right where I'm fishing and throwing towards.

I just think shorefishermen are limited to where they can fish and fishermen with boats have a great body of open water to choose from. Why the need to encroach?

[blue_healer_guy]

I just flat out think it's wrong to fish for money, other than a side bet from a buddy on first fish.

[TR21]

What about playing sports for money?

What about driving a car for money?

It's a job, and if you have ever experienced big time tournament fishing, believe me it is a job!

[Mr.Seaguar]

When a tourny fisherman does something its on purpose. They know water rules, they know boating. Ime, they dont worry about no wake areas much. That and they plug up the parking lot. Personally, rental pontoons are a bigger annoyance.

[Sonicrunch]

Do cars race on public roads mixed in with regular traffic?

Do pro sports players use public gyms anr etc to play thier game?

No.

[Deitz Dittrich]

This has been a very interesting thread for me to read. As a tournament angler myself, I cant personally speak for everybody, I can only speak for myself.

Here are my thoughts.

When I am on the water in a tournament, I not only represent myself. I also represent all the sponsors I have. Thus I try to treat all anglers and users of the water with respect. Do I run my boat fast? yes. Do I do it safely? yes. Do I respect the fish. You bet! Do I break game laws or lake rules(Slow Zones). Absolutely not, doing so would get an automatic DQ in all tournaments that I fish.

I am really sorry some of you have had a bad experience with a tournament angler. Please know I do my best to not be "That person".

[cheddar 86]

I guess I don't really agree with any kind of tournament fishing myself. When I see the bass fishing on TV or anywhere else I just think to myself that these guys take themselves way too seriously. The emphasis isn't placed on getting outside and enjoying onesself and natural resources - it's about who gets the most/biggest and the huge amount of sponsors making money. Don't we have enough [PoorWordUsage] like that? Just misses the point to me - plus then you have a bunch of guys that really know how to pick through a lake all attack it at once - don't even get me started on delayed mortality. Even local tournaments annoy me....especially when you are out on the water minding your own business and you see a hoard of 30k bass boats at full throttle running over submerged reefs and weeds. Why does everything have to be about money?

[TR21]

cheddar 86,

These guys do take themselves seriously because it is about the money - its their job. Do you take yourself seriously at your work? I was coangling with Larry Nixon, one of the best bass fisherman around and after me not talking with him for about an hour he said" you mad at me for something?", I replied that I thought he wanted to concentrate and he didn't want to be bothered. He said"fishing is fun, when it stops being fun I won't fish anymore"." I've fished with 10 pro anglers over the years and they enjoy the sport of fishing but it also happens to be their job as well. Their families depend on them to bring in a paycheck. Ask any of them what they do on their time off and if they're not fishing they are hunting and usually with their kids. That should explain their love of the sport. As far as 30k boats - try 60k. It's a big business.

[ac777]

I hate to be the devil's advocate, but i've seen a lot of posts about this kind of stuff the past week or two.....

Although there are obviously morons out on the lakes, does anyone think that some fisherman are too paranoid or selfish on the lakes?

For example, on some small metro lakes on a saturday afternoon there just aren't enough good fishing spots for every weekend fisherman out there. Therefore, some good spots may have several boats on them... it's gonna happen. however, some people are just paranoid and think anyone getting within 200 meters is encroaching on their spot.

In regards to fisherman going too fast on the lake...... at the same time I would rather have a boat staying on plane instead of slowing down to be "nice" and created a huge wake. Sometimes the fast boaters are the nice ones and the slow ones are clueless rookie boaters.

I agree that there a moron boaters out there, but some fisherman spend so much time cursing the other boats on the lake that they don't realize that other boats may be saying the same thing about them

+1 to this