Tournament Results

[wormdunker]

I have always paid respect to ther anglers no matter the situation. If they were at a spot first then so be it. I will not ruin or negatively impact a fellow anglers experience on the water. I appreciate the effort to ask permission, I choose to stop casting until I am past then begin fishing again. In most situations odds are anyone anchored near shore is probably not an advanced angler. I make the assumption that they will likely not be able to catch the fish I am able to based on my ability, technology in my boat and knowledge/experience. My assumption is not based on arrogance just confidence that I can outfish a red/white bober and and angle worm. HAHAAHa

Money shoudl not have any impact on how you treat fellow anglers. In essence each time any of us get on the water,money is on the line. Gear can malfunction causing the need for replacement, taking day off of work to fish there many ways to quatify ones time fishing financially. I think it is best to keep it simple.....go fishing simply to enjoy the time on the water and you will be more successful and happy in the end.

[bassinator]

I have been a long time reader of this forum, and very rarely actually post anything. I read this post and had to comment. I was in the ABA tournement going on, and I was the "other tournement fisherman" in the story. I am only 17 and was not sure even how to respond to the guy when he told me not to let the "recreation fisherman" in... I also thought it was rude as there was obviously plenty of room for all of us to fish the area. I would hope that Fever would agree that I didn't cut him off at all, as i just went on the inside and let him continue on his path. Thought I would add my view of the event.

[Wayne Ek]

Thats true about the Fed tourney turning in the other club that wanted to fish on saturday.

Bassin I think your missing some information. The Federation Club had a Henn. County permit to fish Medicine Lake on July 17th. Henn. County permits only one bass tournament per weekend. A member of the Federation Club saw that SMBC was listed on classic bass as fishing a money tournament on the same weekend and asked the Federation Club tournamnet director if he had gotten a permit and if it was still good. As it now appeared that there was going to be two tournaments on the lake that weekend. The tournament director got in contact with the person on the Henn. Co. Sheriffs Dept. who handles permits and asked (1) the club permit was still good and on the correct date and (2) could the club still fish even if there was a tournament on July 16th. Once advised that they could still fish, the Federation Club held their tournament. Neither club needed a DNR permit but both needed a Henn. County permit. If the club director for SMBC did not know about the permit process or neglected to get one, whether a mistake of the head or heart, it is certainly not the Fed. Clubs fault.

[Fever]

Good to see your on the sight Bassinator. It is true. The other Tournament fisherman did ask Bassinator to do that and he simply went inside rather than cut me off as he was asked to do. I did notice that by the way Bassinator and I hope you did well that day.... I hope Karma was on your side.

[blakjack23]

Wayne, where did you get the info about Hennepin County only allowing one tourney per weekend? I'm not saying its wrong, I've just never heard/read that before.

Straight from the B.A.S.S page they state Hennepin county does not require a permit, only notification. http://www.mnbfn.org/tournaments/permitcontacts.html

(Even though Hennepin Countys own webpage does have an event application, which includes fishing).

In my opinion you are also probably missing some of the information. It seemed pretty clear Sportmens Bassmasters did what they could to make sure SMBC didn't fish that Saturday. Two sides to every story I guess.

[Wayne Ek]

BlackJack: Mike the tournament director for Sportsman was staying with me the during the week when this all started. So I got it straight from him. Not only doe's Henn. require a permit, but to get the permit you first have to get the City to approve it.

[hydrashack]

I really feel like I am beating a dead horse on this, but to try to set the record straight.

Did we as SMBC need a permit? Yes

Would we have needed this permit if the "Sportsmen" would have called the Sheriff's office and brought it to their attention? No

Was the way in which our much smaller club was forced off the lake handled correctly? Absolutely NO!!

Wayne, you are only hearing the side of the story from the "Sportsmen" and the way in which they pulled out the rule book to force us off the lake. If SMBC would have overlooked the conflict, which I really don't think of it as a conflict since it was on different days, of another club fishing a lake the day before, I would have told them to cinch up the jock strap and deal with the facts. NOT call the Sheriff and make a small club start pulling permits and getting expensive insurance. That is why I am still hot about how this was handled. Also the fact that they knew about this a long time in advance and waited until 8 days beforehand to bring it up.

-Shack

[kg2]

I don't understand. So you handled things wrong by not getting the required county permit and somehow someone else is the bad guy?

[hydrashack]

We, along with 99.9% of all other clubs, have always used and went directly by DNR regs for pulling permits. If you read the Hennepin COunty water patrol HSOforum these permits needed are geared towards someone who is running a spectator event that is serviing alcohol and having a lot of people attending. Not a 10 boat club.

Again, we got the rule book thrown at us. I am done writing, discussing, reading about all this [PoorWordUsage].

[RK]

Gee, all this tournament stuff sure sounds like a fun, relaxing way to enjoy the outdoors. Where do I sign up?

I've had some very pleasant encounters/conversations with guys either fishing or pre-fishing tournaments. I've also had some encounters that are almost enough to make me despise tournaments and anyone who fishes them if I didn't know they were the exception rather than the rule.

If I'm fishing a spot and a boat pulls in and crowds me, and the answer I get when I ask what gives is "I'm fishing a tournament" it's a guaranteed full-on meltdown, that starts with "Do you think I ******* care about your tournament?"

If, on the other hand, someone asks if they mind if they share a spot, or fish through, I'll usually move out of the way or at least give them as much room as I can. If they're pre-fishing, I'll tell them what I know about the spot besides. You reap what you sow.

I know some tournament anglers get it, but it seems like some don't appreciate the fact that when they're in a tournament, they aren't "just another angler" to other fishermen. A random guy being a jerk is a random guy being a jerk. A tournament fisherman doing the same thing is representative of every other tournament angler, because they belong to a group you can identify, name, and point a finger at. I don't think that's anything specific to tournaments - it's just human nature. Tournament anglers would do themselves a real favor if they were all conscious of this all the time. To be clear, many are...but the ones that aren't drag down the ones that are.

Am I saying tournament anglers should be held to a higher standard? Only partly. What I AM saying they should hold themselves to one if they care about public perception of tournaments. Right now, as lakeshore associations and the like get more powerful, it's something tourney anglers and organizers need to be conscious of. Unfortunately for tournament anglers, it does only take one in a crowd to tar the whole affair. A friend once said to me "the only people who like tournaments are the people who are in." I don't know I'd agree 100% with that, but he does have a point to make. Tournaments are a very visible, organized activity in what is otherwise a fairly solitary sport, and like it or not, you stand out, and guilt by association is a real risk.

To me, a lot of this falls on tournament organizers to police their anglers and set clear codes of conduct. That seems to be all over the map with different organizations. I've been around for two tournaments on the lake my cabin is on this summer. One was great - anglers were courteous, had some nice chats with guys pre-fishing, and they didn't get in anyone's way that I saw (and then TonkaBass won it - heh). The other had several boats with "I'm fishing a tournament so get out of my way" attitudes, they tied up the ramp with their weigh-in and blast-offs, and really weren't much fun to have around. The next time there's a tournament, which one do you think the locals will remember?

My $.02

RK

[NTW]

Well put RK

[Jbass]

Well I see none of you tournament haters have ever cut me off cus I don't see anyone here that's been hit in the back of the head with a flippin jig and lost all their Walmart rods out of their jackpine johnny boat when I rip em out w 80lb braid. It's a good bet that a really good tournament spot isn't going to be known by the perch jerkin locals anyways. If they see you catchin em good, chances are they can't catch them. If they could, they'd put their hard earned money on the line to try and win mine. But most these guys are just fair weather once a month pleasure boaters with a rod they found on the bottom of the lake. Now off to practice for Sundays event. And it's not beer pong with a round of cheap golf attached to it. Golf is for guys that can't fish.

[JbuZZo]

that's gotta be a joke post, right? if it's not, you my friend are AWESOME.

[RK]

It's a good bet that a really good tournament spot isn't going to be known by the perch jerkin locals anyways. If they see you catchin em good, chances are they can't catch them. If they could, they'd put their hard earned money on the line to try and win mine. But most these guys are just fair weather once a month pleasure boaters with a rod they found on the bottom of the lake.

So, you're either a "serious" fisherman who therefore fishes tournaments with "money on the line," or you're just a "perch jerker" and a "pleasure boater" who can't catch fish anyhow and is just in the way?

Thank you for making my point for me.

RK

[OLY]

Wow JBASS we are all dumber after reading your post. Thanks

[Hester]

I think JBass hit it on the head, or has been hit on the head. One of the two for sure.

[corncob]

If you were such a good tournament angler then you wouldn't be fishing in some kneejerk local tournament, but, would be on the stage at Bassmasters!.....You are a poor excuse for any type of angler!....The FACT remains you ONLY have the same rights on the water as the local fisherman with the Walmart equipment, so get real,and off your highhorse!

[thatoneguy]

Jbass has to be trolling. I've never encountered anyone who is actually that arrogant and dense outside of Washington D.C.

[ssaamm]

JBass is a great writer, very entertaining. OLY has the best avitar or whatever the word is.

[RumRiverRat]

Jbass has to be trolling. I've never encountered anyone who is actually that arrogant and dense outside of Washington D.C.

Try the Governor's Mansion in St Paul.

[thatoneguy]

good point.

[TonkaBass]

Pretty sure jbass was trying to plant a seed. Well said RK. In the end we all just love fishing!