Falcon lake - Whose spot is it?

[grab the net]

What is your opinion on Falcon Lake and the minor controversy of who the spot belongs to. Ish -vs- Elias, Velvick -vs- Martens.

It would appear that they each found the spots on their own with no assistance. AS a matter of fact back up spots were already being fished by other guys. Sounds like they could just about see each other. People definetly feel slighted, that the spot should have been exclusively theirs.

I read Ish's account and then Elias. Seems like Ish was trying to get another guy to hole sit for him and keep Elias out. Was there some collusion there? Did the other guy have a good boat draw for the next day, who knows. With that much money onthe line I don't think there will ever be a hard and fast rule. Those bodies of water are huge by our standards, just amazing they find the same fish time and time again.

[Fluker]

I haven't seen enough about the Martens / Velvick situation yet to pass judgement.

The Ish / Elias incident is very disturbing to me. Do you remember back in 05 I believe it was when Swindle and Zell had the run in on Table Rock? Swindle had caught his fish by the Kim City bridge on Day 1, and on Day 2 Zell was there when he went back. Swindle freaked out. After fishing a spot near by for a bit, he could barely cast he was so upset, so he ran over and told Zell off. Zell made comment how unclassy that was and that Swindle didn't realize he'd fished that spots many times before. It's NOT a secret spot. I'd even fishd it before that event.

Sounds to me like Elias was not in the wrong. He didn't encroach on Ish on Day 1. Sounds respectful. On Day 2, Elias was out first and started there. He left the spot early to give it to Ish, left his marker buoy, and gave him a bait. Sounds MORE than respectful to me.

Maybe we're not hearing the whole story from the media, but from what I have read, Ish is the one I've lost respect for. It's one thing to have someone sit on the spot, one can get over that. But then to throw Elias under the bus, that's a big step over the line.

[Ray Esboldt]

The spot thing - good Lord! That plays out in big events all the way down to club events. It is the one thing that has soured me so much on tournaments over the 20 years I've fished them that I am down to fishing one big one and some little fun ones.

The spot belongs to who ever is there first and is their's until they leave - at least in my book. If you acquired knowledge of it through a shortcut and you can live with bein a slacker fisherman, so be it.

[JP Z]

Well Said Ray........the First one there it's there spot.... I hate that when I am fishing and at a spot I've fished for years. Then some old timer comes up and starts chewing me out for fishing his spot........

[ikeslayer]

i have run into this more out duck hunting than fishing. i get up at 1-2a.m and get out there to get the sweet spot just to have a guy come set up at prime time 30 yards away. i personally don't know how to handle it. Do you tell the second guy go away and how do you do that for 30 yards away??? I love when people are classy though and honor your efforts makes me want to invite them to hunt/fish with me.

ike

[Neighbor_guy]

I think it is different in hunting than fishing, kind of.

What getts me going is getting up at 3:00 so you can be on the water with the dawn and having some chuckle head come terring up and pulling in front of me when I am working down a shoreline. All because he slept in and this was his favorite streach of shore and he had to be first in.

If someone is in your spot you have to move on and adapt. These gus are Pros. They should know that better than anyone. The fact that they are acting like children about it is pathetic.

[Fever]

True story: Small League night tourney two summers ago, 12 two person teams, shotgun start, lake was about 1,600 acres. Horn goes off and it's caous. I get to my spot literally minutes after another guy as he has a faster boat. I'm disgusted as we knew each other and he knew I'd be going there. I adapt and leapfrog him by a bit over 50yards giving hime about 15-20 docks to fish. Shortly there after he misses what looked like a nice fish from my distance. Later I find out it was a real nice smallie. My partner sticks a 4 lb largie just as some nice four letter words cross the water toward our boat. Was I wrong. Keep in mind he had a 90 hp while we had a 25hp. That's why he beat us there. He still brings it up to this day. I personally think he was more upset at missing his and simultaeously watching my partner bring in a nice one.

[Bushwacker]

It was interesting to watch the weigh ins last weekend and see those guys coming up to the scales. You could just tell that a few of them were steaming. For a body of water that goes over 80,000 acres at full pool, there were sure a lot of "issues" with shared water. I guess getting on a school of 600lbs of fish will push guys to do things that they normally wouldn't do.

I am in a bass ciruit around our area that went to 45 boats last year. It was our third year in it and we have never had a problem with space at all in the first two years. Last year was a different story with the extra 15 boats. My partner and I are primarily shallow water guys and there is only so much of that to go around on some of the smaller lakes, but twice last year we were cut off by two docks. Working up a shoreline and here comes a boat on full plane and stops two docks ahead in the same direction we were moving. That really takes a lot of nerve for someone to do that and my partner and I try to have a good attitude about things, but that is really hard to deal with. I don't care if it is a tournament for money or not, it is just not a good thing to do. Some guys lose all sensibility and get clouded judgement when it comes to competition, and we are only in relatively small money tournies. I can only imagine what happens when fishing for $150,000 and up.

[kt]

I think this can be a sore spot with every fisherman. I don't know how many times ive been fishing a specific spot or stretch of lake and had someone either pull right in front of me, right next to me or blaze their boat right threw (a couple times less than a cast distance away) an area where i HAD been catching fish (last one ticks me off the most). If im fishing a stretch of shoreline or weedline and someone "cuts me off" a little I really don't think you can complain, doesn't mean it doesn't upset you a little. Because not everyone is going to realize that the whole stretch is the "spot" that you are fishing, they have just as much right to it, especially if they give you some space. Now when you're fishing a specific spot on the spot and someone pulls right in and crowds you then i think you definitely have a complaint, especially if that person wasn't fishing there and then by chance happened to see you catch some fish (had that happen last year on bass opener, couple gentlemen witnessed me and my partner catching quite a few nice bass and then proceeded to pull right up next to us and use the exact same type of baits as us and then to top it off caught a couple 4-5 lbers and threw them on a stringer, man was i irked.

[kt]

Now if your fishing a tourney and a fellow competitor cuts you off when fishing a stretch of lake that is a little different story.

[ptkane]

Hey 'grab the net' -- why can't everyone be Minnesota Nice like us! You and I casted under the same dock in a tournament - and you caught a fish...and I laughed!

[Dooley87]

it amazes me how rude people can be in tournaments, we fish two small (max 25 teams) tourneys a year on the same lake and there most guys are respectfull but there is one guy who treats it like a B.A.S.S. tourney. he will drive at full plane within 10 feet of your boat, cuts guys off, motors up and down the lake all day. its to bad these guys don't respect other anglers and weren't taught these things at a young age. my grandpa instilled this in me and i have a hard time fishing within 100 yards of another boat, makes it tuff to find a spot sometimes.

i notice this with some of my friends also, we were ice fishing up on our lake place and there is a well known crappie spot were i haven't caught a crappie under 10" and the fish are always there, we were driving the sleds and we came around the corner and the whole spot was already covered with houses, i stoped and told my buddy i need to think of another spot to fish and he started arguing with me that it isn't rude to go and set right up next to those guys fishing, and i was arguing back saying that it is rude, we ended up going over and asking those guys if it was ok if we fished next to them and they were very nice. maybe open water anglers should consider asking the other angler or anglers on a spot if it is ok if they fish the area with them.

[grab the net]

I think that was the same tournament you took us all to school, and the fish I caught if I remember your bag correctly, would have been thrown right over your shoulder back into the lake. That's whats nice about keeping it friendly and in perspective. I enjoy that style of tournament mentality much more than bumping boats and ego's. It is fishing after all. Got your supply of swimbaits yet? Talked to Chris the other day, sounds like he pulled a Steve kennedy down at the NW Sports show. Left with a big bag of SB's, hollow bodies and crank styles, jig heads and hooks, along with a new 7'6" Lamiglass crankbait rod. Jeremy is going with the G Loomis 7'6" crankbait rod. Oh to be young and single!

[ptkane]

You said it...my 7th grader's braces would buy a whole lot of fishing toys.