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| Who’s Water Is It Anyway? | |
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| Topic Started: Feb 14 2008, 02:27 PM (354 Views) | |
| renegade | Feb 14 2008, 02:27 PM Post #1 |
Administrator
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Author: Roger Brown I would have to say that this article is one of the most over-due, misunderstood, and confusing subjects a angler needs to really understand to lesson some of his or her attitudes, and increase much more sportsmanship when it comes to fishing in most of today’s tournament trails. For years I have had many of my bass fishing school students and charter clients tell me some of their war stories concerning this matter, and I got to tell ya, I’m kinda’ glad I wasn’t around to see some of these in action. First of all, I wish to make sure that common courtesy, ethics, and sportsmanship go a long way for most, but there are some that just don’t get it! Now, who really owns fishing water in any bass fishing tournament? If you guessed nobody, then you’re right! Let me give some examples and let you decide for yourselves: Say a tournament angler had only a day or two away from work, home, or any obligation, and had a chance to pre-fish for an upcoming tournament. With the gas, lodging, food, and travel expenses along with his personal time, this angler gets to a body of water and spends two days pre-fishing and putting a game plan together for this upcoming tournament then goes back home. The next day after this angler went back home another angler per-fishing for the same tournament does the same thing, but just happens to fish in some of the first anglers areas (not knowing the first angler was pre-fishing and put his plan together) and puts his (or her) own plan together using some of the same areas as the first angler, then goes back home. The next few days a third angler does the same, and on and on! Now, the morning of the tournament comes and these three anglers all go to the same spot, who’s water is it? Most all seasoned anglers know that just about any area where you can find bass in quantity and especially quality you will find these bass in “sweet spots” or also known as “honey holes” but in the surrounding areas it’s just a hit-and-miss type of fishing right? Now, this is where the tournament rules come into effect. Here are just a couple of the most recognized trails rules to give you an example. (FLW Outdoors “BFL” Tournament Rules) 12. Permitted fishing locations Contestants may fish anywhere on tournament waters available to the public and accessible by boat, except areas designated as "off limits" or "no fishing" by local, state, or federal officials or within 50 yards of a competitor's boat that was first anchored (an anchored boat is a boat held in a stable position by a line attached to a weight with the trolling motor in the up position). (Anglers Choice Tournament Rules) 13.) PERMITTED FISHING WATERS: No fishing is allowed inside the host marina. No fishing is allowed within 25 yards of another anchored or tied tournament boat with trolling motor out of the water, without the anchored boat's permission. Both team partners must fish from the same boat. Only contestants may be in the boat during the tournament hours. Having anyone hole-sit for anyone shall be grounds for disqualification. Contestants cannot leave the boat to land a fish or gain access to a fishing area. Restricting natural movement of fish by any means is automatic disqualification. What does this mean?... read on!... This is one of my personal experiences used for an example; I was pre-fishing a few years back for a tournament that led me several miles from the launch site to an area that I had fished for many years. When I had arrived, there was another angler fishing the same area. Now, even with the area being around 100 yards or so I pulled up at least 50 yards from this other boat and started fishing. The next thing I noticed is that the boat that was there first had put his trolling motor on high and started moving over to the area that I had just made a cast into. I then asked this angler if he was going to go around me, to which he replied “you’ve got some nerve! this is my area (meaning the whole 100 yard area point), and I’m fishing a tournament tomorrow” to which I told him that I was fishing the same tournament and I have fished this area for many years, to which his last reply to me was that if I was sitting on “His” spot tomorrow, he would ram my boat. Oops! Later that same evening it was tournament registration time, knowing the tournament director, I had told him about this incident. The next thing I knew during the reading of tournament rules by the tournament director (addressed to all anglers) was his comment that “unless a boat is anchored with the trolling motor up, another tournament boat can literally come within spittin’ distance next to another competitor’s boat.” Meaning that the water is anybody’s to fish. So, if you want to fish a protected “honey hole” or a sweet spot” simply drop your anchor down and lift your trolling motor up out of the water, that way at least you can keep another boat out of your honey hole. True sportsmanship is abiding by rules of any activity (not just fishing) and reading the rules is ones responsibility. If more anglers read their tournament rules instead of just signing them (acknowledging that they have done so) courtesy and sportsmanship would go a long way for everyone! Here are some things an angler should remember; 1. Fishing is a sport that everyone should enjoy….. 2. There are some lakes and rivers that only have certain areas (community spots) that can be fished during windy conditions, and when it gets too rough to run anywhere else, a hundred boat tournament only has a select few spots to fish (which means, move over or let another angler either go around or next to you so he or she can enjoy their fishing time as well.) 3. Stay competitive and welcome the challenge of other anglers try to out fish you in some of the same areas. 4. Don’t get into a pissin’ contest with fellow anglers while on the water; just remind them of the tournament rules….. face it!... it’s a dog-eat-dog sport when money is on the line (sad to say, but true), however, every angler is entitled to enjoy themselves or fish any public water he or she paid their money to fish (-: |
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| renegade | Feb 14 2008, 06:05 PM Post #2 |
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Bottom line here is to follow tournament rules when in a tournament. I've heard of a lot of horror stories out there. 
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| Bronzeback | Feb 14 2008, 07:54 PM Post #3 |
Smelt
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Heard of them and lived them. Last year i had my first taste of incredibly bad sportsmanship in the Geralton Walleye Classic. Another competitor practically ran us over and began fishing spitting distance away from our boat (the tournament rules clearly stated that boats had to remain at least casting distance (25 feet) away from one another). When I querried the offending party on their actions they simply dropped anchor and ignored us. My father was so livid I decided to just quickly move off before he said or did anything rash. I would rather let them illegally bully us off the spot than be a party to such unsportsmanlike conduct. Later, the Angler in question tried to justify his breach of tournament rules and fishing etiquette by stating that he had fished the spot the day before, and that he was "in the money" in the tournament and should not be interfered with (amusingly me and my father were in 4th place at the time and were by no means "out of the money"). I tried to explain to this angler that the reason tournament boats leave in a certain order, and the reason some people spend a huge amount of money on big engines and fast boats is because all tournaments are on a first come first serve basis. First one to a spot owns the spot (or at least casting distance around it). Pretty simple. Even strictly recreational anglers abide by this rule. It was just like the article above mentioned, more than one boat can, and often does, pre-fish the same spot. Me and my father had pre-fished the spot a few times three days prior to the tournament and had picked it as one of our main tournament fishing areas. Yet, this fisherman thought he had some divine right to the area because he had done the same. It is incredible how the adrenaline of tournament fishing can make some folks blind to common sense and reason, but trust me, if you fish tournaments you will come across this type of behavior at some point. I think it is just important not to sink to their level. Remember fishing is still supposed to be fun, whether tournament fishing or just out for a lazy day with the kids on a sunny Sunday afternoon. BB. Edited by renegade, Feb 15 2008, 12:19 AM.
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| GET R DONE | Feb 14 2008, 08:00 PM Post #4 |
Fishin' for Loch Ness
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sure are all kinds of people out there, I guess some guys forget what the word "sporstman" means once in awhile.... |
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| fishnhunt | Feb 14 2008, 08:12 PM Post #5 |
Smelt
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Don't bother anymore for the reasons listed above. I love to fish for the enjoyment and the thrill/adrenline rush. Not for the money/prizes.. |
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| Scotty | Feb 14 2008, 08:38 PM Post #6 |
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Larvae
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And DON'T Throw Rocks at bass anglers if they are fishing by your dock. As long as they are not pitching onto your dock or hitting your boat it's perfectly fine. |
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| davis viehbeck | Feb 15 2008, 09:12 AM Post #7 |
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Larvae
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Guys, I'm a director on the Ontario Competitive Fishing Council (OCFC). The Council is comprised of tournament anglers and tournament directors focussed on eliminating misperceptions about tournaments and ensuring best practices by tournament organizers and tournament anglers. For more information, please visit: www.ocfc.ca -Davis Viehbeck PS. Morgan, whatever goode sportsmanship/ethics you've seen in bass tournaments (distance between boats) usually goes out the window in a walleye tournament. Being more of a bass angler, I found this hard to swallow in walleye events, but realized you just have to deal with it and focus on your own fishing, not the fishing of the boats on "your spot". |
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| davis viehbeck | Feb 15 2008, 06:04 PM Post #8 |
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Larvae
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I just wanted to clarify a point on my last post about sportsmanship/ethics in walleye events. A friend pointed out that my comments could be misleading. What I was trying to say is that fishing right beside other boats is the norm in MOST walleye events, the only exception being if a distance between boats is specified in the rules. In bass events, there's generally a "casting distance" between boats rule in most tournaments. Another option in some events is to throw out a marker if you're fishing a specific spot. So, in the long and the short of it, get used to company if you're on a hot spot in a walleye tournament and try and focus on your own fishing. -Davis V. |
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| renegade | Feb 15 2008, 07:11 PM Post #9 |
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Personally I've never had an issue in a Walleye tournament. I find fisherman generally are pretty respectful of each other.
That's pretty cool Davis. Nice to have some knowledge and representation from the OCFC |
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| Stinkbait | Feb 17 2008, 10:15 PM Post #10 |
DINK MASTER
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I've been in a few confrontations on the Bass Tournament side...mostly fellow anglers but a few cottagers as well...met some pretty cool cottagers too! Stinkbait |
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