I experience sort of the opposite, especially in Club Tournaments - to hear the reports from the water, you would think we were fishing the Dead Sea - nobody has caught anything, until we have our check-in at the end of the day. Several years ago, when my Son was about 10, he fished as my partner in an informal tournament. I was struggling on the day and, to hear it, so was everybody else. With about an hour to go, I managed to hook one that was about 14" - after netting him for me, my son said (trying to be like the big boys) - "D**n Daddy, you may be winnin this thing" - I told him, "No Son, wait until you hear what these other guys who said they weren't catching anything actually caught". He has been confused about fishing tourmanents ever since.