Even though I own one of those "fancy bass boats", I try not to forget my roots, nor do I forget common courtesy. I spent many years fishing from banks and from small inflatable rafts. Now I give bank anglers enough room so that I don't infringe on their casting range. And if I come upon another angler in a boat, I give them a wide berth - tournament or not. I don't care about the 20', 30', or 40' "rule" in tournaments - give the other person room to fish. Period. Trying to push it to the limit of the "rules" is just being a jerk. You're going to see him at the weigh-in, so don't do anything dumb that you'll have to answer to at the ramp.
Nobody, and I mean nobody, will ever fish the same lure as I in exactly the same way. I learned that as a back seater when I tried to copy the guy in the front, and never could no matter how hard I tried.
With that in mind, I have no issues giving people room to fish, for I know I can come back and fish that water later in a manner the fish haven't seen before. That's not arrogance, it's confidence. Maybe the other guy has it dialed in and is slaying them. I just know my presentation will be different, so I have no worries about fishing "used" waters. I've learned in any given section of water, there's several different "types" of fish that will react to different presentations while ignoring others.
So there's no need to crowd others. They won't catch the same fish I'll catch, and vice versa. Make sense?
