Fishing courtesy....

[Guitarfish]

Is it just me or do the 16 year old You Tube experts hold no interest to me?

[OCdockskipper]

This kind of reminds me of the situation that arose back when the Elite series began fishing the Sabine River. 

 

Weights were low the first year they fished it, 10lbs made the cut and 49-12 won it.  There were only a few places were decent sized fish were found and anglers were fighting about those spots (Dean Rojas & Alton Jones had an issue). 

 

What most people didn't realize in that tournament was that Jeff Kreit & Mike McClelland had figured out how they could get to a better area, yet still stay in the tournament waters by making a run into the Gulf of Mexico, through Galveston Bay and into the waters just outside of Houston (a 240 mile round trip). In 2013, McClelland made the run, but finished out of the top 10 while Kreit stayed close to home. 

 

When the Elites returned to Sabine in 2015, they both decided to make the run.  McClelland came in 2nd while Kreit had a top ten bag for day 3 when he broke down & came in late from the long run.  They had found a location that no one else had and it was a way to compete & possibly win the event.  It was covered in the TV show, in fact the producers even drew a map of exactly what it took to get to the small area they were fishing.

 

So the 2018 event rolls around and a dozen anglers now make the same run.  Kreit was furious, not so much about these other pros wanting to make the run, but that they only way they discovered the spot was by watching TV.  He & McClelland did all the legwork and now others wanted to benefit from it without doing any real research.  In this case, I understand the frustration.

 

https://www.bassmaster.com/news/daily-limit-risk-run-sabine

 

 

[TnRiver46]

On 8/28/2020 at 2:44 PM, OCdockskipper said:

This kind of reminds me of the situation that arose back when the Elite series began fishing the Sabine River. 

 

Weights were low the first year they fished it, 10lbs made the cut and 49-12 won it.  There were only a few places were decent sized fish were found and anglers were fighting about those spots (Dean Rojas & Alton Jones had an issue). 

 

What most people didn't realize in that tournament was that Jeff Kreit & Mike McClelland had figured out how they could get to a better area, yet still stay in the tournament waters by making a run into the Gulf of Mexico, through Galveston Bay and into the waters just outside of Houston (a 240 mile round trip). In 2013, McClelland made the run, but finished out of the top 10 while Kreit stayed close to home. 

 

When the Elites returned to Sabine in 2015, they both decided to make the run.  McClelland came in 2nd while Kreit had a top ten bag for day 3 when he broke down & came in late from the long run.  They had found a location that no one else had and it was a way to compete & possibly win the event.  It was covered in the TV show, in fact the producers even drew a map of exactly what it took to get to the small area they were fishing.

 

So the 2018 event rolls around and a dozen anglers now make the same run.  Kreit was furious, not so much about these other pros wanting to make the run, but that they only way they discovered the spot was by watching TV.  He & McClelland did all the legwork and now others wanted to benefit from it without doing any real research.  In this case, I understand the frustration.

 

https://www.bassmaster.com/news/daily-limit-risk-run-sabine

 

 

So, Kreit and mcclelland thought they could drive a bass boat into the ocean in a televised tournament and they wouldn’t show it on TV? 
 

this entire thread makes zero sense 

[OCdockskipper]

22 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

So, Kreit and mcclelland thought they could drive a bass boat into the ocean in a televised tournament and they wouldn’t show it on TV? 
 

 

No, that wasn't their point. 

 

It was that other tournament anglers using TV as a resource to shortcut the process of finding fish.  The other anglers had 2 tournaments to figure out where to fish and they only decided to go where Kreit and McClelland found fish based on TV coverage

 

[TnRiver46]

6 minutes ago, OCdockskipper said:

No, that wasn't their point. 

 

It was that other tournament anglers using TV as a resource to shortcut the process of finding fish.  The other anglers had 2 tournaments to figure out where to fish and they only decided to go where Kreit and McClelland found fish based on TV coverage

 

Yeah, I get that. But they are all fishing in a TV tournament so how would they think that wouldn’t happen? Lame excuse if you ask me 

[RichF]

33 minutes ago, OCdockskipper said:

No, that wasn't their point. 

 

It was that other tournament anglers using TV as a resource to shortcut the process of finding fish.  The other anglers had 2 tournaments to figure out where to fish and they only decided to go where Kreit and McClelland found fish based on TV coverage

To be fair...I HIGHLY doubt Kriet and McClelland actually found that spot "on their own."  Why on Earth would an angler even think about making that kind of run to some little hidey hole unless they knew a guy who knew a guy, who fished that spot sometime ago?  Same with the Pee Dee River tournaments where guys never fished there but ran hundreds of miles to get into one section of river that held all the fish.  Like do we really think the Elites are SO good that their intuition tells them to drive their boats 200 miles from the body of water they launch on?? 

 

Little off topic, so to get back to the OP...yeah maybe just ask the dude when you're on the water.  If he says no, have your tourney director eliminate that lake from the schedule.  If he can't share, nobody gets to fish it lol.

[OCdockskipper]

3 hours ago, RichF said:

To be fair...I HIGHLY doubt Kriet and McClelland actually found that spot "on their own." 

The story was that Kreit was staying at a friends house a couple of years prior to the tournament and fished some of that water (don't know if the friend recommended it).  When Sabine got put on the schedule for 2013, Kreit noticed that those areas just outside of Houston he had fished were actually part of the Sabine River system, but the trick was you couldn't get to them by boat via the Sabine.  You had to make the run into the Gulf & Galveston Bay to work your way back to it.

 

So he used prior knowledge of the waters, knowledge of the fishing boundaries and a little creativity to have a high risk, high reward spot.  Those who 2018 just drove to the spot didn't do any of the legwork normally required to find a long distance spot.

[N Florida Mike]

On 8/25/2020 at 11:20 AM, Guitarfish said:

 

I did bet a work friend a six pack once that I could catch more than him.  I caught 32, he caught 2.  He was so mad he never fished with me again.  So I don't even play at competing anymore.  Lost a potential fishing bud over a sixer.

 

I know, my story has not a thing to do with money chasing types.

Doesn’t sound like he was much of a friend anyway...

[Sam]

Unwritten rule:  50-feet from another boat in tournaments.

[Teal]

That's alot of real estate.   I would go there if that's where I wanted to fish and look for a wide spot to pass him so long as I can stay a good safe distance.   Nothing wrong with politely asking to pass thru if its right and go to the back of the area and work your way back out.  

Now if said guy is a jerk when you ask to pass through, (and I would only ask if I have to get closer than 100 feet or so from him boat)  just be polite and pass through slowly  and dont make a lot of fuss

 

[evo2s197]

Get a faster boat to get on the spot first, then it's his problem and he's in the wrong for trying to encroach, beat him at his own game, it's a tournament after all.

[Shimano_1]

I've always tried to be courteous to other anglers when tournament fishing or just fun fishing.  However...in this situation I'd honestly ask myself if this was a place everyone knows about etc or is it a deal where he is winning and has made everyone hunt him down. If it were a place I'd found on my own and had caught fish at id get in there and fish it with him. If he says anything I guess we'd talk about it and go from there. It definitely rubs me wrong how some guys behave on the water and I guess each situation is a little different.  This is a situation where one's moral compass should out weigh the desire to win money. If it got to the point that I felt like trying to fish it with him was wrong but I was just donating money id likely find another trail to fish.

[J Francho]

On 9/5/2020 at 9:09 PM, Sam said:

Unwritten rule:  50-feet from another boat in tournaments.

In the club I fished for years, it was a written rule: 100 feet, unless aiding a disabled boat.  Many times, I had competitors roll up to chat, though.  A couple times, they thought my boat was disabled. They didn't realize that what we were fishing was off shore.  

[Bluebasser86]

The drama and egos have turned me off to tournament fishing a lot. The last little bit bigger tournament I fished, we were boat 16 of 18 on a 2,600 acre lake that has limited productive areas. I checked on Google maps after the tournament, we'd started nearly 3 football fields down the shoreline from the closest boat and fished towards them, leaving them all the water behind us for them to cover. I caught our first keeper of the morning about 50 yards from when our paths crossed and that must have been too much because when we crossed paths the boater, who was the dad and the backseater was probably a 10-12 year old kid, asked us "You guys fish many tournaments"? I answered honestly and said I don't. His response was he could tell because if we did we'd know better than to cut someone off like that. I was dumbfounded by his comment and didn't even realize what he'd said until my buddy repeated it to me after we were out of earshot. We caught 2 more keepers (18" lake), and ended up winning. At weigh in, we had our 3 fish that were all just keepers, not big fish, and the same guy says "Are those even keepers?" I'd a like to have smacked him in the face with one. I saw him flipping a laydown after tournament hours inside the off-limit area and I thought hard about turning him in for it because his 1 fish was big bass and my other buddy had second big fish for the day.

 

I had to laugh when the TD was handing out checks and the guy got his BB check and the TD said "I think this is the first time you didn't finish in the top 3 in this thing". I know that had to chap his backside.

 

I'll be looking at getting into tournament kayak fishing instead next year I think. Doesn't seem that there is the same egos and drama in those.

[J Francho]

7 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

"You guys fish many tournaments"

Standard bully response from an insecure and many time loser that sometimes wins.  They say that about anyone that does anything different.  It's one of the most irritating things for me to hear someone say.

[DitchPanda]

9 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

The drama and egos have turned me off to tournament fishing a lot. The last little bit bigger tournament I fished, we were boat 16 of 18 on a 2,600 acre lake that has limited productive areas. I checked on Google maps after the tournament, we'd started nearly 3 football fields down the shoreline from the closest boat and fished towards them, leaving them all the water behind us for them to cover. I caught our first keeper of the morning about 50 yards from when our paths crossed and that must have been too much because when we crossed paths the boater, who was the dad and the backseater was probably a 10-12 year old kid, asked us "You guys fish many tournaments"? I answered honestly and said I don't. His response was he could tell because if we did we'd know better than to cut someone off like that. I was dumbfounded by his comment and didn't even realize what he'd said until my buddy repeated it to me after we were out of earshot. We caught 2 more keepers (18" lake), and ended up winning. At weigh in, we had our 3 fish that were all just keepers, not big fish, and the same guy says "Are those even keepers?" I'd a like to have smacked him in the face with one. I saw him flipping a laydown after tournament hours inside the off-limit area and I thought hard about turning him in for it because his 1 fish was big bass and my other buddy had second big fish for the day.

 

I had to laugh when the TD was handing out checks and the guy got his BB check and the TD said "I think this is the first time you didn't finish in the top 3 in this thing". I know that had to chap his backside.

 

I'll be looking at getting into tournament kayak fishing instead next year I think. Doesn't seem that there is the same egos and drama in those.

Not tournament related but I've had a similar experience from a guy who got butt hurt about me catching fish. So the ponds I fish most are run by the county conservation board and they are old gravel pits. Before the county got them they were leased by the gravel company to a sportsman club with private membership. So the rules in there charter stated members and there immediate family could use the ponds and were able to bring a guest to fish and camp with them. Well my best friends dad was a member so me and my buddy would take his dad's key above fish all the time. We followed the rules, picked up trash, kept under our limits on fish and just acted as good stewards of the place. We would have guys stop and ask us who we were...Jon would say my dad is Steve...they would say oh yeah I know Steve you boys have a good time and good luck. Well one guy saw us catching a bunch of crappies so he came over to ask us what we were using...guy turned out to be my buddies dad's cousin or second cousin somebody we knew well. He saw that we had half dozen crappie on a stringer...think the limit was 15 each at the time...said nice fish and went on his way. Next day I called my buddy and said hey you wanna go back out? He said dad won't let me cuz uncle Ted called and told him it's bulls#%& we are out there keeping his fish. A week or two later they had a monthly meeting for the club and several members said hey Steve I haven't seen your boy or his buddy Charles out for a while. Steve told them what happened and asked if it bothered them that we fished there? They said hell no they are both fine young men...friendly...courteous. They also said uncle Ted was just ticked because he got outfished by two teenagers. After that we fished whenever we wanted.

[Bluebasser86]

6 hours ago, J Francho said:

Standard bully response from an insecure and many time loser that sometimes wins.  They say that about anyone that does anything different.  It's one of the most irritating things for me to hear someone say.

I was most disappointed by the fact he was fishing with his kid, so the behavior is going to be passed on to him most likely. My buddy and I had just been talking how it was cool they were fishing together and if anyone beat us that day, we'd hoped it was them. After that exchange we no longer felt that way.

[Jermination]

Happens every trip out on Chickamauga. Had a boat pull probably 20 yards from me and start going the same direction. Threw a 3/4oz one knocker past his boat and he got the point and hustled on out of there. I try to give people the benefit of the doubt MOST of the time. Then we go to Fort Loudoun(worst lake in the area, extremely pressured, TONS of recreational boats with drunk college kids & oblivious homeowners) and I had found a rock pile on a ledge of old river channel--ive been fishing this lake weekly for 20 years and have NEVER seen anyone on this spot. I always try to keep fish down if someone is near but some kids pulled up, watched me boat a couple, hit waypoint on their depthfinder and moved on...I honestly think that made me more mad than when someone oblivious to their surroundings pulls too close

[ajschn06]

Caught my PB on a local lake fishing about 30 yards from shore casting right up to the bank.... noticed a boat from the local university rolling along the shorelines doing some sort of study.  Didn't think much of it, figured they'd go around.  Nope- rolled right between me and the shoreline as I'm releasing this hog tearing up weeds and mud.  Happened over a decade ago...still mad about it...

[Glenn]

This is why I don't fish as many tournaments as I used to.  Just the whole ego thing makes my stomach churn.  Some of the guys in these regional circuits and opens act like it's MLF or the Classic.  I've been to 14 Classics, several Elite events, and have been in a few 300+ boat tournaments. There's no comparison.  Not even close.

 

OH if they only knew how ridiculous they look!  They kinda look like somebody walking into McDonald's as if they're a big spender.

 

So to see these guys puffing their chests, acting like they know something you don't, acting like they're superior to everyone one around them so move out of "my" spot....that's not fishing.  That behavior tarnishes the reputation of bass fishing.

 

True, I've been beat those guys, and by local club guys too.  But I also have my share of wins.  We all have good and bad tournaments.  Doesn't mean you're any better or less than the next guy.  But those egos just ruin the experience for me.

[Russ E]

In my younger years I fished a lot of tournaments. I was the secretary of our local club for 10 years.

in those 10 years the club changed from a buddy tournament for fun, with low entry fees to a cut throat circuit with higher entry fees and payouts. that is when I gave up on tournaments.

I understand the draw to tournament fishing and the desire to make that your occupation, but

it is public water. Nobody has more right to an area than anyone else.

A tournament fisherman has no more right to a fishing spot than a family bobber fishing for bluegills.

 

[TnRiver46]

22 hours ago, Jermination said:

Happens every trip out on Chickamauga. Had a boat pull probably 20 yards from me and start going the same direction. Threw a 3/4oz one knocker past his boat and he got the point and hustled on out of there. I try to give people the benefit of the doubt MOST of the time. Then we go to Fort Loudoun(worst lake in the area, extremely pressured, TONS of recreational boats with drunk college kids & oblivious homeowners) and I had found a rock pile on a ledge of old river channel--ive been fishing this lake weekly for 20 years and have NEVER seen anyone on this spot. I always try to keep fish down if someone is near but some kids pulled up, watched me boat a couple, hit waypoint on their depthfinder and moved on...I honestly think that made me more mad than when someone oblivious to their surroundings pulls too close

There are more boats than water on chickamauga

3 hours ago, Glenn said:

 

 

OH if they only knew how ridiculous they look!  They kinda look like somebody walking into McDonald's as if they're a big spender.

 

 

Hahahaha! I'll have your finest big Mac and a 1987 Merlot

[J Francho]

27 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Hahahaha! I'll have your finest big Mac and a 1987 Merlot

 

[N Florida Mike]

Our bass club members were all friends... I don’t remember any conflicts, not even with other tournaments going on at the same time. A large part of the reason was that we either fished big lakes with plenty of room, or small, backwoods water bodies with no one else there.

And the fact that most of us went to the same church...?

[OCdockskipper]

On 9/10/2020 at 8:57 AM, Glenn said:

... I've been to 14 Classics, several Elite events, and have been in a few 300+ boat tournaments. There's no comparison.  Not even close.

 

Just so I'm clear, have you attended 14 Classics or fished in 14 Classics?