FishingBanter - View Single Post - RFD: rec.outdoors.bassfishing.tournaments

Scott Seidman · May 22nd, 2006, 10:59 PM posted to news.groups,rec.outdoors.fishing.bass

(Jonathan Kamens) wrote in
:

Scott Seidman writes:
My personal opinion, and others may differ, is that I think that a
tournaments-based group like this has little place in the "rec"
hierarchy. There's little recreational about tournament bass fishing.

I'd be interested in knowing whether you are someone who
participates in such tournaments, as that would help me
evaluate whether you are qualified to characterize whether
such tournaments are "recreational."

No, I don't fish bass tournaments. Perhaps that makes me better qualified
to determine the recreational status. From what I see many participants
are concerned about prize money, recognition, and sponsorships. As to
whether I'm qualified to comment on what belongs in the fishing
hierarchy, I hunt, I've fished since the age of 5, I fish freshwater for
everything from panfish to salmon. I've fished in a variety of
tournaments on Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, some of which had bass
divisions. None were catch and release tournaments, and I wouldn't
promote a newsgroup in the rec.outdoor.fishing hierarchy for any of these
tournaments, either. I have no objections or arguments with tourney bass
fisherman, but I think of it as an organized sport, and not the sort of
individual pursuit that the rec.outdoor hierarchy represents for me.

The scope of the rec.* hierarchy may be broader than you
think. To see what I mean, take a look at a list of all the
rec.* newsgroups. the meaning of "rec.*" on the Usenet does
not entirely correspond to what is classified as
"recreational" in real life.

Maybe you're right, but once a competition is established, I'd put it in
the rec.sport hierarchy, and not the rec.outdoor hierarchy. The
rec.outdoor hierarchy is very small, and I still think that a new group
with a focus on tournament bass fishing shouldn't be in the rec.outdoor
hierarchy. Perhaps the best example would be something like
rec.sport.orienteering-- a completely outdoor sport that many serious
outdoorsmen and women particpate in, with much less sponsorship than bass
fishing, and its not in the outdoor hierarchy. I think its fine if some
tournament activity appears in rofb. In fact, some does, and it's
perfectly appropriate.

I'll point out that I don't think I've ever seen any objection to any
post on tourny activity on rofb--and there are plenty of tournament
anglers that participate. Not many of them choose to routinely use this
forum that way, despite the total lack of objection. It makes you wonder
how necessary the proposed group is.

--
Scott
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