Bitter / Cochran / Schultz confrontation

I just wanted to get everyones opinion on what happened on teh Harris
chain? I guess Bitter ws in the top 10 on the last day, and he felt
Cochran came in on his water which I guess is an unwritten rule in
tournaments. I know when they interviewed Bitter , he was beeped out
quite a bit :-)

Chris

On Bass Center, they brought up some interesting thoughts. They suggested
that the money involved now has really changed the pressure to perform, and
that the old guard (like Jim) is used to fishing in a different environment.

With the amount it costs to stay on the tour, and the pressure to perform to
keep\attract sponsors, a lot of the gentleman's sportsmanship is being
compromised.

These unwritten rules are one of the things I continue to learn in my local
club. When I first joined 5 years ago, I was really green. Now, I see that
someone should write down the unwritten rules, because even at the club
level, they are different for everyone. Some guys have a whole different
concept of crowding, sharing, etc.

I don't know if George did anything wrong. Certainly nothing I don't see
all the time in club tourneys.

Scott...
Chetek, WI


"Chris Rennert" wrote in message
news
I just wanted to get everyones opinion on what happened on teh Harris
chain? I guess Bitter ws in the top 10 on the last day, and he felt
Cochran came in on his water which I guess is an unwritten rule in
tournaments. I know when they interviewed Bitter , he was beeped out
quite a bit :-)

Chris

Since I just fish club tournaments, and one small semi pro more the the
learning experience than anything else I guess my perspective is a little
different, but I do get a large amount of resentment when somebody crowds
me. I also tend to just pull up the trolling motor and go somewhere else
when it happens depending on the circumstances. If somebody drop in a half
dozen bot lengths pulling a bank and flipping I have no problem with it, but
when I am fishing some little back water and they put their trolling motor
on high to get across and hit an area I am fishing towards it really ****es
me off. Another thing that gets me is when somebody motors across an area
where I am sneaking up on. I have a number of holes I fish where I can
almost always pick up a fish or two if I hit them first and stealthily, but
when somebody cuts by with their big motor running those fish won't be
catchable agian for a couple hours. With my limited skills and expereience
I really count on those fish. Its bothersome, but some of those holes are
in main traffic paths where people have to go across to get to other fishing
areas. I was told I should just position my boat to block the access and
fish my spot without letting them through until I am done. I can't bring
myself to tell somebody they are just going to have to wait to get by, but
it does bother me to give up those fish and let them by. Most of the spots
like that only take a couple mintues to fish. They either produce a fish
right away or they don't produce at all, but I know what its like to be
standing off waiting for somebody to clear an area. I try to be a courteous
angler no matter what others do. If I was sweating a paycheck I might find
myself to let my emotions get the better of courtesy, and I can certainly
understand getting ticked off at somebody who beat me by being discourteous
or cut me off on my fishing spot. The individual circumstance would have to
be judge independently though. You can't just throw a blanket statement at
any of it.

Here is a side note. I know that letting somebody bother you will affect
your fishing. When I let stuff bother me I catch fewer fish no matter what
it was that got under my skin. Some anglers play people this way on
purpose. I tend to simpley avoid those people. My ABA partner Hammer is
very level and positive. In all the time I have fished with him I only ever
saw him get upset one time. We kept getting cut off, or buzzed by PWCs one
day. Normally that sort of thing gets under my skin, but for some reason I
just felt good that day. Hammer let it bother him. He actually came as
close to swearing as I have ever heard from him that day after the fourth or
fifth time somebody got in our wave or washed us up against a bank we were
trying to flip. I was catching fish, and Hammre wasn't. He wasn't even
getting bit. Hammer is by far the superior angler. With some techniques
I have the mechanics downa little better, but he is overall better at
enticing bites, and finding fish. After a little while I asked him what was
wrong. I told him I was usually the one who let stupid peoiple get under
his skin. A half an hour to an hour later he started really catching fish
and he steadily caught fish the rest of the day.

After the weigh in he told me, "You know what made the difference? I
decided not to let it bother me." That was it. He decide to just fish and
enjoy himself instead of letting all the little irritations get to him.

So in summary, yes. I get ticked off at getting crowded or moved in on. I
thinks its rude at best. However, I personally believe if you can remain
level headed and not let it bother you you will catch more fish and have a
better day, and maybe a better finish.

--
** Public Fishing and Boating Forums
** www.YumaBassMan.com


"Chris Rennert" wrote in message
news
I just wanted to get everyones opinion on what happened on teh Harris
chain? I guess Bitter ws in the top 10 on the last day, and he felt
Cochran came in on his water which I guess is an unwritten rule in
tournaments. I know when they interviewed Bitter , he was beeped out
quite a bit :-)

Chris

I saw the tiff (the part of it they could show). LOL. I don't do an
tourney fishing, but if there's anything I hate it's a trouter. Trouting
is creepng up to fish close beside someone who is (probably but not
necessarily) catching fish. this is similar, but there were many on
either side of the quetion. Common courtesy is a great thing in a
competition, but in this case I can't see how it can be easily
legislated into fishing.

Scott Davis wrote:
On Bass Center, they brought up some interesting thoughts. They suggested
that the money involved now has really changed the pressure to perform, and
that the old guard (like Jim) is used to fishing in a different environment.

That's what they keep saying, and it makes a nice soundbite, but it's
total BS. The guys who don't mind casting at another guy's gunwales did
it 20 year ago, when the money was much smaller, just like they do it
today. And they'll do it in little regional tourneys for a couple
hundred bucks, just like the big boys do for a hundred thou.

You either believe in sportsmanship or you don't. It doesn't come with a
price tag.

On Mon, 14 Feb 2005 17:44:03 -0500, RichZ wrote:

Scott Davis wrote:
On Bass Center, they brought up some interesting thoughts. They suggested
that the money involved now has really changed the pressure to perform, and
that the old guard (like Jim) is used to fishing in a different environment.

That's what they keep saying, and it makes a nice soundbite, but it's
total BS. The guys who don't mind casting at another guy's gunwales did
it 20 year ago, when the money was much smaller, just like they do it
today. And they'll do it in little regional tourneys for a couple
hundred bucks, just like the big boys do for a hundred thou.

You either believe in sportsmanship or you don't. It doesn't come with a
price tag.

I was hoping you would contribute to this subject. I know you have a lot
of experience seeing pros from 20 years ago , as well as pros from today.
As I was watching it , I couldn't ever picture myself doing something like
this to another fisherman. Then I wonder, if big $$ was on the line,
would I feel differently? I would hope not. I know, even in the small
tournaments I fish now, I would never ever encroach on somebodys water,
and would hope others would show the same respect. If I can't find my own
fish, I don't deserve to be considered a pro.

Chris

RichZ wrote:
And they'll do it in little regional tourneys for a couple
hundred bucks, just like the big boys do for a hundred thou.

You either believe in sportsmanship or you don't. It doesn't come
with a
price tag.

I have never seen the pro events, but I doubt the pros can act much
worse than some of the small regional guys do. I avoid lakes where my
state's BASS Federation Opens will be on any given weekend. The
attitudes, lack of courtesy for other anglers not in the Fed tourney,
other users on the lake and disregard for the lake rules that are shown
by many of these guys leave a lot to be desired. Sorry if there are
any fed members here who are one of the few good apples in the bunch,
but the bad ones really ruin the image of the Federation and bass
fishing in general IMO.

Brad Coovert
2005 Tournament Director, Greenfield Bassmasters
www.greenfieldbassmasters.com
Esox Rods - Handmade In The USA
"For The Toughest Fishing Out There!"

This sort of thing happens in competion fishing. Some people are
sportsmen, some arn't, fact of life! Little John has told me many a
story about this crap...he gets followed and encroached on a lot, even
when he is pre-fishing. His attitude is...If they can't hack it on their
own, I just figure they ain't gonna cause me no real harm, I just ignore
em!

JK

"Chris Rennert" wrote in message
news
I just wanted to get everyones opinion on what happened on teh Harris
chain? I guess Bitter ws in the top 10 on the last day, and he felt
Cochran came in on his water which I guess is an unwritten rule in
tournaments. I know when they interviewed Bitter , he was beeped out
quite a bit :-)

Chris

Does anyone know what Cochran actually did? Like crowd Bitter or fish water
that Bitter thought should have been his?