Was I justified?

Chris Rennert wrote:
alwaysfishking wrote:

I was camping these past few days at a State park. Well Saturday
morning comes and I head out to the lake for some early morning fishing.

As I am fishing a particular shoreline and I see this bass boat
coming behind me from the other side of the lake. Two guys pull up
and go right in front of me, maybe 50-75 feet away. I yell over to the
guy that I'm fishing here and that maybe there's somewhere else he
wants to try. He responds with. "Are you fishing a tournament?" "No"
I reply.
He states " Well we are and we won't get in your way, we're just gonna
work our way down" again I voice my displeasure at his inabiltiy to
grasp the concept that I'm fishing there. He ignores me now and
continues to keep fishing. I put down the rod and troll in front of
him about 20 yards ahead to a laydown tree in the water. Cast my
speedworm to the outer limbs and feel a solid thump, I set the hook
and get into a nice fish, I boat a nice 2.5 lb bass, hold it up and
yell this one would be a good tournament fish huh guys?, then release
it and motor away. A few comments I could not make out from the duo
but I didn't care I was happy. The boater seemed a little more than
upset.

Question: Was I right in doing what I did? Or should I have trolled
to a different location considering I wasn't in a Tournament. What
would you have done. One suggestion was to try and see what I could
snag from their deck with my lures. What are the groups thoughts? I
would do it again in a heartbeat.


As you have read from my previous posts, I have been a victim of the
same situation on a few occassions this year already. I think really,
they should have motored up to you and asked if it was ok if they jumped
in front and fished. That is the approach I have used when coming into
an area where someone was anchored. I stopped about 100ft away and
asked if I could fish the area near them, even if I realistically really
wouldn't have bothered them , I would still ask out of respect.

I love fishing tournaments, but would never think my time on the water
is more valuable than the next guys. If I see bank fisherman on a
shoreline I like to fish, I don't fish it. If I see a boat anchored
near an area I am going to fish, I ask if they mind if I sneak past
them. I think a lot of people see these big sparkly boats and right
away have a negative attitude about us for reasons such as Randys. I do
my best to counter those attitudes here on Winnebago. I think more of
us need to stand up and think about others as well, regardless if you
are in a tournament or not. My last tournament on the 28th , I had 3
boats come into my waters (within 10 yards of my boat) that were also in
the tournament I was fishing. They saw we were on the smallies and kept
creeping closer and closer. A 4th boat, saw my marker buoy and would
not come any closer than that (over 100 yards away). We were fishing
back and forth between 2 points. It just goes to show that some people
could care less about anyone else, and some people respect others.

Randy, I think what you did was awesome, and the guys got what they
deserved. It would have been even more funny if you followed them all
day, they would have probably broke down completely though. Oh well, i
just wish there was more respect out there.

Chris
When I mentioned "We" should stand up and think about others I was
referring to the tournament and recreational fisherman as a whole, not
just ROFB or any of its participants . (I re-read it after I posted and
saw how that comment could be misinterpreted).

Chris

"Rich P" wrote in message
...
I agree with Bob, the proper etiquette would be for the tournament
fishermen to ask if you mind if they fish through there. I know Randy
personally and we've fished in a tournament together. I believe that if
they asked he would gladly have moved aside, or at least allowed them to
fish around him without conflict. As a tournament fisherman, I cant
understand why they didn't just ask Randy if they could fish there.
Common courtesy!

Unfortunately, Common Courtesy is not so common any longer. Some days, I
think that a shot below the waterline is all that some people understand.
--
Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com
G & S Guide Service and Custom Rods
http://www.herefishyfishy.com

I also would have been ticked, but would just have moved on, I'm an old
man and not much bothers me. I'm from N. CA and our lakes are busy on
week-ends, when someone is fishing a good looking bank or other area
just how much room should they be given? One city block, 1/4 mile, 1/2
mile this has always puzzled me. I ask the guys if they mind if I can
cut in front of them for a couple of blocks and they never do mind. Out
here you are always cutting in front of someone or someone in front of
you. Just the nature of the beast.

sket

alwaysfishking wrote:
I was camping these past few days at a State park. Well Saturday morning
comes and I head out to the lake for some early morning fishing.

You should have kept jumping ahead of him every time he tried to fish.
Fishing a tournament does not give you the right to be an asshole.

Ronnie Garrison wrote:
alwaysfishking wrote:

I was camping these past few days at a State park. Well Saturday
morning comes and I head out to the lake for some early morning fishing.

You should have kept jumping ahead of him every time he tried to fish.
Fishing a tournament does not give you the right to be an asshole.

On further consideration, always carry a pen and paper with you. If
something like that happens, make a big show of writing down the boat
description and registration numbers, then tell them "see you at the
weigh-in. I am sure your tournament has rules about this."

Even if you don't show up they will probalby worry so much the rest of
the day they won't be able to catch fish.

Back when I was "The Float tube King" this was a common occurance. I would
just put a freon horn under the water and let a couple of long blasts loose.
Eventually word got around about the nut in the float tube and I was left
alone.
Bill P,
================================================== ============================

"alwaysfishking" wrote in message
...

I was camping these past few days at a State park. Well Saturday morning
comes and I head out to the lake for some early morning fishing.

As I am fishing a particular shoreline and I see this bass boat coming
behind me from the other side of the lake. Two guys pull up and go right
in front of me, maybe 50-75 feet away. I yell over to the guy that I'm
fishing here and that maybe there's somewhere else he wants to try. He
responds with. "Are you fishing a tournament?" "No" I reply.
He states " Well we are and we won't get in your way, we're just gonna
work our way down" again I voice my displeasure at his inabiltiy to
grasp the concept that I'm fishing there. He ignores me now and continues
to keep fishing. I put down the rod and troll in front of him about 20
yards ahead to a laydown tree in the water. Cast my speedworm to the outer
limbs and feel a solid thump, I set the hook and get into a nice fish, I
boat a nice 2.5 lb bass, hold it up and yell this one would be a good
tournament fish huh guys?, then release it and motor away. A few comments
I could not make out from the duo but I didn't care I was happy. The
boater seemed a little more than upset.

Question: Was I right in doing what I did? Or should I have trolled to a
different location considering I wasn't in a Tournament. What would you
have done. One suggestion was to try and see what I could snag from their
deck with my lures. What are the groups thoughts? I would do it again in
a heartbeat.

alwaysfishking wrote:

Question: Was I right in doing what I did? Or should I have trolled to a
different location considering I wasn't in a Tournament.

I've given up 'serious' tournament fishing, but have 35 years of
experience at it that includes every level from club tourneys to the
BASS Invitationals, and have a couple thoughts on this issue.

An awful lot of tournament anglers -- I'd even go so far as to say it's
a majority of them -- seem to think that being in a tournament gives
them some extra rights on the water over the recreational angler. The
more 'casual' that angler appears to be, the more they act as if it's
their God given right to ignore his presence. Personally, I've always
felt the opposite. The tourney angler should give the recreational
angler the right of way, so to speak.

Truth be told though, I've had recreational anglers as well as tourney
anglers do this to me. It's not acceptable behavior no matter who is
doing it.

By leapfrogging him and cutting him off, you kind of stooped to his
level. By catching a fish in front of him, you could have torqued him
off to dangerous levels. Like the several other of the old timers here,
I'd be more inclined these days to avoid confrontation. But I'd have
tried my damndest to catch one BEHIND him, then remarked to no-one in
particular that guys who can't catch 'em in the first place probably
shouldn't be in tourneys.

I also thought Ronnie's suggestion was quite good. Kind of like the one
I used in a "situation" with a property owner who had set out "private
swimming area" buoys in front of his house. I was fishing down the bank
when he came out and started yelling at me for fishing in a "marked
swimming area". It's illegal in CT to put out any kind of buoy without a
permit from the state. Of course none of these yahoos actually have
permits. So I got out my camera and took a couple pictures of the buoys,
and told him that the permit # is supposed to be prominently displayed
on them (which I kind of made up on the spot. Not sure that the actual
reg says about that), and asked him for the permit number. He threatened
to call the marine patrol, and I said, "Good, it'll save me the
trouble." He went back inside, then came out on his deck with a cell
phone in his hand, and stood there for a few minutes. Never made a call.
Just went back inside eventually.

I think that should of been about the time you got out your "heavy
current catfish rig". You know, the one with the spark plug sinker and
chucked it as hard as you could at em. Then when one of em is in the
water unconsious and drowning you could of said "Oops, looks like you
got in my way. Sorry ".

I'll second that!


"Eric Dreher" ét wrote in message
...
On Wed, 29 Jun 2005 17:29:55 -0400, Ronnie Garrison
wrote:

On further consideration, always carry a pen and paper with you. If
something like that happens, make a big show of writing down the boat
description and registration numbers, then tell them "see you at the
weigh-in. I am sure your tournament has rules about this."

Even if you don't show up they will probalby worry so much the rest of
the day they won't be able to catch fish.

I nominate this for the best solution.


------------------------------------------------
The DNC - Building a bridge to the 19th Century.

You were right. First come first served tourney or not.