I have to agree with everything @FloridaFishinFool said...why should I give up my chance to move up some spots....maybe even win if I catch a couple monsters?

 

Fishing tournaments are a business with each contender being an independent contractor. Imagine if you run a small business...would you back out of a possible money making venture just because "The other guy has a chance of making a bigger profit."?

 

You'd soon 'etiquette' your way out of business.

True.

 

Let me throw another monkey wrench into this one-way or the highway etiquette issue and play devil's advocate.

 

Let's say I am in a tournament and I know I am not going to win. At the bottom and struggling to keep chin above water needing one more fish just to stay in the game without being eliminated.

 

And let's say Denny Brauer is #1 on the leader board and Ike is #2 and a few ounces behind Denny.

 

Now let's say Denny and I have had a decades long friendship and share bar bq's on off time and Denny came to my kids baptism type of relationship. Real close. 

 

And say I have an aversion to Ike and don't much care for him- which I do.

 

I'm minding my own business fishing a hole for my desperate stay in the game fish and here comes Mr. Philly/NY/NJ wanting to take my spot so he can try and win the $100,000.00.

 

Am I to be expected to screw over my decades long friend by letting Ike win off my spot?

 

I could lose a friend over doing something like that. And this is where tournament politics plays a large role over etiquette. I do not want to lose a friend like Denny Brauer so that etiquette rule is going right out the window for two reasons. 1)I personally want to remain in competition so my income is on the line here too. And 2)Denny is a life long friend and I am not going to screw him over just to let someone like an Ike take over my spot just so HE can win. I will play favorites on this one. Tough. Too bad.

 

Like someone said its about fierce competition. Not rolling over and giving it all away. Sort of defeats the whole purpose of competing in the first place.

 

And if Denny wins because I did not follow some roll over etiquette rule then we get to remain friends and enjoy it for years to come! Remember when? I sure do! We showed that Philly/NY/NJ guy what the real deal was huh?

 

Respect has to go both ways. Tournament competition changes things based on rules and politics. It is not carved in stone.

In a multi day tournament you can absolutely put yourself in such a hole that even if you caught the lake record limit, you would still miss the cut.  Sometimes, you really don't have a chance in the most literal sense.  

 

OP is asking about trying out a local tournament, he's not getting an entry into the Elites - Even if y'all were right about this stuff, it still wouldn't apply.  

@Bazoo don't let all this drama scare you away from the tournament scene. I've been fishing tournaments since I got into bass fishing 6 years ago and have competed on a couple local kayak trails, a national kayak trail, and a few local boat trails. Some have been great and drama-free. Some have had so much drama, I walked away. Ask around or try a few until you find the one that fits you. 

 

As far as the etiquette questions. I absolutely will back off a spot if I'm out of contention and someone in contention is already there or I know they fished it before and want to hit it again. If I'm remotely in contention, I won't give up a spot. Generally, give people the space you'd want and you'll be fine. The big no-no on the rip-rap situation described would be jumping ahead and fishing the same direction as the other angler. If the first angler is fishing it fast and will be cover the whole stretch in a few minutes, I wouldn't start on the other end and work opposite. If he was seemingly picking apart a small spot or two on the rip-rap, I see no problem with that. 

 

I've had times I planned to fish a spot but someone beat me there and I saw them caught fish. I usually will try and talk to that guy to explain I had planned to fish it and make sure he doesn't mind me going in behind him. You don't want people thinking you fish the bent-rod pattern. 

 

If I'm beating the bank in a creek and some guy comes down the middle scoping and obviously fishing for a different group of fish, I don't really mind if he gets too close. When in doubt, have a conversation with the other angler and work something out both folks are happy with. 

@FloridaFishinFool it’s etiquette not a rule by the governing body. If you chose not to do it then someone might not repay the favor to you. For me friendship/relationship stops when competition starts.  

I agree with what you just said. See, we can agree on some things. We have love of bass fishing in common, and love of rods and reels in common. Surely there is more common ground to be found?

 

My personal experience is that tournament guys walk all over us locals on a regular basis with zero respect and not a care in the world. Some of them are downright mean about it too.

 

Recently I was fishing in a dead end canal. Had it all to myself. Water was clear and I caught a few fish. I was on trolling motor slowly and cautiously halfway down the canal working my way to a dead end. The canal is 50 feet wide. It is a KNOWN dead end clearly shown on all maps.

 

A huge bass boat tournament guy motors into the canal. He is just scoping it out. He saw me in there. But all he cared about was what he wanted.

 

So he motors on past me to the end and turns around and motors back out. He just ruined that entire canal for me for the whole day. His big old heavy boat was dragging motor on bottom all the way in and out churning up the bottom. Sucking sand into his intake. Mowing up the eel grass. He could not have cared less.

 

You bet I did not give him a friendly smile and wave. More like glared at him for what he just did. And that is the just about the typical attitude of tournament guys. Entitled- and we locals need to bow to them and get out of their way. Only they are important and we do not matter.

 

Honestly tournament guys in central Florida do this more than show any respect for locals when on our backyard bodies of water. And we are NOT about to help them either when we would prefer they take their circus somewhere else and their entitlement and disrespect.

 

This has been my personal experience over and over for decades and is largely behind why I do not get into tournaments any more. Not all are like that. But many of them seem to think they can intrude on us however they so choose and we are just supposed to like it and take it from them.

 

We are told we know nothing about tournaments if we do not agree with their entitlement position. You know, rollover for them because entitlement is now called "respect" when the truth is such a position is disrespect to those the entitled want submission and rollover from. One way or the highway mentality. And we know nothing about tournaments if we do not comply is how it is playing out.

 

And that is precisely how Ike treated the local in this video. What Ike did to this local is beyond disrespect it is WRONG. It is causing harm to others on purpose and with entitled intent. And then he tries to mouth his way out of it for his viewers. Pathetic really. This is NOT professional bass fishing. This is professional diva.

 

 

Let the Professional Fishermen have their unwritten rule.. but if I’m on a hot ledge on Kentucky lake I’m not giving it up. Nor will I infringe on him if he is..

 

Unless it’s Denny Brauer then I would! 
 

My all time favorite. 

Egos and big money sometimes don’t make for the best  decisions 

1 hour ago, FloridaFishinFool said:

And that is precisely how Ike treated the local in this video. What Ike did to this local is beyond disrespect it is WRONG. It is causing harm to others on purpose and with entitled intent. And then he tries to mouth his way out of it for his viewers. Pathetic really. This is NOT professional bass fishing. This is professional diva.

 

I was on the river this same day - Saw Ike.  I was fishing in a tournament and Ike was there practicing for the Elite event later that week.  Here is how much space he gave me when he came up to me. 

Since it's so far away, just take my word for it that it was Ike.  I was hoping he'd come closer so I could say hi to him .  If you listen to Ike in the video it sounds like he did the exact same thing to me, went around by 50-80 yards, that he did to that guy.  It was above and beyond IMO.  The guy in that video was looking for a confrontation and he got it.  Most of us Potomac locals have been embarrassed by that guy ever since Ike put that video out.  

 

I ran into a bunch of Elite anglers on this day....No drama from any of them.  

 

(BTW, I am in no way putting myself on the same level as these pros competition-wise with any of these statements)

Perhaps things are different in areas that are hotbeds for big tournaments. Here in SE VA, we don't have many big lakes or rivers so it's almost all local stuff. Things are definitely different when the interaction is with someone you'll compete against again and again. 

 

When I kayak fished, it was common for glitter boats to cut me off or not respect my space. I don't know if they were in tournaments or not- I was too busy cussing them out and lobbing obnoxiously large baits across their bow to ask. But since moving to the Jon Boat, I have had significantly fewer issues. 

 

As far as the Ike video posted, I remember watching it years ago and thinking he gave the guy more than  enough space and courtesy. I'm far from an Ike fan and think he's crossed some lines before, but that wasn't one of those times IMO. 

17 hours ago, Mike L said:

It has been my overwhelming experience that a competitor on the very low end of the leader board who has a low chance to improve his standing will yield to an angler fighting for a top finish or for overall points   

If I entered as boater I would absolutely yield to another who had a better chance to finish

 

It’s a choice, but more importantly 

It’s called professional courtesy!

This is my stance as well. These guys (MLF and BASS) are competing against each other 10x a year (or more). You show the leaders respect because next event, it could be you at the top fishing for a life changing check. 

 

Whenever you don't show respect to your fellow community, you get a reputation like the Johnston brothers have. 

 

Now if we're talking about local, one day derbies where we might be winning $100, this is a different scenario. Whoever gets to a spot first gets that spot. If you want to come in behind a guy, ask him if he's okay with you following behind him on a spot, but never would I leap frog a guy working a stretch of bank or something. 

Logan S said: "The guy in that video was looking for a confrontation and he got it.  Most of us Potomac locals have been embarrassed by that guy ever since Ike put that video out."

 

All I can do, and the rest of us out here can do is judge based on the video as is.

 

Its not a big deal. Just a difference of opinion.

 

So let's just agree to disagree and let it be. And move on.

6 minutes ago, fishballer06 said:

but never would I leap frog a guy working a stretch of bank or something. 

 

Exactly! Same here. 100 yards is too close since that person KNOWS I will be there soon. I think Ike was just plain wrong and he said he was sorry how many times? That is Ike admitting his own guilt in that situation- in my opinion.

I do not agree with the notion that I should back off a spot if someone else is in higher contention, or in competition. That’s nonsense.

If you get there first, you get to fish it. Full stop.

 

As I previously stated, my buffer while fishing is one full casting length from another angler. Anything closer is too close for me.

10 minutes ago, gim said:

I do not agree with the notion that I should back off a spot if someone else is in higher contention, or in competition. That’s nonsense.

You don't have to. But you reap what you sow. Violate an unwritten rule in baseball, you're not getting ejected but enjoy 95 mph to the ribs. You're not getting DQ'd from an event for not giving up a spot, but you're also never getting that favor returned. I know exactly who respects space and unwritten rules in my trail and who doesn't. 

 

To be clear, no one is saying to give up a spot if you're trailing another angler. We're saying if you have NO chance of winning and another guy has a legit shot, let him have the space. 

1 minute ago, JHoss said:

To be clear, no one is saying to give up a spot if you're trailing another angler. We're saying if you have NO chance of winning and another guy has a legit shot, let him have the space.

What if it's Day 2 of the last tourney in BASS' Elite season and your position on the AOY chart is #71. You either fish your best to get to #70 or there's a good chance you're back to the Opens next year. Do you give up your spot to one of the one's who might make it into the top 50 or keep it to better your chance of staying in the elites the next season?

30 minutes ago, JHoss said:

To be clear, no one is saying to give up a spot if you're trailing another angler. We're saying if you have NO chance of winning and another guy has a legit shot, let him have the space. 

Sorry, I don’t yield to anyone. Period.

 

And I wouldn’t expect anyone to do it for me either. I wouldn’t even consider asking.

 

Tournament or no tournament, contention or not in contention.

18 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

What if it's Day 2 of the last tourney in BASS' Elite season and your position on the AOY chart is #71. You either fish your best to get to #70 or there's a good chance you're back to the Opens next year. Do you give up your spot to one of the one's who might make it into the top 50 or keep it to better your chance of staying in the elites the next season?

This is one of those multi-faceted deals: Sometimes it’s better to risk taking the “L” and appear as the “stand up dude” to sponsors and fans than it is to be the “fierce competitor” trying to salvage a season at the last minute. If you’ve been hitting .125 for 161 games, you are likely to be fighting for your job in the spring, regardless of a 9th inning double against the Rockies on September 28th……But if you’re one of those guys that “puts the face on the franchise”, they tend to keep you around even when your production has fallen off. 

37 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

What if it's Day 2 of the last tourney in BASS' Elite season and your position on the AOY chart is #71. You either fish your best to get to #70 or there's a good chance you're back to the Opens next year. Do you give up your spot to one of the one's who might make it into the top 50 or keep it to better your chance of staying in the elites the next season?

Obviously there's nuance and exceptions to the unwritten rule. No one would fault you for that. But if it's an hour til weigh in on the second day of the second event of the year where you caught two fish the first day and one the second day and you roll into a pocket with Greg Hackney who was the leader after day 1, you're a donkey to try and crowd him and fish that pocket. Giving him space and getting respect that gets repaid later in the year will go a lot further than catching another fish that moves you from 98th to 95th.

 

Also, the OP is discussing local trails, which is whole different animal than these national tours your discussing. Is it really worth gaining a bad reputation for an outside shot at a couple hundred bucks? For me, absolutely not. I'll get more value out of having good relationships with the other guys on the trail.

 

Prime example of what I'm saying. Few years back I was fishing the classic for my kayak trail. I had bad day one and was middle of the pack going into day two. When I launched I knew I had no shot to win, but I could probably sneak in the money with a good day. I had a 1/4 mile stretch of narrow river a mile up from the ramp. At blastoff, a guy in the top 3 went downriver and I went to my stretch. I had been fishing for about an hour when he started to approach it. I went back down towards him to head him off and let him know that stretch was my best spot and I'd appreciate having it to myself if he hadn't planned to fish it. He agreed and we went our ways. With a couple hours to go I'm still in that stretch and have caught some fish, but can tell I have no shot at the money. He comes back down river and I tell him that I'll clear out if he wants to fish that stretch since I had no shot. He thanked me and fished it. He wound up 2nd and made some money. I wound up middle of the pack and made an ally for the next year. 

 

11 minutes ago, gim said:

Sorry, I don’t yield to anyone. Period.

I hope that works out well for you.

 

You've also said you don't tournament fish and hate it. The OP asked for advice on tournament etiquette. Most of us who regularly fish tournaments are saying to honor the unwritten rule. I'll let OP pick and choose who's advice he wants to take from this thread. 

2 minutes ago, ElGuapo928 said:

This is one of those multi-faceted deals: Sometimes it’s better to risk taking the “L” and appear as the “stand up dude” to sponsors and fans than it is to be the “fierce competitor” trying to salvage a season at the last minute. If you’ve been hitting .125 for 161 games, you are likely to be fighting for your job in the spring, regardless of a 9th inning double against the Rockies on September 28th……But if you’re one of those guys that “puts the face on the franchise”, they tend to keep you around even when your production has fallen off. 

Very well said. 

Lots to chew on here.

 

Personally I like Ike, I like his screaming when he catches a great fish. I love the way he screamed never give up when he won the 2003 classic. I don't go full Ike, but I'll give a big whoop sometimes when I catch a nice fish.

 

I don't care for the way he yelled and screamed at that guy, telling him to be a man. But I do not think Ike was in the wrong for mapping the water along the line that guy was fishing. He went around the guy with plenty of space. That guy don't own that water, and Ike gave him plenty of room.

 

In the scenario, if Ike had been a gentleman and the guy had screamed a bunch of obscenities at Ike, everyone would say Ike was right and the guy was wrong, but as it stands, Ike's attitude causes the situation to look reversed.

---------

@FloridaFishinFool said:

"Recently I was fishing in a dead end canal. Had it all to myself. Water was clear and I caught a few fish. I was on trolling motor slowly and cautiously halfway down the canal working my way to a dead end. The canal is 50 feet wide. It is a KNOWN dead end clearly shown on all maps.

 

A huge bass boat tournament guy motors into the canal. He is just scoping it out. He saw me in there. But all he cared about was what he wanted.

 

So he motors on past me to the end and turns around and motors back out. He just ruined that entire canal for me for the whole day. His big old heavy boat was dragging motor on bottom all the way in and out churning up the bottom. Sucking sand into his intake. Mowing up the eel grass. He could not have cared less."

 

I don't understand the problem.

 

It seems to me that offending tounament guy didn't know you were in there when he first came in. He proceeded to do what he needed to do, then he sees you, but he's already in the middle of what he was doing, and continued. He probably did the best he could to not bother you.

 

Now, if he can clearly see you're in there, I can see it being stepping on your toes.

 

I also see that you don't own the canal. He didn't come in and start fishing right next to you, just checked out the canal and moved out.

 

So is the etiquette that you're not supposed to even go near someone else that is on the water? Is it purely because it was a small canal that it was unacceptable?

 

Should he have said, "Do you mind if I run up there and check out the canal? I won't fish, just check it out."

 

------

@JHoss, thank you for sharing.

@JHoss I’m not against tournament fishing. My parents are avid tournament walleye anglers, have been for years. I don’t care for what it has become in terms of a technology arms race all the way down to the lowest level though.

 

I wish you luck and success in competition.

 

The water is public and should stay that way all the time. That’s all I’m saying. No exceptions.

He could see me in the canal before he entered. It is a straight canal that T's off a main canal between lakes and not very long. He was just exploring new waters preparing for an upcoming tournament and it was all about him and what he wanted. I did not matter. What I was doing did not matter to him. Simple as that. He did not have to explore that area while I was in there. He chose to tear the place up on purpose in my opinion. He absolutely ruined any chance of me continuing to fish in there for the day.

 

By the time he reached me it was already too late. He was plowing up the shallow canal. Fishing was ruined. He chose to finish the job and do it while exploring a chain of lakes I doubt he was familiar with. He may have gotten himself lost. I don't know.

 

Regardless of why he did it, what he did for me was cause for me to stop fishing there and pull up trolling motor and have to go find a fishing place elsewhere to finish out the day. Just an unfortunate situation. It happens. I did not say a word to him because its not my place to do so. I just had to adjust but things like that cause anger and conflicts on the water. Like others I try and avoid the conflicts and try to not walk all over others and just wish they would show the same courtesy.

 

In order for him to pass me, he never asked me anything. Never said a word. I had to move to the side to allow him to pass and his boat passed within a few feet of mine because it is a narrow canal with tree limbs over the water on one side and houses on the other with docks about 10 out or less into the water. So not much room to pass in there. But he chose to do so anyways. Just how it goes sometimes.

Thanks @FloridaFishinFool. This will be something that I will have to learn. I often offend others without realizing I've done anything wrong.

Lol! Same here!

7 minutes ago, gim said:

@JHoss I’m not against tournament fishing. My parents are avid tournament walleye anglers, have been for years. I don’t care for what it has become in terms of a technology arms race all the way down to the lowest level though.

 

I wish you luck and success in competition.

 

The water is public and should stay that way all the time. That’s all I’m saying. No exceptions.

Apologies if I mistook you're sentiment on tournament fishing. I get your point on the arms race, it's even made it down to my local Jon Boat trail. Guys in 16 ft tin rigs with $40k in graphs and ducers fishing for $200. 

 

8 minutes ago, FloridaFishinFool said:

He did not have to explore that area while I was in there. He chose to tear the place up on purpose in my opinion. 

Just playing devil's advocate. I'm imaging the Harris Chain or something like that. What if he only had 3 days of practice and that was the 2 hours he'd dedicated to graphing that stretch? Should he sacrifice checking on a different stretch to come back and do that stretch? Just give up on what could've been the winning spot and not check it at all? Would it have been ok if he'd come down the canal on his trolling motor and didn't stir it up? Is there a way he could've graphed that canal with you in it that wouldn't have hurt your fishing? I've never fished a truly high-stakes derby so I can't 100% say what I would do. I like to think I would be as courteous as possible and give you a wide berth if possible. If not possible, I'm having a conversation to see if you mind if I sneak around or when you'll be done so I can decide if I'm coming back. 

 

I think the biggest takeaway from this thread is to just talk to anyone who might have issue with what you're doing. Then decide if you want to respect what they ask or not based on how they respond and past history with them, 

It would have been much better if he had gone to trolling motor to go up in there for both of us.

 

I am no motor expert but when your water intake is down at the bottom near propeller and you are dragging sandy bottom and prop is really plowing things up does sucking sand into the water intake cause any harm to his expensive motor?

 

It seems it would have been more in his favor to be more concerned about water depth and be more cautious about the expense of damaging his motor. The canal between lakes is deep enough for him to pass without bottoming out, but not in that canal. Maybe there should be a dead end sign at the entrance of it might help.

 

I would have preferred if he had gone to trolling motor and been more courteous to me and maybe more on the ball about damaging his own motor with all that sand and plant debris he mowed up. He never said a word to me. Just motored in and turned around and motored back out.

 

The location of this canal is in the Winter Park chain of lakes east of Harris chain. The canal is located on the north end of a small lake called Lake Nina. Tournaments are there almost weekly ran out of Fort Maitland boat ramp.

 

He should have had a depth warning turned on. It would have been beeping the second he turned into that canal.