Bass Tournaments

[irvingdog]

So then, you're cool with wave runners at the crack of dawn , or perhaps Alcohol fueled race boats blasting around the lake at 6 a.m? Have you heard these things? Or is this acceptable only when they have a rod in hand?

It's legal to play music out of your boat. Would you complain if I anchor near your place and blast my Brother Ali at sunrise?

I get "live and let live", but, really, that isn't a blanket only we get to wrap ourselves in when we're the one who is cold.

I'm also sensing a tone of; "Hey, you're lucky to even own the property, quitcherbichen and feel lucky you've got it". I understand I don't own the lake. You don't own the street. If the city you lived in allowed a Saturday morning drag race on your street at 6 in the morning, you'd be pretty surly....

[Ray Esboldt]

Or, you would be looking to participate.

Vroom, vroom.

[kg2]

I can hear cars and trucks passing all hours of the night. Is it "shame on them" or is it "why did I buy so close to the 4-lane"?

[ricqik]

Originally Posted By: ricqik

Yeah, it reads what it reads. "Any fish that is caught and will not be utilized must be immediately returned alive back into the water" A tournament bass angler is utilizing the fish for tourny purposes while staying under the posession limit. We can twist and spin it however we want, bottom line it's still legal.

Wait a minute. If I twist it's a bad thing, but if you twist it's grand? What the ... ? The bottom line is the vast majority of those fish are dead -- not right now, but soon -- from the shock of riding around in your livewell. Perhaps that's legal (that has yet to be established), but it certainly isn't ethical; it certainly isn't "right." It makes a clear statement about the incredible value you see in money, and how little you value fish. Why anyone would then call the practice "fishing" is beyond me.

Well, next time if you ever see anyone culling bass out of their livewell, be sure to call tip on them. Your page 11 as you quoted "Any fish that is caught and will not be utilized must be immediately returned alive back into the water".

[irvingdog]

I can hear cars and trucks passing all hours of the night. Is it "shame on them" or is it "why did I buy so close to the 4-lane"?

Anlagous to this discussion how? The 4 laner has the expectation of noise.

[ocf1]

And tournaments are not to be expected? I would count on boats being on the lake for tournaments...

[CaptZ21]

Irv, go back and read your post. You had one sentence about bass boats running around with big motors at 6am. The rest of your post was about some guy culling off the back of your dock and tournaments. Noise was the secondary issue, the guy stealing YOUR fish was or seemed to be the primary concern. I have no idea how many boats, nor how many big engines, nor how early the event really started to qualify your complaint. I have lake property so it isnt like I envy you your dock, although I would like you to mark it on a map for me. My comment simply was if I choose to live on a lake, I tolerate some things that are legal, albiet disconcerting but legal. You take a day or two of early morning noise in exchange for 365 days of living life large. I think the 4 laner is appropriate for a comparison. Lakes, boats, motors, vs highways, trucks, motors,, basic logic? Want quiet go to the boundary waters.

[croixflats]

I think irvingdog and any other lake shore owner has a right righ to simple polite consideration from boaters that visit the lake. You come then you leave then the next wave of people come in. Be considerate to those that live on the lake. Wouldnt one complain if you lived on a quit street then you get these thumping radios driving by your house at 10 pm or you get a guy playing music at volume that can hear it but it is not load but its irratating. Its not your street, can you complain Its not your house with the load music can you complain. To me they are all the same, give your neighbor respect and he will give it back.

[Down Deep]

I-dog

Read your post- You stated "this weekend" guys had a tournament on your lake. You didn't say every day I've got these bass tournament guys racing their engines trashing my dock and killing all the fish in the lake. It was one time these guys did this and along with that came some of your feelings and opinions about tournament fishing in general. I wouldn't tolerate anyone being a continuing nuisance, but sometimes a man just has to let people have their fun.

[Boedigheimer]

Irvingdog,

as an avid fisherman, lakeshore owner, and tournament angler I can honestly say that a vast majority of tournament anglers are respectful, appreciative, and very mindful of the well being of there catch. Not because there worried about weigh-ins but rather a sense of responsibility. All serious fisherman owe tournament anglers a small amount of gratitude for being the backbone of product development. Whether you like it or not its the tournaments that drive manufacturers to continually improve things like motors, boats, rods, reels, lures, electronics, etc. Most casual fisherman won't shell out the clams needed to drive a billion dollar industry.

And to comment on son/daughter wanting to go swimming, by all means do a cannonball of the dock, the guy fishing knows how the game is played, he should have a plan B in mind anyway.

[fishinJohn]

The cameras, lights, big name sponsors, trophys, running across the stage with a fish wearing what could be confused with a nascar race suit, giving a shout out to your favorite rubber worm. That's what comes to my mind when I think of a tournament, though it is probably not accurate. It's pretty tough to get away from people and all the wacky things they do especially if you live next to a people magnet. Noise is something we all live with.

[marineman]

I am also one of the lucky (smart) ones who own a lakehome on a great bass fishing lake in the northern suburbs. Over the years, I have gotten used to the tournaments but I don't particularly like them. But, what are you going to do? I don't send my dog off the end of the dock to retrieve. I don't yell at people fishing my dock. I usually ask how they're doing and then wish them good luck. If I'm fishing, what really bugs me is the tournament guy who comes right up to my boat - last weekend Mr. BassBoat came within three feet of me - and then acts like he's my buddy. I know he's marking a waypoint or he's looking at how I'm rigged. If you're such a hotshot fisherman, why are you so close to my boat? I guess owning a bassboat doesn't make you a bass fisherman! The guy last weekend told me he had caught two 14" bass. I told him most of the fish in this lake are a lot bigger. Then, I went in and sat on my deck and had a cold beer. Ah ... the lake life.

[rangerforme]

Who is doing the most harm, I guy that throws a few fish in a livewell for a few hours and lets them go or a guy that rips all the weeds out the water and fills it in with sand(or at least rips weeds out of the water seen the sand thing is pretty much illegal now adays)?

Yes I fish tournaments, but that is besides the point, drives me crazy when lakeshore owners complain we make fishing worse with tournaments. Destroying the habitat is way worse.

[Wish-I-Were-Fishn]

IMO, some tournaments just make mockery out of a valuable resource. Fishing should not be a game, or contest. Hogging the boat launch, jerking them out of the water, flying across the lake, weighing them in front of a bunch of hooting "fans" just seems wrong to me.

Again, it's just the way I feel, which is why I don't participate. However, I'm not about to tell somebody else they shouldn't do it. If that is what turns their crank, so be it; as long as it doesn't harm the resource unnecessarily.

[Sandmannd]

I would chalk it up to the price you have to pay for living on public water. If your lake is that small, I don't think you have to worry about the fishing off your dock. I don't know why they have to fly accross a lake that small, but it's their right to do so.