Ok I'm bored and thought I would ask this. Ok say your fishing a small inland lake TX, and you know the spot that had won back to back years, by the same angler. You draw before him, do you fish that spot? For the record, I didn't and wouldn't. Just wondering what everyone else thinks. I guess the flip side is we all paid the same money and no one owns the water, just wondering is all.
I wouldn't. I would rather take my time and find my own spots and patterns. That's kind of the reason I quit fishing the ABA's as much. When I fished a few years ago a tournament hear and there. The non boaters would steal the spots. We were on Ponemah a tough day and I was one of three to have a limit and ended up in third. The next year I get to the spot only to find guess who. My NON BOATER from the year before camped out on that spot all day long. Geez I wonder how he found that spot. I would like to get back into fishing some of the ABA's but it seems like you just put in so much work as a boater to just give it all away to guys who don't want to put in the effort for themselves. Then on top of that they want to run the boat for half of the day. They should be lucky to get to fish the tournament without a boat.
I dont think this question applies to smaller inland lakes. These local lakes are just too small to claim spots like the California gold rush. It's your spot if you get there first. Especially since there are only so many pieces of fish holding, no rephrase, "bass" holding pieces of structure and areas of cover on most of these lakes.
Let's take Maize and PB for example. They both fish Kent as often as I kiss my wife goodbye on the way to work. They both know the lake inside and out. They both have fished nearly every spot on the lake and know what produces. I'd wager in all of the Wixom, Novi Oakland areas they cannot be the only two people that know Kent lake that well. If I were either one of them or any number of the other people who know the lake like the back of their hand I would flip you off if you rolled up on me and said umm... "that spot is mine", and then I'd go back to fishing.
Let's not fool ourselves, these inland lakes are not big enough to go staking claims.
Big lakes, this question applies. There are community holes and then there are holes you took your co-angler to and expect him to keep his mouth shut. You could hit 200 holes (good pieces of structure/cover holding good bass) on the big lakes and never run into someone. I would expect that if a co-angler let someone in on a spot he would not have known about if I hadnt taken him there, then that pro/boater would have the decency to leave it alone and as a pretty ethical person, I would do no less if I were in that position.
All that being said and you know what I would do in the situation here's my feeling on the subject as a whole:
What are you going to do if someone rolls up on "your spot" before you do and fishes it? NOTHING. What can you do legally and what is your recourse? NOTHING! Why? Because you do not own the water and it would be vain and foolish to think you do. What is more unethical, trying to claim something that does not belong to you or fishing an area of water someone other than you found first? If I happen to find a spot on my own because it looked promising or I had prefished it and you come up on me in the spot on tourney day and tell me it was yours a year ago??? Well... you wouldnt be happy with me. And if you pressed the issue I'd continue fishing the spot while calling the TD on the cell and have him politely tell you to vacate the 50/100 yards surrounding my boat as per tourney rules.
As for the fishing format of the previously mentioned trail.. dont let me go into that again, please!! It is very conducive to these types of situations.
B
MaizeNBlu
You put out a real good question that I have been on both sides of several times, heres my perspective.
I personely evaluate the importance of the tournament that Im fishing and the person I may be blocking, I have had peaple draw better than me and take a spot that I realy wanted and it peees me off "BUT" coming around that corner Im praying nobodys there becouse I expect it after all it is competition!
If its a buddy and he showed me the spot or I spotted him last tx on that spot and he told me directley that he was hoping to make it to that spot then its obvious that I need to go somewhere else!
heres another thing I have seen alot, the guy that won or placed in the last TX on a spot draws bad and he goes with plan B so he doesnt waste time fuel and plan B, you leave that spot alone and either nobody or someone you dont care about gets to fish it and you both lose!
The bottom line= ITS THE LUCK OF THE DRAW and a race to the spots thats why so many of us run 200hp plus engines.
If your taking that tournament serious and hoping to cash a check YOU MUST think about fish not other anglers, you can and should still be courtious but if you think on a level of what about the other guy you mind as well show up turn your wallet upside down and go to another lake that may have better fishing that day.
I absolutley believe in practise days and locating my own spots but lets be honest here we cant keep away from spots that we know another guy fishes becouse eventualy you will run out of spots, we all fish mostley the same spots! if I pick my best 10 spots on each lake at least 9 of them are known by someone else and I found them all in my own time during practise.
I can tell you I fished unusual spots at st clair once this year becouse my co angler showed up with a GPS, thats frustrating.
If you fish the spot because you saw someone win a tournament on it, that is wrong!! If you fish against him on his own spot, that's even worse! I both anglers legitimatly found the spot then the other angler or anglers usually give the winner space out of respect and expect someday the same courtesy will be offered to you. I hate spot jumpers, I've seen them get in the way of some good anglers. I always think it's funny to see the perch and walleye guys on top of each other and us bass guys are ready to throw down at 100 yards.
-Matt
Find your own fish and fish them.
Don't worry about other anglers.
If you end up sharing an area then share it.
Be kind and courteous. Enjoy the sport.
Life is too short to fight over fishing spots.
Give each other enough room to fish and while your at it,
have a conversation about how luck y we are to be able to
participate in this sport. None of us are doing this for a living.
Even if I was I would not approach it any differently.
Stay off my spots, sporto!
Just kidding.
Find your own fish. It is so much more rewarding when you do have a good finish, or even a win.
Plus, fishing other peoples spots that you know are only those other persons spots, just like the one i know you are refering to, whether in a tournament or not, will only lead to a poor reputation for you. remember that this is a fairly small community of guys and gals, and just about everyone knows each other in some way or another. Nothing worse than making the black list in the fishing world.
Bottom line. Find them yourself. Then there are no questions involved.
My opinion anyway.
McCarter himself :-\'
Referring to the origanal post, the best way to handle it is to go and ask that angler if they plan on going there first. If they are not going there first thing than by all means have at it. Of course if they have won on that particular hump in the middle of the lake, you know they are going to go there first. When they leave I would say it is fair game. The same thing happened to me in the ABA on Kent that I won this fall. I had a plan in place to fish one particular breakline all day from one point to the opposite point on the other side of the lake. I drew boat number 3 and boat 1 went to one point and threw his anchor and boat 2 went to the other point. Neither of these 2 guys knew my plan and I was in no way upset about this I just knew it was time for the back up plan. I cordially gave boat one lots of room, fished way around him and had some friendly banter the whole time and we both enjoyed it. Than I just went fishing and found the tournament winning fish.
In my mind it is wrong to fish a spot a know somebody else found and the only reason I know about that area is from watching them beat me on it. I cannot enjoy myself knowing that I am spot stealing. If I don't think I am on the fish to place in the event I don't pay my money and that way I know in my heart I am not being an unethical melon. That has never been my style and it never will be. I want to find my own fish and place in an event by finding my own fish.
A good example is the bass club I belong to. I have been in the same club with the same anglers for 20 years and we all know who is going to fish where just because we fish the same lakes just about every year. We know who has good areas, weedlines, breaks, docks etc and we just leave them alone first thing in the morning and everybody goes to there area and starts hoping around from there. A few of us will ask people if they plan on starting in an area we want to fish and if they have a bad draw we just let them go there and start with plan B.
McCarter makes a good point. We are a small community and everybody knows who everybody is and you don't want the reputation of a spot stealer or you soon will find you have no help when you need it. You never know when you will need jumper cables in a tournament.
On inland lakes that certain people fish alot together this can be a tough thing when you are both out fishing a tournament against each other because you both practise alot together on these lakes and you both found the same fish. In this case the guys need to be gentlemen about starting spots and figuring out who will be going where after blast off. During the course of the tx things change and in my opinion it is fair game after about 2 hours in the event. Of course if somebody is sitting were you want to be you dont pull right up on them or cut in front of them on the bank, but I think it is OK to follow behind them at that point.
My point is you have to be a sportsman about these kinds of things and think about how you would feel if you have won that event 2 years in a row off of a hump and you had draw number 4 and watch somebody with a better draw than you, who has never fished that spot until they saw you win the event in that spot beat you to it. You would be plenty PO-ed and rightfully so.
I never care if someone beats me to a spot that I didn't know or they didn't know I was going there. That one case just ticked me off because he was my non boater from the year before and I helped him to try and catch fish. Then the next year he sits on that spot from the morning all day.
Find your own spots. NEVER give up a buddies or partners spot for any reason.
Everyone's been burnt before, it's not pleasant but it does happen. Be a man about it and be civil, do otherwise and surely you will be judged accordingly. I like to still be able to look a man in the eye back at the ramp.
this debate was raged on the LSCN site. 3391 views, 53 posts. most of it was about St-Clair spots. it got pretty ugly.
http://www.lakestclair.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=19352&hl=spot+stealers
i do my pre-fishing and fish what i find.. never had a bad encounter on the water. when there are 15 boats on a 300 it gets crowded. i really like Cass since at 1000 acres there is lots of room.
Wow some guys are getting really worked up about that. I am not going to that extreme. It's just that when it happened to me I was more new to tournament fishing and the draw format left a bad taste in my mouth. So as of now I would rather fish team tournaments with people I respect or fish the team tournaments alone. I just wish we had another circuit almost like top bass that fished some of the other lakes around where you got to use your own boat and fish alone.
Quote from: dhuff on December 05, 2006, 10:11:42 PM
Wow some guys are getting really worked up about that. I am not going to that extreme.
Sometimes it is so blatant that people cant help but get worked up about it. And in a lot of cases, its the same guys who, week after week, are being followed around and finding the same people on there spots come tournament day. It is especially bad on LSC and Erie.
The ABA is horrible for this as well. Many of the co anglers in the ABA disrespect there previous boaters spots by taking others there. I have had very close friends of mine in the ABA take boaters to my spots the day after i asked them not to. But then you pull up to that spot and there they sit. What they dont understand is, once you have given one boater that spot, it now becomes that boaters spot. Then, once that boater takes a co angler there, now that co angler knows about it and will in turn take his next boater there, and the cycle continues for ever and ever until there is no one left to show.
I have even heard a boater get mad at another co angler for taking another boater to a spot that boater 1 got from one of my old co anglers who i had taken there to begin with. If that makes any sense. Too many boater/co angler transitions there. even i am confused.
I delt with this my first year of tournament fishing in 2003. I fished team tournaments with a buddy and he was always wanting to follow other people around. Even then i knew it was wrong and 'unethical' and in turn, i made a decision not to fish team events with him anymore.
I have said this before, at the end of the day, reputation is all you have. That and a 12 pk of Miller Lite. Do whats right. None of us are professional bass fisherman. But occasionally, some more than others, we stumble onto something hot. Nothing worse than having to share your honey hole with a bunch of clowns because they cant find there own.
We all make mistakes. We all use bad judgement from time to time. Just think about the consequences of your actions before hand. That alone should help us to make the right decisions.
McCarter himself :-\'
remember in ABA there are no " Co-Anglers ". you are fishing " against " the guy who is sharing your boat. that is one thing i do not like about ABA. since you have to honor them, to fish there water, you may not know he got the info from fishing with another boater. ABA should adopt the process FLW uses where the non-boaters fish for there own pot.
I rarely fish a lake bigger than a couple thousand acres. With that said, fishing other people's spots is an everyday occurrence. However, I feel that if I witness someone whack'em or win a tourney from a spot and I go fish it knowing that same person is in a tournament against me; bad taste. However, thats part of having a boat draw. If its against the rules to fish a spot someone else enjoys...
Nevertheless, I've witnessed some good anglers catch a good limit and I've visited that spot later; even at other tournaments. However, I don't do it if they're in the same tournament. Also, checking out their spot gives me some knowledge about what I should be looking for, not necessarily just to fish that same 50'.
I will never fish another's spot if it could/would cause any problem for that day. However, I've found myself on spots that others' have claimed that I also found in practice. What do I say to a person that claims, "that's my spot!" but I also found it in practice and never knew they fished it? (Hey, great minds think alike! - that normally doesn't cool someone down). Its impossible to always avoid spots that others have won tourneys on; sometimes you just don't know.
I'll say this too, if you rely on a single spot or 2 on any body of water forever in time, you're going to get burned eventually.
Bottom line, if it can help me and won't upset anyone I'll do it. But if its going to cause any problems I'll avoid it at all costs.
Duke
Oh goody I just knew this was going to be a great contraversial thread, Ive been watching this same debate since I joined the sandiego bass masters in the 70,s and I know I will be watching it for another 30 years..hahahaha
Guys heres the bottom line this debate will never end, we need to keep in mind that we are going to lose spots, no amount of protest will stop it becouse it is competition and public water! at the end of the day no matter whats said or felt on the water we need to shake hands and make up or we will all be enamies within 10 years or so, I have seen it before!
the co angler thing is a pain and the thing you need to keep in mind is all of them are there to learn techniques and spots and most dont mean any harm but they WILL poach you!
when you ask a co angler to stay away from your secret spot you might get 1 in 10 that will respect it, that doesnt make him the enamey, he showed up and paid money to learn!
All of us boaters are always trying to learn and catch fish also, theres not a single one of us that hasnt stopped on a spot that we knew somebody else whacked em there!
Just try to be respectfull and dont hold grudges!!!!!!!!
I will say it again its competition and the luck of the draw does apply to bass fishing, if ya cant handle it dont fish tournaments becouse you dont belong in competitions.
If everybody had designated spots for themselves then most of us would be buying 50 hp engines, get real guys we all buy fast boats becouse we know what to expect.
I spend a lot of time on the water. So I guess I would have to say that it would depend on how sportsmanlike one would want to be. I would hate to get the reputation of stealing spots. For example, I know Belleville like McCarter knows Kent. I would be happy to show McCarter the secrets of Belleville if he would show me in return the secrets of Kent. I am not a "kiss and tell" kind of guy so whatever he showed me would stay with me.
I know this guy that I have showed spots to on certain lakes including LSC and Erie. I come to find out he is telling other people about these spots. Needless to say, I never tell that dirty *&^%*&^% anything anymore. This guy has never found to my knowledge any spots of his own. He is always fishing everyone elses. There are some places that I don't mind sharing my knowledge, however, when I tell someone that this should be kept to himself or herself, I would expect that individual to have some respect for me and do so. I fish over 100 days a year and I have done that consistantly for the last 8 years. So like I said, I spend a lot of time out there. I think in another blog on this forum, I had said that I had been fishing LSC since I was 8 years old. I am 47 now and know spots out there that I never ever see people on. I see a lot of boats fly by me and never stop. They are probably thinking that "that guy is nuts...there can't be any fish there. There is no one else around." I tell you what.....you just keep on thinking that because until you check it out, you will never know.
But this is a very controversial subject and I know there are a lot of very strong feelings about it.
BD ;D
Just a thougt since the co-anglers have become part of this subject. Has it ever been explored to have some of the co anglers entry contributed to the boaters side. One of the posts mentions that the co's pay to learn, but the boaters teaching recieve nothing besides what the co's give extra which is not guaranteed. I would think that if a portion of the co's payback was contibuted to the boater side, more boats would be willing to participate in draw tournamnets. How you the co-anglers feel about this? I know it won't happen just an idea. I figured out that if I owned and operated my boat just to fish the 5 BFL tournaments it would run me $864 per tournament, and I only have an 18' boat.
-Matt
Maize were are you. You started this whole mess and havent chimed in at all. I was just wondering if your question was answered?
Hes sittin back laughing knowing he stirred the pot so hes got good winter reads ;D
i bet he is down on erie by Ennis Reef markin the spot he found i took Kev to. that was a fun ride.
Wow, I never ment to start up anything contriversal, really. I was just curious what everyone's else thought about it. Like I said, I passed up the spot that the tx was won on again this year. I did see the winner fish in that area last year, didn't know exactely where he was, and I have started fishing over there some, learning what was down there. I figured he would be back there, and I knew Kev was going to be close to the area, so I figured it was best to stay away. Since PB and I fish Kent so much, I always ask him before the tx, where he is going to start, so I stay away from him, plus I would say that 90% of what I have learned on Kent is from what PB either showed me, or we figured out together. It is my opinion, unless the area is a community hole say....the Firecracker, that a spot should be left to the "owner" if you know that person is going to fish it.
I can give an example of what happened to me on Cass. 2 years ago, a boater tailed me to a spot I like to fish. The boater had never been on the water before, and knew I had fished it before, in fact he was joking around at the dock, saying he was going to follow me, was I happy no, but what can you do. He fished about 50 yds from me, just around a point. Well he won the tx and won it again the following year fishing that spot. Is it mine? Is it his? Can't say I know for sure, but I won't fish that exacect spot against him, out of common respect.
And Dartag, I promise you this on all that is holy!!!!!! I will never go to where ever you draged Kev and I to on Erie again!!! Honestly, don't think I could my back could take the trip.....unless it was a sheepshead tx. ::) then we might need to talk. ;)
Well I would like to make a comment about the the non boater. To start I was a non boater so I can speak on this First off most non boater do respect the fact that they don't have a boat . and are grateful that they get the chance to still fish. and on the whole spot thing. Im a non boater that has a ton of spots on a bunch of lakes and never got one from a tournament angler. and to reply to the whole run the boat thing you have the right to tell a co angler that it's your boat you make the payment But in that case you have to remember that they split the gas bill so I guess you could say they rent your time in one way or another. Im not trying to say that I agree with co anglers steeling spots and I would not do that. But i don't agree with all the other statements made about co anglers. This has been a good topic yes there are flaws In the aba non boater program. But I don't feel that you can say all co anglers are the same b/c thats just not true It is hard to be a co angler as a co angler you never no when your crossing the line at least thats how I feel about it . and another thing on the spot steeling you have some anglers that claim every good piece of water to be there spot I been in boats with guys that every time they pass another boat they claim thats one of there hot spots. well I guess thats enough about that . Sorry if I offend anyone that is not my intent just giving a non boater point . good luck to all in there fishing ventures
I dont think you offended anyone with that post. It was very well said. I dont think anyone was slamming all co anglers. As boaters tho, we have all had 'experiences' with co anglers ( or non boaters if you want to be p.c. about it thank you very much dartag :-* ) some bad, most great. I have made some very good friends through the ABA most of which started out as one of my non boaters.
Perfect example would be MaizenBlue. He was just a runny nose, pint sized, run of the mill, milk face the day he stepped onto my boat. In his hand a 5'6" Ultra lite rod rigged with a #2 mepps spinner. He had absolutly no idea what he was doing. He caught fish all day, but not one of them a keeper. Despite my multiple suggestions for him to switch to a bigger set up and a bigger lure, he just kept cranking in the 8" bass, cursing every one of them as he tossed them back into the water.
I laughed, he cried, but by the end of the day he was asking me question after question. I never mind helping so i offered him some advice, which he took. he can now catch fish on my spots almost half as good as me :D
I have gotten off subject. But it was fun. Even if it was at Maizes expense ( which, i wont lie to you, makes it even more fun ). My point is, none of us mind fishing with a non boater. If we did, we surely wouldnt fish such trails as the ABA. But some, not all, of them need to realize the importance of keeping in good graces with there past boaters. Some dont know any better, but some do. And some do things regardless. I know some non boaters who keep a GPS hidden away in there tackle bags. Then they act like they are getting a new lures, and they mark the boaters spot. It sounds funny, but whatever. I have had people admit that they do this, and laugh about it.
I have had very few problems with non boaters. A few small things like casting over my line, or casting to a fish that just blew up on my lure but i missed, then he catches it and wins big bass money. that was a pretty bad one. ashing in my boat, on purpose, even tho my boat sucks and looks like a decroded piece of crap. Taking other boaters to my spots. switching my fish with there fish while they are in the livewell ( just kidding about this one, inside joke between me and some of the guys ). Point is, i have had bad experiences but i dont let it sway my opinion on every co angler. Ooh, i just remembered the best one. The guy who gave me $2.00 after a LSC tournament in which he missed the money by less than a half a lb. Ok, so the guy didnt cash a check but openly admitted to me that it was the best day he has ever had fishing ( he was pretty new to it ). But we caught them all day long, culled dozens of fish, burned probably $50 in gas, and he hands me $2.00. I rarely even except money from a co angler unless we have a pretty good day. But this was a pretty big slap in the face. I ended up giving him $1.00 back telling him he over payed me.
I have been a co angler. I always asked my boaters what they expected of me for the day. I was always trying to learn so i could be the best co angler that i could be. But in my expereinces in the back of the boat, i also understand that it can be intimidating back there. Especially when you are new to it. I always take that into consideration when fishing these types of events. I go out of my way to make the non boater comfortable. I know some people dont do this. I have fished with guys ( as a co angler ) who never said more than 2 words to me all day. Thats makes for a long 8 hours. I can never guarantee that we are going to catch fish, but i can always guarantee that we will have a good time. I have never had a complaint from a non boater as long as i have fished the ABA, and Anthony told me that i have gotten more good things said about me that anyone else who fishes with us. Does that make me better than those other guys??? Absolutly. Just kidding. It just means that i know how you guys feel. I have been there.
I dont want you to feel uncomfortable because you are a co angler. No one is looking down on you guys. Its just a few bad experiences that have some of us a little more cautious. But like i said, its not directed at all co anglers. The things some of us said just meshed with the topic is all.
keep it up. Maybe next year you can draw me. i usually get outfished by my co anglers cuz i am horrible at tournament fishing ( sometimes i do ok ) but either way, we will have a good time. Plus, i always bring enough to eat and drink for both of us. And, i might let you play with my rod. Airrus rod that is :P
McCarter himself :-\'
Quote from: McCarter on December 07, 2006, 04:38:00 PM
Plus, i always bring enough to eat and drink for both of us. And, i might let you play with my rod. Airrus rod that is :P
McCarter himself :-\'
How come you never bring anything when I fish with you. I always end up going home with an empty cooler, a half eaten snickers bar and one pinch of Kodiak in my tin. :D BTW thanks for always leving my the last bite and the last pinch. You are really thoughtfull.
Theres never any room in your cooler for me to bring anything. Thats why i do my best to eat and drink everything. Im try to make some space for next time. By the way, do you still have that half eaten snickers bar? maybe we could work out a deal or something.
McCarter himself :-\'
Quote from: McCarter on December 07, 2006, 04:38:00 PM
switching my fish with there fish while they are in the livewell ( just kidding about this one, inside joke between me and some of the guys ).
:o :D ;)
It was a #3 mepps, black fury, on 6 lb test, and it was the same rig that caught a 4.3 lb smallie on Cass. Wich I was convinced was going to be big bass, until the weigh in ofcourse, DOH. finished 2nd in big bass for like the 4th time. Also finished in 4th place overall, and ofcourse the top 3 cashed checks, I have only done that about 8 times now! Sure it took 10 mins to get him to the boat, and my boater went back to fishing, before he neted it, but it was a great ride.
I believe that it is neither the co-anglers nor boaters that constitute any of these problems. It is the individual.
I fished the Stren Series this year as a co-angler to learn how to fish different bodies of water. It was like every place we went... I had to learn how to fish all over again.
I went as a co-angler because I did not know how to fish these bodies of water and felt I did not belong in the front of the boat, in fairness to the co-angler and my bank account.
When the Stren Series came to the Detroit River, I had five days of practice with my travel partner. In those five days we fished the following spots. Excuse my spelling:
Stag Island and surrounding areas
On LSC:
Mouth of the South Channel
Mitchells Bay all the way up to Wapole
The yellow bouy in the middle of LSC
Delphi Channel
The mouth of the Detroit river
On Erie
The north shore all the way to Colchester
Greesion shoals ?sp
The helicopter pad
leemington
Grub Reef
Point Peele
Peele Island
The pad out by Peele Island
and a bunch of rock piles way out off the tip of point peele
I have been to only three of these spots on my own.
Now according to what a lot of people are saying on here, this guy has a legitimate right to say that these are his spots, yes they're big, but he's the one who took me to them and showed me how to catch fish on them.
In general, whether it was one guy or 10, we're talking about almost all of Lake Erie, half of LSC and a good chunk of the SCR.
Am I never to fish these spots?
Do I have to have his permission to fish a tournament on these waters?
How far do we go?
I have seen some very good examples of people sharing spots in a tournament; the anglers were courteous and professional. And yes, sometimes we were close enough we could pitch a jig into the other anglers boat. I have counted 14 boats going back and forth and around each other without one negative word being said.
This does not happen locally.
These waters we fish have been here for thousands of years before us, I truly think that the people claiming these spots were not the very first ones to ever fish them.
According to what we're saying here, if we are zooming down a big body of water and we see someone fishing, we should put a waypoint in to tell us that we should find fish somewhere else and never fish that spot.
In reality... the guy that took me there has some "spots within a spot"
I do not have any waypoints for these target areas and it would take me a while to find them or if ever find them. He knows this.
Bottom Line... There are laws in black and white that "should" prevent us from getting "too close" and harassing the other angler.
Ethics... everything is relative, what one angler feels is okay may not be okay to another. This is not black and white, nor will it ever be.
People are going to get mad if they feel it serves their purpose.
Am I saying that it is okay to drive right in on a guy and pull up next to him and start fishing or mark a waypoint and come back later. NOPE! I wouldn't do it. In my opinion that is not ethical, some people out there think it is. It's public water, and they can fish anywhere they want too. It's not against the law, and if he gets a better draw than the other guy and is there first the next morning, what is going to happen? More than likely some words are going to be exchanged on the water and in the parking lot. What does that really accomplish? A very poor image on the Bass fishing community.
Competition in specific fishing areas is now beginning to be part of the "game". I just read an article in the FLW Outdoors magazine where one angler was anticipating other people finding his best spot he was saving for the last day. He made adjustments for it, and in fact made it to the last day of the FLW Championship. He went to his best spot and found someone else in the tournament fishing on it. That angler did not go up there and tell him to get off his spot, he found a secondary spot in the area and actually got beet by the first guy. His response? ?That?s the way it goes?. Talk about ethics!
In my opinion? there are no spots, there is only respect. Respect for yourself and for what you represent.
I encourage all anglers to learn how to get along better, because the boats are only going to get thicker.
To all? if you see me out on the water fishing an area, you can stop by, and between the two of us. We?ll figure out how to get along.
And don?t be calling me no claim jumper!!! I haven?t even turned the key on my boat since then. ;)
joshimoto son ;D
Very well said.
Hey Skip, I hope your thinking I am the 1 in 10 co-angler that won't share any spots you take them to on St. Clair with anyone else! I wouldn't do that. By the way, I want you to know that the jinx you put on my P-Line only lasted that day. I re-spooled with a different filler spool and I did not have any problems the rest of the year! ;D
Just for the record, I do not fish as a co-angler to learn spots, I have my own. I fish as a co-angler now because I had to sell my boat and it is the only way to participate as much as I want to. Do I learn anything new? Yes, I have learned something new every time I have fished as a co-angler, but I have learned new techniques, not spots. About 90% of the places I have fished as a co-angler I had fished before, on my own. The 10% left will be kept to myself, not shared with anyone.
I am looking forward to fishing more ABA tournaments in the next couple of years as a co-angler, not to learn spots but to learn some new techniques and make some new friends.
I am wondering about something though. When I am able to purchase another bass boat in a couple of years and start participating as a boater again, will anyone assume that the spots I am fishing I learned as a co-angler? Will they forget that I owned a bass boat for 12 years before I started fishing as a co-angler? Just wondering. ???
Willie
Hi Willie
Gotta admit Im cracking up as I type this becouse of OUR p line story dude that was sooo darn funny that I told you p line wouldnt handle the shock of setting the hook on plastic worms that morning and then you broke off 4 on the hook set, I jinxed you sooooo bad.hahaha
As far as co anglers go if anything Im standing up for them like I said they come to learn and catch fish and in doing so they also learn spots and as I also stated not one of us boaters havent fished a spot becouse we know someone whacked em there!
Its public water anyone can fish wherever they want just show some respect and for the record Willies not the guy that showed up with a GPS.
Willie its good hearing from you Im sure I will see you at the ABA tourneys, the ABA is great for the non boaters and I wish we could get a few more involved since theres usualy a few boaters fishing alone.
I will be fishing my first draw tx's this summer. I am still trying to figure things out but the co angler running the boat thing is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. Is that really a rule? I would rather cast into a forest of trees than ask a man to let me take control of his boat! Never heard of that rule before and it truly blows my mind. I know I am off topic about "spot stealing" but I had to get that out.
O and thanks Mccarter for a good laugh!
"I ended up giving him $1.00 back telling him he over payed me."
GB
the boater dont have to give up the trolling motor if he doesnt want to but he may be asked for 1/2 day on the non boaters spots if the non boaters got some, most non boaters dont mind fishing the boaters spots if the boater has a good game plan I as a boater have never had a problem and wouldnt give up the trolling motor to anyone for the most part and I think most if not all non boaters understand and dont expect it unless volunteerd.
Thats why I fish with only the best.. Ryan, Chad, Andy and Skip so that I have the best spots LOL
Skip man sounds like your getting a fan club. Were do I sign up I want to know some of them hot spots.
This is a easy one.If you are wrong you know it. If you have a bad feeling about what you did. Don't do it again. You know if you found the spot on your own nobody should have to tell you if your in the right or not.
If you ever burn some one on a spot you can expect it to bit ya in the @$$ later it's called CARMA!!!!!!
one times i fine wheer i was chuckin me spinners bait long a wood bank an FORREST cumes runnin rite up to wheer i was chuckin ??? ??? ???
all of a suddin i catch a nice one an FORREST starts rite in fishin he sinko next to me ??? ??? ???
thats was me spots for ever >:( >:( >:( RITE
:-* :-* SKEETOR AN RANGERS BOAT RULE :-* :-* :-*
Quote from: BASS FISHERMAN on February 03, 2007, 12:02:25 PM
one times i fine wheer i was chuckin me spinners bait long a wood bank an FORREST cumes runnin rite up to wheer i was chuckin ??? ??? ???
all of a suddin i catch a nice one an FORREST starts rite in fishin he sinko next to me ??? ??? ???
thats was me spots for ever >:( >:( >:( RITE
:-* :-* SKEETOR AN RANGERS BOAT RULE :-* :-* :-*
bass fisherman.....ever here the term "beer goggle's"???? i think in fishing there's a thing called fisherman goggles..lol..lol.....u know were they act like they don't see u......lol..lol......and the more the money........the thicker the goggle's......heck..i don't even think forrest can see ;D ;D reel thick??????? know what i mean..lol.... ;D ;D
muss be ??? ??? ???
:-* :-* SKEETOR AN RANGERS BOAT RULE :-* :-*
Why do I always end up in the ethical arguments, because truth be told , loud and profane or quiet and discussed, it is still an argument. I watch what other fisherman do all the time, and anyone that says differently is a liar. You read about KVD's spinnerbait techniques and you go out and try them. That my friend is stealing anothers idea. But it's all fair. Are you not going to throw a spinnerbait now because you are fishing against KVD? Moot point there, right.
What do you do when you are taking off and find yourself side by side with one of the better teams in your tournament? It's totally coincidental, but it happens. Then. the very next toournament, it happens again? Now you get looks, but it was not as if you followed them around, you just found a spot, happened to be the same one they were on. Happened to me last year, so I stayed far enough away to be considerate, fished an opposite side of the bank, and just happened to do better.
$h!^ happens, and if you spend your whole day trying not to take people's spots, you will not catch many fish. If you spend all day trying to fish people's spots, you will not catch any friends. But if you spend all day trying to catch fish, you may get a mixture of both. Be honest with yourself and others and I think you should be fine.
well said 1jav
1Jav, I totally agree with you. Even though this topic is kind of old, your comments are very refreshing. Don't get me wrong, I love bass fishermen, but truth be told, we're a pretty paranoid bunch. We're so worried about our spots. I guess some of it is justified, after all we worked hard to develop our spots, but I'd be a complete hypocrite if I said "I saw the tournament leaders fishing a spot last week and cleaning up... and I'll never go there because it's their spot." Cha - as if. Of course I'll go fish there eventually. In a tourney with them, I'd give them the spot out of courtesy, but you bet I'll fish it another day and try to figure out what they know about fishing location. It's just part of the deal. So I agree with you that we should just chill out a little about the whole thing.
Another thing that can't be helped is coincidentally fishing someone else's area. There's a reason it's being fished by someone else... they looked at a map, did some reasoning, and figured that's where the fish should be. I don't think it's unreasonable to think that others may come to the same conclusions and fish nearby. But the other guy always seems to assume his spots are being stolen. Again...kind of paranoid. Sure, it does happen, but I don't think it happens as much as some guys think it does. For example, in a Tuesday night NBAA on St. Clair last year my partner and I ran way to the St. Clair river and fished in the Fawn Island area. We did this because we located fish in practice and from history we knew that time of year the fish should be there. Guess what we found when we got there? A half dozen other competitors all fishing the same area. They knew the history too and made the same discoveries during practice. We didn't get upset, that's just the way it goes. In fact, we ended up just sharing the area and all did pretty well that night. But I don't think anyone "stole my spots". And I know I didn't steal theirs. Although I can bet you some people think we did.
In a similar vein, I always tell my friends "don't show me a spot and then think you can forbid me to ever fish it". I'd rather they never show me a spot at all then. I can only imagine the entire lake being off limits to me eventually when friends show me areas, then act like I don't have the right to ever fish them. Come on... get real. It's open water and belongs to everyone, we can't stake a claim on a spot forever. Maybe for a tournament we can expect others to be considerate, but I think it ends there.
I really liked your last remark and I completely agree: "...if you spend your whole day trying not to take people's spots, you will not catch many fish. If you spend all day trying to fish people's spots, you will not catch any friends. But if you spend all day trying to catch fish, you may get a mixture of both." Very well said. Sorry to get on a soapbox...I'll get off of it now.
I agree well said. It should not matter what spot you fish If your good your goning to catch fish no matter what. If you know the fish your fishing your going to find the spots to fish them one way or another. Not saying spot Jacking is cool but when it's all said and done I guess I would have to say I tend to think im good enough to let you fish my spot beat me if you can. Im not going to cry over stuff I cant change just roll with the puches and move right along.No one really has there own spots on any lake we just think we do because just as soon as I find the gold mind so mite the guy up the block with all the new hi tech stuff out there it make that little hump or rock your fishing that much easier to find I could be trolling right along and see it on the graph and now it's my spot even if you have been fishing it forever But you would still say I stold it. So like I said no one really has there own spot we just think we do. For the record I would never run off at the mouth about a spot another angler showed me nor would I claim it as my spot but if you wanna blame spot jacking on one source then the graph is your own worst enemy. Just my thought
Ya know - I'm a new fella non boater, but I would apply some common sense. If I drew in front of the fella, AND he was the one who showed me that money winning spot, Id walk right to that fella make a mention if it was OK if I went to it.
He may have other plans and may get to it in the afternoon. Maybe he says he'd like to get there first but because I was courtious, he lets me join him at 100 yds. Maybe he tells me he's only going there for an hour and I can have it afterwards. You just dont know until your a gentleman. For these Michigan tournies, I'm banking on my straight forwardness, my courtious character and easy going nature be my calling card and MO.
I hope that years from now it all returns.
Leave it to Mike (mojo) to bring a little common sense to the discussion. ;D