I am fairly new to the tourney thing and do not know how it all works yet. I would like to ask a question to clarify something. I would hate to say something and have ito out of line or incorrect.

How far should you stay from other anglers during a tournament?

I would say that if a team is fishing a small flat, shore line, reed bed, point, or other obvious structure it is rude and not right to cut in.

The reason I ask is that it happend twice to me this weekend. I kept getting a boat drifting by (as close as 20 yards). They claim that the wind was pushing them and they could not fight it. I will admit that the wind was very strong. After they passed they  would fire up the big motor and head up wind to drift by again. I am not stupid and knew what was going on. I held my ground and kept my boat in one place.

The other time it happend was in strong currnet. I was holding in strong current casting into a wirl pool. A boat came in from gehind me and went in front of me. Then let the current push them down into me. I had to move so they would not hit me. We had to stop fishing and wiat for them to drift out of our target area. They came within feet of us. My wife is a little calmer then I was and she tried to explain that they may not have known that the current was so strong and were caught by suprise. I say BS becasue they continued to fish while they drifted threw our hole. If it truely were a accident they should have stopped fishing till they were clear.

I would like to know how you guys hadle this type of thing. I am not shy and can get very worked up when it comes to people taking advantage of others. This is a very friendly club and I don't think that others intentially do this. I would just like to know what you all think.

There were several people that stayed 200 yards out and never attemted to get near us. Just like we never attempted to get near them. I think that is a respect thing.

Mike

Let me guess - was this the same guy in the grey boat (non-WBC member) on Sunday?  The one with the back-seater wearing a red raincoat?

He did the same thing to Keri and I.  I told him to back off, and he basically told me to kiss his ass.  I was happy to see him get stuck in the rocks, and catch only a few fish as Keri and I nailed fish after fish right in front of him.  

He finally headed off in your direction, Mike, so I think it was the same jerk.

Mike, you sound like your were totally in the right.  Since I wasn't there I don't if the tournament rules were read at the driver's meeting but I know that Richard is pretty efficient at that sort of thing.  The rules state the minimum distance that other tournament anglers can get from you.  I have had that sort of thing happen to me before in a tournement and its pretty frustrating.  I get that a lot being in a tin boat and having faster boats blow by and pull in just in front of me.  You can always lodge a formal complaint to the tournament director within the allotted time limit.  Hopefully they didn't pull any of fish off the structure you were fishing.  I have also incidently come around a point to encounter another boat.  Usually I will swing wide and let them continue fishing.  I know the majority of members wouldn't consciously do this kind of thing, so I hope that if it was a WBC member that we address this so it doesn't become a bone of discontent.  Although anytime you have a little money on the line there is always the chance of ultracompetitiveness.  Don't let this leave a bad taste in your mouth.

Howdy Mike,

Most tournaments have a rule stating what the legal distance is from a fellow competitor. It looks like our interpid TD is on top of that question... One thing to remember though, is that once you let one person inside of that range, everyone else in that area is allowed to break the distance rule as well.

I think it all comes down to communication. If you think the person is violating your space, let them know. If they are in a tournament and tell you to go stick it, then you have a legitimate complaint. If they aren't in a tournament, there isn't much you can do, but I would sure keep an eye out for them in future tournaments!!!

For our club tournaments, I can't think of a time where communication didn't solve the problem.

Chris

Virgil, I'm feeling kinda stupid passing up the spawning flat on the way to the riprap???.  I would have had no problem with you stopping along the riprap.  FYI.  I think where you are concerned and that particular tourney, you could have thrown a bare hook anywhere on the Columbia and got a hugh limit .  As far as this topic is concerned, communication is key.  I've never had a problem with anyone in WBC, but have with other boats.  Maybe because alot of you are my friends...I don't know.  I'm just there having a good time, first and would really like to catch fish, second...please .

Dang, dude... That wasn't a comment pointed at you.

But, with anyone not in a tournament, we don't have any legal right to tell them where they can and can't fish. It's all a matter of their personal ethic.

I've never been a tournament director for an organization before, but I would say that if there are two boats fishing close to one another, despite if the second person was allowed in by the first, a third person and others could move right in. At least that is the way I interpret rules from past tournaments I've fished outside of the club. So in your case, Glenn, I would think you would have had grounds for a protest and DQ if the person you mentioned was in a tournament.

If I was that third person, would I go in? Probably not...

Chris

I don't like to fish too close to others cause they tend to laff at my Pink BAITS!

I hope the incidents Mike has been describing in his previous posts were not WBC members.  Even if they weren't, the issue warrants a closer look.  I agree this issue is extremely hard to legislate-   It's complicated. Especially when you add rivers and current to the mix.  Someday we are going to have a major dispute develop between two WBC members and the outcome will not be pretty one.  

I think what we can do about this issue is develop an open dialog at one of our upcoming meetings and discuss some of the typical scenarios that come up each year at tournaments.   That way, we can have at the very least, a general ethical guideline to follow.  We might even consider writing some of this stuff down so the tournament director can remind all participating tournaments anglers about ethical implications before each tournament.

I thought I'd jot down a few scenarios I see come up every year for discussion purposes.  Add your own if you can think of any----I welcome your responses

1. Someone blatantly or intentionally cuts you off to a "hot" spot-  Eg. Yakima River/Columbia River  

2.  Someone anchors in river current too close to you....how close is too close....10 yards 20 yards 30 yards?   (I anchored next to Jim Ruman and Dave Jarrell in the Columbia Tourney but asked them first if it was OK before I put down the anchor).  

3.  Someone gets a good draw during the second day of a tournament and zips back to another person's "secret" fishing hole where they personally observed that person drilling the fish the day before.

4. Someone who backseated with you during a tournament the previous year is now fishing all your "hot" spots you showed him/her.  Should they have to ask you permission?

I am going to do my best to make sure this issue is somehow incorporated into our "Entertainment" agenda somehow even if it's only for a few minutes to get the prospective from the "big time" tournament angler.

Bob