Yeah I also believe it's apart of the game. But in Dudley's insident. Did it really help him or hurt him? If it helps it's stratagy. If it doen't it's stupid. Is what he did ethical or not. Theirs so many questions. But let it be. His stupidity and not ours. Larry I don't believe what your doing is unethical. It's stratagy. I haven't had the time to truely prefish yet. SO I can't say much when it comes down to it. Just my .02 cents.

I'm with Jim... I don't care who the angler is, no one can fish out an area during the heat of the spawn (or any other time for that matter) that would hurt other anglers. I think we all know that good tournament anglers are ruined most times anyway if they have to rely on one area only.

Chris

Whether it's against the rules or not, the fact it raises some questions regarding the sportsmanship and ethics of the sport says enough.  Is that really the image this sport needs to portray? 

Larry, your example is strategy. You weren't purposely stinging fish to reduce the competition's chances. 

As Rich stated, I'm just glad we have a 1-week off limits period.  Any way you look at it, allowing people to fish the day before a club tournament when others have to work makes for an uneven playing field.  Either they're going to sting a bunch of catchable fish, or gain an unfair advantage.

Glad we're more civil than that.  And I'm thankful we're not so competitive that we have to stoop to such questionable tactics (mentioned above) in our club.

We're here to have fun, not cut each other's throats!   

As for Nick....my hope is that you take from this the understanding that you have to figure out the FISH and exhibit good sportsmanship towards all anglers and the rest will take care of itself.


p.s........I know...you knew that!

KIDS!

Interesting points.  It got me thinking (oh boy, here we go again).  There's a lot of things a person could do. And a lot of rules have been argued, debated, and written over what could happen in many tournament organizations and tournament-focused clubs.  In fact, many clubs have fallen apart and dissolved over such debates and rules.

Personally, I feel if it isn't a problem in our club, then there's no need to enact a rule on the basis of "just in case".  Paranoia tends to breed illogical behavior and interferes with club commroderie.  The only time I feel we should create such rules is when it's a real problem.

For instance, we once had a club member bring a guide on his boat as the backseater during a tournament.  It was an out-of-town relative, but not a member.  There was no rule prohibiting it, so he won.  As a result, we now have a rule stating all participants in a club tournament must be members.  We've never had a problem since.

As for the tactics Larry has brought up, I don't think we're that competitive that these things will happen.  At the Roosevelt tournament last year, I did have one club member move right on top of the spot I was fishing without asking me first (we were so close, I could've pitched my lure into his boat).  Now I could've said something as he was pulling up, but since I was only catching dinks, I decided to let it go and see if he could pull any keepers, rather than get upset.  At least then I would know that either A) I would then know what I'm doing wrong or B) it would confirm I needed to move on.  In essence, instead of feeling infringed upon, I seized the opportunity to speed up my fishing.  Turned out, I needed to move on - we both did!  

At the Columbia tournament, I had the exact scenario Larry mentioned play out.  A pre-fisher for an upcoming tournament pulled up literally 10 yrds in front of me along a stretch of bank I was fishing.  I *ahem* let the guy know I wasn't pleased about his rudeness, but all he did was move up another 5 yards.  Well, he and his buddy managed to catch a few dinks, but Keri and I were roping in the fish.  After about 7 keepers and a dozen or so dinks, he got frustrated watching us catch fish behind him and left!   

I think most of us have done it a time or two by accident. But to intentionally do what Dudley did is unethical to me. I wouldn't do it myself. As far as larry's mention about spots, we all have them and sometimes we have them in the same area as the other guy. Yea, it's first come and first serve in my book, unless you find a guy has beaten you to your hole as well as his. So you either share it or come back to it later.

I can't tell you how many times I have fished in a tournament the first day and then came back the 2nd day to find the whole club has worked it over just because they had heard I was there catching all of my fish there the first day and was leading the tournament.

Most times it is just a pattern. You normally can fish somewhere else and find the same results. That is when I go hide and bag the rest of my limit. Take the Potholes, I have some areas where most guys wouldn't dream of taking there boat where I am fishing. Yea , some do but few at least.
Russ

Think on it guys. When you put that club plaque/check ahead of ethics, you've thrown away what this club is supposed to stand for.
Mark