Fished Ill. River by Starved Rock Sunday. Talked to a lot of fishermen and most had one or two small Saugers One guy had seven and I saw him land three of those all by the 39th street bridge. Everybody was trolling with what appeared to be lindy rigs or Wolf River Rigs. We verticle Jiged and blanked out. Fished 39th stret Bridge, By the Red door Inn and Peru Flats. Cajun's bait shop said the fishing shut down about Thursday.

I also fished by 39 today and caught over 30 saugers and 1 walleye good enough for 1 st place and big fish honors in the Team Walleye tournament, Fish were very active hitting three way rigs all morning for us! maybe you were fishing to shallow, Anyhow there was over 250 fish weighed in today out of 62 teams.

Congratulations Hogboss for 1st place,I saw your fish at the weigh in they were nice. We got about 19th or 20th pl. It was rough for us, got all 5 an hour and half before wiegh in. I learned 1 thing (never give up).

i also fished the The Team Walleye that Sunday,and watched you follow that guide around all day. Find your own fish!!!

Well, if you were watching him follow that guide around all day, that must mean you were following him around all day....kinda like calling the kettle black. Sound like a sore loser to me.

Bassmaster why don't you publish your real name and your E-mail adress or phone # and I will be more than happy to have a little chat with you about following on the river, Funny me and my partner were only one of the few teams that even went up river in Saturday's practice to look for fish where nobody else was fishing them.With a handle like Bassmaster maybe you are fishing the wrong kind of tournaments, I would be happy to meet you in person anytime on the river, That is If you have the rocks to be a Man and not post under a cloak of anominity. Keep a tight line.


Lance Litviak

Those of us that know you understand that you guys fish your own fish. This guy just doesn't
know you. You are probably better off - he seems like a real stroke.

Hey Bassmaster, You must of took last by the sounds of your message, SORRY maybe in the spring you'll do better?

I've been wondering how people feel about being followed and how guides feel about sharing their GPS numbers when they take people out for the day. Two years ago my brother in-law set up a guided trip for us. I was shocked and amazed when he pulled out his handheld GPS and started punching in coordinates. After he had a few spots pinpointed he asked the guide (who was fantastic about sharing his wealth of knowledge) if this was ok. I thought for sure the guide was going to tell him off, but instead he said "no problem". Is this customary? We did catch fish on these spots and they were new to me. How do others feel? I have been on the water during several tournaments and wondering if "following" was a problem. Clue me in on your thoughts. Thanks!

Yes, following is a problem. I fish several tournament series and there are a couple of people who are known to be "followers". My partner and I pre-fish several days per week only to arrive at our first spot and have one of the followers drop in several minutes later. It's easiest to figure out who the followers are in lake tournaments because of the vast amount of available spots. How do you deal with it? This is a problem, we have had some heated on the water discussions with the boat in question. We usually pull up from our first spot and take off, wait for the followers to pull up and then we head back to the spot, they usually get the hint and don't come back. On rivers it can be much more difficult to figure out who the followers are. Many river spots are "community" spots that are fished by many teams.

Best Regards,

FJH

Actually when I am guiding and a boat picks up and looks for an area that I am fishing and drops in I am OK with it. I figure it's part of the game. Using ALL of your abilities to find active fish is part of the quest. If recognizing a boat or a pattern helps to give you the information needed to catch fish, good for you. To think that I might be called a follower if I noticed a boat fishing an area that I am familier with and, using common sense went to work that area, is what helps to keep me from returning to tournament fishing. Now if the spot is the size of your living room you stay off, but if it's the size of a football field, well? The water that is YOURS is the water between the tip of your rod and your lure. The rest is public domain.
IMHO
Doc