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[Here it is]

I myself have had a chance to prefish a few tournies recently...I fished with a long time fishing partner
(25years) whom has started fishing these tournies as a pro the past 6 years! I was ashamed of the way
my buddy ran the wolf river this past weekend at a very high rate of speed, causing several persons to
flip us off as well as let out a load string of swear words!! I wanted to crawl down into the boat and NOT
be seen! When I voiced my concerns with wakeing these boats at close range, my friends answer was
that his boat throws less wake at high speed then at a slow speed.....and if everyone chooses to
anchor, that is the price they will pay to do so!! To say the least, I was flabergasted! The mentality of my
normal calm and cool fishing partner sure has changed since turning pro and running these
tournaments......he says you HAVE to be that way if you want to cash a check??? Now I remember why it
is I don't fish in these contests!! Though I will not give up prefishing with my life long partner......I will be
the one in the passenger seat wearing the fake big nose and glasses!

[Lars]

Wow. And some people totally beat the crap out of their equipment in ,even little state circuit tourneys, that only pay a couple thousand to the winning team.
Is it worth it?
It isn't for me, and I have fished a fair number of Tourneys.
Just isn't fun anymore. I have seen good buddies get all p-o 'd
at each other over a "spot" that they both have known about for many years. One guy claims he pre-fished it, the other guy says the 1st guy "followed" him. etc. etc. etc..
Naw... no thanks. I quit them.

[Walleye Jason]

I will have to say that only a few bad apples can spoil the whole bunch.

Here is the situation, anywhere you go, people will be like this no matter if your fishing tournaments, or just camping and fishing w/ your family. To specifically say that its "just" tournament anglers...Your wrong. I don’t know how many times I have been fishing for fun, and some water skiers come to close to my boat, and make me living mad. But these people exist in everyday life. Ever been cut off on the road? Have you ever cut anyone off? If you say no to both of these questions your lying.

People get careless when they don’t concentrate on the whole picture. I don’t know how many times I have seen people on cell phones swerve into the next lane, and not even realize it.

I'll bet that 90% of the tournament anglers are good people that mean no harm. There are a few that get reckless sometimes, but I'll bet they don’t do it on purpose.

Just think about what you posted, sounds pretty stereotypical if you ask me.

I understand your point of view, and accept your opinion. This topic gets posted about once a week on this board. It’s kind of getting old. I'll bet the majority of the people here are tournament anglers. So, your opinion has been noted, I will try my best to be conscience about my actions on the water. But eventually I will Pi$$ somebody off because they think I was going too fast or came too close to their boat! I apologize in advance!

WJ

[FlyBoy]

First off, I'm not a tourney fisherman.....


I was on Redwing 2 weeks ago... The weather was crappy, snow, rain, and cold. There were TONS of boats out... No problems, nothing out of the ordinary.

I was also on Redwing this past weekend... The weather was alot better, but the boat traffic seemed only slightly higher... Very slight. I _DID_ notice there were alot of 200+ hp motors on the water, alot more than the week before.

After getting 'waked' by several boats, my buddy and I joked that you must have to own a 200 hp motor to drive like an a##hole.... A little later in the day we were talking to someone drifting near us.. And guess what? There was a tourney that day...

I'm not passing judgment, and I'm not saying every boat I saw was in the tourney... But you can't argue with what I saw.

Draw your own conclusion.

-John

[Get Off the Cross someone needs the wood!]

As a tournament fisherman who has fished the Fox and the Mississippi and nearly been flung out of my boat dozens of times by wakes from rude power cruisers the only question I have to ask is how would you even know there was a touranment going on if the tournament boats were made by Sea Ray or Bayliner.

[Backwater Eddy]

I don't think you can blame bad manners and inconsiderate behavior on tournament fishing, a person needs to be accountable for there own actions.

Jerks come in all size's and colors!


Backwater Eddy

[Dog Breath Willie]

Unless you are in a no wake zone, fishing in rivers generally involves some wakes. I can't speak to your friends driving, but there is a limit to how far one can get from others and stay in the navigable channel. Wait till the big pleasure boats start running these rivers soon and you'll see some real waves.
DOG

[Eyecatcher]

I think what we need to do is to ban everything and make everything illegal. Then we can all sit at home and whine about what happened to our sport. Hey, I got cut off while driving today, I'm going to send an Email to Ford and tell them that should stop making cars because of it. Then I'm going to call every Ford dealership in town and tell them they should stop selling cars because I was cut off. My suggestion would be to do what most normal adults would do in a case like you have described. GET OVER IT! I'm not a pro, have no plans to be, but I do take my sport seriously. I've been pissed off alot more time by people in 14 ft boats with 9 hp motors than all the Tournament boats combined. But hey, that's life. Stupidity is not confined to the ranks of Professional fisherman, it is a commodity that seems to be encountered more frequently each day. But that's life!

[Hans]

LAST EDITED ON Apr-10-01 AT 08:20AM (CST)[p]
> Stupidity is not confined to the ranks of Professional
> fisherman, it is a commodity that seems to be encountered
> more frequently each day.

The reason for the increase in stupidity is safety laws, seat belts, air-bags, trigger locks, motorcycle helmets, life vests, etc.

In the good old days stupid people died young, but with all the emphasis on safety they are living long enough to have kids. And as we all know stupidity begets stupidity and stupid people have more kids than smart people, so we are being overwhelmed by a tsunami of stupidity.
;-)

Hans

[MNBS]

GET REAL!!

[Good People]

Fortunately many tournaments are now held on week days.This keeps both parties happy.The local dos'nt get run over by a speeding tournament boat and the tournament angler dos'nt have to negotiate around a half dozen pontoon boats anchored in the breakline.Over all I think tournaments are good for the local economy.I also think it brings a lot of exitement and civic pride into the host community.Most tournament anglers are responsible and professional.There will always be a bad apple in the bunch, no matter what sport your involved in.I got involved in tournament fishing from watching the weigh-ins at tournaments as a kid and wanted to be part of the exitement.I have had individuals circle my boat repetedly at speed while I was slow trolling or deliberatly drop anchor or throw slip bobbers off my bow and force me to change course,just because i was fishing a tournament.Is that person any better than the than a irrespondible tourament angler.Courtesy go's both ways,treat people the way you want to be treated.We can all get along!I always make it a point when asked by a local angler,where did you catchem,what did you use,to share with them what I learned during the tournament.Where not bad people.

[FJH1]

Hans, the process of "Darwinian Natural Selection" has taken a major blow through the invention of all these safety measures :-). No longer do just the strong survive, now it's the strong, the weak and the stupid.

Best Regards,

FJH

[Hans]

Dear anonymous "MNBS" (Does that stand for "Minnesota Bull Sh!t?")

Note the smiley face in my message -- it roughly means "this is in jest".

Hans

[Rip Lips]

I was in the Team Walleye in Red wing,My Npaa # is 638 and if I was a assh@@@ call me in.I respect everyone on the water some dont.By the way if you call cold rain all day with wind gusts up to 70mph on Saturday nice weather you need to be HOSPITALIZED.

[Stezostedion vitreum man]

To reiterate on a post of mine several weeks ago: The human species is an experiment that failed.

Remember to keep your eyes open and your feet dry.

S.v.m

[Bye-Golly]

Hey Hans, you made a very valid point, even if it was in jest!

Luv it Bye-Golly