[cannonWood]

I did not want to further hijack SS jrs epic on the tourney, but wanted to continue the conversation I started there -

That being said, this made me a bit uncomfortable -
Quote Originally Posted by SuperSpookJr View Post
He was leading after Day One and had had a good morning, boating a dozen fish off a hump he’d found mid-lake. He offered the information up freely. He suggested I fish his hump and pointed out where it was. He was pretty sure he’d cleaned it out, but thought the fish might have returned. That kind of sportsmanship and understanding is huge in my book. He knew the rest of the field was having a tough day, but he was willing to share his knowledge with a fellow competitor. That’s a class act for you. I didn’t feel right fishing his spot, but I worked a parallel point that I felt might hold fish.
It is great knowing most everyone out on the water is friendly, and a large part of why I fish these tournaments is that there is no cut-throat feeling out there. I have ended up fishing next to pros and socials alike and, even at Bastrop with over a hundred anglers this year fishing within folks at 20 years on either side, it remained amicable. I have also stuck around and found that most everyone will gladly trade details about their day when its over, but sharing tactics/spots during fishing on tournament day makes me uncomfortable. I appreciate that you felt bad about using his information, and I would too. But using that information could take away from the praise about adaptability I offered earlier. At Gibbons this year I had been working my ass off paddling miles around a lake I had never been to trying different things never to find a pattern and, at one point, I over heard an angler calling someone over to fish "this" bait in "this" spot as he had just caught a few. I understand that fishing the same spot with same bait will not guaranty success. To me, even if a loudspeaker announced to everyone in the tourney that "Angler A just caught a toad on a 5" t rigged watermelon senko at long XX lat YY" it would not make much of a difference in the standings, just piss off Angler A with the expectation of 20 boats coming at him.

Fishing the lower division it bothers a little and I am curious to know if it should at all. As KATS has really been my only tournament experience, what is the feeling from seasoned tourney anglers on this? In a tourney like this with $5k on the line, would it tick you off?

cannonWood, if you have the time, check out Major League Fishing. I remember one episode when one competitor (I think it was Tim Horton) was catching fish after fish. He was guaranteed a spot in the next round. Ish Monroe was nearby. I want to say he had legitimately happened upon the same general area (wasn't potlicking), but was just slightly off the Horton's spot. Once Tim was assured a win, he waved Ish over and told him what to use and where. Tim was praised for his generosity and sportsmanship toward a competitor who was JUST short of qualifying. FWIW... Ish rolled over, but couldn't capitalize.

Maybe there was a hidden reason behind it. Maybe they shared the same sponsor(s). Maybe they were just good friends and respected competitors.

 

[cannonWood]

Ill look for that episode. Do you recall if anyone was ticked off? It was TV so I am sure they would have loved to film any controversy.

Honestly, to me the second greatest thing to catching fish myself is calling someone over to your spot and watching them let lay into em too. But on tourney day I would be thinking DONT DO IT - (1)this guy might beat me (2)this guy might beat someone else. I would hate to think that someone placed higher in a tournament based on them having more friends than me or running around the lake soliciting info all day. Had Ish qualified and bumped someone out of the next round would the bumpee be justified in wanting to pull Tim's drain plug before the next day?

And again, I have fished side by side with several folks with the same bait/spot and not catch - asking someone to fish with different abilities, equipment, confidence etc. isnt guaranteed but it definitely can be an advantage that not everyone on the water has access to. That being said, is it along the same lines as viewing online maps, reading previous reports on the internet, calling local guides, etc?

 

[NjTexan]

Ooopps....I posted under SSJ's story about this.

 

[cannonWood]

Ill put a link over here from it. I really didnt mean to hijack that awesome recap.

cannonwood, I've been on both sides of the sharing information deal, I've helped guys during some of the TNT's and actually threw one angler a couple baits when he said he didn't have what I was catching them on.
And I've heard guys sharing what's working for them with someone else during a tournament. It used to really piss me off and I know I wasn't alone because thier was enough complaining about sharing fishing information during tournaments for KATS to make a rule about not using your cell phone.

Anymore I could care less if guys want to talk, text, send smoke signals, use duck decoys to conceal messages, whatever, if they want to share information during a tournament..

What changed? Sometime last year I heard an interview with an Elite level fisherman who said something like he always thought it was him against the fish, not him against 50/100/whatever other anglers. It made instant sense to me. It's wayyyyyyyy easier to fish a tournament if I just worry about what I'm doing to catch bass instead of worrying about Jim Bob telling Earl that the fish in the backs of the coves are only eating blue fleck power worms.

Disclaimer: so far I my results suck at tournament kayak bass fishing but I enjoy the hell out of it.

I agree with worrying about the fish as opposed to other folks. And I think most of these guys that specialize in certain techniques and and have scouted there spots would be thrown off trying to fish in an unfamiliar way at the last minute... but hanging out with skunk late in the day, advice from the guy with a full stringer starts sounding decent.