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I don't know if its getting so bad that they are actually writing about it on Bassmaster.com but locals are pulling in on pros to mark spots. I am watching the tournament from last weekend and guys moved in on where they had seen a Jeremy Starks fishing the night before. Is it getting worse or is ESPN trying to focus in on confrontation to fuel online talk about it?
Now I am reading that its going on here on Ky lake and supposedly its even worse here.
http://sports.espn.go.com/outd...42213
Its as bad or worst, i had four Triton guys GPS me at four different spots last Friday of the Triton owners tournament. I also had two of the Bass guys do the same thing the other day. One even came up right besides me and went to fishing, i wacked them pretty good just for the hell of it. I wasnt about to leave any fish for him to catch LOL.
Perhaps some of the locals are pirating, but I know for a fact the pros are also. with alot of $$ on the line, I have seen ALOT of unsportsman behavior. Saw it 2 years ago when scott rook pulled oup on me after I caught a 6#, he fished my buoy casted close enough for me to see his lure color then hit a waypoint....Friday I am out in front of Moors on a well known community ledge with my visiting father-in-law....the guy with the Monster Grafix boat Kevin Langhill or something starts making obscene gestures with his crotch at us. My father-in-law was speechless. I was over 300yds away from him and we fished toward each other, and I pulled up when we got to 150yds away.....I took this week off to fish, and I know alot of others are on the lake because it is HOT now...I think the "pros" believe us locals should just stay out of their way and not fish....WRONG....I do believe in sportsman like conduct, but this time of year peoplle do fish close on some ledges, saw 7 guys last week in front of Sled last week. Looked like a parade....ALSO several of the pros did the same thing they accuse us of Tuesday. the PM local Moors tourny, I saw several "pros" follow the locals and mark their spots...
Needless to say the guy in the monster grafix boat really soured me on BASS, and I have been a member since 14 years old http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/mad.gif
"GPS Pirate" http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/Laugh.gif http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/Laugh.gif so thats the new word around bass fishing. but in all honety, i can say everything that ive read is true on the weekend angler stand point also. the lakes i fish are tough lakes because of pressure, i spend 4 or 5 days a week, trying to figure out the fish. im not saying im great but i too have had guys come in right behind me and just idle over spots, looking on their graphs to see what i was fishing, which bothers me..espcially when i planned on coming back there that day or the next. i dont imagine theres anything i could do.....just keep on,,,keepin on.
Oh my, never seen so many fishermen complain about trying to fish a spot on the lake. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/eyes.gif
Hmmmmmm just wonder if things would be better if gps was outlawed in tournaments? If you look at some forms of racing they are taking traction control etc out of it to improve the racing and put more of it back on the driver or rider. Fishing may have to make a move in that direction someday
I was fishing a ledge in the middle of KY Lake last Wed. & one of the pros (I won't metion any names) came close enough I could've pitched a jig in his boat. Notice I said pitch not cast..... http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/ohwell.gif
When there is money on the line, sometimes regular honest folks become azzhats. If you can't compete in an honorable way then you shouldn't be competing. I have near ZERO tolerance for liars, cheaters and thieves.
If a "pro" follows a local around all day, marks his spots, and "wins" the T, did he really win? Not in my book......he cheated.....
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by KyLegndHamr »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">When there is money on the line, sometimes regular honest folks become azzhats. If you can't compete in an honorable way then you shouldn't be competing. I have near ZERO tolerance for liars, cheaters and thieves.
If a "pro" follows a local around all day, marks his spots, and "wins" the T, did he really win? Not in my book......he cheated.....
</TD></TR></TABLE>
A MEN and that goes for locals also.
personally, i think the BASS guys that are whining are victims of their own success. if you look back 10 or 20 years ago, there weren't anywhere near as many guys fishing tourneys. when ESPN/BASS launched it's huge marketing campaign to promote the growth of bass fishing, it flooded the market with wanna be pros. now, you have the same amount of water, but signifigantly more anglers competing for checks. add to that, the cost of fuel and high end fishing components such as $40+ thousand boats, $300+ reels, crankbaits that can cost over $20, and you have alot of guys who will resort to desperate measures to stay competitive, or in some cases just to survive.
i'm not saying the "GPS pirates" are right in what they do, but like i said, BASS and other upper echelon organizations are victims of their own propoganda.
i would never GPS someone spots like that. if someone gives me a green light to fish water they have found, i'm all over it. but i will not take advantage of someone's good fortune without permission.
Well put Clint!
agreed, everyone want to watch their "hero" including on the water...it is now a spectactor sport that is what is generating the money. ESPN,TV,internet if people did not want to watch then no dollars, no advertisements, etc...gone are the days when they could go out and fish alone.........the main difference is a golf tournament excludes everyone from the course except the players, cant do that on a lake.
I could GPS a spot and never find the sweet spot. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/roll.gif
you know I think its getting a little media blow up......I fished the BFL yesterday...way down south...and seen maybe 3 boats within a mile or 2 of us..it was like a ghost town down there..seen KVD with his fan base..but other than that nothing..my boater lives down ther and he made the comment at one point.."man did something happen we dont know about...where did everybody go" http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/Laugh.gif
I guess I'm a poor boy. I'm still using a JPS. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/wink.gif
In the 15+ years that I've been bass fishing, I have never in my life, seen a place like KY Lake... There are many locals, as well as pros' who will get so close that you can pitch into their boat! I've never in my life seen a place with so much water, have guys fishing on top of each other on "hot-spots"! Last year, in 2 separate incidents, I had a boat come in - darned near on top of me and proceed to fish! Fortunately, I have not seen this at any other lakes, and hope that it doesn't become a trend!
It is all of those folks from Indiana coming down to fish. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/Laugh.gif They just move right in on top of you. Thought I was fishing Lake Monroe again. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/stirthepot.gif
It does seem kind of bad there. We fished a T there a couple weeks ago and had a guy come up behind us as we were fishing down a bank. Then he put the TM on high and went around us. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/eek.gif We were kinda pissed but I imagine he didn't know that it was actually our second trip down that stretch and caught 3 keepers the first trip, one 5.5. we just turned around when he pulled up. Then we went across the pocket and picked up another one. i didn't see him catch any. that was probably his first stop of the day because it was very early, like before 7:00am. Had another guy cut us on day 2.
but that stuff happens everywhere. We just roll with it. When it happens we just go away and come back throwing an LC crank. Chances are they ain't seen many of them
I guess there is an advantage to being a crapy fisherman. Nobody GPS pirates me. http://www.bassboatcentral.com/smileys/ohwell.gif
yeah its a problem. I can't go fishing without all the spectator boats, locals, pros.....all GPSing my stuff. Getting old really. Seriously, I'm a big deal.