Fishing Ethics: Would This Pizz You Off?

[gcopple]

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by adamat &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">I can understand the frustration with the LACK of THAT RULE.</td></tr></table>

if i was mad at anything this would be it^^^^

[bhjr.]

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by Bo Jo &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">Should the other tx fishermen be pissed at the second place boat and you for giving them the bait they placed second with? You said that you had just given them the bait. It sounds to me you may be just as guilty.</td></tr></table>

I gave him the bait two days before the tournament because he asked for it. You would do the same for your friends, wouldn't you?

[bschwoep]

Tournaments need rules because some tournament fisherman have no ethics. People always complain about Wall Street and Congress and their lack of ethics, but is it any surprise that people will do unethical things to win a few hundred bucks, that people do it for millions? Just because what you do is legal, doesn't mean it's right.

[SteveDyer]

Sounds like you need to suggest a rule change, and until then make friends with Gus :)

Any "open" team or trail tourneys cell use for on-water info should be prohibited.

I view club fishing as a fun, learning thing. It doesn't bother me if guys in my club call someone or me. I would and have offered help to anyone in the club during our CLUB tourneys.

[paw paw]

if there's no rule against it i guess i would have to live with it. i wouldn't like it any more than you do though. i might talk to the tournament director and see about adding a rule for next season to stop it from happening again.

[Joshthebadbear]

Winning has become more important in our society than common sense, decency, good sportsmanship and just having respect for the other guys fishing the tournament. Paint it anyway you want, justify however suits you. It was a shitty thing to do and most of us know it. Yeah it would piss me off as well and I'm old enough to have fished tournaments when that behavior would be oddity instead of the norm.

[BassCatnVa]

Would it have been different if they were fishing and saw them whacking them and then went over and caught them?

[artcarney_agr]

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by bhjr. &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">This weekend the team that finished first got a phone call from some striper fisherman who was trolling live bait and hammering the big spots and big largemouth on each pass through a certain area. </td></tr></table>

Sounds like a great spot to try the A-rig!

[tnjavelin]

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by bassmasterfitz &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">

Your way off topic here....</td></tr></table>

How so? I was simply stating that it seems as though there's always one in every event who says, "I would've won if they hadn't beaten me...no fair." It's silly. Even the superstars who expect a win also understand that nobody is unbeatable, and each tournament presents a threat of loss due to being outsmarted or out-geared.

[721Proxs]

I think its a matter of opinoin, and everyone has one...Yea, would kind of tick me off too, but Im sure it would tick some guy off that had no depth finders etc in his boat, and I did and used it to find fish...

[Mark Perry]

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by Joshthebadbear &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">Winning has become more important in our society than common sense, decency, good sportsmanship and just having respect for the other guys fishing the tournament. Paint it anyway you want, justify however suits you. It was a shitty thing to do and most of us know it. Yeah it would piss me off as well and I'm old enough to have fished tournaments when that behavior would be oddity instead of the norm. </td></tr></table>

I feel the opposite in that I think a lot of the touchy-feely parts of society are bleeding over into fishing. Especially the part everyone is a winner and we all get participation trophies. Lord knows we can't have anyone feeling bad about themselves and use that as a motivator. Instead we make up so many rules and make sure we are all in touch with our emotions.
To me the reality is a lot of dissapointment and defeat has eventually resulted in greatness when a man will use it to push himself to improve.
I guess I would say if the OP is mad about the phone call then he also was part of the issue by providing baits to another top team during the event.

[Trent_in_BG]

If there was a stripper on the boat, why the hell were they fishing? Did you get any picture

[Trent_in_BG]

I don't fish tournaments (because I am not very good and I fish for relaxation) but occasionally a few of us will go out and have a friendly competition. Even when we are doing that we will call each other to see where they are biting and on what.

[fishnfool38]

<table width="90%" cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 align=center><tr><td>Quote, originally posted by Mark Perry &raquo;</td></tr><tr><td class="quote">

I feel the opposite in that I think a lot of the touchy-feely parts of society are bleeding over into fishing. Especially the part everyone is a winner and we all get participation trophies. Lord knows we can't have anyone feeling bad about themselves and use that as a motivator. Instead we make up so many rules and make sure we are all in touch with our emotions.
To me the reality is a lot of dissapointment and defeat has eventually resulted in greatness when a man will use it to push himself to improve.
I guess I would say if the OP is mad about the phone call [/b] then he also was part of the issue by providing baits to another top team during the event.[b] </td></tr></table>
I disagree from what I read the guy was a competitor in the tx that was given the bait! Totally legal even in big boy tx

[Yama225]

I still cant distinguish any difference between what you did by giving your buddy "the Bait" and them getting a phone call with info. Either way it was somebody helping somebody else out. I don't think there was anything wrong with what you did or they did. As long as they didnt break any rules and you didn't either it just sounds like part of it.

[bhjr.]

Fellas, I haven't lost one minutes sleep over this and by no means am implying any wrong doing as there are no rules against what occured. I just simply asked how you felt about the situation. These guys are my friends as well as my opponents and are very good fishermen. I don't mind losing to a worthy opponent, and these guys are good. My partner and myself have on occasion won as well in their presence. The team that I was referring to as well as my partner and myself on occasion fish against the likes of Bryan Thrift, Andy Montgomery, Jamie Fralick, and the list goes on. I guess that's what makes us so competitive and have to practice so hard to have a chance to win anything at all! To any of you that have blown this out of proportion with phone calls, these guys did nothing wrong. They probably didn't even need the call! I simply asked what you thought, not for intervention. We all will remain friends and maybe everyone learns from this, including me, about asking opinions such as this on this board!

[reelman]

Nailed it &gt;&gt;&gt;"Tournaments need rules because some tournament fisherman have no ethics. People always complain about Wall Street and Congress and their lack of ethics, but is it any surprise that people will do unethical things to win a few hundred bucks, that people do it for millions? Just because what you do is legal, doesn't mean it's right."
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You can ask BEFORE AN EVENT about cell phone rules or push one in your club after this...

Calling to put guys on fish or a bait is simply a fact that must be dealt with these days...you should get beat by a better angler that day...not a team of anglers sharing information on the lake. Nothing good can come of that practice...nothing.