I agree with a lot of the suggestions, and TXduckhunter hit the nail on the head about most of the captains not being tourney regulars and understanding on the water etiquette.

I think it's a fine line of getting people to understand etiquette on the water without having some captains just back out from being told what to do and what not to do. Maybe the best option is to push it at the team level and have them suggest their captains not move in on someone?

As far as captains go, take every opportunity to show respect on the water, and explain in detail why you did what you did. I had several opportunities this last weekend to show my guys this. I'd tell them, "We're not going in there, see the direction the boat is pointed? They're moving towards where we want to go, we are not going to cut them off". I also took the opportunity to tell my guys that "see that boat coming in on us? It's a shame they didn't show us the respect we just showed those other boats, but that's ok, we won't drop to their level.".

I don't know about the other captains and their teams, but my guys notice this stuff. They know right from wrong and I'm fortunate to get to captain them. They ask a lot of questions about this and I'm glad I'm able to show and tell them the right way.

There will always be some folks that just don't have it in them to show any consideration. If the kids are exposed to proper etiquette enough in team meetings though, I'm betting some of them will step up and ask their captain to not move in on someone.

By the way, that weigh in Saturday and Sunday went very smooth. Kudos to everyone involved, I was impressed.

I don't know if making it a rule is the right thing, but we somehow need to get the word out to the captains that headlights should be off launching boats in the morning. Yesterday I was blinded on my right side by another truck launching their boat, and couldn't look at the drivers side mirror due to the next truck in line up the ramp with their lights on. That too was another opportunity I had to tell my guys that's a bad deal, and they completely understood.

If these team are caught cheating there should be no tolerance. I do understand that the anglers are minors but when adults are caught they face felony charges. When minors commit murder they are usually tried as adults and there names are plastered all over the news. This shouldn't be any different. If the tournament director does not feel it requires going that far that team should be dqed for rest of the year. If same school has another violation the school is dqed for rest of the year and can only return next year with a new team director. Also like is was stated above this is not a UIL controlled sport so I would like to see it open to any angler that wants to fish. I don't think you should have to join something at your school to be able to fish. I say this cause in our district there are students that would love to fish but the person over the club is such a jack@@@ to deal with the parents don't want to deal with it. Make it like Bass Champs and TTT pay membership and open to any student with a friend and go fish. My $.02.

I can see some advantages of this but not sure that's the way to go. I can tell you it's not that easy running a high school club and dealing with a few of the parents and kids who think they don't have to follow any rules. It's a very small minority but they can ruin a club real easy, i know from the little experience I have had our first year as a new club. Kids are generally fine, some parents not so much.

I do not agree on a warning or free pass for cheating on any level. The boat captains responsibility goes beyond just driving a boat. Rules are clearly stated and are in place for a reason. There is no room for cheaters of any kind in this sport. And the captain should be reminding the kids of these rules as well as the team advisor for every tournament. If one person on a team on any other sport is caught cheating the team is as well as the player are punished and should be in this instance as well. UIL or not. It's not like there is not an adult in the boat. Yes individual boats are competing but it is also a team event as well THSBA takes the top three team scores from each school to determine which team wins the tournament as a whole as well as the 1st place vote. It's a competition. And like all competitions there are rules you must follow. The only way to make the rules viable is to make the punishment harsh otherwise they will continue to break the rules

I agree 100%

I agree 100%

My dad and myself listened to a high school kid while having lunch in Zavalla talk about how one of their friends weighed in a fish that her grandfather caught and another kid that weighed in a fish that his mom caught with him. That made me sick and mad. My solution is polygraphs and filing charges. It is a felony to do that. Time to send a message and clean up the reputation. It is not fair to those that play by the rules.

I'm sure there are parents, grandparents that will do anything for there kids/grandkids but it's still cheating. Need to punish if the rules are broken. On CC I had a boat captain drive his boat on top of me and the kids took over the TM right on top of me. A lot of these kids are being taught wrong and it will carry on to the future. If THSBA is going to continue then this needs to be stopped NOW before it goes any further.

Just fyi. If we catch them or can prove with information given then they are done. We do not condone it and will not tolerate it. It will all be listed in the new rules

For those posting on rule violations, please be patient, things are in the works to address this in a very proactive and streamline approach!

Is the objective of high school fishing to see how large the circuit can become, or is it to try to truly help the kids increase their competitiveness and confidence in something they are really interested in.

Honest question, and here's why I asked.

I was at the tournament on Lake Lewisville before launch earlier this year and observed, that while a lot of the kid seemed interested and even anxious to get it going, some of the kids seemed like they couldn't care less. Some were even sleeping on the deck, and others looked bored out of their minds.

Now, I have heard that participants get Friday off from school on tournament weekend. My guess is that some of the less interested participants are there for that reason.... just to get a day off school.

If they do get the day off from school, why not stop that for a year and see what happens. I don't think the kids that are truly interested need to be enticed to fish with a day off from school.

What responsibility does the high schools have in governing the fishing team rules. ??
Baseball, basketball, volleyball, swimming, debate, etc,...are all governed and overseen by the high school.
From what I read hs fishing is very loosely controlled. Are there referees, umpires, judges, or whatever provided by the school. Are there try outs to make the team, and standards to stay on a team,..does the fishing teams have a coach, staff, ..........doesn't sound like it if players are laying around and sleeping on boats waiting to take off,..is there a organization that all schools have to join, and rules that are enforced.
Again I'm an outsider looking in at what I read, but sounds like there's a lot of disorganization, and little oversight.. jim

The school has zero control over HS fishing.
They don't fund it, don't regulate it and ,normally, don't support it.

As far as sleeping on the deck before take-off or seeming disinterested. I've been know to take a nap or lay back in the mornings before take-off. I wouldn't put too much into that...

Jim, the schools generally have a School advisor as well as a Team advisor(coach ,so to speak). As far as how much they actually help the teams, it varies from school to school and team to team. I am not sure of tryouts for teams, I know some teams have a traveling squad and some just fish against other team members. All THSBA students must be passing to be able to fish, this is signed off on by the school advisor. I have seen this actually help kids that didn't care to pass to actually have passing grades. All students do have to be a member of whichever association they participate in. We also all have rules like any other tournament trail, unfortunately there are people that still do not follow them.There are circumstances all year long. As far as them sleeping on the decks, a lot of these kids play other sports and there are times where they come from a Friday night game to the lake with a few hours of sleep. They are all for the most part pretty excited at the end of the day when the weigh in is going on. Lots of joking with each other and supporting the other schools. Hopefully this answered some of your questions. Please don't pay attention to my grammar,lol. I hated English class.

Ken, catch up with me, please.

jimmymauldin@gmail.com