HS tournament coming up on Ray Roberts?

Whats the deal with some of these HS kids, advisers and parents. I know a guide on the lake that has been basically begged to be booked well within the 1 month guide rule and asked numerous times for info. I have had parents call me in the last few days (well within the 14 day off limits period) not to mention the PMs from the HS kids.

The most recent being our tournament winners this weekend getting asked for info after they caught 30 pounds again well within the 14 day period. What are some of these kids being taught? This is the future of our sport and I have heard and experienced stuff like this A LOT the last week. No info means no info and that's from anyone. How hard can that be?

Barrett, I wished we knew the answer. It is crazy the stories we hear. I hope people are not giving them the information and letting them know they are breaking the rules.

If anyone has these names please contact us via pm or call me or Tim Haugh.

My number is 9034561786

Tims is 9035393975

We will handle this

Every single one of them should be outed and kicked out of the program if they're pursuing info during off-limits. PERIOD!

I have had the same happen with the PMs. Not to mention all of the boat captains driving their kids around up in IDB creek like a bunch of maniacs on Saturday. I thought the point of the HS tournaments was teaching kids ethics. I am guessing ethics is 60mph 20 yards max from guys tied up crappie fishing and this was practice. It was absolutely nuts.

Totally disagree with the statement "high school tournaments are the worst thing to happen" my son will be fishing in this tournament. Him and his partner have worked their tells off upgrading equipment and learning how to fish. YMMV but it's a good thing for my kid and lots of others.

I hate to hear these bad comments about the high school teams, I personally have only fished once where they were fishing, that was on LOP last year. Those I ran into were not only polite but considerate, so not all parents and captains are teaching bad manners I believe it is a few that are the loudest and rudest. Here is hoping they get taken out quickly. I love the idea of high school fishing teams just wish I had the opportunity when I was that age!

Anyone with messages from people about Ray Roberts please forward to me. We cannot address the issue if we do not know who. We will address it at the meeting friday. We will also be on the lake

Easy brother. A couple of the guys that have posted are/have been captains. The OP is pretty quick to help out if he can, HS or not.
While I don't like reading this on an open forum - if a couple of captains read it and self examine their actions then it has helped. Those that do read it and don't self-evaluate are hopeless anyway and can't be helped.

I will be out there Saturday taking two guys crappie fishing that bought the trip at a church auction so youth(kids) can go to summer camp. I will be happy to write down TX numbers from unsafe boaters, there were plenty last Saturday. It is not the kids that I have a problem with, take the kids fishing that is awesome! I have a problem with the adults who are supposed to be teaching rules and ethics and safe practices and all of that jazz. The best way to teach a kid is by your example and if your example is flying right by several people who are tied up that is really poor! If your example is pot licking that is really poor! Grow the sport, help kids go to college on scholarship, that is great, just do it the right way! Find your own dang fish, let the kids catch them not the boat captain, and use safe and ethical ramp and boating practices. It is a fish, not worth a life!!!

I am a boat captain. I have witnessed some of the same actions captaining my team during the tournaments along with pretty much any day I have fished this year. I am teaching my boys etiquette and the proper ways along with letting other captains know when I feel they are pushing the boundaries. This new culture is running rampant on our lakes today regardless of age. Case in point, we had an older gentleman in a Ranger fly by us within 75ft to fish the point we were fishing on Roberts Saturday. It's just not the high schoolers or tournament anglers!

Stinks to hear that this is going on. Our guys (Arp) really try to do things the right way, from what I understand. I captained one tournament for one of our teams and the other teams on the water were very courteous. I've had nothing but positive interactions with the THSBA stuff so far.

Not gonna argue with a lot of this, I've seen a lot of it. I have captained for both THSBA and SETX events. Both good organizations, but with that said, the size of the fields has gotten out of hand in some of the tournaments, especially on Rayburn, 500 plus teams, give me a break.

I have no horse in the race, I only fill-in or volunteer so kids can particpate, but when you start awarding cash it changes the way people approach the event. I am not sure if I will be back next year as a captain.

Ken good luck on finding those who bend the rules.

I think most of these Captain's aren't tournament anglers, mostly just guys who fun fish when the lake isn't crowded. It's an entirely different world during a big tournament compared to fun fishing on a less crowded lake. These events are no different than a big champs or TTT. Anytime money is involved people get stupid. Take out the money and let's see what happens to participation. If you want a true learning experience, it needs to be all volunteer, no money, no participation trophies, just teaching.

I was a captain last year. I think the problem is the sport has grown so fast and they don't have enough experienced tournament boaters. I have seen ski boats that have a cooler as a live well. The kids will learn right but if the captain does NOT know what tournament etiquette is then how will the kids learn. They need to be taught and maybe next a class in tournament etiquette.

I think the need to teach a required (etiquette) class to all boaters and it does not matter if you are experienced or not. Do it before the school year starts and have them sign something showing that they attended. You have to take a course online to drive a boat now so why not a little etiquette class. It cost nothing and there will be plenty of experienced boaters that would help. There are a lot of good boaters out there but a few just don't know or just don't care.

I fished with Danny Golden this past week and it's crazy the offers he has gotten from some of the parents.

I think Danny would be a good POC

http://nebula.wsimg.com/a400dccf9f023efa...p;alloworigin=1

"All proceeds from tournament entries, sponsorships, membership fees and donations are used for students scholarships that are awarded to the student’s high school and are not awarded to student angler until that said student meets all qualifications of high school graduation and has in place a plan to further his education by the way of college, university or trade school. The only exception to this is general operating expenses needed to put on tournament"

From the link above, this says no money is given out. Is there a side pot or something?

Sad that it has come to this. At least once a month, there are accusations flying about a HS tournament. But it does not surprise me. Anytime kids are involved, whether it be t-ball all the way to varsity sports, this is gonna happen. I am empathetic with the folks who try to run these organizations the right way however. My HS team fishes in both SETX and THSBA and we all have the utmost respect for the folks who run these organizations and their constant battle to keep them afloat amongst the scrutiny and bad mouthing that goes on. Above all, HATS OFF to anyone who serves on these boards and anyone who helps these organizations.

If you observe something on the water that you know to be illegal or an act that violates any rules, report it to the tournament director, it's that simple. Be prepared to be able to identify the accused party by boat #, school, team #, or SOMETHING!! Don't be the guy whining and moaning at the weigh in saying "I saw this and I saw that". If it bothers you so much to whine about it, or post it to a public forum, then please report it! Otherwise, you are just stirring the proverbial "pot" and are just as responsible as the guilty party for blackballing the sport.

When there are as many teams as there are on the water these days, stupidity will happen. Even if only 10%-15% of the field is guilty, that's 40-80 possible boats on a given body of water acting stupid. The sizes of these tourney's are really no different than a TTT or Bass Champs event, it's just that they are happening more often and it has happened so FAST! 60-70% of the fields are novice's at best. While the #'s indicate HS Fishing is "pounding" our lakes, I am almost certain a TTT or Bass Champs event has more impact on the fish than a HS event does.

And as far as the money goes, while were at it let's have UT and Texas A&M quit giving $125,000 scholarships and $5,000.00 stipends to their football players as well. Lets just teach them how to play the game.

It's no different than any other sport in today's world. My wife and I oversee our sons fishing club. It was our first year and I was a captain for my son at every event this year. Overall, every tournament went very well and I thought they were all very well organized. Did I see some things by other teams and boat captains that I didn't think was right, of course. But, high school tournament fishing is based a lot on doing the right thing and honesty by the boat captains and those students competing. There will always be those that cheat in everything in life. It's still a great sport and it gets kids outside and will continue to grow. Ken, Tim, and the entire staff at THSBA do an incredible job and I know they put in a lot of hard work. It's a very well run series I think. I've learned a lot, read and asked a lot of questions regarding tournament fishing. I'm sure most boat captains want to do the right thing and are learning about tournament fishing themselves.

What needs to happen is we all just need to get the names of people trying to cheat and turn them in. If they are doing something unsafe or not following proper etiquette then just talk to them and teach them the right way. If they don't listen or are rude then report them. Some will lie about it but photos or video will tell the truth. Good luck to everyone fishing Ray Roberts this weekend. We have one young man that will be competing and he's very excited since he's a senior and he only got to fish one year.

This is my son's first year and I have captained all the his events. I have noticed very little "cheating", none actually or I would have said something. The only "etiquette" issue I have is when boats are getting too close (of course there is no rule against it in the THSBA rules unless the original boat is anchored). I have to get on my boys occasionally for this too when they really want to get to an area but it is going to cause them to encroach on another boat. I realize it is tough on some lakes like LOP to keep your distance with 230 boats fishing, but in those cases we had very respectful people ask for permission to fish past and we did the same when it was us.

I think a lot of the complaining does come from people on this forum and not from the actual participants. I agree that the majority of the captains are not tournament fishermen and probably don't know the proper etiquette, but they should still get the same opportunities to the lake as all the tournament guys do. I honestly feel that as long as you are not looking for everyone to be in line with B.A.S.S. tournament "etiquette" you probably wouldn't notice any issues during these tournament days. I personally treat it as a day on the boat, with my kid, not at work, and try to just make sure we aren't the ones someone is complaining about. I am not one of the guys searching to find a boat doing something stupid just so I can run the forums and complain about it because I am so smart and experienced.

I just hope THSBA and SETX keep doing what they are doing. My son loves THSBA (and so do I) and my nephew loves SETX (he and his partner were the state champs this year). Great organizations that are doing it for the kids, not for the experienced tournament guys looking for another trail.

No cash at THSBA events with the exception of a captains side pot. Scholarships, product and gift cards for student anglers.

you do NOT want UIL in bass fishing. They would screw it up bad..

Well heck, now I'm offended.


We must of sucked so bad at RR this weekend, that no body even tried to hit us up for info.....

Congrats to the guys that are doing it right, and for the ones that are bending and breaking the rules, I hope you find out that there are consequences to your actions.

Glad to hear that you have cleaned house a bit Ken. Good for you.

I'm sure it want be the last one. Like stated above, we have always kept it private until now.

Ken, you guys do a great job and it's very much appreciated. Some will always cheat but they'll pay for it later in life. I tell my son to try and learn as much as he can on his own because he wants to fish in college. He won't have a boat captain telling where to fish or what to use so it's up to him to learn how to do it now, it'll pay off later.

You are correct, karma is a , well we all know. Thank you for the kind words. I as well as the others have put countless hours into this association and HS fishing in general, it just irritates the you know what out of me and others to see these violations and cheaters. It really gets to us. In general most are good kids and people, just need some guidance from the more experienced boaters and fisherman to groom them the right way.

Hello,

For the Few that are new captains, bystanders or existing captains and reading some of this, please take a breath and understand that hearts are in the right places. Ken seems to wrangle cats and phantom complaints and some tend to jump on the band wagon when this takes place and complaints are posted on line. Ken and the powers to be are extremely open to constructive and productive criticism and things are being put in place to handle these issues in a more effective manner. I have witnessed this myself. With 20 years of experience in Law Enforcement, I will say that rules/laws can only be enforced effectively when the community as a whole takes an active part in that enforcement. When you see a violation of the rules, take note and report it to the TD at weigh in. When you see a blatant safety issue (you fill in the blank), report it immediately, period.

When these complaints are not passed on to the powers that can effect change, then nothing will happen to change that behavior. The rules are not hard to read and they do lay out specific levels of enforcement actions to be taken. When a complaint is brought to the attention of the TD or staff, that complaint has to be investigated properly and fairly. This is not an easy task for anyone in that position if they only have “Your word” as evidence. Take pictures or video, gather witness’s and document what you saw at the time you observed it. We all have smart phones of some sort generally and you can dictate notes to be given to the TD later.
I know there are some that are thinking “well I’m no snitch” and it’s none of my business but doing the right thing should be everyone’s business that is a part of this adventure. My daughter will be competing in two years and I personally will do everything I can to make it a level playing field for her. There are far too many great kids that live for these events and captains that volunteer their time to make this happen! I mean who on here would have given their left nut to have high school bass fishing when we were in high school! Hell I would!

I am not gonna say be patient or things will get better, I will say that actions are being taken to effect positive change in these regards and I am looking forward to my daughter fishing in two years!


Thnx,

Cubby

Please don't lump all high school fisherman into one group.
I myself am a captain for on of the high school teams, and my team is absolutely respectful. I make it a point that the boys do things right from pre fish to tournaments. And I know plenty of others that do the same.

I would like to thank Ken for all he does . The THBA fills a nitche for many youth.

I do like hearing that cheaters names will be made public. I think that that will become a deterrent for cheating it's self.

One of our problems is that we have a bunch of new boaters Mostly parents or relatives buying boats to get their children on the lake and they haven't taken the time to learn the boating laws or etiquette. Another problem is boat captains that try to validate their fishing skills by having their kids win and then you mix in the parents that will do anything to make their kids winners and youth fishermen that have not been given a moral compass yet and you end up with problems.

I personally boat captain because I get the chance to teach our youth to fish. I love to see the look on there faces when they do well in a tournament and know it is because of their hard work. And I like to see their progress as anglers.

My goal is to make them good fishermen not hand them info and let them win. If by some chance they move on to higher brackets they will have there own skill set. And many other captains are the same.

If anyone observes unsafe activity or cheating please report it don't just complain about it. In the long run it will help everybody.

One more thing . Please encourage you team to be friendly and outgoing at the way ins or in general . I see to many kids wound tight and acting like everyone is out to get them. Fishing is supposed to be fun for these youngsters.

Well said sir. I never did like English class as you can probably tell by my punctuation and such in my post. To everyone else, look I get it, we all do, but without the help of more seasoned boat captains and fisherman, these people will not learn the proper ways.

I wasn't in the best of moods when I posted some of the comments earlier. So, I apologize if I said something out of line. Like I said help us help you and the kids.



See you this weekend.

Excellent advice, thank you.

wow that went downhill...

with as fast as the sport has grown there are going to be growing pains. I think Tim and Ken do a great job of running this. I think they are proactive but they can't be every where all the time. Why do you think the police ask for the public's help?
Most of the parents don't own boats so the school has to ask someone to take the kids out and they may have never fished a tournament. When I was a captain I saw somethings like life jacket issues, cutting off another boat stuff like that. I never saw someone cheat but then again I was worried about my kids catching fish. I am glad they have high school fishing and just wished they would have had it when I was in school.
Ken and Tim keep up the good work and if you need any help let me know. I mean that..

Anyone who states that high school bass fishing is the worst thing that has happened in this sport has not seen the positives of it. We as fishermen sit on this site and criticize others for their actions on the water. Some of this is because of their lack of knowledge of the written and unwritten rules on the water and some of it is people purposely cheating. We seem to wrap our world around this sport/competition. In doing so, we do not see the greater picture. I have seen numerous cases where high school kids have gone from wanting to go out with their friends every Friday and Saturday night doing their best to hide their actions from their parents to instead going to the lake every weekend with their dad/mom. These 15-18 boys/girls are actually becoming best friends with their dads/moms while competing in these tournaments. What other school activity does this. I have also seen numerous kids who had no ties to their school other than being forced to attend start caring about their grades and start having a driving force in their lives. This high school fishing that many are bad mouthing because it affects their own personal ability to catch a fish because someone else may be on their spot is transforming lives. However, many of us are too selfish to encourage and promote such activity because it may negatively affect our own hobby time.

I do agree that their are problems. Anytime something new comes about their will be problems and growing pains. Our jobs as adults are to identify the problems in an adult manner and work together to find solutions to the problems. Those who should work together are not just the people running the circuits and the captains. It is also those experienced anglers on the water that see the problems. Those experienced anglers need to positively work with the tournament directors to bring forth the violations of rules and ethics that they see. The question is - are those anglers more willing to take some of the time out of their day on the water to do the right thing or would they rather just go home and sit behind a keyboard?

High school tournaments are not going away. Even if THSBA and SETX did what some of the people on this thread want and shut it down, there is a strong demand and other circuits would start up again and thrive. The demand is there. Therefore, if you have strong feelings about this, then help the situation instead of being an internet antagonist.

How many boats are they expecting?