If you witness a rule violation do you report it to the director. I'm not talking pulling fish out of a basket or another boat putting fish in a different boats live well or using blue gill for bait. To me that's cheating I'm thinking you see a guy in the tournament sit in his seat start and engage motor starts getting on pad and stops because he forgot to put on his life jacket. Or culls a fish that you see is floating but your not close enough to see if its dead. He leaves you go over and the fish has no color like its been dead awhile. Or maybe you see a guy open his live well and yell at his partner we have 6 fish in here. I'm talking the mishaps or questionable call that could happen from getting in a hurry or an honest mistake. Do you consider these rule violations cheating?

Those are rule violations. Cheating is a concious effort to defraud.

I would probably say something on the 6 fish in the livewell to the Team.

This^

and no I don't , I'm not the Barney Fife type. I don't care if a guy makes an absent minded mistake.

petro and all others I threw in that last question because I get the imprecision at times that some of the people on the forum here feel that rule violations is cheating.

I agree. I am usually worried about fishing more than gawking at what other boats are doing. You ever notice how easily people forget the guys that come in and self report a violation they made? I cannot count the number of times I have seen guys come in and admit a mistake they made even though it could have went undetected easily. Way more honest folks out there than some want to give credit for.
I still say most rumors of cheating are started by guys that will not face the people they are accusing. Its all done in whispers and backstabbing.

Yep, I have no interest in whinning

I enter tournaments to compete and try to win. That takes up all my time and energy. I don't devote my fishing time worry about what others are doing. I've learned there are more than enough "busy bodies" out there to "police" the field.

There are very few people that cheat and defraud others. On the other hand, there are many more peope that like to mind the business of others....

Couple of years ago in the Bkeeter Tournament I left the ramp and ran about 300 yds. had forgot to put life vest on. Just took the wife around and she fished ask the tournament director when we came in at the end of the day if I was DQd for Sunday. He said if I had came in right away that morning and reported I could have fished that day.

I think most of those rules violations are a joke, if you sign a waiver stating that the organization hosting the tournament is not liable for anything then what the hell, who gives a damn if someone forgets to put a life jacket on or connect the kill switch, the tourney is to decide who is the best fisherman not the safest driver.

In my book their are 3 different kind of rule infractions:

1) things done intentionally to give them an advantage in the tournament which could result in taking money out of my pocket. (Fishing before official start time, using live bait, culling a dead fish, etc)
2) actions done intentionally that probably won't make a difference in the outcome of the tournament (fishing off limits areas, fishing too close to another tournament boat, etc)
3) bonehead mistakes that are accidentally made that have no effect on the outcome of the tournament (forgetting to put life jacket on, having an expired fishing license, having a 6 pack of beer in the boat, etc)

The only category that I'm going to report to a tournament director is #1. You better believe if I do see it that I will say something. #2 and #3 have no effect on the outcome of the tournament so I don't care.

With that said, I very rarely pay enough attention to another boat to see anything that goes on. I'm more likely to notice a bonehead mistake like a guy not having his life jacket on than any of the other infractions.

That's the way I see it.... With exception to fishing in OFF limits area .. I have seen fish caught that would make a difference.

I see what you did there Borden.

Question that has to be asked as said above. Could it effect the outcome of the tourney? If so, then it should be reported

Rules are in place for two reasons:

1. To try and keep everyone on the same playing field so no one angler(s) has an unfair advantage over another. ie. more than one pole, trolling with the big motor, on the water during off limits, live bait, etc etc.
2. Safety rules. These are in place to not only protect the angler(s), which is important, but to ultimately protect the organization putting on the event as well as the individuals running the event.

If you think about it every angler has committed a rule violation at some point during a tournament. The rules that are most commonly broken are the safety rules. Like starting the engine before your partners life jacket is secured. Driver not sitting down in the seat or started engine while life jacket not on or even zipped or it is all done in unison, an extra beer is left in the cooler, that was missed. The one that is broken most often is the communication rule. How many have used a cell phone during a tourney? I will guarantee that you most likely you were in violation of the communication rule. The question is how is the rule written? Earlier tourney's prohibited devices period. Now, a lot of the rules state for the purpose of locating fish.

The safety rules are to protect you and the organization. They do not give one an advantage over another and do not affect the outcome of the tournament.

Cheating is attempting to effect the outcome of the tournament, successful or not.

So take all the tourney rules and place them in two columns, Can effect and Cannot Effect. If it falls into the Can effect column then it should be reported.

Some rules have to be broken down a tad bit further. Here is a good one:

Consumption and/or possession of alcoholic beverages or any mind-altering substance during tournament hours extending through the weigh-in procedure. I will bet everyone has violated the possession rule. Don't limit it to just alcohol, what about over the counter drugs, like allergy medication, that can be mind altering. Its in your pocket. Ooops!

Can the possession of alcohol have an effect on the outcome, No. Can consumption, yes.

Fishing license:

Can it effect the outcome, No. Is it a rule violation, yes. Whom will know if an angler has his/her fishing license? The Angler will know and probably the only one to know. Unless you win a big event like we did in Bass Champs. The first thing they asked from both of us was our DL and fishing license. The rule usually reads that "contestant must have a valid fishing license" I have a lifetime hunting and fishing license. It is valid because its lifetime, but could be invalid because I did not get it renewed so that all the information on the license is for the current year.

It is each angler's responsibility to police our sport, so if you feel that the infraction has gained the angler an advantage over you or any other angler(s), then you should report it, whether you have fish in the well or not.