$750 has been the entry "per school" in all SETX events in the past 3 years, whether the team has 2 kids or 80 kids. Entry fees per team are $40 per tournament. Team memberships will change this year as SETX is moving to $50 per kid/year with a $500 minimum per school. THSBA fees are very comparable to these as well. For less than $400 a year, a kid can fish both trails. That is a total of 10 tourneys, with the possibility of 2 more with THSBA and 1 more with SETX. So there is the possibility of 13 tourneys. I hope that clears up the fee question.

As for captains being "unethical", I think when you are talking about the sheer numbers, it is unavoidable. I don't care what kind of tournament it is, anytime you get that many boats, it is merely the law of averages. THSBA and SETX go to extraordinary lengths to first insure safety for its competitors and captains. I have been on the lake countless times and witnessed these type behaviors without a tournament taking place anywhere. Just like with anything, ignorance can be frustrating. We do have captains who start with us every year who have NEVER fished in a competitive tournament. A lot must be learned quickly and yes, sometimes those captains are not the best role models for teaching our kids ethics on the water, but you cant blame a man for wanting to help his kids get involved in something. So yes, we must do a better job of educating our captains and letting them know some of the unwritten rules of the water. It will help most definitely, but don't look for instant miracles. HS Fishing in Texas is still in its infancy right now and growing pains are unavoidable. Thanks to all involved!

I have boat captained at these events from the beginning way back. I have seen a lot of different issues at every one. That being said I have to tell myself that a lot of the boat captains them selves are not experienced they are just family members or friends of the family trying to get they're kids out on the water. Although this is not an excuse for rude behavior or actions. I try to when I can mention to people that there actions are not correct and let them know the correct way and most of the time they are nice about it and say they will correct their actions ( not all the time though.

For the most part every one does a great job when you consider you are putting that many boats on the water.

I do think it would help to have a few boats on the water that strictly look for things like that. After a few disqualifications maybe some would learn the on the water etiquette.

Good point Fouz. It is not "tournament etiquette". It's "on the water/anytime etiquette"

I captain in many of the high school tournaments and I also fish tournaments myself on the local lakes. When we are captaining these high school tournaments and we see people without proper etiquette we like to blame it on the fact that it is captains who are new to tournaments and that they just don't know any better. However, some of the captains I see doing this are some of the same people I see doing the same things in the adult tournaments. I imagine that these people are just so competitive that they will do whatever they think they need to do to win or they are just completely inconsiderate people. This is not a fishing problem, this is a society problem. This is the "state of mind" of our society. These are the same people that act the same way driving on public roads, in other sporting events, and in the business world. It's not a fishing problem, its a society problem.

I also agree there is etiquette problems with HS captains. I've been fishing Rayburn nunneries times where there's a HS tournament. Boats running too close to you on plane, coming towards you with their trolling motor when you catch a fish, cutting you off while going down the bank of a cove, etc. Granted, it's a small percentage of the total number, but it's only going to get worse if it's not addressed.

I've also seen (and got videos) of kids being on the front deck or in the front seat a boat is on plane. I'm sure there's plenty of times when they aren't abiding by the PFD rules. As said above, this is where there needs to be a few I identified "officials" on the water documenting this type stuff that leads to DQ. That's the only way it will stop is to make an example out of a few.

Exactly... I have seen a few "super dads" with younger kids in their boats do the same thing to me. Not a good example for them as well. And its not even a situation where you kind of look at each other and say "my bad", "I wasn't sure". Its blatant and just rude as heck. Like someone else had previously posted, i just pull up the trolling motor and move on.

Fouz, geofisher.... You are correct. I should have worded it differently. On the water etiquette would be a better topic. I'm not complaining, I didn't get worked up, and I didn't say anything because there were kids on the boat during all three occasions of this happening to me. Not worth it to make even more of a bad example to a kid. I just wanted to make a statement so these schools will maybe look into having a class to teach these people.

Yes whatsweighin...cutting people off, fishing all around them, and if you can read a mans shirt.....your to close. Tournaments have rules about how close you can be....however common sense means if you get in an area and a boat is already going down a bank, don't get in front of em by 40' and drop the trolling motor. Just a few things that will help.

Obviously there are some that don't know or don't care about on the water etiquette in all tournament trails. If your're one of the ones that would like some instruction on that topic, head over to Fun N Sun on October 29th. These special seminars are the brain child of Monte Reagan working with the THSBA to hopefully help things go much smoother on the water.

As far as the fees for the THSBA, the membership is $30 per student. We do not have a minimum membership fee per team. If you have 2 students, it's $60. If you have 30 students, it's $900. You must be a member of SAF for the insurance and that cost is $25 per student. Entry fees are $50 per boat, per tournament. If you fish in all 5 of your division tournamnets and make both the Regionals and Championship, your looking at $230 per student for the entire season.

My students in Bullard are responsible for their membership fees, jersey and hat = $120 for the year. Our club pays for all tournament entry fees and hotel costs for the entire season for the students and boat captains, as we are fortunate to have great sponsors. We do encourage them to at least offer to help their boat captains with gas money at each tournament.

I've found that each schools fishing club dues vary widely. We have friends that have a son at a school that fishes the SETX Series. It's their sons first year to be in their schools fishing club and they have already paid $1000 for their son. They paid $700 for all of his fees, membership dues then $300 for jersey, practice jersey, cap, etc. I dnt know what all the money went to but that's what his mom told me they had to pay. We are a brand new club who is trying to set up sponsors so money wise we aren't able to pay our students tournament fees yet but it's something we want to do in the future. $1000 is ridiculous and excludes too many students.

As far as boat captains, as already stated, with numbers these large any event will have their percentage of people who don't obey the rules. Some don't know better, some don't care. If I'm breaking the rules I hope someone points it out because I am not doing it on purpose. Education can be done professionally and politely and everyone will benefit.

C130,

I still don't understand where the the $1000 is coming from? SETX does not charge $1000 a kid. SETX charges $50 per kid for membership fees starting this year. If your team has less than 10 kids, then its a flat $500 fee.

Now last year, that number was $750 per school, whether you had 1 kid or 80 (Which encouraged clubs to bring in more members) To say you don't fish with SETX because of its numbers is understandable, but to make it look like they are charging $1000 a kid is unfair because I know that is not true. There may be a total of 1 or 2 kids out of 1200 whose parents paid the $750 per school fee in the past 3 years so their kids could fish with SETX because their school could not put together a club. That is not the fault of SETX. So please do explain the "$1000 is rediculous" statement. Someone gave you some very bad information. There is also a rule that allows a kid to "seek" out another club if possible to keep them from having to pay so much to join and being a "1 man team". One kid can fish with SETX for $50 membership, $100 entries for the year ($120 if they make champ) and $25 for insurance thru TBF or BASS. This excludes any fees the kids may be charged by their own club. That is less than $200! and only $150 to SETX for an entire year of fishing. But yes, if that kid is "BY HIMSELF" and is the lone representative, he/she will have to pay the $500 team minimum.

There are a lot of people who have worked very hard to make HS fishing a possibility in our area and are sensitive to bad information, which is what you have been given.

I'm just telling you what that particular parent told me they had to pay to their school. I'm almost positive this is an established club that is not new this year but I'm not 100%. After calling several schools and researching I've found they fees per student vary by quite a bit. Of course sponsorship affects the prices a lot, something we are working on. Our issue with sponsorship is getting a bank account set up in the clubs name. If anyone has suggestions please feel free to contact me. We are an "after school" club so we don't get any help form the school besides the faculty advisor who volunteers her time to help.

I'm in no way bashing the SETX Bass Association. I did not know they got rid of the flat fee which is one reason why we didn't join the SETX Association, we couldn't afford it as a new club. I just couldn't believe the fees they had to pay. Maybe the mom was mistaken but she told me the two checks she had written. They seemed to have a lot of gear with several jerseys, t-shirts, etc. We placed orders also for t-shirts, chaos, towels but they were all optional. That alone can increase the price by quite a bit. Maybe that's for their hotels also, I don't know the breakdown. Thanks for the clarification.

I just wanted you to know those fees are not the norm for SETX. Like I said, I can think of one or 2 times where a parent has shelled out the $750 in the past 3 years so their one kid or team could fish because they had no school club. That is obviously not our desire, but it has happened. We would rather see the kid involved in a club. I do know there are some schools that ask their members to pay up front to help offset jersey costs, hats, and even entry fees for the year. I just cant imagine that number being over 200 bucks. If it is, then that is a problem.

The best advice I can give a club is to establish your own booster club. Get your parents involved in fundraising. Borrow some by laws from other established school booster clubs and insert your booster club name. Establish your club as a 501-c3 non profit (That will cost you some money at first, but it will pay off later) In most districts, booster clubs can hold as many fundraisers as they want and are NOT limited by school policy (which is usually 1 per semester and must be approved by administration) A team of 15-20 kids and 10-15 parents can raise 10K a year with minimal effort by selling raffle tix, sandwiches, car washes, yardwork. The team at my school has not payed an SETX entry fee in 2 years, which helps parents out with lodging, gas, etc. Our boosters write one check to pay for all entries at each tournament. PM me if you need any help with anything, I will be glad to help.

100% Agree

I experienced this last weekend myself, caught an 8 lb fish and within 5 minuted had a boat of Jr anglers and captain come right on top of us. Close enough that I could hit their boat with a normal cast. I opted to not take issue, these were Jr Anglers in a club tournament... wasnt upset at the kids at all, my issue was with the boat captain that allowed it all to happen.

Unfortunately teaching kids about sportsmanship and enjoying the outdoors is not a priority to a lot of tournament guys. I've heard more than one story this week. I've been on LOP fishing this week and have run into more than one with the same story