you can really tell the men from the boys on a post like this.

Hunters 1
Fishermen 0

sportsman 0

One of the guys at the FOM weigh in said the game warden told them they had to be 300 yards away from the hunters.

Shotgun pellets go about 200 yards so 300 yards is probably about right. Funny to me how everybody gets very possessive of PUBLIC water. This happens when you fun fish too, tourney people want you out of their way. If someone is in your area before you, hunter, fisherman, jet ski, pleasure boat, just go fish some where else. Pretty simple solution, be nice!

Funny how the person doing the "bashing", as you put it, is a warden in the state of Texas. He has an impeccable reputation, is a good guy and also is an avid outdoorsman.


I bet Heath isn't "bashing", just speaking the truth and sometimes the truth hurts

Years ago on Fork we were fishing a Honey Hole big BASS tournament and pulled into the cove next to 2926 (s.e. corner were Vals used to be)....there were a cple of duck hunters on bank with a few decoys we never noticed until they fired over our heads. I told brother-in-law to leave and he said he'll no it's not their lake. They fired over us a second time and I ordered him to get out or I was going to lay in floor of boat. He turned around and caught an over of almost 9lbs at the mouth of the cove as we were leaving. Cashed a nice check and he owed it all to those hunters running us out.....lol.

Not bashing at all and didn't mean for it to come across that way if it did. I deal with duck hunters and fishermen on a daily basis and show no partiality to either. I've been a boat captain for high school tournaments for the last 4 years except for this year as our school didn't have any kids wanting to fish. The incident I was talking about happened on Lake Bob Sandlin a couple of years ago. I believe high school fishing has done lots of great things for the sport, but it would be false to say there aren't some negative aspects. Inexperienced captains who may not know better or captains who have a win at all cost mentality who do things like encroach on hunters, cut other fishermen off, don't make the kids wear life jackets, etc are teaching kids the wrong way to do things. I'm a huge supporter of high school fishing and have spoken at many high school team meetings and always try and stress the importance of following some of the "unwritten rules" of tournament fishing like not intentionally cutting someone off, fishing too close to someone, etc. I especially try and stress this to the teams who I am affiliated with and have my business logo on their boat or jersey. Not only are they representing themselves and their school, but also the companies with whom they are associated.

These issues aren't specific to high school tournaments. But every random issue thread get high school tournament mentions. Just look at the squaw threads on here, people of all ages and level have lost all courtesy.

In all likelihood, the inexperienced captains are the most courteous, it's the seasoned veterans that are doing these things in other tournaments and bringing it to their high school kids tournament.

I didn�t take what Heath said as bashing high school fishing. The other comment, yes. But not Heath�s comment. Heath was in fact stating the truth about what a boat captain did on Bob Sandlin and that incident was reported and was turned over to the proper authorities for them to handle.

Heath is a good dude who has helped several kids in our tournaments. And honestly, I like having a game warden or two at our events and very much welcome their feedback.

And here is some good news: our fish care numbers are off the charts this season, however, even with that, we are having 3 live release tanks built in the very near future so we can have a live release tank at every event the THSBA conducts, which will be 49 for the 2019-2020 season.

I am not a member of this thread and I'm using a friend's access to post this. First let me say that I do fish and I also hunt. I am the hunter that was in Old Folks on Palestine trying to hunt Saturday morning. In spite of the poor duck season this year, I was set up with decoys out about 5:30 that morning. About 7:00 I started hearing bass boats that seemed to be coming from the Villages. I didn't know there was a tournament that morning or I would likely have hunted Pines or Fork. Several boats came into the cove I was hunting, but they trolled along and were about 50 to 60 yards from me. Not ideal for my duck hunting, but I can deal with that. However, 2 boats came in and set up within 30 yards of me. I'll add that decoys were out, I did not have my blind on my boat up, and it was quite obvious we were duck hunting. One boat dropped his trolling motor on the very edge of my decoys right in front of me. I had actually set the decoys closer to my boat than usual and told my son I should have set them further out. The boat dropped its trolling motor and then moved about 10 feet beyond my decoys. The problem was I had 2 boats, one about 30 yards from me and the other within 25 yards of me and both stayed stationary and didn't move along. I waited and when they didn't move on we made sure they knew we were there and they still stayed. I called the local game warden, who I am familiar with, and told him what was going on. Just so happens he was already on the lake and said he would be there in about 10 minutes. When I got off the phone I proceeded to inform the guys fishing in the immediate area that I was there first and what they were doing was considered hunter harassment. I asked them to leave the area and warned them a warden would be there in about 10 minutes or so and it would be in their best interests to leave the area. They didn't. I'm sure they thought it was a bluff. Warden there in 10 minutes? He going to drop out of a helicopter or something? Well, about 10 minutes later here came 2 wardens in a boat with a small mud motor. He went to each boat and informed them they needed to clear the area and why. Everyone complied, although a couple of them grudgingly. One kept asking the warden what the law was on the matter and the warden had to keep repeating himself. No one was ticketed. And I'll add that I saw none of them catch any fish in the area. I stayed about another hour, picked up the decoys and left. As I was leaving boats started moving back in. The warden did what he was supposed to do. As a fisherman and duck hunter I don't get upset about a bass boat trolling by me while hunting as long as they keep moving along. I'm glad to see them on the lake as it helps keep ducks moving.....provided there are any ducks. But it is extremely discourteous what these guys did Saturday morning in old folks, especially 2 of these teams. It was a blatant disregard for someone else's privilege to be on the lake as a duck hunter. Duck season is November through January and I've been hunting on some very cold mornings and see bass fishermen on the lake. I give those guys kudos. I've had a few fishing that didn't see me, but most are courteous. I called the game warden and I would do it again without hesitation. If you are going to be on the lake, know the laws that might pertain to you.....whether you are fishing, hunting, etc. I'm almost 64 and have mellowed with age so I decided to let the warden handle the situation. As someone posted, fishing rods are not very effective against shotguns. Not only that, my duck boat is like a tank and my mud motor doing donuts in the cove would not have helped fishing in the area. To those of you on here who understand the law and are supportive of doing the right thing, I thank you. And to those who think otherwise and believe the lake belongs to them alone...�well, not much to say, except be glad I called the warden. If there had been ducks flying in the area and we started shooting it could have been interesting. Now that duck season is over maybe I'll see you on the lakes fishing. Good luck and be safe.

You had my full attention and empathy until you posted the bs I highlighted in red. If you had done that, you'd be no better than those who were harassing you.

Fouzman, I agree with you and would not do those things. I didn't and would not do them and it would be worse than hunter harassment. My point is that some folks were faulting me for calling a warden and even indicated it was pre-planned. It was not planned and tried to be level-headed about the whole thing. I know Old Folks is a good fishing area. If I knew about the tournament I would have gone to another lake that morning.

I really don't see what's so difficult about this thread......

If you come across hunters set up, give them space and respect. If your hunting and someone is already fishing where you wanna hunt, give them space and respect too. I was brought up duck hunting in Arkansas and fishing, so I know both sides. But it all boils down to RESPECT on both sides. It's not that dang hard to understand.

Im trying to teach my kids this now when they are in the boat with me. Because I want to know later down the road when they start doing it more on their own, they show others the same respect they want on and off the water.

I struggle more with game remotes than respect from them though!

I would have called the warden, too. You did the right thing.