There's actually a THSBA rule that says if you see someone breaking a rule, you are required to turn them in or you can be disqualified. I personally don't like the rule. I'm just pointing it out.

Again. I think they should have said something if they saw it. Not document. If the other team was fishing, they�d have been too busy to look at other teams. Of course, they were probably looking to see what the other team was using for presentations. Looking for bent poles.

I totally disagree with teaching kids to snitch. It teaches them the WRONG life lessons. �Rely on self be truth!� Ring a bell?

I think the emphasis should be placed on getting everyone to follow the rules and rewarding the followers. This rewards the kids for �policing� others. This kind of infraction on the rules should be rewarded with a weight penalty, not a DQ.

We had a team that has made two accusations of other teams cheating, both reported to the tournament directors. One accusation was against me and my son, a total lie. Never said a word to me or my son, pure cowards. Same team has their local pro boat captain, never pre fish a tournament, they just show up tournament day. One dad even has a boat but it�s not about fishing, it�s about placement. That and accusing others of cheating.

I�ve enjoyed it because I�ve spent three years fishing with my son, both of us learning a lot. But, glad to be about done with the childish BS. I�m not saying enforcing safety rules should be ignored. But, the parents and the BS stuff that goes on is crazy.

THSBA is in a tough situation on this one though. It�s a rule and they have gone above and beyond on emphasizing the importance of it and that it would be strictly enforced. They have published numerous posts about it on social media and I really think they had no choice. They�ve done a good job I think, it�s just such a fast growing sport and only getting bigger and they are dealing with thousands of crazy parents.

I agree with you. I've seen teams on the water running the big motor without lifejackets. If I can, I motor over to them and tell them they need to get lifejackets on. I've seen kids breaking other rules and I've done the same thing. I see a ton of rules broken at every tournament, but I have never turned anyone in. I don't like the narc rule because, like you, I think it teaches the kids the wrong thing.

My team was the team in 1st place that was dq�d as well. Ours was a violation of the no information rule and our boat captain being on the water past 7pm on Friday night. The info rule was 100% my fault. At work this week I overheard a couple of guys talking about how the tires at Lewisville were on fire. Not really thinking about it I told them that I had a tournament out there April 6th, and love to fish the tires out there and we had a conversation about how we both like to fish them. So, practice day we rolled over there mid day after not doing much in hickory, and boom, the third tire we come to my partner lands a 6 pounder so we left and headed up the lake looking for more areas to fish for tourney day. As the day went on we really didn�t find anything else, so our plan was to fish the tires in the morning. But, when we were at the meeting I remembered that the no info rule 2 weeks prior to the tournament made that info illegal. Even though I really wasn�t seeking info i was dumb and wasn�t thinking and kept the conversation going. What really bothered me was the fact that the info I got was about a community hole and I spot that I fish for at least 2 hours every time I go to Lewisville. So in the morning we started on the tires and landed a small keeper pretty quickly and our confidence was high. As the day went on a nasty storm blew in and we took shelter in a marina slip and waited the storm out. The funny thing is we were about to leave the marina and head to the dam when the storm blew in, but when the storm ended we decided to fish the tires one more time on the way out, and that�s when we caught 3 of our 5 fish. So we decided just to grind it out fishing the tires because we didn�t have anything to run to that we thought we could catch them in. Little did I know, when it was all said and done we were sitting in 1st place with just over 20lbs. My captain came over to me and asked if I broke any rules that I knew of, and my heart dropped because I remembered the info I got illegally earlier that week. I told him and he said he didn�t think they would care about that because I was at work and I wasn�t openly seeking info. That was the first thing that got us in trouble, it was a hard lesson but I am clearing all of this up to take full responsibility for what I did. Not saying that I totally agree with the rule or the way it was enforced but I don�t want to open up that can of worms. The 2nd rule that we violated was our captain being out on the water last 7pm Friday night. This was because we had mandatory meeting to go at 7pm that night to receive our AOY trophies and get the rules for the next day. He called me at 6:45 and said he was going to be late to the meeting because he was about to put his boat on the trailer and the ramp was farther from the location of meeting that he thought. Then he said neverrmind I�ll just beach the boat in the park and walk up there to watch you get your trophies, take some pics then hear the rules and drive back to the ramp and put the boat on the trailer. And since he left after the meeting I�m sure it looked suspicious and especially when we came in 1st the following day so I can�t blame anyone for thinking that we were cheating. I don�t post on here much but I really just wanted to clear things up, we did NOT intentionally cheat and I don�t want to be referred to as a cheater: Also, I can�t blame thsba for disqualifying us, we broke the rules and they have every right to dq us. Again, not saying I completely agree with everything but I can�t argue that what happened didn�t look suspicious. My partner and I have had a great thsba career fishing all 4 years with the same captain, winning AOY this year and winning the Ray Hubbard event earlier this year. I hate that it all came to an end this way but we know what really happened out there regardless of what some may think, and that�s good enough for me. I have been getting texts left and right from people wondering what happened so I just figured I�d put this out for everyone. Thanks.

Is the �2 week no info� rule common, other tournament series have this rule? Just fished a BASS tournament and I see no such rule, only the 30 day guide rule. What are you supposed to do, turn yourself in if you hear something, stay home and not go out in public, or get on the internet?The fact that you can get a different local pro for each separate lake but can�t get any info for two weeks is ridiculous, at least to me it is.

Thats a rule at the pro tour level also and been that way for a long time.

Kinda- SETX HS Fishing Assoc. But personally I think SETX info rule makes a lot more sense. Can't purchase or barter for information, nor hire a guide within 15 days of the tourney. Cannot receive information other than public info from anyone who was on tournament waters during the "off-limits".(Sunday evening sunset until safe light Friday morning official practice).

Makes way more sense.

Everybody makes mistakes. Learn from them. Keep your head up.

I�m curious...was the boat captain not in the boat on an official practice day?

Not a requirement.

So why have them on tournament day?

I think it's worth pointing out that this is the 2nd polygraph trouble that your boat captain has had. He had some problems at the Wednesday night joe pool event championship polygraph and wasn't allowed to fish those events anymore. I believe his name is Jason May.

On official practice day? I thought the same rules were in effect on official practice days as tournament day except boat captain could fish on official practice day which isn�t allowed during regional or state tournament.

I guess my question would be if you have a boat why is another guy the boat captain? I know why this is common in our club but know there are a few circumstances where it might be needed.