why would you not only choose to go fishing on a small lake with the FLW cup going on and then refuse to share a schooling fish area with a contestant who is fishing for $300,000. and an opportunity for a career changing win...according to the FLW website a local was sitting on a spot when one of the pros got there....the pro asked politely if he could fish there and the local refused to let him...

got to believe not having to deal with spectator boats/local fisherman is one of the reasons the pros prefer the major league fishing format...

Because some people in this world are just pricks.

Why are some people “nice” and others are [censored]......I mean “not nice”? IDK

Yep.

The way of life.

Yesterday i amd a friend were fishing Grapevine.

We seen several wrapped boats fishing the banks around us. We had been catching them steady for several hours in 40 foot of water.
We told both boats that got within talking range they were welcome to fish in the same spot. We were on a mega school of 5 pound bass and above.
They never got close. They never talked to us. Totally ignored us. When the fish stopped biting we went to the other hump in the middle of the lake to fish. They had moved about 300 yards. Or it was a second school of the same size fish. What we did see is that after we left a area they would converge on the spot. Sorry guys we were using spot lock and casting to a juice spot . Hope ypu found them bitting.

Need more information to make a judgment here, but let's assume the local only gets to fish a couple of times a year and has his father/son/ or maybe fading grandfather out for a last trip. Was he wrong? Would the pro be willing to share the spot, or is he asking the guy to leave?

Was fishing the TX shootout on Rayburn and watched a guy in a jon boat next to me put a lunker on ice while fishing with live bait . I got the the ole stare down you are to close look while another one was being put on ice.

I agree with outfishdya. I love fishing Clearlake in CA but at most I only get there a couple times a year so I put a high premium on my time on the water there. One early morning we were sitting on one of favorite spots that does not typically draw much attention and we're whacking some good fish. We usually try to plan our trip around the advertised tournament schedule, but that year we knew there was a fairly large one going on. We are about 45 minutes into the bite when a wrapped boat comes idling up and says, "We are fishing for money so we need you guys to slide on out of here." My partner and looked at each other in amazement. Did he really just say that? The next thing one of them said was, "We found this spot yesterday and left to let it reload and now we're back." My partner looked at them and said, "We don't NEED to do anything. If you had any manners at all we would have been willing to let you pull right on in. If you try it now you're going to be too busy dealing with us to win any money." After a little more discussion they decided to move on and we went back to catching fish.
Later that day, we checked our best-five against the tourney results and we would have easily won. If they would not acted so entitled they might have won it on that spot but their arrogance cost them.
I agree that some people are just pricks.

That’s a tough question to answer with the pro coming in on the angler and not vice versa. Personally I would leave and let him have it because I’m a supporter and participant of tournament fishing but I can’t expect everyone to be of the same mindset. Some folks just like fishing and are not fans of tournament fishing. Based on the original post I can’t say the boater is in the wrong.

If they politely asked, I would have moved and given them the spot. That is how they earn their living along with their sponsorship. Common courtesy.

Yep ! Politely ask and not be a prick golfer that couldn't hack it on the golf coarse.

I think the FLW trailers, TV camera, banners, people and all the wrapped boats might give a hint there is an event going on that is on that small lake. There are some other nearby lakes and if I wanted to fish I would probably hit one of those.

How big does a tournament have to be for its participants to claim/deserve right of way on a lake? Asking for a friend...


Edit: And I'm not talking legally, just in the court of public opinion. Again, for a friend...

I don't think anyone is claiming right of way, I think the tournament guy just asked politely, was turned down and moved on. I have moved for guys in local events and would have no issues moving for a pro if they asked nicely and did not roll up on it and start fishing etc.

Edited my initial question right before your response--sorry Mark!

That's quite nice of you Mark. Is that what you expect from everyone else, and if they fall short of that, feel they need to be discussed on the TFF?