If your not in the tournament what good does reporting the boat do? There is no law being broken, yes they pulled right up on another boat but as last I checked the rules state you must keep a certain distance away from other tournament boats unless you get consent... nothing about non tournament boats. Was it a sorry move, absolutely.. was there anything illegal, negative.

Bingo

I'm also a boat captain, and I was at this tournament this weekend. I did not have any issues, but in two years this is the first time I have not had some kind of similar issue. I fish a lot of tournaments, and this highshcool deal is by far the worst when it comes to things like this. I'm not sure if it's just a lot of inexperienced fishermen, or people who just want to win at all cost. I take my little nephew and his buddy. My goal at every tournament is to be safe, and for them to have a good time. Catching fish is a bonus. I almost always pre-fish for them, so we usually put several in the boat. I'd like to see them cut these deals back to 100 teams max. I think this one had about 200 teams last I checked. Captains need to put more focus on teaching these kids everything about fishing/boating, and making sure they have a good time! That's just my opinion.

I captained for my son for three years and something similar happened almost every tournament. Worst was when my son and I got to our spot at 3AM in the back of a very narrow creek. Here’s comes an idiot about 30 minutes before first cast and he tries to cut right in front of us. He pulls up beside us with his big motor running and is maybe 6 inches from my boat and I ask him what he’s doing. He tells me they are going in front of me, i tell him that’s not happening. So, this idiots really thinks he’s going to pull right in front of my boat and fish where my son will be fishing. His prop is hitting the bottom it’s so shallow, his boat is about to hit mine, and the other side of his boat is in the brush up against the bank. I told him he was not cutting in front of us and he’d better not touch my boat. It got ugly but he eventually backed up after being stuck. This same boat captain tried to pull similar stuff on others that day also. Most boat captains were good but too many were ridiculous.

I missed one tournament n the 3 years and my sons boat captain witnessed a team going through a no wake zone on plane with both kids up on the front deck. I called the tournament director and gave him all the info, nothing was done about it and it was like I bothered the person by reporting it. I didn’t want the kids to get disqualified but I think the boat captains should be banned. Problem is, then the kids most likely won’t get to fish. Then, there’s the whole fiasco with parents buying their kids success by hiring the top boat captains but that’s a whole other issue.

IMO this whole thread should be moved to the High School Bass Fishing sub-forum. There would be a much better chance of the other participants and tourney officials seeing it, and maybe taking some sort of action. Or, at the least, call out the offender and let him know that his actions were unsportsmanlike and unacceptable

Take a pic or a video and send it to the president of THSBA, I promise that he will, at the very least, make a phone call to the captain and the team advisor.



You think the HS folks don't look at this forum?

I'm sure a lot of them do, but more would probably go to the HS Bass Fishing forum

Lmao! And what is the President going to say to the boat captain? “Sir, though you didn’t violate any laws or rules and I cannot impose any action against you....we had a report from a non tournament boat that you are an inconsiderate person. Shame on you.”

There is a code of conduct that all tournament fishermen should be following that is in the rules. It doesn't say you should only follow this with other tournament fishermen.
Years ago, I called the owner of Anglers Choice with a grievance against one of his anglers. Apparently the angler had a history of being a douche to EVERYONE on the water. I was asked to write down the event and send it to him so I did. He forwarded it to the guys sponsors and the dominos began to fall.

I think I probably would have taught the kids some new words that they had never heard before and the boat captain would have probably got the hint. Never pass up an opportunity to shape the minds of Americas youth lol.

He just taught them to recognize the bent pole pattern. Heck I know grown men willing to fish with high schoolers just to get ahead of the learning curve.

I have captained a grand total of one tournament, on Hubbard. So, very limited experience. But, what I noticed was that around 75% of the boats and boat captains were a train wreck. Many had no clue how to load or unload, no etiquette, tournament or otherwise. However, I kept thinking how great it was that the kids and the adults were doing something outdoors, weren't playing video games, stealing, drugs, etc. yes, many were lost, but generally, everyone was nice and polite. We had no issues and there were approximately 250 boats that day. I have older boys who played other sports and didn't HS fish, and I have two young ones who I hope fish in HS. Seems that more time should be spent with sponsors, parents, boat captains, and the kids to teach them the etiquette of tournament fishing. As I have limited experience, how much training is done at that level??? Even my 20 year old gets "reminders" from me when he casts behind the boat, casts too far out front, front ends me too often, etc. etc. and he's grown up fishing and fishing tournaments with me. 'Course, his biggest reminder is when he doesn't dive for the net when I have a GIANT 2 pounder!

Right again

Yep. One time in a high school tournament, I saw a team running the big motor with the kids up on the deck and no life jackets and called them in to the tournament director. I was told unless we had it on video there wasn't anything they could do about it.

Is this like unwritten rules in baseball or something lol.