Clint - I understand this more than you can probably comprehend. I am one of the founders of the circuit that he was captaining in. I am still involved in it at a very high level. I have tournament fished for about 30 years and I have taught law classes for 18 years. This is a situation that we have had to deal with numerous times. The lakes in this area have a lot of creeks that get very narrow and shallow because of siltation and then open up again as you get farther upstream. Numerous times we have had captains call us while on the water waiting for start time to complain about other boats trying to go around them and get in front of them. When we do our investigation by talking to both captains we usually find out that the original caller is sitting in the narrow part of the creek to block all others from being able to get into the creek so they can have the creek all to themselves. This is clearly an illegal practice and against the rules. We then have to notify the original caller that they have to allow the other boats to access the area's and cannot block it, or they themselves may be the ones who gets their team dq'ed. I assure you, I have a complete understanding.

These threads always devolve to the same place. I have been a captain for a high school team going on 5 years now. I can count the number of negative interactions I have had on one hand in all those years. And the few negative interactions that I have seen have all been with captains that fish adult tournament trails on a regular basis. People that should know better. Honestly, other than the few newbie ramp issues it's exactly the same stuff you see at almost every adult tournament. The captains that cause issues at the high school level are the same ones cutting you off and acting the fool in the adult tournaments. Disqualifications and bans through the years have proven that fact. The fact is that you are going to deal with some idiots and inconsiderate fools at all levels of tournament fishing. That's just the sad reality. I do my best to teach the kids that fish with me that you have to learn how to respond in a positive way to the negative stuff if you ever want to be successful. You have to shake it off and move on. Can't let it ruin your day and you can't blame one guy cutting you off as the reason you didn't do well.

In my experience reading threads about high school fishing on this forum compared to my actual experience of being a captain are like night and day. Nothing is perfect, but through the years my dealings with the high school fishing program have overall been overwhelmingly positive.

Again he stated he was at the back of the creek arm, meaning (as I take it) he was more that likely anchored at a suitable distance to allow his kids to cast at the back of the creek. Rest assured I fully comprehend that your 30 years of tournament fishing (compared to my 30 years of tournament fishing) and teaching law classes for 18 years (I've had attorneys working for me for over 20 years) gives you some assumed insight (doesn't mean you're correct) on the situation. My son participated in THSBA events from his freshman year to his senior year (I captained) and enjoyed some success while doing so. You and I can go back and forth on this forever. Still doesn't change the fact that you asked a stupid question.

I agree there is no need to go back and forth with you. You don’t seem to be able to read between the lines.

I just don't seem to imply. You have a good evening.

So, I read your response to Clint also and you are 100% wrong. It didn’t open up to a wider area so you are just assuming it did which you are incorrect. But, nice assumption. I know the rules of boating pretty well since I’ve been going out in a boat myself since I was 15 and I’m 52 now. I also spent just about every year prior to me turning 15 boating with my dad so I’ve been doing it for a while. I also knew every rule of the THSBA if that’s the organization you were referring to as helping start. I’m one to follow the rules and have been in a career for well over 30 years that has as many or more rules and regulations as any in the world.

If you want to know the exact details I’ll be glad to explain them to you. I do know the other boat captain violated THSBA rules along with state rules operating in an unsafe manor. If you think it’s acceptable to pull in front of me at the end (end as in my son could cast to the bank at the end) of a creek where my son would be casting then maybe you need to read the rules you helped implement. My power poles were down and there was no room for another boat to get by, plain and simple. Let’s just say my boat is 7 feet wide and their boat was the same, the creek channel wasn’t 14 feet wide, so is that okay and legal? My cell is 832-767-8890. Scott Prichard

By the way, the same boat captain did something similar to another boat captain and they had another heated discussion. This is a fact as I personally talked to the boat captain and had never seen or met the guy before. I’m not stating the issue I had as a widespread representation of high school fishing, just stating what occurs on occasion, in my opinion on too many occasions.

I was at Lewisville this weekend, AND it was our first THSBA tournament to fish. Overall we had a great experience, (other than boat issues)

I even had a teaching moment with my team. We were heading to one of the spots that we had planned to fish and as we were approaching it, we saw another boat coming from the opposite direction, heading to the same spot. It was clear that we would have arrived at the same time and I actually could have beat him if I would have hammered down. I turned off and yeilded the spot to the other team. My son and his partner asked me why I did that. I just explained to them that we could have beat them, but did you know how mad that would have made them? It's just not worth causing someone else to have a bad time just to get a spot.

Now if we could just get everyone to turn their dang headlights off when on the ramp, we'd be getting somewhere....

I have bore witness to accidentally being on the water during a high school bass tournament and high school events are the worst! Thats about all I have to say about it.

Man after reading this, I'm truly sorry for anything I may inadvertently do as a HS Captain in the future. I respect everyone on the water and hope it's reciprocal. I can't with good conscience do half of what y'all posted others doing.

I keep my distance, give right away, and keep my mouth shut. This is to be FUN, not a game of Risk.

Then they might need to consider capping the number of boats in these tournaments instead of continuing to allow unlimited entries. If its not already mandatory all captains should also be required to have boater safety course certification, amateur hour doesn't even begin to explain it.

Yeah, I can see that. We had almost 180 boats at our last event. Capping it would be ideal. The boater training isn't a bad ideal either.

Don't think any of the "adult" trails have caps, don't see them requiring mandatory training. - when they do, come back and we'll argue this again. Just as many uneducated or rude people fishing "adult" events as there are HS events.



Here come the "get off my grass" comments...………...