Todd says in the video he doesn't doubt some of the guys fishing the series he was fishing most likely cut off high school teams, but that he didn't have video of it. If he had video I believe he would have addessed that too. To me it seemed he wanted to address what was being taught to these young men by their captain. If they learn this is acceptable behavior, they will likely continue to do it as adults if they continue fishing. As you said there is a pandemic of rude and inconsiderate people out there. Hopefully teaching them the right way to handle themselves will reduce the frequency of this occurring, but obviously they will end up doing whatever they choose to do.

Did you miss the part where I said they should handle the ladder without prejudice? Ignorance of the rules as a boat captain is no excuse. Penalize them within the rules. Period

It's obvious the skeeter guy is ignorant and has less experience in high pressured areas. This may have been why he didn't notice Castledine's boat heading that way sooner. Who knows?
This is why the "Pro" shouldn't have tried to embarrass him in front of his kids.

If any man compliments my son while simultaneously calling me an idiot in front of him, there's going to be a confrontation and it's the other person's decision how far we take it.

I don't play golf. If the exact same thing happened on a golf course while I was trying to have a good time and learn with my son, that pro is gonna catch a beating for sure.

Finally, I also think it's a bad look for Castledine to tell them he's not gonna blast them on Youtube and then turn around and blast them on Youtube.

Just my two cents on a Tuesday morning...

I like how when Todd first started off the boat captain didn’t understand what he was getting at and tried to have a friendly conversation about bed fishing. This kind of tells me he didn’t realize what he did since he didn’t immediately go on the defensive. Then Todd continued the confrontation.

Whether the guy meant to cut him off or not, if Todd really wants to teach kids how not to act, start with not passive aggressively confronting this guy. He didn’t teach those kids anything with that.

I am sure Todd would tell you he probably could have easily avoided any confrontation at all and knowing Todd from his previous videos, he probably wishes he would have. He has always taken the high road in his videos and is very patient in waiting his turn. I get it, dropping his rod, staring, and being as someone said "passive aggressive" about the situation is probably not the best look because perception is REALITY. It does not make Todd wrong however!! I can see where the team may not have even seen Todd coming around the corner when they "initially" started their trek to the spot, but I know they had to have seen him at some point "during" the trek over from across the cove. In their mind I am sure they are thinking "hey no one is on that spot over there and if we are headed to that spot, that makes it our spot and darned anyone else trying to get there before us". That does not make their mindset right, i am just pointing out what was probably happening.

If I am Todd in this particular instance, I am going to make it a point to at least talk to this guy....not because he cut him off....I would be curious about the step ladder!! I do not know of any tournament organization that allows the use of an aftermarket device to gain an advantage in seeing better. That alone would have raised questions about the guy's credibility with me and raised suspicion. Everyone has different ways of handling confrontation. Is Todd's the best way? Probably not, but neither is your way. Dang it, it's hard to always be the "better guy" and just avoid it altogether. So I get it.

As for the HS haters, they have been there since day 1. The crazy thing I have seen in the past 10 years is that the same people praising it one weekend are bashing it the next!! Ken, Tim and the rest of those guys and girls at THSBA have done nothing but the right thing since day one. They are Saints in my book! All they have done is change lives for the better and given kids an opportunity that we never had. All the while holding down real jobs. No one is making bank in HS Fishing except the SPONSORS by gaining lifetime customers at a very cheap rate. Think about this.....HS fishing has been around for roughly 10 years....the investment a particular boat company has made into HS Fishing in this state has paid off at least 10 fold and that is probably on the very low end. I am not bashing them by no means, because like any investment, they saw the potential and took full advantage of it! It's good business and many others have done the same thing. It's no different than hitting it big with a business startup that explodes onto the scene overnight.

HS fishing isn't going away, just like Bass Champs, TTT, Toyota's and BFL's (who are making $$ by the way). Just like you and your passion, there are too many out there who have poured their lives into it to make it what it is today. In addition, the sponsors are not going to let it go away because of it's VALUE in today's world of competitive bass fishing. Ya wanna change it? Like Ken said, GET INVOLVED!! In my experience, there have been plenty men and women of "words" but very few of "action" who want to put in the work that is required.

Just my 2 Cents.

UPDATE;
The rule violations have been addressed according to the THSBA rules and the case is closed. We have spoken to the boat captain in question.

We will not disclose the captains name nor the kids involved as always.


Thank you and have a great day.

I have a question. Are the high school anglers required to wear jerseys? Maybe they should be required in order to protect THSBA from false accusations?

I have two boys in my boat 75% of the time and I've never been involved with a high school tournament.

No sir they are not. 99% of them do though.

So, I have captained for 7 consecutive years with two separate teams- one team in each of the two biggest organizations (THSBA and SETX). Neither team wore their jerseys on the water for any tournament. Biggest reason is that they are just not that comfortable. They ride in the starboard rod box until weigh-in when they are put on. Guessing same reason a lot of the pros don't wear theirs unless a camera might be on them. There are just tons of more comfortable options out there to fish hard for 8+ hours in.

How do you not notice a boat a half a cast away? I’m not buying your side of the story.

Same here. Jerseys in the box, put em on at weigh-in.
I can almost guarantee that my guys are gonna stick one deep or in the tongue and get blood all over themselves and the boat on every trip.

I've captained at probably 50+ HS events, including out of state, and have been fishing tournaments for well over 30 years....... I have been cut-off by guides, pro's, wanna b pro's, joe local AND HS teams-Some in ignorance and some just didn't care.
With the number of folks on the lakes today, it's going to happen. HS fishing is just easier to recognize and blame.
Sucks for Todd but looks like it didn't really hurt him. THSBA has handled the rule violation (cheating) so I guess, in this instance at least, it all worked out.

This is the way I feel about it as well. The staredown and rod drop, following the casting and short cast kinda is a tell tale of what started it. I agree that the other boat was likely waiting across the small cove, giving the previous boat ample time to fish, when the previous boat left, they quietly idle over to fish the spot they waited to fish. Todd rolled around the corner and found that he wasn’t “next”. The “he’ll figure it out someday” comments were supposed to imply that the captain would figure out the rank and profile of fishing and yield his rights to the spot to the pro.

He was pointed in that direction fishing down the bank already on the point , they idled 30 yards in front of him. Not Cool under any circumstances

I don't have a side and I aint selling nothing, Bud.

hmmm, cash grew 170k YoY. Awards paid out 95k with another 83k in grants. Comp+Salary 130k. 2017 tax return, would need to see more

That’s difficult for some to comprehend.