Is that okay to do these days ?

On friday morning Gee, JT, Trey and Chris all started there. Chris won the Elite in 19 there. Seems like a community hole to me.

Was it OK for Trey and JT to pull in on Gee?

Did not watch Friday morning.
Use to be everyone would consede to the leader .

The leader in AOY?

Of the tournament

I didn’t see Friday but I wandered how they all got to that spot Saturday, but was Gee there first Saturday?, I didn’t think it was a good look for Chris Johnson . But I don’t have a dog in this hunt . What I seen of the live show it was pretty good though .

On this some say Haynes was right. Others say Lambert. Lambert was on there first on day 1. Haynes was there second and camped on it. Not sure if he knew Lambert had fished it or not. Lambert could have protected it on day 1. The only reason Haynes got it on day 2 was number draw. That set up day three. To me Lambert had as much right to the spot on day 3 as Haynes. Haynes quitting was a BS move. They should have been able to work something out or one could have just yielded to the other.

Pretty close. No telling if they had some agreement or not. Community hole.

https://www.bassmaster.com/elite/slideshow/final-morning-on-st-lawrence-with-chris-johnston-and-co/

Sucks for us the drama is over until next year! Now what are we to watch while at work? Guess a few Opens left but coverage sucks on those.

I'm guessing that since I haven't seen any TikTok or other posts slamming each other that they worked it out on the water and it's none of our business.


Of course, Zaldain and his boss will make a video with scandalous headlines for the clicks this week.....

Were the johnston bros part of the stink when Canterbury pulled in on feider? They were probably crying about that.

My whole take after looking at those photos is that I would have no desire to ever be a cameraman in a bass tournament.

IMO, it looks bad on the Johnston bros. Im sorta ok with Chris doing it to get the AOY title sealed… Scott Canterbury did pretty much the same thing to wrap his up. It was going back Sunday that seemed like running block for his bro. Maybe they heard about the footage of Gee telling McKinney to come get right on-top of Chris Saturday? Either way, if it went south my money was on the Canadians to win the hockey fight against Gee and the cheaters. (McKinney and Thompkins)

Really kind of a version of hole sitting. His brother C blocked the leader. When these tourneys come down to ounces if his brother catches just one that G would have caught then his brother wins.

Close the border

Canadians are generally dirt bags

I'm sure there will be plenty of drama videos to watch.

Chris J made this spot famous a couple of years ago. It's since become a community hole nick named "Bassmaster spot". The Rookies found it by watching previous tournaments. Chris had been there every day but couldn't get on his spot, I think it was a boat number deal but could be wrong. Gee had no other spots. Chris had several that he ran around too since Gee was camping on it.

I'm fine with how they worked out.

This^^^ and I would also add that when fishing the great lakes.Someti.es there are areas that are going g to have several boats fishing the same spot.Been there done that...I've been fishing Great Lakes sm for over 30 yrs

Gee should have told him to fish the Canadian side of the river and get the F outta here.

Not totally disagreeing with you but heres another perspective. Where does the sportsmanship rule come into play if the Johnstons worked together to screw Gee by doing what Chris did? I would think if that was the plan, and i do think thats what they planned, that there has to be a line drawn at some point. Is this that point, im not sure but they just dropped the bar real low and next season it will only keep getting worse

He should have told him he got the way point from his mom...... that would have got it started on live TV lol

The slick johnson video on fb is worth a watch.... he said BASS was gobbling Johnston nutz lol

Yeh they were.

The Johnstons wouldn't be in the Elites it it wasn't for MLF and the Bass Pro Tour poaching all the anglers.

They were roster fillers. They are very good anglers, but still fillers.

$1000 on Chris and Corey vs Wheeler and Connell 4 days heaviest 5 each day

On St Lawrence

AOY “filler”…..

And the other won twice this year. Pretty damn good “fillers”.

At least this thread won’t get shut down for talking about Canadians lol

I got thrown off lol. The whole thing about using candadian as a substitute for dookie wasn't received well by that communist.

If JP would pay me a talent fee I would keep my act exclusive to the forum.

It’s pathetic over there. I often wonder why I even visit that site

They are easily triggered, over here people have a sense of humor

If you could only change 1 word in the title, which one would you choose?

Dang Canucks. I don’t see how anyone can think that move was OK, AOY title or not. Think about it….
Gee was leading, he didn’t like it, he was pissed. That community hole was 84 miles from the launch. How do you move in on the leader like that and justify it?

Chris has won one Elite event and Cory 2 Elites and one Open.

The only reason they got a spot on the Elites was they were fillers when the talent all left for greener pastures. Lots of the fillers have turned out to be very good Elite anglers, as I said about the Johnston brothers.

Without the split they would have not gotten a freeroll spot, just as many others.

Definition of "filler"

noun

suffix: -fillers; plural noun: fillers

1. a thing put in a space or container to fill it.
"these plants are attractive gap-fillers or ground cover"

2. a person or thing that fills a space or container.

Age old question, if you catch them in a spot day 1 because you had a higher boat draw, do you own it day 2? I'm not saying that's even what happened here. In Gee's defense, he never left that spot, in Johnston's he tried to get on it every day and has obvious history there (which Gee likely knew about), it's way too close for me to want to fish to anyone, but I don't fish for a living either. But big smalls get in big schools on the great lakes, this isn't uncommon up there.

The short clip of Mercer interviewing Cory in the morning was kinda weird, Mercer is obviously buddies with the Johnston's. I didn't watch it live, but it sounded like maybe Gee talked a little Sh*t to Chris ?? Not sure it warrants Cory being upset? I guess if I were Gee and one of AOY leaders pulled up on a spot I only knew about because I watched him whack fish there on TV I'd probably tell that angler he's welcome to fish it, not saying I'd leave, but.....it goes both ways.

All that said, to watch what Cory fished in and caught them in day 3 and 4 he earned his victory.

Mercer is a Canadian. It’s an interesting situation. Lots of differing opinions on what qualifies for spot ownership, my opinion is Johnston was too close unless he worked something out with Gee.

The spot that Lee won the Classic on was a community hole before Lee fished it. It got much worse after. If they came back to Conroe would Lee have rights to the spot and others could not check it and plan on fishing it if they thought they could catch them there? You put 100 Elites on Conroe with absolutely zero information and that spot gets checked multiple times during practice. It a pronounced point. Classic type of spot to catch them.

Totally agree with what you're saying. Too close for my taste as well, but not the first time it's ever happened at that level.

And to your point about JLee on Conroe, yes, everyone else has a right to go fish it. But I'd also give a little leeway to Lee if he showed up while I was there, maybe that's just me. Little different hypothetical in my opinion, because one is an obvious point and spot, the other is not. And Gee and other anglers had plenty of previous information, which is how he got there in the first place.

I think Johnston could've asked Gee before day 3 about doing what he did.

Watching it now I also think Gee showed some immaturity and acted like a little bit of a whiner when it all went down, knowing what he knew about the spot, and stakes.

Who was the Cajun Dick that Mercer wouldn't talk to on his morning video?? lol

I lost a lot of respect for Mercer and the Johnstons.

This "My Spot" deal because you won a tournament on it a few years ago is insane. Maybe in 1982 that was the deal, but in this day of youtube videos, BASS Live, waypoint selling, etc, its stupid. If you expect to own a spot for eternity you literally have no brain. If you dominate almost any tournament now days, that spot is a community hole the next week. Trying to stake claim to a spot from 2 years ago is crazy.

On a seperate note somebody on the Elites needs to grow some balls and take Cory up on one of his threats. Gee isn't the first he's threatened. Loud mouths like that fall easy. Not sure why they take his [censored]. And let's not even talk about the fact that they he literally cheated on BASS live to win a tournament and BASS did nothing. What a mess.

By that same logic it'd also be insane to think you're going to have a spot that won two recent tournaments all to yourself for four days, and have nobody else fish with in how ever large an area you think you own because you're leading.....

Did Gee get there first, or did Chris get there first on day 3? Asking, don't know....assuming Gee had an earlier boat draw as he was leading right?

This is accurate, same can be said for Wendlandt and Canterbury who have won AOY's since moving there. Talking about sh#tty moves to win AOY have we forgotten about what Caterbury did in the final event in 2019?

What I don’t understand is what keeps people like Swindle from fishing those spots. Do they rely more on the gentleman’s agreements of the past then constantly get their but kicked?

Same thing happened with Gussie in Knoxville at the classic in 23. He had won a couple years back on that river and from what I saw, not many people tried to fish "his spot". Granted, the field is 1/2 the size during the classic. The rest is history, he fished his spot and won it all and I dont recall anyone trying to "move in" on him.

The best way the whole Johnston-Gee (Or Ewok as Cory called him) dilemma coulda worked out is for Gee to stay put and tell him "Hey, I dont have a problem with you fishing here". Anchor down and outfish the dude. Him taking his ball and going home is not a good look. He let himself get "bullied". I don't have an issue with a guy moving in on me if I got the spot by watching that guy catch 5-6 lb fish on bass live. That dude is the reason I am there in the first place. He is the reason I am getting a $40 k check vs a 10 k check. Just my opinion.

What I don’t understand is what keeps people like Swindle from fishing those spots. Do they rely more on the gentleman’s agreements of the past then constantly get their but kicked?
[/quote]


Its called having class and showing sportsmanship. Yea they could, but let the guy who has been there for the whole tournament that is winning the tournament have his water.

The St Lawrence or east lake Ontario, as great as it is and has been over the past 5-6 years, creates some of these issues by its nature. if you want to WIN the tournament, you have to fish the lake or at the very least, the mouth of the river...period. You cant win fishing the stretch of water between Clayton and Waddington. You can make a top 50 cut, but you have no chance of winning. Its the same every year. You have to have at least 23-25 a day and the lake simply has those fish.

Lakes in the south (Largemouth) have their community holes as well, but Lakes like Rayburn. Toledo, Seminole, Guntersville etc are rarely won on the same "hole" if ever.

Some of the "olds" simply will not make that run for 3-4 days. So they go home after 2 days.

It’s called having class and showing sportsmanship. Yea they could, but let the guy who has been there for the whole tournament that is winning the tournament have his water. [/quote] I don’t mean on day 3. I mean at start of the tournament. Seems like everyone would be there day one.

Gee did an interview on The Juice podcast. He said he was boat #2 but McKinney (who had fished there since day 1 just like Gee) beat him there because he drives a Basscat. Mckinney was there first, Gee 2nd, Johnston came later.

So Gee got there and was able to pick where he wanted to fish......I didn't see Johnston push his boat off a spot, or cross his line casting at a specific boulder. Seems to me Gee got beat that day on that spot. Harsh, but true.

For the record Gee seems way more like a dude I'd like to hangout with then the Johnston's. And Cory's interview was mostly unnecessary on his part, but he did say "he got beat" on that spot by some other dude in an Open, he didn't complain about it, just said he got beat. Which is what Gee did too....

I don’t mean on day 3. I mean at start of the tournament. Seems like everyone would be there day one.
[/quote]




#growthesport

Seems like the Karens on the internet are making a way bigger deal out of this than Gee.

Pretty sure he’s furious. He’s just been coached very well on how to handle this and how not to handle this as a broke kid trying to make it in the big leagues. I wouldn’t take his maturity and lack of wanting to talk about it as anything more than he knows this is an opportunity for him to gain sponsors especially when every sponsor Chris and Corey has has been roasted when they post the wins.

This^^^

If so then why did they both come up to Gee and apologize for what was said and how things went down backstage after the tourny? They knew they screwed up.

Yep. This will work out better for him with how he handled it. He does need to get better on the podcast and stuff, he kind keeps answers a little to short. I have a feeling that he will be reached out to by quite of few guys that have been around and shown the ins and outs and helped along. Typically the sophmore season is tough but im pulling for him to win a couple. I hope they go to Knoxville

I thought there was a rule; not etiquette, anglers could only be within about 50 yards of a competitor in most tournament circuits?

25 typically if there is a rule. I don't think they have that in big stuff.

I remembered after I posted this question years ago The G Man and Fish Fishburn getting into a similar dispute over a spot in a Bassmasters tournament. It was a pretty popular video for a while. Went to see if it was still up on You Tube and couldn't find it.

I will take that bet then make you the same bet on the coosa river?

Yep scum bags!

I have shared water with other tournament fishermen, but we agreed before we even set up so there would be no issues later. I remember sharing a drain at Rayburn a few years back where this particular spot was loaded with good fish and we talked while idling towards it as we arrived at same time that I was willing to share as long as he was and there wouldn't be no BS later. We had fun, both boats over 20 lb.'s in less than an hour and we really had a good time. It's to bad you don't see more of that anymore.

I just saw a short video on Slick Johnson’s Fakebook where Corey was showing true colors prior to last day. Those two brothers are prime examples of entitlement. I was also very surprised at Zona and Hite during the event, not sure they would have acted the same had Gee rolled up on Chris…..

Castledine had about a solid take as you can have on his YT video. Pretty much hammer meets nail.

I find it ridiculous that they don’t have some type of rule regarding a minimum distance. It sucks that an angler can just pull in on a bent pole pattern. Or do what happened here and pull up and take fish to help out someone else.
This happens a lot more than we see on TV. There should be a 25 to 50 yard rule.

Yes he did , hit the nail on the head .

Todd's takes are typically good....he does spend the last 5 minutes of the video complaining about people fishing "his spots" on Rayburn tho....which isn't 100% different from Gee going to fish that "spot" in the first place. But yeah, the more that comes out, the worse it looks for the Johnston's.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AC4uleRgfQ

Gee comes on about the 2hr mark

Todd Casteldine who is pretty well respected by all of you had a good video on it.

Can someone post a link?

Looks like a “three-way” of Canadians.

The brothers and Gee are on a podcast together at the 1hr 41min mark

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=k-jY7tNTlvI&pp=ygUTY29yeSBjaHJpcyBqb2huc3Rvbg%3D%3D

I would be OK with just fishing beside Gee but running your mouth before the tournamet about what your going to do to prevent Gee from winning is BS... Dudes lucky it wasnt some of the old timers that would have jumped in the boat with him.

Tournaments and fishing for money ruined fishing way before anyone ever heard of social media

For you Bob, for you.