First off if you don't know any better, or you are new to bass fishing it is messed if you see someone catching good fish and then go there the next day or draw out ahead of them in a tourney and go straight to the spot he was fishing. We don't spend thousands of hours out on the lake just for someone else to reap the benefits. If that's all you do then how do you expect to learn how to find and catch fish on your own. Then you have the guys that know better but still do it???? I mean cmon! I would feel like [censored] winning money off of someone elses fish. I know there will always be a-holes with no heart that will keep doing it, I consider them as bad as Robby rose. That's pretty much what their doing... STEALING! The reason you see guys consistently at the top is because they put so much time into it learning how to find fish, not by hole jumping people. So comment how you want, wont bother me none, but someone had to stand up and say it.

You're not saying anything today that hasn't been said 1,000 times previously.

I spend a lot of hours on the water watching anglers all over the lake with binoculars so I can find where the fish are without burning too much gas. I thought I WAS doing my homework and it was merely a good strategy/game plan?

Man - I'm kidding. I feel your pain.

What I cant stand is when someone finds a spot and they automatically think it is theirs. Whats to say I or someone else didnt find that same spot.

I guess it's not possible they have been fishing that spot for years? What if they had drawn a better number than you the first day and beat you to your spot would you still be butt hurt?

Funny. Whenever I think I am the only one who found the fish, i usually get upset.

One need look no further than the Bassmaster Elite Series for that very thing BMCD. On a lake that fishes small, those guys will end up on top of one another in two or three key areas. The Classic on the Delta this year was a prime example. Given a couple days of practice, most good anglers will identify the same areas/schools of fish. They'll all stay away from it until tournament day thinking they found something no one else had. Then come tournament day, 8 boats end up on the same deal.

I understand what you are saying, but as been said already you don't know who already knew about the spot.If a guy drives buy a place I am fishing just as I catch a fish and the next day I see him fishing my spot I might think of him as a hole jumper. But what if he was just driving to that spot that he had fished before and I was already on HIS spot.Now if you fish the same trail with the same guys all the time you may have a point.I fished in a spot all the time during a tournie and another guy would always drive by me on his way to a place he likes.If I caught fish in my spot one week he didn't try to beat me to it next week. And since I could see where he was going during a tournie,if he came in with a sack I didn't try to beat him to his spot the next week either. But BOTH spots were no secrets places.Just a little courtesy among friends.

LOL! You make me laugh : this topic makes me laugh. I guess we know where you fall in the post in Open Freshwater: http://texasfishingforum.com/forums/ubbt...n_t#Post6211209

While I agree with you you are wasting your breath or in this case finger tips. They are a fixture in our sport, and always will be. I hope you dont just depend on one spot in a tourney, if so you will regularly be in this same situation. Blow it off and keep finding more water , there is nothing you can legally do to "teach" a poacher anything.

I specifically like SwampCat's quote:

"Met a guy the other day, no other boat in site in a huge cove. He comes up with big motor, shuts it down, jumps to front of boat, slams trolling motor down, puts it on high and cuts in front of me to fish. His excuse was.... "I was here last week catching fish"...

all kinds..."

Was that you?

With the advances in electronics and other tools (mapping, etc) there is no longer any such thing as a secret hole. If you find a hole and catch fish on it I can almost guarantee you that someone else has already been there and will be back.

Never, ever bet a tournament on one hole. The wind may be blowing the wrong way, someone else may be on it, or they may just stop biting. Always have a backup and a backup for the backup, etc. You get the idea.

I don't believe there is anyone here on this forum that would not go to a hole simply because they had seen someone else catch fish there. Everyone would make a mental note and check it out at a later date when the opportunity arose. Is there anything wrong with that? I don't think so. Remeber that everyone has to learn how to fish a spot. Just because you catch fish there, don't mean that everyone can.

Good fishermen do not win tournaments by having the best hole. They win by knowing how to pattern fish and make the adjustments necessary to stay on top of them and to change when the fish do. It's all about the pattern - not the spot.

If I'm fishing a tournament and I know old so and so fishes in a certain spot, and he is fishing the same tournament I probably wouldn't go there. If he's not fishing, I might. It just depends on whether or not the spot fits the pattern I have worked out before every tournament. On top of that I would not fish a spot in a tournament without practicing it first. Does that now make it mine?

This really sounds like small potatoes to me. Just remember that if you are fishing a tournament you have to plan for every contingency, which includes your starting spot being covered up.