When fishing a tournament, what is the proper distance to be from another boat when someone has obviously "claimed" a spot? And, what is proper etiquette in asking someone that's too close to move?

25 yards in most cases but if you can hit their boat with your lure they are too close.. I would say hey you are too close please move if they don't kick in the _____!

Totally depends on the circumstance. Could be anywhere from 50 ft to 100yds

There is no etiquette anymore. That went away about 7-8 years ago. There are only rules. Most tournaments have a 25 yard rule, 50 yards if you are anchored. In order to enforce the rule you have to inform the encroaching angler that he is getting to close otherwise you invite him and anyone else in. Most of the time the encroaching angler will have a much different perception of what 25 yards is than what you will, especially if you were on the spot first.

When the flipping bite in on at Toledo get ready for close quarters. 10-20' or so. But everyone is fishing 1' from the boat.

Not much but there is still some. I try to just do unto others as I would have done to me.

I'll second that Bullet20XrD.

On Lewisville, I had my "guaranteed" spot to me and my co-angler on day 1. Mark Tucker would fish up to it and turn and I would do the same. Had several guys throwing A-rigs out deep, but the Skeeter Bent Rod Pattern went into full effect after my co-angler boated a 3 1/2 lber about 3 minutes after being there, then I caught a small one. The guys moved in a little closer. Joey Nania, who is a class act especially for being so young, came close and asked if I minded if he got on the other side and fished the point. I said "come on in". What I should have said was, yep, just guard it good. So I moved over a little, needed to fish a spot that was untouched at the time, caught a 3 lber just as a Ranger from Kansas pulled up between me and Joey. Not what I had planned, he soon boated a 4 1/2 lber and was there for the day, and most of day 2 on his new "hot spot". Mark Tucker and Joey Nania were class acts in the deal, the guy from Kansas, well, if you can't say anything nice you shouldn't say anything at all and I'll leave it at that.

I would politely ask them if the are a member of the TFF. If they are a member, I would calmly suggest they read 50% of the posts on the bass fishing section that relate to proper fishing etiquette. That should solve everything!

If they aren't a member then bodily injury is your only course of action.

Good luck.

This past week on lewisville I'd say the distance was about 3 feet from one another.

Its that simple!

It sure seems like people b*tch about close-quarters fishing a lot less at the higher levels of competition.

Weekend guys are constantly complaining about it, but you see the pros sharing spots all the time - fishing within feet of each other sometimes.

If you can read the writing on their super professional fishing jersey, you probably are a little too close.

You should carry an IPad to show them the Bass Fishing section on the water. Problem solved!

It really does depend on the circumstances... big tournaments are naturally going to shrink the amount of space you get.

I live by tiltman's philosophy. I don't get closer than I would like them to get to me!

You're right, that's the point. The Elite guys I came across that fished the Open on Lewisville were very respectful. There's a difference between agreeing on sharing water and just blasting on in the middle of everyone.