Respecting Comps on Public Waters

[afishinado]

poopdeck wrote:
A permit is required on approved trout waters or fish commission property.

I think a good many anglers need to lighten up on their personal space issues. To get upset, frustrated or violent over it is nothing short of insane. I don't go fishing to get all stressed out and angry.

Competition anglers should not be treated any differently than any other angler and vice versa.

Agreed. I too go fishing to enjoy myself. If there are anglers fishing in a certain spot, then I just relocate to another.

PA has a very active comp FFing membership, therefore there are fairly frequent tournaments held here, especially in the State College area.

If avoiding FFing comps are that important to you, than check out the comp event schedule here to avoid any conflict.

 

[ryansheehan]

Comp or no comp you cant kick people off "your beat".

 

[troutbert]

ryansheehan wrote:
Comp or no comp you cant kick people off "your beat".

The OPer and his son got kicked off.

And that was not an exception. It was typical of the way it's done.

 

[jifigz]

troutbert wrote:

ryansheehan wrote:
Comp or no comp you cant kick people off "your beat".

The OPer and his son got kicked off.

And that was not an exception. It was typical of the way it's done.

I wasn't kicked off so to speak, just asked to move and I obliged. I certainly could have been a thorn in their sides and sloshed and fished right through their "beats." As a side note I'm 31 with no children so it was just me and my buddy.

I'll check that link Afish!

 

[troutbert]

jifigz wrote:

I wasn't kicked off so to speak, just asked to move and I obliged.

There isn't much difference between the two.

Either way, you were fishing there first, and they got rid of you.

The end result is the same.

Just to be clear, I'm not blaming you, I'm blaming them.

They should not have asked you to leave. And they should have given you plenty of room to fish. That's just basic angler etiquette.

 

[Swattie87]

"But there are plenty of other streams he could fish."

Sounds kinda dumb now huh?

 

[krayfish2]

For me, it all depends on how the comp angler approached things. Come down as a d-bag and tell me to leave and don't do anything stupid.....not leaving and you get stupid for sure. If they came down nicely and advised us there was a competition today.....reason for the ribbons, crowds and solitude might be hard to come by today....I'd react much differently. Probably just leave or maybe even stick around and watch for 3 minutes.

 

[ryansheehan]

Oh and for the record I have no problem if someone wants to comp fish, to each his own. I do have a problem with a$$holes who tell me to relocate and not spook any fish on my way out. I can't imagine saying that to another fisherman.

 

[rrt]

I guess I shouldn't post about this, but I will. I do not like fly-fishing competitions one little bit,especially on public-access water. I think they demean the sport and the trout: counting trout for medals, trophies, and, I suppose, money. ( I have actually turned down a couple invitations to fish in them, so I don't think I'm being hypocritical here.) (Maybe the naysayers will say I didn't compete b/c I'd probably lose.)

Anyhow, having said that, I realize that my opinion isn't going to stop these things from being held. If I -- God forbid -- ever find myself in the middle of one of these and even if I were there first, I would probably leave, though when I was younger I would probably have thrown stones into the water before leaving. Too old to challenge potentially nasty young lions any longer.

Probably T/bert's post #25 is about as nice as someone could post about this. I think R Sheehan's post #28, last two sentences, speaks effectively to the lack of etiquette on the part of the competitive fishermen.

 

[ryansheehan]

I just checked out the website afish posted the link for and there are some very good events listed. My idea of a good competition is the causby casting for hope tournament. It's done on private water in support of ALS research, these are the folks doing competitions right imo.

 

[bigjohn58]

I personally would have taken this as a challenge...to make sure I out fished every single one of these competitors and made sure they saw it lol! If someone came up to me and asked me to leave I'd say to him...watch me so you can learn a thing or two! I'd also be watching him to see if I could learn a thing or two too. Bass tournaments and fishing around people is just part of the game so why should trout be any different? If you are there first and its public water then you are in the right.

 

[foxtrapper1972]

rrt says-" I think they demean the sport and the trout: counting trout for medals, trophies, and, I suppose, money. "

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agree 100%

Where's the beauty in visually gridding a stream and then tight lining it like a robot to be sure to catch every trout to beat the next guy? What angling literature will be written about this approach? I think the whole competition thing promotes the wrong idea about what makes fly fishing unique among other outdoor activities.

 

[moon1284]

I went on the comp site, it looked like they had a championship tourney on the WB. And if I read the results right it looked like they only counted fish, not sizes?? What's the point of that? It's not all that hard to catch 30 small fish there if that's what your into. Competitions aren't my thing but that seems like the dumbest competition I've ever seen. A comp on the WB should use total numbers of fish 20"+ and you should get a multiplier bonus for every beer you drink.

 

[FarmerDave]

Wow, I guess I missed all the fun.

As far as the OP, it never happened to me unless bass tournaments count. When that happened, I said to myself ... cool, can I help?

Something like that. Anyway, they were looking for volunteers, and I helped out at the weigh-in. It was a great time, especially afterwards because they dumped all the bass near my boat slip.;-)

I had a big boat then. It was our weekend retreat.

I'm thinking, if this ever happened to me on a trout stream (which isn't likely), Id probably move aside without complaint. I'd probably stick around as a spectator. Maybe I'd learn something.

Life is too short to be small, ... said the guy who is about 6'5" and 275#. What can I say, apparently I shrunk an inch.

 

[FarmerDave]

outsider wrote:
"I think a good many anglers need to lighten up on their personal space issues."

"A few minutes later we had a kid come up and tell us that they were having a competition and he'd appreciate it if we wouldn't fish the narrows and cautioned us not to do anything stupid to spook fish."

Unless something like this happens.

I really liked poopdeck's answer (18).

As far as the kid is concerned, I might have given him a verbal lesson in manners about that last comment. But in fairness to him, he probably had just experience where someone else did something stupid to spook the fish.

 

[FarmerDave]

troutbert wrote:

jifigz wrote:

I wasn't kicked off so to speak, just asked to move and I obliged.

There isn't much difference between the two.

Either way, you were fishing there first, and they got rid of you.

The end result is the same.

Just to be clear, I'm not blaming you, I'm blaming them.

They should not have asked you to leave. And they should have given you plenty of room to fish. That's just basic angler etiquette.

Thanks Troutbert, I was getting uncomfortable about the fact we have been agreeing on everything lately. Now I feel much better.

I see absolutely no problem with someone asking someone else if they would move for various reasons ... if asking nicely.

BTW, I am a fairly courteous driver, too. Well, most of the time.

 

[Hook_Jaw]

That's a tough one there I would of just left or tried to find somewhere they weren't at

 

[CLSports]

They are still holding those ridiculous competitions? I thought those died out a couple of years ago after the millennials with their GoPro cameras, fly fishing blogs, 10' 4wt nymphing rods, and short attention spans moved onto something else way cooler?

 

[ryansheehan]

I enjoy fly fishing blogs(including the one on this site), go pro footage and my 10 foot 4 weight.

 

[jifigz]

I'm glad I fish a four weight that at its longest is only 8'6" so I'm not lumped into that crowd. Seriously though I had some fantastic fishing today both warmwter and trout. I landed a few wild browns roughly 15" and lost one about 18". Good day on the water and no trout competitions! Plus pulling in redbreasts and smallies on top water flies is always good.