Tournament etiquette

[NewSal]

franklin wrote:

Salvelinusfontinali wrote:

afishinado wrote:
Just me, but I would have asked about what sections of the stream are being fished for the comp right from the beginning, and I would leave to fish another part of the stream not included in the competition. I was aware of the comp at the LJ and it only involved a small section of the stream as is the case with most competitions.

I would do this more for my enjoyment than for the comp guys. We both have a chance to fish in peace.

That's exactly what I did, I didn't want to fish inside a designated beat, not only for there sake but for mine. Im the type of guy that would rather fish a not-so great area by myself then to fish the best spots and have to look at some other guy.

You should have experienced the Little Lehigh in the no wading days. On a weekend in spring/early summer there would be people fishing from each bank spaced about a cast length apart. Many times a longer cast could overlap your "neighbor" and people would time their casts so as not to tangle. I rarely heard an argument or problem. Everyone understood that's the way it was. And surprisingly fish were being caught. It taught be not to be too worked up in tight quarters.

I guess it's sort of like the way people who grew up in a row house in Philly can stand crowds where others growing up in the country like their space.

The row house analogy is pretty good, makes a lot of sense.

But boy, I would not even fish if the conditions were like that. I can't stand if someone is fishing 50 yards from me let alone 2 feet. But I guess if that's all that's available you have to do what you have to do.

 

[TYoung]

I think that there is going to be one more TroutLegend tournament in Pennsylvania this year. On Sept. 17-18 there is going to be a tournament on Spring Creek from the mouth up to the kayak park. For those who don't like to show up at a creek to found out there's a tournament going on in your favorite spot, you should plan accordingly.

Central PA Fall Classic

 

[TYoung]

Also, the youth national team will be having their national tournament at Spring Creek on June 24-26.

 

[rrt]

1. If I knew of a fly-fishing tournament, I would avoid the area like the plague.
2. If I were there first and a "legend" encroached on me, I would, at my age, probably leave after saying something nasty. (A younger version of me would likely stay and try to ruin things for both of us.)
3. I actually think FoxTrapper has the right idea. I believe these tournaments have no rightful place on public water, esp on heavily fished streams like the LJR. I believe these tournaments are demeaning to both the fish and the participants: to lower the status of a lovely wild trout to a number so some egomaniac can win some money or a trophy to satisfy his ego -- how horrid!

 

[PennypackFlyer]

Don't sweat it guys, Foxtrapper only has the phone numbers to a couple of flyfisher-people anyways.

 

[NewSal]

rrt wrote:
1. If I knew of a fly-fishing tournament, I would avoid the area like the plague.
2. If I were there first and a "legend" encroached on me, I would, at my age, probably leave after saying something nasty. (A younger version of me would likely stay and try to ruin things for both of us.)
3. I actually think FoxTrapper has the right idea. I believe these tournaments have no rightful place on public water, esp on heavily fished streams like the LJR. I believe these tournaments are demeaning to both the fish and the participants: to lower the status of a lovely wild trout to a number so some egomaniac can win some money or a trophy to satisfy his ego -- how horrid!

I'm not sure if I follow the logic of this type of response.

What makes a tournament so bad? It really didn't effect me at all other then having to walk a bit further downstream, and even then if I didn't want to I didn't HAVE to. I could have fished wherever I wanted.

The guys seemed like genuinely good people, just because they are fishing a tournament doesn't mean that they degrade the fish? What's wrong with enjoying fishing for wild trout AND participating in a organized sport at the same time?

I also fished the exact same areas the very next day that the tournament was fished over, and there was absolutely zero effect on the fishing from the tournament, I caught just as many fish as I usually do.

Everyone's entitled to there opinion of course but I typically try to not be a negative person unless something is very wrong, I truly didn't find the tournament to be a nuisance or negative at all.

I have no problems whatsoever with guiding either, but truly I've found that a guide with a group of clients would be more bothersome then the tournament, or a large group of kayakers / floaters. The tournament restricts just one person per time on a fairly good sized chunk of stream, which really doesn't effect anything at all. If there were a bunch of guys fishing all at once then yeah I think it would be a problem, but with the way its set up I didn't see anything wrong with it

 

[The_Sasquatch]

I thought it was funny, Fox!

 

[geebee]

we all fish different ways, I don't think we have the right to judge how others fish.

a fishing tourney is no different to a casting class or a Casting for Recovery, Healing Waters day on public water - they want the public water for a day or two days, so what ?

 

[RLeep2]

+1 for rrt.. (Is that how you do it?)

Is there any situation that we don't have good enough sense/taste to refrain from commodification or conversion into a competition?

What's next? Will we empty out the assisted living centers and tell the folks that in order to get their rooms back, they have win a 400 meter 3-legged race?

This tournament stuff demeans the sport, IMO...

 

[724flyfishing]

I had no idea there was such a thing as a fly fishing tournanent in PA. I knew it's popular in Europe and I've heard of the "one fly" tournaments in Erie years ago but that's it. I guess living/fishing in the southwest part of the state I'm not exposed to as much fly fishing culture as people in the center and east counties or I flat out just don't pay attention to any of it lol.

Out of curiousity, who commissions these tournaments and how are they scored? The whole concept sounds like it would take the fun out of it for me but I could understand if it was being held to raise money for a good cause like more stream improvement, land easements, etc.

 

[SBecker]

I hate fly fishing. It is why I do it. To make us all look horrible. Then I can return to my spin casting days and hate all the fly fisbermen.

 

[McSneek]

Fredrick wrote:

foxtrapper1972 wrote:
Here is what I would do. Call every fisherman you know and have them all arrive to the "beats" and stand and cast within a few feet of the "tournament anglers". These guys might then get the message they are not wanted. Trout legends....yeah right!

What a troll comment

He appears to be vying for the title of #1 troll as of late.

 

[McSneek]

SBecker wrote:
I hate fly fishing. It is why I do it. To make us all look horrible. Then I can return to my spin casting days and hate all the fly fishermen.

Heck - I think I'll just go back to bait and hate on everyone else. Is TAP still a thing?

 

[NewSal]

724flyfishing wrote:
I had no idea there was such a thing as a fly fishing tournanent in PA. I knew it's popular in Europe and I've heard of the "one fly" tournaments in Erie years ago but that's it. I guess living/fishing in the southwest part of the state I'm not exposed to as much fly fishing culture as people in the center and east counties or I flat out just don't pay attention to any of it lol.

Out of curiousity, who commissions these tournaments and how are they scored? The whole concept sounds like it would take the fun out of it for me but I could understand if it was being held to raise money for a good cause like more stream improvement, land easements, etc.

Its commissioned by trout legends.
You can check out there website just google trout legends.

Its not just a central pa thing, it doesn't happen often, the trout legends tournament is country wide

 

[poopdeck]

The real question is what would an attendee do if they came up to their "beat" and I was already there fishing the prime hole.

I see no difference if a fishermen is simply fishing, fishing a tournament or bait fishing. The rules are the same. I am definitely not going to leave because of a tournament but I will adhere to the rules of etiquette as I know them.

If the tourney guys think they have the entire place to themselves then I would question their etiquette. I already question why they strive to be a FF legend.

 

[NewSal]

poopdeck wrote:
The real question is what would an attendee do if they came up to their "beat" and I was already there fishing the prime hole.

I see no difference if a fishermen is simply fishing, fishing a tournament or bait fishing. The rules are the same. I am definitely not going to leave because of a tournament but I will adhere to the rules of etiquette as I know them.

If the tourney guys think they have the entire place to themselves then I would question their etiquette. I already question why they strive to be a FF legend.

Now this is totally logical and I totally agree, there really is no difference between someone tournament fishing and someone regular fishing, its a public stream so anyone can do whatever they want.

I went to a different area not because I felt that I had to.. I knew I could of fished wherever I wanted, I left because I wanted to give everyone fishing the tournament a fair chance.. I CAN go wherever the hell I want to fish, there trying there best to win a competition and can only fish one certain area so I wanted to give them a fair chance and not interfere... no big deal at all to me..

Very interesting responses so far though, pretty much the types of responses I was thinking, some people hate them, some people give lots of room and leave them alone, and some people are indifferent.



Edit: From my talking to the guys I think that if I was there fishing first they would of just talked to me about what was going on and fished around me... seemed like some really decent guys...

 

[franklin]

Salvelinusfontinali wrote:

The row house analogy is pretty good, makes a lot of sense.

But boy, I would not even fish if the conditions were like that. I can't stand if someone is fishing 50 yards from me let alone 2 feet. But I guess if that's all that's available you have to do what you have to do.

If you realize it going in and go with the flow it's actually quite educational. The water there is very clear and you can watch the trout react to what/how others are fishing.

I will admit if I go onto Penns or another such stream I will hike well away from others so that I'm isolated if possible.

 

[foxtrapper1972]

Sasquatch- Yeah. i was only half kidding...HA! Glad you have a sense of humor!

rrt- You put it much nicer than me but you hit the nail on the head.

Becker- Go tight line a giant green weenie since you love flyfishing so much!

Rleep- +1 for using the word
commodification in a sentence...totally agree.

If I find ANY plastic ribbons in trees along the streams I fish they are coming down.

You will find that there are many who do not walk in lockstep with the status quo on this forum... labeling us trolls is a tactic to try to alienate us.

 

[tomitrout]

Not only a willing trespasser, but a vandal also....awesome.

 

[NewSal]

foxtrapper1972 wrote:


You will find that there are many who do not walk in lockstep with the status quo on this forum... labeling us trolls is a tactic to try to alienate us.

Agree to disagree