Should there be a rule ?

[Awoonga]

And l should be asleep but these thoughts keep going around in my head ! I better go back to the beginning before you think this old coot has lost it ! l just completed in the Mondy Cup .A barramundi catch and release tournament run by Matt Fraser { Top Effort Matt } Now lets see if l can paint the picture. The event consists of three sessions 6am to 11 am. 1pm to 6pm and another session on Sunday from 6am to 11am You can you prefish the event and try and find areas that the fish are holding. Now if you are very lucky you may find as we say a” honey hole “ A area that seems to have plenty of willing fish. This will be your No1 spot in the tournament. You hope and pray that the fish shall bite and no one will beat you to “Your “ spot. The event morning session starts and yes the fish are still there and you have your best session on a barra dam. So you return at the end of section one and yes your team are leading. Fantastic effort. Hang in there folks l am getting to it ! Now the area that you caught the fish is in plane view of most of the other competitors. Most have caught nothing. You have only a small boat and even though you will start the next session first most of the other boats shall pass you in the first Km from the start. Now the question ! Is the honey hole open slather ? or ? Now l have a fast boat so l got there first but l didn’t fish it. My job was to the mind the spot until the leading team arrived . l did this for two sessions After the first session it became quite clear that wind blown points that tapered slowly into the water where the ones to fish.. Some might say silly fool you. Yes l put my hand up and said to the team that was leading that l would do it . They never asked for it .l am not asking for a pat on the back or sympathy l did what l did because the tournament should be won on skill not on who has the fastest boat. So should there be a rule that says this Gps spot is mine during a event. Do we need a rule ? or is there a unwritten understanding that says its etiquette. If there is how does this be conveyed to new competitors ? Your thoughts please

[robersl]

Etiquette i would think, (But what is to stop someone not fishing the tourney to be sitting in the spot before they get there) ,But when money and prizes are involved all Etiquette and fairness goes out the window with a lot of people in comps.
P.S good on you Trev for doing what you did Maybe there should be a better handicap for boats with a smaller motor

Shane

[BR65]

First up congrats Matt Fraser!

Ettiquette Trev I would say, though Shane raises a valid point re some one not a comp angler being in the spot.
Personally, I would leave it alone unless invited to fish there by the "discoverers".
Part of the reason why Im not comp keen, that plus the missus wouldnt let me go last week end. Theres not a lot of kudos in stealing some one elses spot.

[matt fraser]

Trev,

It will become a rule (For Barra Trophy Comps Anyway) not etiquette. As will several other 'Code of Conduct' points.

These will shift from 'Code of Conduct' to 'Rules' that will be penalised by 50 to 100cm per offence. But these breaches will need to be reported for me to take action.

I'll be reviewing my rules, sequence of events, processes etc, and fine tuning the details to improve the events for everyone.

I have spoken to teams about a couple of issues, and they do feel really bad about it, and apologised.

Cheers,

Matt

[rc@hinze]

Well done on running a successful comp this weekend Matt. I sure you are happy and relieved. And well done Trev on what you did for the new boys with their spot - you are a gentleman.

It a shame to think comps may be dominated by just the fast boats or the teams/individuals with the most money to have the best set ups. Comps need to based on the skills of the anglers\teams. Even in V8 supercars there are rules to see that it is very level playing field when it comes to the vehicles and the skill remains with the driver and teams.

Maybe GPS spots are the answer or handicap or speed limit. I understand that even the 30m distance is not a rule but just a courtesy that is often infringed on by teams that are put winning over etiquette and common courtesy.
- cheers Richard

[bugman]

Trev,

Interesting thoughts. I probably don't have an answer but I'll give you an example of what happens in the gamefishing world.

Similar story. Most guys pre-fish and those lucky enough to find where the billies are biting hit it hard on the first day. Over drinks that night it usually comes out where the succesful teams have been fishing. Day two there are usually lots of blowflies following those teams out to the same locations.

Now in gamefishing there can be lots of water between fish and boats but often - as has been the case this year - fishing have been holding tight on big bait schools and caught livebaiting rather than towing lures. So it is quite common to see 2 or 3 dozen boats holding on areas about the size of 5-6 football fields. Still a lot of room you think - not really with marlin or sailfish going crazy everywhere.

So GENERALLY there is just a lot of common sense from all skippers and anglers who do the right thing in taking their place in the drift line and getting out of the road when hooked fish go mad. Ettiquite plays a very big part because you'd hope that someone else does the right thing for you when your fish goes steaming for their lines or boat.

Anyway I guess what I'm saying is - the last thing we want is for people to peg out their patch of water like gold prospectors. It's fishing - and yes big prizes are on offer in comps - but commonsense must prevail.

If extra boats - noise - or pressure puts fish down in barra comps then anglers should realise that no-one benefits from crowding.

I would hate to see rules of this nature entering fishing.

Brett

[leelee]

Yes it’s definitely an etiquette issue but you cannot enforce it even with rules. People with no manners will always steal your spot when money is on the line as technically they are not breaking the rules, but morally it is not right.

For example –

I know spot X fishes well in afternoon but for first session I fish spot Y that is within site of spot X. I just fish there to keep an eye on it. An angler turns up and catches fish. Great I say. That means they will be there for the arvo session and I can’t wait for that to happen.

Now when everyone see’s me fishing there for the arvo session they will naturally assume that I was rude and have no manners when I get there first in the arvo because everyone will think I followed them there or decided to drop in on their honey hole, but actually the truth is I already knew about that spot and planned to fish it, but how do I prove that?.

This happens in every comp for every species and is hard to enforce.

Well done Trev for guarding the spot and it’s a hard question to answer because anglers can’t be expected to submit a list of places they may want to fish after each session or even prior to the event and also people cannot read each others minds.

Will watch this with a close eye to see what ideas people come up with.

Cheers

Lee

[brisbane_boy]

I go for the biggest fish takes all with a total numbers being somewhere down the list of priorities, imo getting away from making comps a numbers and or total fish length caught scenario should give everyone some breathing space. same happens in a lot of comps where numbers is the game, billfish as bugman pointed out are no exception and that is without the goldfish bowl area to fish, you notice how things change when its heavy tackle verses the light tackle grounds.

[Steve B]

Trev, You have witnessed a dilema that has been occcouring since day dot in tournaments of all species.

Its just bad luck for the competitor and bad sportsmanship for those that do it. I think the bloke who cuts in, and everyone knows who they are...will be branded accordingly.....if they want that tarnish on their reputation as a person for the sake of winning...well?????

No rule should be made. There is too many variables. What IF the bloke chose not to go back to the same spot in sess 2??? What if the wind changed, and the spot was no good?? who knows who owns what spot??? No one owns any of the lake. What if someone else found that spot in prefish too, like Lee said. Its too damn complicated!!!!! If it wasn't, ABT would have done it with Bass and Bream years ago where the problem is worse.. It would end in more arguements than now, I gurantee it.

I dont think it's a good idea to be able to 'bag' a spot....I mean, how much dam can you 'reserve' rightfully.

Its happened to all of us from time to time. It happened to me at Teemburra, got beaten to spot A then spot B....unfortunatly its part of the sport.....but cutting in after seeing someone catch fish there...thats unsportsman like. Maybe the culprits didnt understand the 'ettiquete'..so I think Matt handled it well by the sounds of things. Well done to you for doing what you did. Very good gesture.

Well done to Matt for all his hard work organising a great comp too. Good to see a good roll up, and a few fish too.

Cheers Steve

[Peter4]

I think it depends on a number of issues. Being the affected party of this thread I will give you my thoughts.

If we were fishing an 'area' under electric power and moving around then anyone had full right and was welcome to do the same thing as long as they stayed outside the 30m distance from us (which was a rule in this tournament).

As it was we tied off to a particular tree and worked over a very small area. After our initial success I was quite happy to explain what we did and where we did it to anyone that asked....everyone could see us from the main channel anyway.

I was also quite clear that it was our intention to return to our tie off tree for the next session.

Near the middle of the first session another team came up to the 30m mark to the right of us. They then called over and asked if it was OK for them to tie off to a tree that was right on the boundary. We said "Yep - go for it" and enjoyed their company for the rest of the session and the second session as well. We also watched them drop three and then catch four fish to our three and we wished them all the best for it.

There was absolutely no agro and both teams were happy.

If Matt wants to make it a rule then perhaps those that intend to return to a particular spot must let it be known to officials so that it can be communicated to the other teams. Asking permission to fish next to another team already in place is also good etiquette. Let's face it - you would only return to the same spot if you were successful there in the first place.

If we had gotten to our spot to find it occupied by another competitor we would not have been happy but we would simply have moved on...what else could we do?

No easy answers for this one I'm afraid.

Pete

[Whitto]

Pete I think you are spot on.

[BR65]

Problem is, biggest fish takes all rewards good luck, not good consistancy.

[brisbane_boy]

If winning at all costs relies on peeing on a tree to mark ones territory or having other boats protect a spot thats the kind of consistency id happily see someone else have. personally I get more satisfaction finding and landing a monster barra, we have all been there and skull dragged a heap of average barra for some insane meterage tally, its getting pretty old.

[Steve B]

If winning at all costs relies on peeing on a tree to mark ones territory or having other boats protect a spot thats the kind of consistency id happily see someone else have. personally I get more satisfaction finding and landing a monster barra, we have all been there and skull dragged a heap of average barra for some insane meterage tally, its getting pretty old.

Bris boy,

I sorta see what your saying mate, and kinda agree. But, in the context of a comp, where the fishing is very very difficult, Pete found a spot that produced fish....he may well have got that 'monster barra' he was searching for in this spot that was working.

The point being, a small % of others are too lazy or not capable of finding and landing their own fish, that they muscle in on the bloke who has cracked a pattern...thats the point of this post.

I agree, I would happily drive past anyone catching fish and say 'good on em' then go and locate my own somewhere else.....thats what 99% of tourno fishos do...but 1% are lazy, inconsiderate and have no ettiquette. Its not about peeing on trees!!!.

And for the record, Its not as easy as 'racking up the smaller fish'.....any barra tourno fisho will tell you EVERY fish is a bonus. I cant tell where the little fish are and the big fish are....can anyone..really??

Cheers Steve

[PaulMark]

Well done Trev,its etiquette really but I guess its also survival of the fittest(read fastest).Not sure if theres an answer,other than good manners.I remember fishing matches in the UK where you pick your peg out of a hat,and the disappointment when you realise you'll be sitting for 5hrs counting the blades of grass cos you've drawn a barren stretch.So I guess being able to move around is a bonus,nice if they ask if its ok tho.
Paulo