What Role Does Sportsmanship Play in a Tournament?

I think most people would agree it should be the central theme, but given what has been publicized about some skirmishes among the pros in our sport, as well as what you may know personally about some kerfuffles among local weekenders, it kinda makes you wonder, huh?

Let's face it: We all have our spots we like to hit when money is on the line, and nothing can put you off your game faster than pulling up to one of those spots and finding someone else already is there. You haven't even made the first cast yet, and already you have a moral dilemma on your hands. "Do I leave?" you ask yourself, "or stay and fish...and hopefully get the other anglers to move?"

The rule of thumb, with all things being equal, is to treat those anglers how you want to be treated. In other words, don't get mad at them. What makes the situation sticky in the first place is that every person is different and has different values. It often gets even stickier if those other anglers are putting one fish after another in the boat from your hole. The natural reaction is just to keep getting closer and closer to that other boat.

Let's switch gears here, though. For just a moment, let's say you arrive on the spot first and are the one catching fish after fish when another boat shows up. Now how do you handle the situation?

Here's the personal choice of one angler I read about: "I fire a warning shot across the bow. I'll pick up my Carolina rig, with at least a 1-ounce weight attached, and throw at the other boat when I think they have reached the boundary that I have (set) in my own mind. I never would hit the other boat, but I have crossed their lines before. Only on two occasions has this (tactic) ever 'not' stopped the other boat from encroaching on my spot. This is when you'll be able to say something to them, but yelling or cursing only will make the situation worse. Always use a calm, clear voice, and be polite."

Perhaps I'm a Lone Ranger here, but that tactic seems a bit extreme to me. I, too, have tried to protect my favorite spots during tournaments a few times over the years, but I've never resorted to anything reaching this level. For example, one spring tournament found me flipping a canal with soft plastics like I had pre-fished it with successfully. For most of the 8 hours, I watched boats pass right on by the entrance to "my" canal for a day. One, however, eventually turned in and headed my way, until he saw that I was holding my ground in the same spot for several minutes. At that point, he turned around and left--without my having to fire a warning shot across the bow.

On another occasion, my tournament partner and I were fishing a shallow cove when some young boys in a johnboat pulled up beside us and asked how the fishing was going. I could have told the truth and said we were catching some nice ones but decided to fib and tell them we weren't doing any good at all. On the heels of that statement, those boys also turned around and left--again without my having to fire a warning shot across the bow.

That same angler who fires warning shots with a Carolina rig went on to say that "every angler's definition of courtesy is different. I honestly make an extra effort to show it as much as possible to every angler, whether he's a tournament fisherman or not. Sometimes, however, that's not good enough."

He then described a tournament in which the weather had been cold and foggy at takeoff, and he was fishing a lake's shallow, upper reaches from an aluminum bass boat. There was a local fisherman about 20 yards from the cut he had to transit, so he idled through and circled wide to avoid any more disruption than necessary. Later in the day, the local fisherman trolled over to him and asked if he was in a tournament. When he answered yes, the fisherman snapped back that it must be his first one because he never had seen anyone so rude. It seems the fisherman blamed him for the bite shutting down subsequent to the bass boat's passage.

Sportsmanship in every tournament is a rule. The only way it can be achieved, though, is if everyone puts themselves in the shoes of those in the other boat and lets the golden rule and common sense guide their every action.