A Lot Smells Fishy in This Blue Marlin Controversy

Even fishing is not immune from soap-opera drama, as evidenced by the disqualification of an 883-pound blue marlin that would have been worth $910,000 to its captors during the Big Rock Blue Marlin Tournament out of North Carolina in June of 2010.

The case is now being argued before the North Carolina Supreme Court.

Read the full story here.

Ethical Behavior Important on the Water

(Author's note: This article was written awhile back for young anglers. But the same advice also is applicable to adult fishermen.)

You and your partner are having little luck and time is running out in the bass tournament. But as you pass a point at the mouth of a cove, you notice anglers in another boat are catching fish.

There seems to be plenty of room, and they are fishing public water. You have as much right to be there as they do. Why not join them?

You know why. It wouldn’t be ethical.

“All of us who fish competitively have had experience with ethics on the water,” says a long-time bass pro from Arkansas. “And the first rule is the Golden Rule. You don’t move onto another person’s water.”

The second ethics rule among tournament anglers, she adds, is a variation of the first. “You don’t go to that spot the next day either, if the tournament is still going on. That is someone else’s water. Find your own fish.”

Sometimes you can do that, she continues, simply by noting what makes this honey hole special and then looking for similar places that are not occupied.

An angler who wants to claim a hole, meanwhile, should practice good angling etiquette. He can do that by moving back and forth to signal that this is his water. Otherwise, some might mistakenly believe that he is fishing down a bank, instead of working a specific area.

In general, angling etiquette is a code of courtesy that shows consideration for others and, in doing so, encourages ethical behavior. Angling etiquette is visible, such as yielding to the boat on the right or to a smaller, slower craft cutting across your bow.

But what, exactly, is ethical behavior, aside from not crowding into another’s fishing spot?

 “Your ethics are the rules or values you use to help choose behavior that is fair to others and to yourself,” says Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD). “We practice ethical behavior when we ‘do the right thing’ even when we think we won’t be caught or punished for our behavior.”

When trying to decide whether your behavior will be ethical, says TPWD, consider these questions: Is it legal? Would it be good if everybody did it? Would it make you proud?

Also, don’t allow someone’s questionable behavior to influence your judgment. In other words, two wrongs don’t make a right.

Sometimes, too, what you perceive as “wrong” isn’t seen that way by others.

“Especially in tournaments, we (bass anglers) are so intent, so focused,” says the pro. “Others, like water skiers and jet skiers, don’t understand that. And it’s not their mission to pay attention to things like the fact that they’re going between us and the shore. We have to understand that.

“And we shouldn’t get mad if we decide to fish a good spot where there’s going to be a lot of traffic. We have to accept the fact that people are going to go by.”

As a fisherman, however, you do know that motoring between an angler and a nearby shoreline is not good etiquette and possibly even unethical if it harms his fishing.

Here are some other actions that reflect good etiquette and ethical behavior by anglers: 

• Honor another’s trust. If someone shares with you his “secret spot,” don’t tell anyone about it, no matter how tempted you may be.
• Whether in a boat or on shore, don’t cast your line across another’s or into “his water.” Doing so not only is unethical but could result in a tangled mess that keeps both of you from fishing.
• Understand and follow fishing and boating regulations. Obeying the law is not only ethical; it also keeps you from paying fines and possibly even going to jail and/or having your fishing privileges revoked.
• Handle fish gently. Don’t suspend them out of the water with fishing line. Don’t touch the gills. After you net or lip them, don’t allow them to flop around on shore or in the bottom of the boat. If a fish “swallows” the hook, cut off the line at the eye and leave it in.
• Never keep fish just to “show off.” You should be prepared to clean and eat any that you take home.
• Have your boat ready to go before you back it down the ramp. When you take it out, move it quickly out of the way so that others can use the launch area.
• Help with loading, unloading, and cleaning the boat.
• Take live bait home with you or dispose of it well away from the water instead of dumping it into the lake. Be certain that your boat and trailer don’t carry any uninvited hitchhikers, such as nuisance plants or zebra mussels.
• Don’t move fish of any kind from one water body to another. In addition to being unethical and illegal, it could do irreversible damage to a fishery that you were trying to improve.
• Always ask permission before crossing private property or fishing a pond or stream on private property.
• If you are wading, try to avoid trampling aquatic vegetation. Enter and leave the water at places where the banks are low or at gravel bars, so you will do less damage to the shorelines.
• If you are fishing on private land and keeping fish, offer to share your catch with the landowner.
• Leave an area just as clean as you found it. And especially never discard line or soft plastic baits. Even better, pick up the trash left behind by others. Littering, of course, is against the law. Picking it up shows respect for the resource.
• Avoid spills and never dump pollutants, such as gas and oil, into the water.
• Share your knowledge and enjoyment of the sport by taking others fishing.
• Through your own behavior, promote angling ethics and etiquette.

 Sometimes when you are on the water, you will run into situations that do not fit into any of the above and you will be forced to make decisions with little time to think. In such cases, listen to your conscience, make the ethical choice, and you never will go wrong.

B.A.S.S. Marshal Program Is Way to Meet the Pros

Gerald Swindle’s marshal tips his hat to crowd as they launch at Elite Series tournament on the St. Johns River in Florida. B.A.S.S. photo.

How would you like to spend a day on the water with one of the big names in bass fishing?  If you are a B.A.S.S. member, you can do that through the 2013 Bassmaster Elite Series Marshal Program.

“The Bassmaster marshal program’s popularity has grown immensely since its inception,” said Trip Weldon, B.A.S.S. tournament director.

 “Imagine getting eight hours of one-on-one, on-the-water classroom instruction from the best bass anglers in the world. Bassmaster Elite Series pros have embraced the program, and they are willing to share a wealth of information that is sure to help their marshals become better anglers once they return home.”

Marshal registration for B.A.S.S Federation Nation and Life members opens Sept. 25 at 9 a.m. CST for online applications and Sept. 27 at 9 a.m. CST for phone applications. All B.A.S.S. members can register online Oct. 2 beginning at 9 a.m. CST and by phone Oct. 4 at 9 a.m. CST.

According to Weldon, scoring a marshal slot can be a challenge as B.A.S.S. members play a beat-the-clock game to submit their entries to serve as marshals for their favorite tournament locations.

“We have many serious and dedicated fans, and some tournaments have all marshal spots filled within 15 minutes of registration opening,” Weldon said.

You can register online here or by calling 877-BASSUSA. Enrollment fee is $125, which includes an exclusive Bassmaster marshal shirt and hat. 

Date	Event Name	Destination
March 14-17	Sabine River Challenge	Orange, Texas
March 21-24	Falcon Slam	Zapata, Texas
April 18-21	Bulls Shoals Quest	Bull Shoals, Ark.
May 2-5	West Point Battle	LaGrange, Ga.
May 9-12	Alabama River Charge	Montgomery, Ala.
June 20-23	Mississippi River Rumble	La Crosse, Wis.
Aug. 8-11	St. Lawrence River Showdown	Waddington, N.Y.
Aug. 22-25	Lake St. Clair Championship	Detroit, Mich.

B.A.S.S. Missing Spiritual Leader

As a newspaper outdoors editor, Gene Mueller has a longer history with B.A.S.S. than I do. I first met him at one of the many Bassmaster Classics that we attended, along with dozens of other journalists from across the country --- and even around the world --- back in the glory days of the 1980s and early 1990s.

 In an opinion piece on his website, Gene Mueller’s World of Fishing & Hunting, he laments the loss of passion that founder Ray Scott brought to the organization.

 Here’s an excerpt:

 “These days, B.A.S.S. for the most part has become a fishing tournament group. When was the last time you heard of B.A.S.S. fighting the good fight, taking on polluters or dictatorial government regulators the way Scott and his company did on a regular basis. When was the last time B.A.S.S. has supported a bass-boater in court after he was threatened with bodily harm by an angry shoreline owner who figured that he not only owned the land but also free-flowing water, or perhaps arrange to study the piscatorial inhabitants of a large reservoir so his company could learn about the health of the fish?”

 As the first and still the only Senior Writer/Conservation for B.A.S.S., I will say that many in the organization still care about such issues as pollution, invasive species, and access threats. That concern is evident in the coverage that B.A.S.S. Times provides for these topics and in the work that National Conservation Director Noreen Clough does behind the scenes with government agencies and other conservation organizations. It’s also exhibited in the many good works performed by the conservation programs of state Federation Nation chapters.

But Gene is right in that B.A.S.S. certainly isn’t the same without a Ray Scott to fire up the constituency and lead the way on issues of concern to anglers. And, while former owner ESPN glamorized tournament fishing with its glitzy coverage of the Classic, it possibly did more harm than good among rank and file B.A.S.S. members.

I’m hopeful that the new owners, all of whom are anglers, are remaking B.A.S.S. in the organizational image that Ray Scott brought to bass fishing. 

Alabama Rig Is a Great Tournament Technique, But Not for Fun Fishing

If you’re a bass fisherman, you’d heard about the Alabama Rig. Anglers from coast to coast are using this variation of the saltwater umbrella rig to catch lots of fish, often two or three at a time.

I can understand its worth as a tournament tool. If you’re fishing competitively, you have a limited amount of time. Consequently, you want to use the most effective baits in the most effective manner to maximize your effort.

I get that. This method seems custom-made for tournament anglers, and millions of people fish competitively and/or pattern their pursuit of bass after tournament fishermen.

That’s why I’m sharing with you this article that I found at the Record-Bee about anglers using the Alabama Rig at California’s Clear Lake. Here’s an excerpt:

“Earlier this week a fisherman reported catching 20 bass, topped by a couple of 6-pounders while casting the Alabama Rig near Monitor Point and at Dollar Island. He said when he retrieved the rig there would be two or three bass following it right up to the boat.”

Also, check out this article about the Alabama Rig by my friend Ken Duke at Bassmaster.com.

But as someone who prefers recreational fishing to competitive angling, the Alabama Rig is not for me. I’ve caught two fish on one bait before. In fact, I once caught a 7-pounder and a 4-pounder at the same time on a crankbait.

Lots of splashing around occurred at boatside, but the fight wasn’t nearly as enjoyable for me as it would have been if I had hooked only the 7-pounder --- or only the 4-pounder. Each weighed the other down during the battle.

For me, it’s all about enjoying the fight, instead of putting fish in the boat as quickly as possible --- a behavior of mine that drives a tournament-angler friend  crazy when we fish together.