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You know, I have been very vocal and critical to everyone who has voiced their opinions against tournament fishing and Kingfishing in general and I am sure everyone had their reasons. But I sat back and thought that there must be something wrong in order for so many to be against it. There are all kinds of tournaments and competitions in sports that have an entry fee and payouts to include even poker tournaments. There are also other types of fishing tournaments to include bass, walleye, redfish, marlin, sailfish, shark, wahoo, and even around here catfish tournaments. I know any kind of competition has ego and arrogance involved and have witnessed it, but I still just don't quite get why everyone here is so against it. So here is your chance to vent or tell about happenings or circumstances that have really turned you off to tournaments. This is not meant to stir the pot, get anything started, or create a bashing session. I am just curious to here everyones opinions and why they are against competitive fishing.
Actually, You DON'T disagree with me. You THINK you disagree with me, but you're mistaken. You're simply experiencing an illusion caused by the limits of your comprehension. -Dilbert
Tournament fishing in and of itself is a good thing. What phukks it up is guys who wear really bad clothes, put stupid decals on their 3 ro 4 engined penis-substitutes and then whine about people who ridicule them for their asininity on the 'net. Sound familiar???
Wow, such angst! Never would have thought a tournament angler would care Okay, enough joking... There are a few reasons.
1. Sense of entitlement, "Hey, I'm in a tournament, get out of my way!" Our waterways, which are public, get more crowded every year. Tournament fishermen, who by nature are competitive, enter an environment that many of us use as a means to relax from a week at work. All too many tournament anglers push their way to the ramp, race out of ramp area through the ICW and out to the fsihing grounds without regard to the recreational fisherman.
Here in West Central FL, the Redfish Cup tournaments have become a real pain in the neck. Last year, one particpant had the audacity to complain on the FS forum that the city of Clearwater and the public DID NOT APPRECIATE all the tournament fishermen did for Pinellas County and Clearwater during a particular tournament one weekend! Now that was funny! Needless to say he hasn't been heard from recently!
Now that's a generalization, but it only takes one or two jacka** to ruin things for a majority. If you frequent the Floridasportsman Forum, you can read about an incident in the SE Region last weekend. A majority of tournament anglers are simply out for a good time with other anglers who enjoy the same thing they do.
2. Depletion of the breeder stock -- SKA/Kingfish Tournaments and Billfish Tournaments. These tournaments advocate killing the largest fish (almost always females) of a given species --shheesh! They claim, "Hey, we DONATE the fish to charity". Okay, whatever makes you feel good. In defense of the billfish tournaments, there is a real push to go to more "Tag & Release" events.
These are my two complaints, I'm sure there are others.
Tournament fishing would be worthwhile - if it meant to collect the grand prize - it meant PROVING you did infact catch the winning fish that very same day.
All weight in should include a unbalance uncut choppy video of: the hookup, the fight, the landing, and a glance of today front page. On top of this. The video should show right after the landing - attaching a tamper proof tag that must be attached to the fish mouth through the gill plate.
Not really against it, I fish my share of small "fun" tourneys, but big money tournaments are more about the calcutta than the fishing. They bring out the worst in people, as a recent thread on the FS forum about the Grove Slam demonstrates. Fishing, by nature, is meant to incite competition between an angler and fish, not between anglers. The mad dash for cash compromises trust and inhibits the respect that fisherman should show toward nature and other fishermen. The day I need to win money to enjoy fishing is the day I sell my boat and move inland.
Tournament fishing in and of itself is a good thing. What phukks it up is guys who wear really bad clothes, put stupid decals on their 3 ro 4 engined penis-substitutes and then whine about people who ridicule them for their asininity on the 'net. Sound familiar???
I have nothing against tournament fishing per se, it's the drama that seems to come with KMT tournaments that's annoying. If you guys were to post on who won and their methods, then that would be different. But to hear about your squabbles in a series that most recreational fishermen (on a recreational board like THT) really don't care about is nonsense.
Never had to deal with a saltwater tournament, but seems to have the same problems bass fishing tournaments do. 1. Way too many participants that suck up all the ramp space so the locals can't park. 2. The entitlement deal, where they think they deserve to fish anywhere and you'd better get out of their way. 3. A-holes that cut in front of or too close to other boats. 4. Whining about all the benefits they bring to the local community - BS, maybe to a few hotels or restaurants, but most are on a budget and looking to make money at a tournament, not blow it in the community, vs locals or vacationers that actually do spend money on a regular basis and get turned off by all the above.
Not to mention all the costs associated with keeping LMB stocked and maintained at the expense of other species that the big tournaments don't chase along with the attitude that their fish is sacred.
__________________ 2009 NauticStar 2200 Bay Tournament Edition with 175 hp Suzuki 4-stroke
Wow, I just went and read that grove slam report.... whew, all the drama.
Let me say this... I fish tourneys, SKA and bluewater, and I have a rule on my "triple engine YF" that is strictly adhered to: If I am not having fun than we are done, period. I have 5 guys that fish on my team, I pay all expenses, and I expect the utmost level of professionalism from each of them, When we are at the ramp we have a smooth and efficient operation that allows us to have the boat out in under 5 minutes and out of the way and launch even quicker. In the waterways we follow all of the laws and even some unwritten laws such as common courtesy and respect for other peoples enjoyment irrespective of our participation in a tourney. On the ocean we use common sense, conservation principles and enjoy the greatest asset this world has, the ocean. There are never yelling fits over missed fish, maybe some good ball-busting and laughs. There are never decisions to take risks to "get fish" or to comprimise the above principles in the name of winning.
Now maybe I am in a different position in life to be able to fish like that but I would say that anybody that needs competitive fishing to supplement their income shouldnt be doing it in the first place. It is all about having fun. I enjoy competition by my very nature but I will not get caught up in the madness that traps other people.
If I cease to have fun and enjoyment we are heading in.... that can be mid tourney or on a wednesday afternoon. My crew knows this and we live by it. If others did he same it would be a different scene out there.
Team FishDancer has*enjoyed the SKA tournament trail for the past 12 seasons and will continue to do so. We began in a 23' single engine and now fish a twin engine Contender/Mercury combinitation.
One of the major issues with king mackerel tournaments are the incorrect assumptions, generalizations and facts attributed the trail or our anglers. Notwithstanding my comments there are many things -- including angler behavior -- that help create these assumptions. Team FishDancer takes seriously our role in*the sport*and therfore carry ourselves in*an appropriate manner.* One of these responsibilities is to provide*the actual facts*reagrding our sport and fishery.***For example a post above speaks about the SKA taking all of the breeding stock of the fishery.**Back in 2003 I completed*an analysis of the SKA's impact upon the overall fishery as defined by the NMFS quota system. The following passage was posted on the www.FishDancer.net site in October of 2003. I post this for informational purposes only and I am not trying to start a commercial vs. recreational argument.
"Let's use some facts to assess the actual situation. The established National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) 2003 allowable commercial quota for king mackerel in total is 6,970,000 pounds. This is broken up into two segments the Atlantic quota (NY to Florida -- 3,710,000 pounds) and the Gulf quota (Alabama - Texas 3,260,000 pounds). Recently I have completed an analysis of the total SKA catch (23' and under division, open division and professional division) and discovered some interesting facts. Thus far in 2003 2,128 fish have been brought to the scales in SKA competition. The average SKA fish for the season is 24.69 pounds and the total take of the competitors was 52,546 pounds. These actual catch statistics reflect the fact that SKA competitors scaled fish that represented 0.75% -- less than 1% -- of the allowable commercial take. Even if the overall take were 5 times what was scaled it would represent 3.5% of the commercial take -- so the SKA has fractional impact in relation to the allowable commercial take of the fishery. Now I know some of you are thinking that since the competition targets BIG fish and these larger fish are the brood stock of the species, tournament competition has a more drastic affect upon the health of the fishery. That is that the taking of one 40 pound fish has a more detrimental affect upon the fishery than the harvest of two twenty pound fish -- while this position has traction in certain circles -- the data just doesn't seem to support it. Of the 2,128 fish weighed in at 2003 SKA events, 138 (6.48%) were in excess of 40 pounds, 24 (1.13%) were in excess of 50 pounds and 5 (0.23%) were in excess of 60 pounds. So in total 167 fish in excess of 40 pounds were weighed in -- less than 9% of the fish brought to the scales. Since the largest fish are brought to the scales in SKA competition, its safe to postulate that there are few large breeders kept by tournament anglers that are not weighed in -- that is the chance of a team weighing in a 42 pound fish and having another large fish on board is statistically low -- so therefore the concept of the tournament circuit disproportionately killing the breeding stock doesn't seem to hold much validity. This appears to be true even when reviewed against 30 pound fish -- the SKA weighed in 481 fish in excess of 30 pounds. When assessed in relation to the geography of where these events occur - from NC to Texas - and in light if the fact that the single commercial vessel allowable catch in Florida is 75 fish per day, one can begin to draw the appropriate conclusion that the competition does much more good promoting the conservation and sustainability of the overall resource than harm by harvesting a small percentage of the resource."
With all of that said -- each of us needs to repsect other anglers and better protect this magnificent fishery.* The FishDancer philosophy has been fish tournaments if you like -- or not if you don't; but don't bash anglers either way.* Tournament or not anglers share more in common than the 'issues' that seem to divide us.JeffFishDancer>>))))))">Http://www.FishDancer.net
The majority of KMT fisherman I have encountered, both off and on the water, are hugely arrogant and self serving.
Not all, but the higher majority. The rudeness and recklessness coming from tournament fisherman while on the water has been horrific. Close passes at high speed, cutting my lines, cussing at me for being in "their spot", when I was there first. I have observed many, many KMT tourney boats killing every shark they hooked. I have seen them being belligerent in restaurants, bars, and while fueling up their boats.
I have never, and I mean never, seen this sort of behavior from participants in the other tournaments held here; (and there are a lot of tournaments held on the MS coast).
Why is that?
Big Al
__________________ "Pedophiles must die" - Ted Nugent
Guys that advertise big money catch and release tournaments like they are helping the resource.
Then they devise a point system based on cath numbers, not size and wariness.
They then travel in large packs to nursery breeding areas around the world at peak season to hook over 100 adolesent marlin a day, pretending that their mouth is as tough as a large mouth bass.
All good points guys both from Fishdancer and Brett1 on the tournament side and the others on their views and agree with the majority. I myself have been on boats that have blasted by smaller boats at wide open speeds and witnessed some of the other things mentioned above. Seacraft and CMP as I stated I am done with what you are talking about and posted this for reasons stated above and am not going to make this a p--ssing contest because of my previous post regarding tournaments that you have taken offense to. I think that probably 80% of us tournament fisherman are good people that enjoy the fishing and the competition and try to have fun. The other 20% are just like people in other competitive sports where ego and arrogance gets in the way of common sense. You know the whole "my boat is bigger and faster than your boat" thing and " I own the ocean". I know this sounds hypocritical coming from the things I said in my last thread, but that thread was done for a purpose and is over with. We always cut our sharks off and "tail" alot of kings and release them, but I have also seen the other side were everything is gaffed and then taken and sold. I have also been at public boat ramps after a tournament and seen how the bigger boats think they own it so I have definitely seen both sides. Unfortunately, that 20% mentioned above will never change just like Kyle Busch's attitude in NASCAR will probably never change. I also agree that for some reason controversey has been following around kingfishing lately and doesn't make it look very good, but if you think about it it is probably no more controversey than in other competitive sports we just notice it because this is what we pay attention to. Lastly, I feel as long as kings are commercially fished and you can get $3 a pound for them then this is what is going to hurt the populations and not the tournaments. Thanks for everyones input.
The majority of KMT fisherman I have encountered, both off and on the water, are hugely arrogant and self serving.
Not all, but the higher majority. The rudeness and recklessness coming from tournament fisherman while on the water has been horrific. Close passes at high speed, cutting my lines, cussing at me for being in "their spot", when I was there first. I have observed many, many KMT tourney boats killing every shark they hooked. I have seen them being belligerent in restaurants, bars, and while fueling up their boats.
I have never, and I mean never, seen this sort of behavior from participants in the other tournaments held here; (and there are a lot of tournaments held on the MS coast).
Why is that?
Big Al
what he said,drive the mayport jetties on the upcoming kingfish tournament and watch.they are there worst enemy
They look like a lot of fun but I just never fish them. I would be a little concerned it would take the fun out of fishing but I would love the competition
__________________ 210 CC Sea Pro
Yamaha 200 4 Stroke
Dodge Ram 1500 4x4 HEMI
ashbrook, As much as I hate to see it happen, Kingfish tournaments are about to go the way of the dinosaurs. The Ska pro tour only got 67 boats this year, and most people think the FLW would do good to field 45-50 boats. Do the math on the payout on 50% of the field in a flw event. Take 5th place for example, it pays 15,000 for a full field (100 boats) and you must have the full contigency package as well. So, if only 50 boats show up and you finish in 5th place, which is not easy to do, you would get 7500. You would not quite break even!!! But what if you were in a Yellowfin with Mercury motors? You would have collected a whopping $3000. So, you finished 5th, with 50% of the field and spent $8000 to win $3000. How long do you think people will do this. There can't be alot of new contingency boats being purchased,seeing as how Genmars factory in Sarasota was closed. I heard the wellcraft dealer in Little River was in bankruptcy. In summary, the 4-5 dollar/gal gas, the lack of boat sales, the poor #'s in the field, all will force most people out of the sport. Even the local events will be a bad bet. Do the math for the upcoming Swannsboro tournament, assuming you fish way south, WHERE THE FISH ARE. You will use 300 gal of gas. Any finish outside the top 3 and you will lose money!! CALL ME IF YOU WANT TO GO HAVE FUN AND LOSE MONEY.
You couldnt be more wrong. Every year there are money fish caught by local fisherman within 10 miles of the tourney port. It all how you approach the sport. Last year at the nsb tourney I ran 6 miles south of the inlet less than a 1/2 mile off the beach and caught kings all day. The winning fish was caught right next to me. There were guys that ran 100 miles south and got skunked.... its all how you play the game. My deal is always the same.... fun, fun or fun or I am going home. With fuel prices where they are I venture guess that local knowledge will be highly sought after and many boats will stay close to port even though they can run far. I will be slow trolling on 1 motor!!!
I would say that anybody that needs competitive fishing to supplement their income shouldnt be doing it in the first place. It is all about having fun. I enjoy competition by my very nature but I will not get caught up in the madness that traps other people.
What is wrong with tournament fishing? 
Never would have thought a tournament angler would care 
Okay, enough joking... There are a few reasons.
A majority of tournament anglers are simply out for a good time with other anglers who enjoy the same thing they do. 
They claim, "Hey, we DONATE the fish to charity". Okay, whatever makes you feel good. 
In defense of the billfish tournaments, there is a real push to go to more "Tag & Release" events.
