Dear Abby: I just left the lake after fishing in a Saturday tournament, and it seems that many boat drivers and anglers are competing for A'hole (mahalo🙏) of the Year. What happened to civility? Signed, Just Wondering
Dear Just Wondering: Welcome to the 21st Century. Suck it up, Buttercup. Focus on not becoming one of them. And try fishing with Midweek Bass Anglers of AZ, Arizona’s Premier Bass Club (so they say). Regardless of which club is best, Wednesdays on the water are so much better than weekends and holidays. Signed, Dear Abby
A Dose of Reality
Draw Team Tournaments require civility. In shared-boat fishing, or any kind of fishing, cooperation between teammates and with other anglers is essential to having fun and success. A day shared with a “partner” or another angler who is ego-centric, selfish or uncooperative is painfully long. So is sharing water with boaters who cause problems.
We’ve all experienced bad boaters and boat-sharing problems on the water. Have you ever been guilty? Have you ever back-seated a co-angler? Zipped a 1-oz jig right past your boater’s head? Combed your “partner’s” hair or treble-hooked their ear with a crankbait? Poached someone’s water? Blown through a No Wake Zone? Blocked access to a cove? Come in too hot and had your wake throw someone out of a boat, or a kayak? Cut in ahead of a boat or tube angler fishing a bank? Fished in an Off Limits Area? Cut across a shore angler’s line? There are many ways to be a problem on the water, and far too many boaters and anglers demonstrate them!
Simply put, problem boaters and anglers make on-the-water experiences much less enjoyable, and sometimes downright unsafe. Nobody needs that, so let’s not be guilty. Always practice good boating and fishing etiquette. Be a good role model for other anglers and boaters, even if you think nobody is watching.
Midweek’s expectations for Boater Etiquette and Co-Angler Etiquette (click those links, please!) are reasoned and reasonable. Frankly, the same approaches should be used every time we fish or boat, not just when we are in an MWBA tournament. Fish on!
