Bass Tourney Question

What are the ethics around fishing under/ near bait tanks during a tournament. I was at the marina Sunday 7:30 am and talked quickly with two fisherman who were working the marina. I asked how big was there biggest, thier reply “nothing of any size”, then they asked where I caught sm bass and I told them I don’t fish for them. I asked what tounament they were in, clearly they were not sharing information, just consuming. They quickly took off. 5 minutes later, the family and I left for the beach and noticed these two guys hoisting multiple huge sm bass they caught under a “bait tank” that the dock kid had just alerted them to the location. The co-angler held it up screaming like that pro that on tv screaming at fish as he lowered it into the livewell.
I am curious, how many tourney get won by hand fed fish? and how can you get that excited about a fish or five, that sit and wait for dead minnows?
I left for the beach, not my issue and just didn’t feel right watching.
But it has been gnawing at me for some reason, maybe because when we got back 2 hours later, they were still there, 10 feet from the bait tank casting at it.

BTW, when is the next bass tourney on the Croix? I’m thinking of going PRO.

A lot of tournaments have rules against gaining information on the location of fish while fishing the tournament as well as the official prefish period (when there is one) I guess as far my opinion goes, I have 2 different takes on the matter. First point, fish school up to eat smaller fish and you still have to make them bite so not a huge deal especially if these guys planned on fishing through the area anyway and got lucky. On the other side of the coin, these guys had no idea the fish were in that exact spot or knew why they were there. I personally would never ask another guy where I can catch some fish while on the water whether its in the rules or not…I can’t feel good about being steered to some fish and show them off at a weigh in…Its just not how I operate..So I guess unless they were actually breaking a rule and fishing an area where somone told them on the water, I can only see it as being a little shady

Thanks for the response.
I want to make one thing clear, I am accusing no one of wrong doing. I really wouldn’t know either way. And, yes, I was asked where the bass bite by the younger angler.
I’m just wondering if one group of indiviuals outshined the rest with easy “bait tank” pickings.
Whether IT IS or ISN’T right, it sure didn’t look/feel right, MY OPINION.

Really ………… when is the next tourney on the Croix?

The only people you can get information from during a tournament are the other competitors – that’s it.

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they were still there, 10 feet from the bait tank casting at it.

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Had they found it on their own – I’d call it a smart move — really not much different than fishing a warm water discharge (so simply it’s almost too easy)

From the way it sounds – they probably should have been DQ’d.

That’s it: “Iaconelli”. The kid looked so happy to catch a big fish under a bait tank, probably why he yelled so loud before he lowered it into his livewell!

Question was there a gas pump near the bait tank. Every tournament I’ve fished had a no-fish area near a gas dock.
I have no idea of the area you are talking about, but it sounds like this is a commonly known area. If so anybody holding tournaments on this body of water should be made aware and immediately mark it as off-limit. Also, if the tournament had a info rule these guys clearly broke it. But just good sportsmanship should have kept them from receiving info. Just my opinion.

It was 20′ or less from a gas pump.

I haven’t fished in a state where fishing was allowed near a public gas pump. I believe the law in Nebraska is 50 yrds of a gas pump. If it’s something similar up there that is a violation of a state law and the anglers could/should have been disqualified if they were caught or someone had protested them. Game officials often hang out in these types of areas. They are lucky they didn’t get ticketed.

Jason

I get the feeling some of you guys might know where this spot is. Now might be a good time to let some of the organizations holding tournaments on this body of water to include this in their pre-tournament breifing as a definite off-limits area. Also if anyone knows the fishermen they should be told now before they get DQ’ed next time.

After being called a liar in a nasty PM this morning. I need to clarify/correct my original post:

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noticed these two guys hoisting multiple huge sm bass they caught under a “bait tank”

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I was told by someone in my boat said they saw another fish, and I have no way to prove it, so I will recant that statement. I am sorry for any/all confusion, I certainly was not trying to embellish the story as I am now accused.
From the PM: “For your information we caught one fish at the bait tank ALL day. SO you lies of you seeing us hoist multiple large fish from the bait tank area were just that LIES!”

I only personally saw ONE fish held up that was caught at the bait tank.

I will now scrutinize my comment that the yelling was like Ike. I cannot verify what was being yelled, but I think I know why some people do not like Marina fishing. 7:30 am yelling ANYTHING in a marina is unacceptable. Could also be the bouncing of lures off of the docks and boats, just a guess though. So just to be clear:
After being asked where the bass were biting by a tournament angler, I saw 1 tournament fisherman hoisting 1 fish that was caught under a bait tank that was 10 feet from a gas pump yelling something at 7:30 am in a marina.

I am sorry that I posted this now. I only saw something that made me feel bad for the sport of fishing that has become one my new hobbies and was looking for clarification.

Don’t feel sorry. Obviously the message got through. Whether it was 1 fish or 2 or the guy hollered or not, he obviously cheated and should have pulled himself from the tournament. Now he knows and it shouldn’t happen again. I’m sure the next time this person fishes a tourney here someone will be watching.

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I only personally saw ONE fish held up that was caught at the bait tank.

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Enough evidence fer me……one is one too many.
I do not see any need for an apology.

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Don’t feel sorry. Obviously the message got through. Whether it was 1 fish or 2 or the guy hollered or not, he obviously cheated and should have pulled himself from the tournament. Now he knows and it shouldn’t happen again. I’m sure the next time this person fishes a tourney here someone will be watching.

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Cheated? How is that cheating when anyone else in the tournament could have fished that exact same spot?
Maybe I misunderstood something.(?)

Most tourneys have rules against fishing near gas pumps. Like Jason said, in most cases it’s at least 50ft.

If the facts are no closer than 50ft from a gas pump(clearly stated in the rules) and they were within 10ft, then they cheated.

Is this gas pump rule a safety issue?

I understand the minnow tank thing but help me out why can,t you fish by a gas pump “are fish atracted to gas” or what

thanks
2KS

I don’t know if the rule is for safety or courtesy. I don’t know if this rule was included for this tournament or not. So I guess maybe he didn’t cheat and I may have stated an opinion. But this was based on 25 years of tournament fishing and this rule is included in most. I suppose for me it is just a sub-conscience thing. But as we saw last year in the BASS Elites, you always need to read the rules from top to bottom.

SHHEEESH
O.K. my name is Corey Waller and I am the guy who was fishing the “bait tank area”/”gas dock area” First of all there is no rule in this tourney about distances from gas docks so I wasn’t breaking any rules there. Second of all for those of you who know this area there is a bait tank sitting on a dock that they sell minnows out of. The pattern I was fishing, I found the Wednesday befor the tourney and I fished it again the Friday befor and did catch good quality fish both days. The pattern actually had nothing to do with the bait tanks (although Im sure it didnt hurt as they probably do throw out the dead minnows in the water) the pattern had to do with the pumps by the docks that keep the water moving to prevent alge from building up and getting on the big money boats in the marina. There are several of these pumps thruout the marina and I was fishing all of them. In my opinion it is no different than fishing a warm water discharge, the Red Wing dam or any other area that fish go to feed. Its not like I bought ten dollars worth of minnows and asked the guy to drop them in the water.
Now to address my supposed poor conduct. As the original poster has already corrected I only caught one fish at the bait tank area NOT several HUGE fish. It was a nice smallie but not huge. who cares anyway how big it was I was trying to win a tourney. Next the tourney started at 7am so at 7:30 the original poster said I had nothing to say to him and was only absorbing info. Well it takes 25 minutes to get there and I had no keepers yet. So when I said we didnt have any fish I wasn’t lying. we truly had no fish.Since I found the fish 4 days befor the tourney any chit chat we made with the original poster was of NO help to me what so ever!!!!besides we were talking about his northern or muskie he had recently caught. Now when my partner caught the smallies at the dock he NEVER screamed like IKE. were we excited? of course.A quick high five , a nice job and we were back to trying to win a tournament. Did we YELL? never. It was 7:45 in the morning we planned on fishing the marina all day do you think we wanted to #1 tick off the boat owners we were going to fish around all day? NO…. or #2 alert to other team that was also fishig the marina we had caught a nice fish? also NO….. Any time a boat was coming in for gas we moved on to one of the many other pumps in the marina. Did I fish the bait tank pump more than one that day? YES.. Did I fish all of the pumps in the marina multiple times that day? YES… Did I do well in that tourney? YES… 3rd.
Lastly…..
For those of you know me I’ve been a Field staffer here on IDA for a long time. I have helped many of you out with questions you may have had and will continue to do so. If there is ever any question about my character please ask any of the other Field staffers, Pro staffers, Steering Committee or James himself. and if one of those people tell you Im not a stand up guy I will resign my position effective immediatly.
thank you for your time
Corey Waller

Why can’t a guy fish a bait tank or gas pump area on the river?

I don’t understand this rule?

Is it a tournament specific rule or a state rule???

you can. Does anyone stop fishing for walleyes around Leo’s dock in Prescott???? Nope and we have all fished there. Has anyone ever had anything said to them I doubt it.

Some tourneys just have specific rules against it.This one does not.

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Some tourneys just have specific rules against it.This one does not.

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Everything looks and reads fine by me. The “He said, She said” stuff isn’t going to get us anywhere. I’d say this case is closed.

thanks Blue

I see no problems with what Corey did. I trust Corey that if there was a rule like that employed in this event, he would have obeyed it. I applaud him and his partner for a job well done in this tourney. Sounds like he had a good pre-fish pattern going and it stuck for him on game day.

3rd Place, atta a boy Corey

thanks guys

No rule against fishing there = fair play to me…
I apologize also
congrates Corey

I guess this is where tournament anglers get bad raps from. People not stating exactly what happened,but what they want to start more problems for guys like me, Corey and others that fish tournament. I would say 90-95% of us are really good guys who try there best not to upset anyone and follow the rules. After reading all posts, I see nothing wrong with what Corey did.

Most tournaments have rules stating you cannot fish within 50 feet or yards of gas pumps for safety reasons. This one did not so he is free and clear to fish there.

If you are going to accuse someone of something, please make sure you have your facts straight and the story is correct. There is enough bad press about every situation of fishing that WE as anglers and fisherman do not need anymore.

Thank you for your time!

Tim

PS. Good job Corey!

I apologize if I added to any of the confusion. I always thought it was a state regulation that stated no fishing near gas pumps, because it has been the rule in the tournaments I have fished. I looked and can’t find it in the regs anywhere so if it wasn’t against the tournament rules it’s fair game. It’s just something I’m not accustom to.

On a side note. Last year at Table Rock Lake in Missouri I was near a marina where a boat that was filling up with gas exploded. They life flighted a couple people out of there. I don’t know the circumstances about it, but be safe if you are fishing around gas pumps.

Jason

The first year I fished the I.D.A tournament, I asked Cory if there were any rules about fishing around gas pumps and he said there were not. Cory then asked if I knew if was a D.N.R regulation. He and I checked the regs. and could not find any reg. against it(did his job to the fullest). One thing I find, is for some unknown reason anglers do not check with the director, it takes two minutes and clears up a lot of problems. Good job finding fish under bait tanks and better job posting you were the angler in question. Cory has done a great job in the past running this tournament.