Do we throw all etiquette and good manners out the window when we fish comps or should we still show the same consideration to our fellow anglers as we do in normal day fishing.

The reason I ask is that today whilst fishing a CHARITY fund raiser qualifier I hitched into a slab of a fish it was leading me a merry dance it rolled a couple of times, a double figure fish or if not very close to it. At that time in the comp i was pegged in a small bay part of the fishery with two other chaps to my left the furthest bloke to my left saw the size of fish and the trouble i was having trying to stop the runs and stopped fishing as not to tangle me, not the other plonker he carried on casting and fishing right over my line as it was being towed by the fish, although it was in his swim he made no effort at all to oblige me in fact I could have sworn he made a point of making it harder for me,
anyway the result of this I tried to hard to bring the fish out of his way and pulled the hook

Who was right in this situation or was nobody at fault?

By the way some justice was done I got my 5 fish bag 13lb 8oz which won me a line for Heaviest bag, and with my partners 5 fish for 11lb 4oz combined total 24lb 12oz we won another line each for best team bag and qualified for the semi,s

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I will arise and go now, and go to Innisfree,9 bean rows will I have there and a hive for the honey bee.

Well i would have been pi$$ed off at the guy. Just stupid and selfish.

Ali

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What a tourist terms a plague of insects, the fly fisher calls a great hatch.

I think that I would have had a few choice words for that BLEEP BLEEP person.

Alan and more

Treat people as they treat you.

I've encountered this masses of times whilst boat fishing and i've lost one hell of a lot of ' important ' fish due to my boat partner/s not moving there line/s out of the way when a strong fish runs across them.
It's pathetic really pathetic you end up having to put the rod under the water and try to stear the fish away then PING, hooks gone.
I would believe my etiquette to be of good standing in general, however, what you see is what you get with me and if your a *osser i'll let you know.
I also believe there to be far far too many anglers in today's world who believe themselves to be FISHING GODS, with this in mind there ' etiquette ' is minimal to say the least and ther lack of respect, well
It is a sad thing but boat fishing success nowadays is down to angling ability, watercraft and THE BOAT PARTNER
P.S. it's not all doom and gloom mind........ i've met some absolutly fantastic guys and had some truley great days out on the waters.

I've fished two comps this year where my partner has won biggest fish - not sure if that is good or bad on my part, but in both cases I did my best for them including, in one case, untangling their line from the engine and getting the drogue in - how that fish stayed on is a miracle, especially as he then hooked his top dropper in the tip ring and still got it out

Charlie

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Sonik Sports Team Pitsford Pirates

Treat people as they treat you.

Those are my sentiments exactly Fred ,I have been fortunate whilst fishing competitions as i have always had decent guys partnering me and hopefully that will continue to be the case ,Some guys are just uber competitive and forget that fishing is meant to be enjoyable and fun

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Come when the leaves come,angle with me,Come when the bees hum,crossing the lea,Come to discover the angling delights,of the Melvin with me.

Apart from once i have had an absolute ball when out fishing in comps and all but one boat partner who was an absolute nightmare and from the other side of the universe,it has all been very favourable.
It is very true what Fred has said and there is many links into this thread that could be applied from other posts and if these" fishing gods" care to read them they will be better for it and enjoy it more.
having just got back from what i have to say was the best boat comp I have been in for a long time it had alot to offer competition fishing and much could be learned.I know we do get occasionals and must win at all costs and PLEASE PLEASE dont be in a boat with me i want to have a good day out as Bear says its enjoyable and fun.Not ambulance stuff.

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Kevin

Having fished comps for longer than I care to rememember and enjoyed most of them along the way, thanks in no small part to those that I have fished with, you do get the odd bad boat partner. This can be down to a lack of boat experience or just a selfish attitude. All to often these days, success depends on a good boat partner and even if the fishing is hard, that person can still make the day a good one.
It's now common place to find drifting boats catching fish only for others to throw the anchor out behind them. For boats in a competition to get far to close to one another if a few fish are being caught, for boats to motor up your drift as if no one were there. Lets all uphold whats supposed to be the GENTLEMANLY art of flyfishing and if we take part in competitions, do so in a true sporting fashion and then we can all enjoy what we all love to do and that's fish. Maybe then, big fish hooked will be landed and not lost because of bad manners and every day afloat will be one to remember for good not bad reasons.

Thankfully over the years in my many many comps, ive only ever drawn 2 tosspots.

The main thing about fishing wether its for pleasure or in a comp is that you have fun and enjoy the day.

Some guys out there just want to win win win and they dont give a dam about the rest.

In an International match, I was fortunate enough to fish with FOXY from this forum. What a gent. Although we were both trying to win gold for our own country, we fished as a 2 man team on the day and had great craic and more importantly we both made a friend for life. Thats what its all about, not winning at all costs and ending up as billy no mates.

Sorry to hear you lost the big fish MM, because that plonker didnt have the decency to reel in for 5 minutes.

Well done on the heaviest bag mate and good luck in the next round.

OO

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Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate
YOU DONT NEED EYES TO SEE YOU NEED VISION

Its not only comps where this ***** goes on. I was on Rutland a few weeks ago when I found a good head of feeding fish in a bay. I dropped anchor, (not that I am a big fan of the anchor but I got caught once on Rutland drifting over fish only for the boat behind me to drop anchor and cut me out of the drift for good ), and had the fish well cornered. Then these two " old " boys who should know better reversed in on top of me so much so I almost cast into their boat. Well I asked them if 3000 odd arces of water wasn't big enough for them and would they like me to pack up and go home so they could fish the water were I had found the fish. Got the old we've suddenly gone deaf responce but my next out burst had the desired effect. What is wrong with people, a little manners goes a long way. It has gone the same way in Ireland to. May fly time is unreal, cutting you up on a drift seems to be the norm, the old 100yrd rule seems to have changed to 40yrds and we have 44000 arces of water on Corrib and still its not enough. I just think manners have gone out the window.
By the way MM you should have sent that ass next to you for a swim with the fish, or at least gave him a ear full, what a A**hole.
Tight Lines
Trout Hunter

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Trout,great to hunt,greater to release.