Bass fishing on the river, need BTDT advice and "etiquette"

[wildoats]

3 hours ago, wildoats said:

From a local ?..   It’s easy..just obey the rules of the road,..be courteous and friendly .. act like a local you’ll be rewarded,..It’s a wonderful place..personally there’s been to way many tournaments for my taste…. I wish fishing could remain a sport and not a money contest …

 

 

49 minutes ago, BP Swing said:

Totally agree! Tournaments suck! Its all about glory and money instead of nature, good company and the sport of fishing. Way too many there this year and all jammed up on the US side since Canada closed. Those fish are pounded. Even worse now that they are deep. They catch em, put em in a livewell and haul them 60 miles to weigh and get a picture taken, then stick a needle in them to fizz them so they can live. How bout a break from the tournaments,,,,,,,At least MLF Major League Fishing circuit has catch and immediate release. BASS is like a dinosaur keeping them in a livewell when the water is hot and even off the spawning beds... How does this help a fishery. DEC are you listening?

Tournament’s okay for once a year…for them……hey..I’ll share…seems  they are not friendly .. even to each other!.Because of MONEY..they just don’t have to tournament every other week… gettin out of hand.. it’s a sport not a job …only a few good guys making it bad for themselves on the long run.

[marinecrafts]

If it makes money for the state, the DEC does NOT listen.  Being a local of Cape Vincent I see WAY too many bassholes doing the catch and release starting in May.  Where is the DEC then?

 

[Grady95]

I just looked at a YouTube video about the most recent "Real Fishermen" bass tournament held up in Waddington.  I was immediately struck by listening to participant after participant rambling on about having to run the 90 miles down from Waddington to Lake Ontario every day.  They had to stop at least twice to refuel their boats, burn all that fuel, then go bombing down The River like a bunch of adolescent teenagers so they could catch a few large bass, throw them in their livewells, stress them to the point of nearly killing them and then have to run all the way back the other way to load their damn boats back up in Waddington!  Can anyone explain to me the absolute absurdity of this concept?  Are there no launches near Henderson, or Chamount?   If these guys feel they need to fish in the lake, why are they launching their puddlejumpers all the way the hell up in Waddington?

Sounds like with very few exceptions, the vast majority of these guys did exactly that.  I'm not making this up!  It's right there on YouTube today if you don't believe it.  No matter what aspect of this I try to rationalize, all I come away with when looking at this is disgust.  Disgust for the needless waste, disgust for other people out on the water trying to enjoy their time, being mowed down by these clowns going by at over 60 MPH, burning all that fuel for what?  And then, go to anyplace like Waddington on the day of and the day after these so called "professionals" leave and you'll see what we all see, parking lots, shorelines, even shrubs and bushes full of dead bass and trash.  To me, these are a bunch of selfish little boys with big expensive toys to play with who couldn't care less for those of us who call these places our homes.  Not a fan of the "Glitterboys."  I hear they're back down in Clayton again this year September 9-11.  Looks like after that, they won't be back until mid-July of next year.

This thread was originally started to discuss courtesy and mutual respect while utilizing The St Lawrence River.  I find these concepts severely lacking in any of these "real fishermen."  My answer to you is to tell your son to watch the way these people treat others out on the water, have him watch their callous disregard for anyone or anything but themselves, and then model his behavior to be  the exact opposite.  For every one of them, there are hundreds of people like me, out there, trying to do what we have done for generations, while at the same time, being courteous and respectful toward one another.  Make sure he takes in some of the manners of the people who live here and to pass those values on to his friends and ultimately your grandchildren.  That's how I learned it.  That's how we all learned it, by example.  You ask a good question.  It deserves an answer.

[marinecrafts]

It is all for the love of money--BIG money.  This is their "job" because they do not have enough skills to get a real job so they push themselves on us sport fishermen so they can find some kind of glory.  Last year when they were in Clayton I made the mistake of going to the Shurfine market, and what a mistake it was.  Bass boats taking up all the parking lot and fuel pumps; good for the store but bad for us customers.  These "bassholes" are they maximum of disrespect for a community.  They should be sent down to the 1000 Islands Tackle Shop to fuel where they will not be taking up all the parking lot.  I guess because they get to be on television, where should be in awe of them--totally wrong!!  The just upset me and I am sure that I am not the only one.

[SkookGirl]

11 hours ago, Grady95 said:

This thread was originally started to discuss courtesy and mutual respect while utilizing The St Lawrence River.  I find these concepts severely lacking in any of these "real fishermen."  My answer to you is to tell your son to watch the way these people treat others out on the water, have him watch their callous disregard for anyone or anything but themselves, and then model his behavior to be  the exact opposite.  For every one of them, there are hundreds of people like me, out there, trying to do what we have done for generations, while at the same time, being courteous and respectful toward one another.  Make sure he takes in some of the manners of the people who live here and to pass those values on to his friends and ultimately your grandchildren.  That's how I learned it.  That's how we all learned it, by example.  You ask a good question.  It deserves an answer.

Thank you. I'm letting him read all these answers. He just had a youth tournament yesterday (in PA) where they do measure/weigh-on-boat. I got him involved in tournaments because neither my husband or I fished when he asked us about fishing (although I do now) and this seemed like a good group of people who balanced conservation with teaching fishing -- the tournaments are really just a fun way to get together once a month with other kids and fish. He's since begun fishing some high school tournaments with a really nice kid he met in the youth tournaments. He talks about fishing professionally -- the same way he talks about being in the NHL someday, lol -- but honestly, he just loves being with friends who love to fish. They get on their bikes and ride all over the county with their fishing rods. Definitely had a Huck Finn summer this year.

He's a good kid, and we do try to be good stewards. We were at our cabin two weeks ago and were at Black Hole in Pulaski where we always bring a trash bag with us to pick garbage (there's always a lot!). We'll be up again end of September for salmon, and we've found a great guide who teaches fishing and good sportsmanship beyond just putting us on fish. I feel like we're doing well at home and with shore fishing, but I know boat fishing in 1000 Islands area is a whole different thing -- I definitely feel like I got a feel for what to do, what not to do, through this conversation, so it's been very helpful. I do appreciate that there are strong feelings on this topic -- I have strong feelings myself regarding my "home" creeks and rivers. Thank you all for your input and insights.