ETHICS? MY EYE!!

[karol]

 got to the lake on saturday at 6.00 am and got in line out on the road and started to get ready to launch my non bassboat.

  3 tourney anglers in their "bass" boats pulled in behind me and so i thought "they'll wait". man , was i wrong they pulled right out and went to the front of the line.
just because your'e in a tourney does that give you the right to cut in line like that? that's a bunch of whooey and i'm being nice.

the guy i talked said who they were with but i won't mention their club name. gives a bad name to bass fishereman just cause you have a $40.000 rig does that give you special rights?

just ruined a good day with my brother. thanks for listening..karol

[Bender]

Sorry to hear about that. You are right that it is not all bass fisherman, but it seems to me when people are in a tournament it brings out the worst in them and gives them some kind of self-importance. It's one of the reasons that I now avoid tournaments.

[motocross269]

Being in a tournament doesn't give anyone the right to launch ahead of anyone else...
Were you still preparing your boat to launch or were you ready to dump it in...sometimes if I am in line and someone is just getting started taking off their tie downs and loading their rods I will jump ahead because I can get dropped in before they finish getting set to launch...Not so much fisherman but recreational boaters....I have sat in line waiting for someone's wife to go to the bathroom while her husband loads coolers, water ski's tubes or whatever....By the time they got their boat in the water I could have launched and had 3 fish in the livewell...It really slows things up if boaters don't have their rigs ready to launch other than transom ties and Winch strap before they get in line...And then it should only take a few seconds to get the straps off...
If you were ready to go then they have no excuse. I wouldn't let something like that ruin your day....I have seen our club allow locals to cut in line so they can launch without waiting on us....

[Performance Tuned]

It all depends on what you were doing in line. If you were loading your boat and tackle and all other good stuff that people do at the ramp then, yes, they have the right to jump in front of you. Preparing your boat for launch should be done in a parking space in the parking lot, then drive to the ramp.

Bass boats with two people can be launched in seconds. Nothing worse than watching the guy in the tin master 4,000 try to launch/load his boat and has no clue what hes doing and take up a half an hour of someone else's time.

I know that sounds bad but we're all thinking it at the ramp when it happens regardless of what everyone says.

[karol]

 all i was doing was taking off my transom saver and my straps and the front winch strap. ready to launch, the did launch quickly but still could've waited, they forget we didn't all start out in rangers and skeeters and intimidators,today was even worse with all the rec boaters who did not start their boat at home or get it serviced before today. the ramp is not the place to do that.. sorry, i'll let you guys go now..karol

[Durand Dan]

I specifically try to avoid lakes with tournaments when I go fishing. I do a quick scan of Roy Randolph's schedule to verify. Most of the time, unless there is a club tourney his list is helpful
DD

[smbassman]

I just have to say that I feel really sorry for you!  A couple of guys go around you to launch their boats quickly (as you stated) while you are prepping yours.  I am sure they didn't tie up to the dock either.  And this lack of respect (although I don't see it that way) that they showed towards you ruined your whole day.  It even made you mad enough to follow up with an online post to rant.

I apologize if this sounds like a sarcastic comment, but life (and the fishing season) is too short too worry about crap other people do.  What they do usually has nothing to do with you anyways.  So do what you do, be respectful, and enjoy life.

[t-bone]

I do hate the spring for the ramps. Waiting for everyone to start the motors for the first time and remember all the steps it takes to launch the boat. It ends up being a cluster at the launch.

I wait patiently in my bass boat and offer to help people to try to move them along. Dropping hints about moving the boat off the ramp while it is being worked on, etc.

[fiker]

I refer to the Saturday before Memorial  Day as amateur night at the boat ramp. 
You are right about people who haven't launched since last summer. 
Many don't have the sense to start the motor at home with ear muffs.
I actually watched a couple of PWC's sit with their vehicle and trailer block both the cement launch and the sandy part at Half Moon two years ago.  They weren't gonna move for anybody.  If their watercraft wasn't going to run, then nobody was getting on the water either. 

One Saturday last Summer when I first got my boat I took it out to Half Moon for our maiden voyage. I was alone, and launching for the first time.  There was a small tx going out at the same time.  I happened to line up in the middle of the pack.  So when we got to the launch I waved the obvious tx guys ahead of me.  I was in no hurry.  It didn't make sense to me to hold up their shotgun while I learned how to launch my boat by myself. 
But that was me, and different circumstances than what you're describing. 
I will say this.  Each one that I waved ahead of me asked me if I was sure. 
Also, these guys were fast at dropping off boats.  I didn't wait much at all.
Also, not one of those guys was going to move past me without me saying they should.  They were most polite.
I guess it's just the luck of the draw.  Not every tx guy figures he's got the right of way to launch first, and not every PWC owner works on their craft at a busy boat launch.

[dartag]

Don't let them get to you Karol.

been living right by the Union lake launch for 26 years.   we used to go to DQ and get food and walk down on a busy day and watch the launch show.  there is something about people when they get to a launch they seem to lose all thought.   It may be the excitement of getting the boat in the water and getting out there.  I would bet boat launching is the cause of many divorces.  The poor wife is trying to back up the trailer while hubby is in the boat yelling directions ( the wrong ones of course ).   Tourny guys are usually more organized but are pumped also.



go with the flow, get your stuff ready and enjoy the time on the water.  It's what we have been dreaming about all winter.

[karol]

thanks dartag, your'e right,it's only a stupid fish. i'm blessed to have a wife that will wait till i line up the trailer to unload than i get in the boat and she backs me down. when we load i back the trailer down and she drives the boat close to where i can crank it up the rest of the way. and besides, thursday is ascension day and a paid holiday where i work and no tournys that day. i win!!

[djkimmel]

Common courtesy is you ask the person(s) ahead of you if they are ready or not before you just pull around them making any assumptions. It is that simple. I always ask. And I usually get an answer I can work with.

The simple fact is when we are in our bass boats we all get painted with the same brush and the incidents seem to add up over time.

Live by the do unto others rule ALL the time. I still see some bass tournament anglers who feel they have special rights and WE don't. I also see some that yell at others for doing things they have done themselves. It has to go both ways.

There is usually a boat prep lane and that is where boats are supposed to get ready not in front of the ramp. I see bass tournament anglers ignoring this rule too often. It doesn't make it okay because someone else did it either. Be the right example.

[dartag]

tomorrow should be interesting.  Fishing Cass Lake.  The launch at 6:30 will be fine.  Take out at 1:00 should be a zoo with the warm weather forcast.    Just have to keep smiling.   

[Flippin222]

Dartag - So much for Cass, we just moved the zoo a little further NW that's all.

Karol - Sorry to hear about you experience. I have seen some amazingly poor behavior at the ramps, both by the tourney guys/gals and the casual boaters. I would have sworn that one time it was going to come to blows....for what???

In any event, like others have said "just go with the flow". A favorite saying of mine is "Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things"...   Life is too short to let it bother you and besides.... There are way worse places to be.

Here's to hoping you next trip is more enjoyable...

[karol]

 went on thursday and had a blast with those crazy rock bass!!
was throwing a twin tail grub from Wayne's lures on a football jig head and those crazy rockies thought it was a crawadad. enjoyed it so much i asked most of them home for dinner

the water temps went from 69.2 to 72.5 in the afternoon, got a good sunburn to prove it too. thanks guys for your help. be careful in indiana this weeknd and michigan next weekend for the free fishing ..karol

[djkimmel]

That sounds more like it!

Boat ramps can be better than a Jerry Springer show if you're into that kind of thing. I had some old dude threaten me at White Lake near Pontiac last year. Sheesh...

Other than that, I had a fun day that day too!