Don't pop the top til your out of the public's eye!

Rodney Birditt · Post by **Rodney Birditt** » Sat Dec 14, 2002 6:00 pm

Gentleman,
Time and time again at fishing tournaments I have seen fisherman pop the top on a cold one. "STOP" because the public and media are watching us and when they see that cold one open guess what someone just tarnished a little bit of bass fishing for all of us. Wait til you get back to your rooms, or where ever else you are going but not at the wiegh-in site....
And DO NOT DRINK AND DRIVE!!!!!!!!
I am not saying don't drink but use your noggin and think about who could be watching you possibly a sponsor of yours, while your sporting a patch of them on your shirt. and if you see someone opening up one at the weigh-in site with all the public and media around quitely and respectfully ask them to wait. and also have tournament directors before weigh-in starts to mention it several times during the weigh-ins. Because all it takes is one person in the sport to mess up a good sport..

Thank you......
Rodney Birditt Aka (fishhead)

ukey28 · Post by **ukey28** » Mon Dec 16, 2002 3:52 am

Amen brother!!!
I'm not going to call myself a saint, but give the following a thought.

We are under the scrutiny of public opinion all the time because;
A we are organized
B We are extremely visible in tourney clothes and flashy boats
C we are confident in what we do and we do it with purpose, something the general public considers arrogant.
D there is money involved.

The people that think we rape the bass population of a lake are the same people that write to thir fisheries department demanding a ban on tournaments or promoting a horsepower limit. They will look for the slightest thing that they can construe into a problem to promote their cause, and for that reason we have to be conscious of what we do when we are on the water. Don't drink and run a boat, don't let garbage fly out of your boat when running, and don't run through the fleet of trout trollers or crappie fishermen wide open. Be polite at the ramp to those behind you as well as in front of you. And most of all don't bring in a braggin limit if your not in a competition. Take your pictures out on the lake, the guy on the ramp that didn't do well will resent you for life and that extends to anyone that looks like you.
Think about what you are doing, it affects all of us.
Frank

MMT · Post by **MMT** » Mon Dec 16, 2002 6:36 am

Frank, I think they call those people who complain N.I.M.B.Y.'s...the Not In My Back Yarders. It is a shame that there are people out there who have an agenda like that.

ukey28 · Post by **ukey28** » Mon Dec 16, 2002 4:33 pm

They have a couple of other names too! Tree huggers, Animal rights activists, Nature lovers. The list goes on and on. Baseball players go to drug rehab three times in fives years and people will still pay $100 a seat to watch them for 3 hrs. But let a wake catch them on their pontoon boat and spill a pina colada and they should ban the sport! PETA lobbies to end hunting and fishing in every state in the nation, they solicit funds from wealthy benefactors and use celebrity spokespersons, it involves millions of dollars! But when a bass club tries to do a lake clean up they can't get a dumpster donated!! Be careful folks, if we aren't paying attention, this could all disappear. I know I sound like a preacher on a soap box, but it has happened here in New York!! The Township of Southampton, made its waters off limits. That all came from one guy complaining about Tournament noise on the pond he lives on. He was loud enough, for a long enough period of time to cause the town trustees to forbid non residents from fishing town waters. This is happening through out the country. BASS could be a lobby but hey, its a FOR PROFIT organization and lobbying is expensive. The protection of our right to fish has to begin at a local level. We as fisherman have to introduce young people to fishing and generate public interest in the fun of fishing. The more of us that fish, the more votes there are that protect fishing for everybody.
Trust me, this rant isn't directed at anyone on this board or any other for that matter. It's just a reminder to all of us that there is so much more to this than casting.

6.54BASS · Post by **6.54BASS** » Tue Dec 17, 2002 2:44 am

Call me crazy or out of date...doesn't PETA stand for People for the Eating of Tasty Annimals? I guess not. If we have to start somewhere, look at our elected officials and movie stars, if they support those organizations, don't vote for them (I strongly encourage EVERYONE to exercise their right to vote), I do. I know this isn't really the place, but I also belong to the NRA and they work for all outdoorspersons, not just hunters. We all should be involved in something to positively represent our sport in the public eye. It's easy for the proverbial bad apple to spoil the bunch, key is to regulate the bad apples.

JoeM · Post by **JoeM** » Sat Jan 11, 2003 5:12 am

Fellas- This thread is every bit as important as anything that we discuss on these Message Boards. If we forget to support our sport someone else may take it away from us.

Thanks to Rodney, Frank, Craig and Bryan for reminding us all how we may be perceived out on the water. Much obliged, you all. Joe