Folsom this weekend ?

[Ralph Harkins]

Went out to Folsom in the fire truck just to do some area recon and boy has it changed since the last time I was there. When was the 5 mph rule at Folsom lifted ? If it was not lifted I am sure that the state sure made a lot of money cause there sure was a lot of boats and pwc's that was running around not at 5 mph. But maybe my eyes were lying to me ,you know that old age thing and needing glasses. Didn't see much wood on the water.

[MIKE TREMONT]

No, your eyes are fine. Just like the speed limit on my street is 25, but a lot of people are better than that. Remember that rules are for those that follow them and the lawyers and police officers that use them.
If anyone is wondering or cares, yes I speed on the freeway, but I won't do it on surface streets where kids and pets play.
I think I remember posting that speed restriction wouldn't keep them off the lake. The random inforcement also gets under my skin, but I'll stop cause it goes nowhere, thanks for listening.

[Hipster]

Ah!!!!!

If anyone is wondering or cares, yes I speed on the freeway, but I won't do it on surface streets where kids and pets play.

But my question is did you speed Saturday and Sunday in your boat on the lake?

I know clean and in my heart I did what the state mandated, sign posted, I freaking drove 5mph!! took me outta contention!!

Nuff said

[Corey Fenske]

Mark,

I will second that. Its sad when you do the right thing and follow the STATE LAW and you get looked upon as a cry baby or an A##H##E when you say something. Mark, at least we both know who the bigger men are and know that we didnt need to cheat and break the law to catch fish. It was like bringing a wheelchair to a bike race. As far as I see it, it should have been a two boat derby, I think I would have taken the W.

Anyways, this is an issue for the state to take up and deal with. We wont accomplish a single thing on this forum, we all know people dont listen when they know they are wrong, and wont change what they do cause their pride might get a little dent in it.

[JamesH]

One of the great things about this country is that if you don't agree with or like what the government is doing, we all have the right to speak up, share our opinions and try to change things. Most of us chose to protest the decision to leave the 5mph restriction on the lake by ignoring it.

Sometimes being the "bigger man" means standing up for what you believe to be right and suffer the consequences if need be.

Now, I have a question for you. How many tournament boats did you see blowing the 5mph zones marked by buoys?

I personally did not nor did I see any other competitor do so. That to me shows the respect of everyone involved. Just because we didn't agree with the whole lake restriction, it wasn't open season or disrespect for the law.

I do applaud you guys for taking a stand and sticking with it. We all make our own decisions for our own reasons.

James Huffmon

[bahlzar]

I dont know why you cant get it through your head that scott said if anyone gets cited then they would be dq'd.Was anyone cited? NO ! there was no citations issued...This was discussed CLEARLY before the tourny!

[Corey Fenske]

JamesH,

I thank you for your respect. The one thing that I must say is, I did personally see two boats(one on each day) blow through the 5 mph buoys in the south fork. I did speak up and notheing was done about that. And YES,I feel that is a total disrespect for the law.I know you will all ask if I drive over the speed limit on the road, and yes I have, but I am also not involved in an organized event while driving on the road.

But the fact of the matter is, everyone who but their boat on pad is disrespecting the law, the lake,and the sport. We as bass fisherman know that we must do every thing we can to earn the respect of the rest of society to continue to make this sport grow. Yes, something as small as this incident can make the difference.

[pitchinstick]

I was on the lake and personal saw at least one team in the top 5 running on plane. I feel the same as Fenske, disrespect is the issue at hand. What a TD states and what is ethical are two different things. I'm not saying that Scott's decision to turn a head unless cited is not ethical, he shouldn't even be put in that position. When you are in a competition, state law "is" the law. If a lake has a 5mph speed limit, that is the is the limit. Violation of the law should equal disqualification. They can disqualify you for about anything if they want to, violation of the law has to be in the print somewhere.

You can use corked bats and steriods in baseball, officials look the other way, but it still doesn't make it ethically correct.

I commend Corey ( saw him idling the whole day ) and all those that were man enough to follow the rules.

[pitchinstick]

As to Bahlzars comment,

Just because our tax dollars are wasted on usless P & R officials that don't do their job and cite violators, doesn't make it morally right.......but as long as you can live with yourself, then whatever.

[bahlzar]

*NM*

[bahlzar]

Example : If you dont like what you are hearing on the radio, do you call in and complain or do you just simply turn the channel? I think the majority just turn the channel but there is a small percentage that chooses to complain.......I cant stress enough that it was explained VERY CLEARLY..NEVER at any time did anyone say if you go over 5mph you would be dq'd, for you to expect it to be that way was just plain wrong, If you didnt like it then you shouldnt have fished the event just like the last one you didnt fish because of the 5 mph. It was also very clear that out of 29 boats only one was pissin & moanin. shocker....to each his own i guess..

[Ralph Harkins]

Cory,
If you were one of the few that went 5 mph then I have to take my hat off to you. I can only think of how had it was to do this not one day but for two days. Sorry that this had to happen in a TOC. Believe me Cory you did the right thing!

[Corey Fenske]

If you feel that the discusion before the tournament was what set the rules, then why do we even have rules in a tournament. Why wear a life jacket? Law only states that I have to have enough in the boat for the people onboard.

All tournaments should have the rule writen in that, State Law will supercede any rule of the tournament. PERIOD.There fore resulting in disqualification if the law is broken. Even more so if it is done right in front of the T.D. Saying only if you get a ticket is a cop out, so as to not make anyone mad.

This has nothing to do with getting it through my head, but getting it through your head. You were wrong. Thanks

[Corey Fenske]

Shocker that you would have the morality to think that way. You obveously dont have any concern for the image of this sport. I'm not sure why you cant see that all State Law will over rule any tournament organization. That is the T.D s responsibility to enforce that rule.Not the fisherman.And that is what it has turned into.
I think that everyone that competes in a tournament should have the honor to follow the state laws. If you feel that you need to try and make me look like the bad guy in this, then you have fun. Your not hurting my feleings.I know what was right.

[norbert gee]

I was on the lake on Saturday, fun fishing with my son and his buddy and followed the 5 mph limit the whole time, so stayed in the main body. It was killing me to see others flying around at full speed (fishermen and pleasure boaters) and I really wanted to join them. I decided not to because it was the right thing to do and I did not want to get a ticket.

I can only imagine how I would have felt, if I followed the speed posting and others didn't in a tournament situation. Talk about a major disadvantage. Doesn't seem like a level playing field to me.
What if a person didn't follow the posted speed restrictions in Brown's Ravine or fished within the bouys in front of the dam, would it be ok to do in a tournament as long as they didn't get a citation from a ranger?

Tough situation for all, let's hope the restriction is lifted soon, cause I'm dying to fish without restrictions.

[Brian]

Corey:
You told someone that you got on pad once during the tourney. So why dont you leave it alone? What is the difference if you went 6mph or 60mph? either way that is breaking the law. Boat 1 asked at the pre meeting if anyone had a problem and nobody said anything. If someone had a issue that was the time to let it be known. Not after weigh in. You and anyone else that had a problem with the 5mph speed restriction had an opportunity to bring it up infront of all of the competitors at breakfast and you didnt choose to do that. I also dont think breaking the 5 is as bad as if say someone was seen throwing culled fish high in the air to release them. Know what I mean?
Brian

[Gary Dobyns]

I believe Scott S. made a piss poor decision by not cancelling the event BOTH times. As a tournament director, it is his responsibility to enforce rules and laws, right or wrong. The best fix was to cancel the event and reschedule. The fishermen would understand. Suppose someone would have gotten hurt, suppose some park ranger or sheriff would have cited 95% of the field. This would make a great 6:00 pm news story. We as bass tournament fishermen could have gotten a bigger black eye than we already have. Many people already believe we run around like idiots, have no respect for the law or someone else's property and believe we "think " we own the water. Scott is a great guy and a tournament director job surely sucks, but, you have to make good decisions, be fair and consistant, and play no favorites if you want to draw the fishermen and sponsors. Two points I want to make . This goes for all of our circuits. #1 ADVISORY BOARD. #2 WHEN FACED WITH A BAD SITUATION LIKE WEATHER, WATER CLOSURES, 5MPH SPEED LIMITS, SOWETIMES YOU HAVE TO CANCEL. REMEMBER IN CASE OF WEATHER IT HAS TO BE DANGEROUS, NOT MISERABLE. Folsom Bass League was not the only circuit to screw this up this year. They just did it twice. The fishermen should not have been put in this situation. To compete evenly, they needed to run. This is Scott's first year and he made some mistakes. Hopefully next year he'll have a stronger circuit and an advisory board to help with decisions. He will immediately be better than many of his competitors who "think" they know what the fishermen want.

[Corey Fenske]

Brian,

Dont try to tell me that I told someone that I put my boat on pad this weekend. You have no facts to back that up. That is a bold faced lie coming from someone who is holding a grudge because you broke the rules.

As for you saying that nobody spoke up at the resturant when boat #1asked if anyone would protest, I believe my partner and I both said we would.

And yes I did through my fish into the lake, only after the fact that nobody was going to do anything about it.

I dont feel that it was my responsibility to be the bad guy in this , I was only following the LAW, not the rules of the "fisherman". Its seems that everyone has a big issue with me bringing out the fact that everyone (except Mark and myself) was wrong. Rules are rules, not guide lines.

It shouldnt be me place to have to enforce the organizations rules. It is my place to bring it to the right peoples attention, but those people looked at me like I was wrong, and thats not right.

So maybe you need to stop trying to turn things on me and look in the mirror and know that you were wrong. Trying to state something that is not true to make yourself feel better is a good way to make yourself look bad.

[NaCl]

The most important thing here is experience. While Scott made a couple mistakes, there is not a tournament director around who hasn't also made mistakes. In the long run, his experience will only makes his future decisions better.

Several years ago, I showed up at Folsom for a tournament. The wind was howling and the small craft advisory warning flags were standing straight out. The TD (I believe it was Terry Davis) did not even wait until safe light to make his decision. Some guys were angry, making nasty comments about Terry's decision as well as criticising the machismo (that's how tough you are Gary...HaHa!) of the guys who agreed with his decision.

Another time is the same conditions, the TD let us go out. A bass boat made the local news as it washed up on the shore at Granite Bay completely swamped. It made bass boaters look like imbeciles. (That's "dummies" for you Gary! HaHa!)

I remember a Pro-Am at Clearlake where Larry V cancelled day 1. His reasoning was that while some guys with 20 footers might be able to run, a lot of guys were in the old 17' 10 inch boats and they would not have the same capability to fish their water and compete fairly. Again, some guys got frustrated by his decision and voiced their opinions loudly. Mark Mendez did the same thing for a Pro-Am on the delta once out of Big Break when the San Joaquin looked like the ocean.

My point is, no matter what decision a TD makes someone is going to whine about it. In the case of the full lake 5mph restriction, I agree with you Gary....I am far more concerned about the image of our sport than about the actual event itself. For a BDO, you've a smart guy! LOL

.....NaCl

[JamesH]

Rest assured, the image of our sport was not tarnished on Folsom lake this weekend. The FBL tournament boats represented maybe 20% of the boats on the water during much of the day. If anyone was going to make headlines, it was the pleasure boaters towing inflatables loaded with young children around the South Fork at 35 to 40mph.

I am grateful that Scott did not cancel the tournament because I had a great time, caught lots of fish (finally) and got a great sunburn.
The conditions were not unsafe at anytime during the tournament. (except for the time those ocean going yachts sent 4 foot rollers over the deck of my boat while I was trying to pitch senkos into the trees)

The last tournament (when it was 5mph) I was first boat out and I obeyed the 5mph all day. This time, I chose not too.

James Huffmon

[MIKE TREMONT]

Mr. Hipster, I'm a little slow and have been in a meeting all morning. I'm glad we're all here voicing our opinion.
To answer your question, NO I didn't even put the boat in the water this weekend. I went to watch you guys weigh in on Sunday and saw what was happening from there. The only reason I even commented is I thought I might have a little more enthusiasm last week on a post I made. I was let down again.But that's OK, I kind of walk alone most of the time and am used to it. Someone comented last week and said the restriction would keep the lice off the water and it didn't so I threw it back at them.
I fished an event a couple of monthes ago. There were 30 some boats in this event. TWO boats followed the speed limit on the initial launch going in the direction I was going. The two boats that followed the rules took first and second.
The reason I write about this is that thought it was incredible that SOMETIMES there is justice and doing the right thing pays off and we don't always need all that horse power to get the job done.
Don't get me wrong, I like going fast, when conditions allow. To me it's just plain common sense. I believe the problem is that we are all lumped together as morons in the governments view and with out them we'd be wandering around aimlessley.
It's just one fishermans opinion and I'm grateful I have a place to be heard, or not.

[Brian]

Brian,

Dont try to tell me that I told someone that I put my boat on pad this weekend. You have no facts to back that up. That is a bold faced lie coming from someone who is holding a grudge because you broke the rules.

As for you saying that nobody spoke up at the resturant when boat #1asked if anyone would protest, I believe my partner and I both said we would

Corey
I did not lie at all. I was told that. Now if you would have said that the person that told me that was a lier, then that might be possible. I didnt say that you told ME that you got on pad, I said I was told that you said you did.

If you spoke up at the resturant then you must of spoke mighty softly. The only time most involved knew you were going to make an issue of it was after the first day.

Also, when did i say I held a grudge? I hold no grudge against anyone including you. I just dont like seeing Scott bashed for the decisions he made. I thought under the conditions he did the best he could. Difference of opinions I guess? This weekend is mothers day that wouldnt have worked out very well. The following is Golden State. We would have been a month out before we could have got it done.

Hell we could have paddled the boat to the spot we fished all weekend so I could have cared less what the other boats where doing.

[pitchinstick]

The Great One has spoken. Well said Mr. Dobyns. I didn't want to comment on Scott's decision because I didn't want to be attack, but you are right. The TD never should have turned his head to law violations. Live and learn. If only we all could have your experience and knowledge......if only!!