If anyone thinks this competitive fishing thing is something to be messed with, perish that thought.
As Maine’s serious bass anglers gear up for the start of the annual fishing tournaments they might heed a lesson well-learned.
To wit, B.A.S.S. Nation, of which Maine is a proud member, just banned an Oklahoma fisherman for life after he ‘stalked’ another fisherman.
BASS officials voted to disqualify an angler from all future fishing derbies following a violation of the Bassmaster Code of Conduct.
“After a thorough review, B.A.S.S. determined that an attempt was made to track a fellow competitor’s movements in order to gain a competitive advantage, which is strictly prohibited,” BASS Nation officials said in a statement.
Due to the severity of the infraction, the violation has been classified as a top-level offense requiring the most severe sanction.
The news of the disqualification boomeranged quickly around the nation’s most-ardent anglers.
The publicity stemming from the controversy comes as Maine’s anglers are getting out their gear for another season of top-level fishing competition.
Maine’s B.A.S.S. Team Qualifying Tournament Trail’s first event this year is set for April 18 on Great Pond.
The tourney is the first of roughly a dozen bass competitions scheduled by the group this season across Maine.
Among the subsidiary Maine bass contests is also one sponsored by Mainely Bass Club, set also for April 18, on Damariscotta Lake.
The Waterboro-based club, an affiliate of The Maine B.A.S.S. Nation, has seven tournaments lined up this season.
As the bass tournament season gears up, officials of the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife this week are holding aquatic invasive-species training for bass clubs across the state.
Maine Bass Seasonal Fishing Tournaments Gearing Up With Word To The Wise: Don’t Stalk The Competition
By Ted Cohen
