Thats why I was curious about this. In a previous thread I mentioned how it would be great to see local tournaments go to an MLF style weigh in system and it was met with immediate backlash because people would cheat. As fun and relaxing as fishing is, when money and competition gets thrown into the mix it brings out the worst in people. I know there are some real die hard anglers who have a great respect for the sport that fish from shore. In fact Im sure just about everyone here started out fishing from shore, including me. I know the intent is to really give the people who cant afford a boat, but still love the sport and opportunity to compete and have some fun. However, my fear in this tournament was that it would really drag some shady people out of the woodwork. Throw money into the mix and you will see the worst of humanity as a few ruin it for the rest.
You know the guy Im taking about. The guy who shows up with a spinning reel on a baitcast rod... he reels the reel upside down. Has a bobber, a sinker, and a EWG hook on a snap swivel. On the hook he has a nightcrawler, a dead shiner and a piece of cheese. They leave trash and a birds nest of fishing line behind at every spot they fish and usually only fish on opening day each year, but they catch their limit of farm raised trout each year so figured thy got this in the bag.
With that said, I love the idea as it gets more people involved. However, I feel as though not everyone deserves to be involved. Any tournament that relies on any sort of honor at all should probably not be open to the general public. It would probably be better to start off with a small group of friends and then branch it out where people from the outside can participate as a co-angler of someone who is already a member. Its never going to be perfect, but if I ever saw someone trying to snag a bedding bass with a treble hook I would drop kick them into the water and break their wally world special over my knee.
