I was there 1975-76 I think. Was going to school at Auburn and working for a road construction Co that built most of the COE parks on the lake. Had some great deer hunting as well as the fishing.

Sorta what I wanted to say as well. I'm around tournament fishermen a lot, and this isn't an accurate representation. Occasionally I'll get bent out of shape if I'm already fishing a "spot" and get cut off or moved in on, but even that's not terribly common. And I believe 99% of bass boat fishermen are the best navigators on the water. DON'T confuse speed with discourtesy, there's nothing rude with going by you fast. Unless I do it dangerously, or jack up your fishing hole knowingly. If you're fishing, ANY boat activity is going to be undesirable near you, but again don't call me rude just because I come by faster than the goobers on the pontoon. Their wakes are war worse, and they're the folks who will go round and round and round and round and round (X1000) pulling a kid on a tube while you're trying to fish. NOBODY is more "discourteous" than the pleasure boaters. And even they aren't doing it on purpose, they just don't know any better (which is worse to me) It bugs me much worse to see a ski boat drive across a 2' deep hump, than it does to see a bass boat pass by just a bit too close for comfort. I trust that bass boat driver a heckuva lot more. And Ben is correct...it doesn't give the tournament guy any right whatsoever, I'm not defending rude or dangerous behavior, but even most of the little weekend wildcat tournaments are for several hundred dollars winnings.

If people would chase real fish like crappie or stripe, they'd be happier

Sorta what I wanted to say as well. I'm around tournament fishermen a lot, and this isn't an accurate representation. Occasionally I'll get bent out of shape if I'm already fishing a "spot" and get cut off or moved in on, but even that's not terribly common. And I believe 99% of bass boat fishermen are the best navigators on the water. DON'T confuse speed with discourtesy, there's nothing rude with going by you fast. Unless I do it dangerously, or jack up your fishing hole knowingly. If you're fishing, ANY boat activity is going to be undesirable near you, but again don't call me rude just because I come by faster than the goobers on the pontoon. Their wakes are war worse, and they're the folks who will go round and round and round and round and round (X1000) pulling a kid on a tube while you're trying to fish. NOBODY is more "discourteous" than the pleasure boaters. And even they aren't doing it on purpose, they just don't know any better (which is worse to me) It bugs me much worse to see a ski boat drive across a 2' deep hump, than it does to see a bass boat pass by just a bit too close for comfort. I trust that bass boat driver a heckuva lot more. And Ben is correct...it doesn't give the tournament guy any right whatsoever, I'm not defending rude or dangerous behavior, but even most of the little weekend wildcat tournaments are for several hundred dollars winnings.
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Good grief. What a bunch of hooey!

LM was bad 20 years ago, I cant imagine now.

Preach on brother man.

For the record, I'd rather have a bass boat come by full bore on plane at 50 yards than a guy come out of it when he sees me and come by at 10 mph. There's not much rockin my boat when the guy on plane come by. I HATE it when folks come off plane right at my boat and putt by. I know they think they're being courteous but in fact they make it worse.

Not every bass boat is in a tournament, far from it. Weekday tournaments on Lay have 10-20 boats that would probably be fishing the same time if there wasn’t a tournament. Bass boats drive on plane and stay on mapped trails upriver on Lay and Logan. Disrespectful people can be seen driving all types of boats.

For some reason this thread makes me think about a place on Logan Martin in the mouth of Choccolocco we call "The Shortcut". Instead of making the big sweeping bend around the island, you "can" shoot the gap in the Shortcut, but you better be gettin' it pretty good (because it's only about 3' deep at full pool). It's pretty common for a boat to be fishing there, and if there is I won't go through it. But numerous times we've been sitting in the Shortcut fishing and a dude (yes, usually in a bass boat) will come blistering through there. Now I confess that usually gets a strong WTH glare from me!!

If you're coming out of the creek, you can't really see if there's a boat in there or not until you're committed. But coming from the main river going into the creek, well you shoulda known better.