Some of y'all know these examples and some may not, and most won't care.

Many times the locals who sit on a spot a pro has fished 2-3 days, like in the example about Mark Rose, are doing it out of nothing but spite, dislike of the pro tournaments, and a big "F**k you" to professional anglers trying to make a living. I don't understand that but it happens.

Another reason is sometimes because they just don't like a specific pro angler. So they head out an hour before the launch, rumble around the spot in their boat and then fish. Whether they catch a fish or not, they don't care. They just want to screw up the spot of the guy they dislike.

IMO in those two instances, Joe Local is being an asshole just because he can. It's not cool but it happens. I've talked with pros about these kind of situations many times and there's only one good way to handle it — the pro should ask politely if he can fish there and if not, move on. That may be his A-1 best spot on the lake or his only one. If so, tough chit. Go find another one or to the B-2 backup. It's a big lake. Joe Local ain't moving.


But probably in most instances some local guys go out because Saturday or Sunday is the only time they can fish. The "we're only here a week for this tournament" doesn't matter. That may be the only weekend Joe Local has been able to get on the water because of work or family deals, or it may be the last time he gets to fish for the next however many weeks or months due to work or something else. He knows that hump with the stumps and rocks and mussel bed is the shizzle and he wants to catch some fish, and he doesn't want to move just because a pro wants to wear it out to catch 20 pounds and then sit there for hours "protecting" it from another tourney guy.


These are factors the pros have to consider and plan for. It's just part of what they do. Some locals will move on, others won't. Politely asking if they can fish, and then moving on if the local guy won't move, is the best option unless they want to mentally spin out or pitch a fit and make the situation worse.

I've never been in their shoes, but I'd like to think that if I was a pro who had only ONE spot on a 69,000-acre lake like Guntersville that was giving up the goods then I maybe didn't do a good enough job of finding 2-3-4 good places to catch something.