TOUR LIFE
THE INTIMIDATION FACTOR
ADVICE
By Clark Reehm
photo by ChaRles waldoRf
W
24
e’d all like to think tourna-
ment fishing is a gentle-
man’s sport built on respect
and courtesy.
the truth of the matter is this: It’s
a sport of alpha personalities who all
want to win every time they hit the
water. a guy may be really laid back
off the water, but in the boat, he
won’t hesitate to step on your neck.
when you’re dealing with that many
alphas all vying for the largest slice of
the same pie, you’re going to get peo-
ple who try to dominate or intimidate
others. It’s just human nature.
It’s been that way as long as I’ve
been in the sport, and it happens in
every tournament and at every level.
I remember the first and only time
I got “punked” by a legendary pro
who used his stature to intimidate
me. he didn’t yell. he didn’t even say
a word. we were fishing the same
small area, and when I started to idle
to a new section of it, he jumped
behind his console and idled faster
than me, hopping in front and posi-
tioning his boat in a way that sent a
clear message: “this is mine.” I was
new and didn’t know how to handle
the situation, and, unfortunately, I
conceded to his aggressiveness.
when it comes down to it, intimi-
dation is just a matter of how aggres-
sive an angler is willing to be toward
another to gain an advantage. that
leaves the second angler with three
choices: be aggressive back, put up
with it or concede.
It used to be that you would see a
lot more of the third option, particu-
larly from new anglers, when confront-
ed by an aggressive veteran. If you
were already insecure and intimidated
by their mere presence, when they
started to throw their weight around,
your natural inclination was to fold.
there’s been quite a shift in
recent years, which has been both
good and bad.
the bad side is when intimidating
behaviors start to happen and we see
more aggressive behavior in return.
the new wave of anglers often
fishes against some very stiff compe-
tition at the Costa flw series level,
and by the time they’re ready to fish
the flw tour they’re not afraid of a
guy like bryan thrift or scott Martin.
the new guys know they’re good
anglers, and they don’t see top-flight
pros as untouchable gods, but as
equal competitors. If a situation aris-
es, they see no reason to back down.
additionally, they’ve come up in an
age in which more run-ins on the
water are televised or publicized.
when I first started, you never heard
the dirty stories of pros getting into
altercations on the water, so when it
happened to me, I was shocked.
these days, a quick youtube search
reveals no shortage of videos of pros
having run-ins with one another.
you won’t see guys screaming and
cussing at one another in those
videos, but make no mistake, one
side clearly tries to intimidate the
other, with the other not backing
down. the result, typically, is a ton of
passive-aggressive hostility, which is
usually how the behavior shows itself
on the water.
the Jason lambert-Randy haynes
situation at kentucky lake in 2018 is
a prime example. two tennessee
River studs were fishing the same
spot. Neither raised his voice, but
both were quite passive-aggressive
with words and actions.
Now that those altercations have
been publicized, when anglers at the
lower levels encounter this type of
thing on the water, in my opinion,
they’re more comfortable being
aggressive back, for better or worse.
fortunately, while guys might not
always handle themselves as well as
they used to in these situations, I can
honestly say you don’t see attempted
intimidation nearly as much as you
used to.
More and more anglers are work-
ing together. we all have the same
mapping chips. we know a lot of the
same spots. we understand that,
more likely than not, we’ll be sharing
water or spots. there’s no need to be
so protective or to try to punk some-
one into leaving your area; just work
together to share the spot so it bene-
fits you both.
and in no situation is it ok to get
physical with another angler, or take a
minor effort at intimidation and turn
it into a truly awful, angry confronta-
tion. It’s against the rules, and it’s not
good for the sport to cross the line.
at the end of the day, your entry
fee is worth the same as his. he
doesn’t get a discount because he
has more trophies in his case.
Remember that and keep a cool
head, and intimidation won’t ever be
an issue. however, if I’m in your area
… please get out of my way!
FLWFIsHIng.com I sprIng 2019