Quote:
Originally Posted by Back Beach
I have a blast at both the MV derby and the striper cup. Competition of any kind gets my blood flowing. Alas,
"The healthiest competition occurs when average people win by putting above average effort." -Colin Powell
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Again, competition with mutal respect is fun and healthy. Competition that entails putting others down or diminishing others for one's own edification is ugly and pathetic. The "I caught a big fish and you didn't so you don't count, or you're a googan, or you're beneath me, or I'm better and you're just lucky" attitude which seems so common, accepted, and relished by many experienced fisherman. The culture of striped bass fishing seems to encourage and perpetuate it. Someone's fishing prowness may well be grounds for admiration or lack thereof, but it seems to me that fishing prowness is a comically small measure of your quality as a person when compared to how you treat others. Listening to commercial guys ridicule recreational fisherman, recreational ridicule commercial, bait vs plugs, fly vs plugs, boat vs shore, experienced guys ridicule the novices,........seems to indicate a lot of us try to use success in fishing to compensate for inadequacy as people.
Of course fishing with eels is still cheating.