To give or not to give..........That is the question

[Tarpon4me]

OK, here's the senario. You and your child are at a channel catfish tournament for kids. It's put on by the local DNR, but the prizes are pretty cool. The DNR is passing out stink bait and some people brought worms and such. It's a cane pole only tournament and you have to fish the smaller stocked ponds they have set up for the event. You, however, being the smart angler you are, brought frozen chicken livers with you. And you just so happen to be the only one there using chicken livers, everyone else is using the Berkely Stink bait or night crawlers. Before you start fishing you notice that no one else is catching anything but smaller fish. Once you get your bait in the water, you instantly start catching monster cats, using the large chunks of bloody chicken livers you brought along. It's obvious you're going to sweep most total wieght and largest fish. Since it's a childrens tournament, do you:

A. Decide to be a fair guy and pass out a few pieces of chicken liver to the surrounding children so it'll be fair.

B. The heck with them. If thier parents were as cool as me, they'd have brought chicken liver too.

This is just for fun, but it's an actual senario I was in last year. Just thought i'd see what the masses would have done.[cool]
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[gdn443]

I would have shared with any child that wasn't catching anything. We all know how it feels to be skunked, but it's worst for a kid.
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[Tarpon4me]

Anyhow, i'll tell the story in a brief format. My son and I arrived to the tourney in surprise that no one had brought any other bait. I rigged his cane pole super tough. I attached 25lb Berkely Big game to the end and used a 2/0 circle hook. I had a much longer piece of line tied on than should have been, so that we could deepen up the bobber and fish closer to the bottom than everyone else. The smaller fish where towards the top, and no one brought spare line with them so they could fish near the bottom. Once I got him all baited up, I twirled the line over my head while he held his cain pole and slung it out to the middle. Right away he hooked a monster, 12 pounds he was. We continued to catch big cats while the people around us just watched on in amazement.

I got to talking to the guy beside us and I figured i'd be nice and share the spoils of success with him. He managed to land a big enough fish to take the prize for largest fish. Mikey ended up winning the total weight catagory. If I hadn't passed out those chicken livers, Mike would have won it all. But, it was way more fun at the weigh in, it was pretty close.[cool]

I know some people would have wanted their own child to win it all, which is an understandable goal. On any given day, I wouldn't have shared my bait. But, I suppose I was in a giving mood that day. Besides, it taught my son a good lesson about shareing and being competetive.
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[bdn06]

Since it is kids, I would most definitely pass out the goods. I would be very careful to explain to my own child, however, the reasoning behind it, and how if he/she didn't win, that's okay. Kids don't always understand that stuff (heck, most adults don't either), so it could be tough on the little tike that really wants to win. But I think it would be a great lesson, too. Hopefully my child would get as much benefit and happiness from sharing as from winning.
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[tubeN2]

You did say it was a Kids tourney??

I would give the advantage to the kids and let Berkley come up with something better.[cool]
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[davetclown]

chicken liver, blood dough ball, night crawler,

I see nothing wrong with you using the chicken livers unless the rules stated no outside baits, in which case the crawlers would be a problem as well.

and who is to say that a kid on the oposite side of the park wouldnt come up with the idial to use a chunck of hot dog or slip on a chunck of bologna on to his hook. that too works well for cats, especialy in a reserwar situation.

so unless the rules forbade it, I would let my kid keep using it.

as to weather I would share it? would it level the playing feild? who is to say. I deffenantly would not go out of my way to throw a chunk of bloody chicken liver to the guys sitting next to me, now if they come up to me and ask what I was using, and if I would share a peice, them I probably would give them a a chunk to try.

that would be my position, now if it were an adults contest, I probably wouldnt even tell them what i was using. knolage and prepairedness is all part of the contest. but if I was just sitting on the bank fishing, I wouldnt mind having some company so I would share if they come up to see how I was doing. You never know when your next best fishing buddy will come along. they are few and far between....
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[Fishhound]

[black][size 3]If knowledge and experience is an unfair advantage, then that is what it is. It was a kids event. So there would naturally be enough inexperience to go around. But just as sure, it would be reasonable to expect that most of the adults there would have been sharing what they knew with their children. Just as you did.[/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]Personally, I would have shared. But, I would do that even if it were an unknown adult sitting next to me somewhere on a bank. [/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]Since I don't really ever compete in fishing competition, that would never be a scenario in which I would find myself with an adult. [/size][/black]
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[black][size 3]It was a kids event and it should have been a good and enjoyable experience for them. Most kids really don't understand all of the intricacies of competion - they are participating in the activity to have fun. And, few things are better at providing fun for a child than being able to catch a fish.[/size][/black]
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[Tarpon4me]

You're right on. My son, however, is very competitive. He wants to win everything. LOL, he was irritated that I shared the bait. He understands now, atleast I think. [] I'm pretty sure he'd have been just as happy not shareing and kicking everyones fanny.

I kinda took you to be the competitive type yourself fishhound. I'm not much for bass tourneys or anything like that. I like the local tourneys for like Catfish, or in the inlet for flounder or just offshore for king mackerel. It's really fun if you do the local ones. No pressure, just a bunch of guys and gals putting up a little loot to make things interesting. And at the end of the day, you get fed and the winner gets a check and bragging rights if they feel so inclined to do so. [cool]
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[CaptJoeVerdino]

I would not share and let my son learn that in a competition, knowledge is just as important as luck. After getting the trophy I would have let everyone in on the secret, showing my son that it is the sportsman like thing to do. I fish a lot of events and also organize kids fishing contests. At a kids event "I" am the great equalizer, giving tips to everyone. As the event chairman I feel it's my job to ensure that every kid gets every advantage.

At an adult event when I get my butt kicked nobody is willing to spill the beans. So at those events I don't offer much info.
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[fyshrmn]

I'd give it up for the kids. When we go fishing for channel cat I usually have two or three tubs of turkey liver so I have plenty.
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[hou_me]

I don't have any kids myself, but I work with kids everyday and have several younger cousins as well as some friends that have kids. If I found myself in that situation, I'd probably explain the benefits of both choices and then let the kid decide what they wanted to do. Some kids take competition very seriously and might be upset if you don't show the same dedication to something that they find very important. On the other hand a lot of kids just want to have fun and tend to be fairly generous. That's why I would let the kid decide.

Just my two cents.
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[solo_one87]

depending on how the prize's were...... if it was something reallly nice like a rod/reel combo for son and father or just son..... or a tackle box(biger size) then i would have kept it to myself not to mention the lesson to my kid about knowledge is power (which would make learning a key essential in school) then he could share the secret if he wanted to ... remeber to a kid a kids tournement IS a big tournement,,,, i remember my first bass tournement i caught a total of 1 bass thats it BUT i got my picture in the paper with my dad (i was 7 i think my mom still has the picture and article lol) i left before any prizes were called because i didnt care to collect i just wanted to participate lol anyways my opinion and a child hood memory
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[bassngal]

[angelic] I would share with a child fishing just so they could catch something to weigh in.
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[theangler]

[size 1]A. Decide to be a fair guy and pass out a few pieces of chicken liver to the surrounding children so it'll be fair. [/size]
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[Feydakin]

Kids tourney, share it all.. My daughter is as competitive as they come, but letting here stink up a competition doesn't teach them anything..


But then I usually finish pretty low on the ladder in any tournament because winning doesn't hold much interest for me anymore..
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