LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT

While I certainly respect Capt. Skip Smith’s perspective, there are other forces at work when tournaments go by the wayside, as he mentioned in his back-page department. Mismanagement is certainly one issue, but as he says, another is simply not listening to what the participants want. The Boy Scout tournament [USVI Open/Atlantic Blue Marlin Tournament] in St. Thomas was a prime example: People changed the way they wanted to fish, but the tournament director continued to run things as he always had. The result was a significant decline in participation, to the point where this once-popular tournament fell off the map. The bottom line is simply this: If you don’t like the rules—or the way a particular tournament is being run—then don’t fish it. Capt. Rick Phillips

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