Ultimate match Fishing - you are over the line!

I have watched Ultimate Match Fishing since the beginning. The format is great fun to watch: two top-notch professional anglers fish a four quarter match, each getting two quarters to fish from the front deck. If they cast over the imaginary line that runs through the center of the boat they get docked weight - heaviest bag wins. Some of the highlights for me were watching Luke Clausen school everyone from the back of the boat using a shaky head, Gerald Swindle's meltdown after being backed into the bank for a whole quarter, Kelly Jordan’s deep water clinic with a jigging spoon where he boated an estimated 18 pounds in nine minutes, and seeing Luke Clausen disqualified for his inability to count. This winter I have been watching the College Edition of UMF. First of all, I have to extend props to these collegiate anglers; They earned the privilege to fish this format. Most of them seem like good guys who have their game together and represent their schools well, but I am disappointed with some of the competitors and what UMF is allowing them to do.

The first disappointing incident was from an angler on the front deck. When his competitor hooked a fish from the back, he put the trolling motor on high and took off - making it difficult for him to boat the fish. This happened in successive matches. The second noteworthy incident was from an angler in the back of the boat. He was using his competitor’s rod and the referee, Mark Randolph, called him on it (albeit after a brief discussion with Joe Thomas). This, on top of not having a fish in the box, caused him to throw a small fit which ended with him throwing the rod a in the lake! Granted, he was holding the line and it didn't end up on the bottom, but in my opinion he should have been disqualified from the match immediately. My hat goes of to the angler in control of the boat for playing it cool. If that was me I might have lost it.

These incidents were small lapses in judgment by the anglers, but I brought them up to make a point: In a sport where we preach good sportsmanship and ethics, and professional anglers are disqualified for poor judgment in these areas, UMF has forgotten that even though these guys are not high-profile anglers, they are still very influential because the are on T.V.. These anglers should be held to the highest standards and next time should be disqualified or docked weight for their actions. So Ultimate Match Fishing...you are over the line!

Obviously this is my opinion. What do you think?

Ultimate Match Fishing