What do you want in a Tournament?

[Jason Ammerman]

Alright at the advise of Dan here is a chance for you to give your opinion on how a tournament should be run.

I feel that most of the tournaments today that have an entry of over $80.00 are run like $40.00 pot tournaments.

I would like to see a tournament run like they do it down south.

1- Meeting the night before. (less hassle in the morning)

2- Sorry but I had to put this in Better Pay outs.

3- Boat check on the trailer. ( easy er to take off you don't have to find the # in front of you).

4- Have a set of rules and stand by them.

5- Stop giving away the melonie prizes. (like 1 pair of sun glasses to a team)

6- Give the fisherman some press Internet, news paper, what ever we can get, and not just the organizers friends.

7- DIRECTORS SHOULD NOT FISH THE TOURNAMENT IF THEY ARE MAKING MONEY!!!!!!!!

8- Change thing up, new formats for 1 or 2 events through the year.

9- New lakes once and a while come on how many times do we have to beat up the same fish.

10- Stop telling me that you are going to send me a news letter that I have yet to get in 3 years.

11- Get some reel tanks for the fish at the weigh ins ( a rubbermaid storage tub with please release me don't cut it)

12- Put lake Michigan OFF LIMITS ( it's not good for the fish or the lakes, and it is a fishing tournament not lets see who can burn the most gas).

13- get some real scales. (that don't break 1/2 way through the weigh in)


DISCLAIMER:

THESE STATEMENTS WERE NOT INTENDED TO OFFEND ANY ONE OR GROUP.

[Grandbass]

A couple of things...

You need to determine if its going to be a club or a money making thing for the directors.

The meeting the night before is alright but I will tell you if the lake is an hour or more away from me there is no way I am driving it the night before a to sign up for a 1 day tournament....

Boat check on trailer should be standard...

Directors can fish but have to pay the entry fee.. Go ahead make $3.00- $10.00 a boat but you are paying to fish..

Press is nice but what paper is going to write a artical about a 100 boat tournament on muskegon lake?? Internet press is more realistic.

New formats?? would be cool..Singles..Match you name it... anyone ever see that IMatch trail out of Texas?? Or Ultimate Match fishing??

Buy a good set of scales, table, bump boards with membership fees the first year....

New lakes are nice but are you going to drive 3 hours for a one day tournament??

[HellaBass]

1. I like tournaments that have a qualification system that lets you advance
2. Press is always a plus, local media or interenet website/press release is nice as well
3. Change up the schedules from year to year as well

[chase5004]

1)   Different lakes every year, an absolute must, can I say that again, different lakes every year!!!! (Only be able to fish a certain lake once every two or three years.) Puts everyone on more of a level playing field, and will make most people better fishermen/ women.
2)   Again, boat checks on trailer an absolute must.

Change the lakes up!!!!!

Pat

[Jason Ammerman]

Press is nice but what paper is going to write a article about a 100 boat tournament on muskegon lake?? Internet press is more realistic.


Why not cover a 100 boat tournament. the papers cover the local high school sports. I think if the directors did some work and sent out a press release that it would happen. Tri State did that and it worked. 95% of the guys that fish tournaments are in it for 1 reason EGO EGO EGO.
That's why most of the run around in $45,000.00 boats. you don't need a 21' boat with a 250hp on it to win a tournament on a Michigan lake. I fished 23 tournaments last year had 18 top 10's and 6 Win's all on the lake Michigan lake shore with a 18.5' boat and a 150hp.

[Cy]

1.  I like the boat check on the trailer.

2.  I would love to see different lakes or at least the same lakes at different time of the year.

3.  I would love to see different tournament hours.  IE: Noon to 8:00 PM or something other then the 7 AM to 3 PM.
4.  I don't think meetings the night before is a big deal unless your are meeting a draw partner.

5.  Press coverage of any kind would be great!

6.  I think live fish tanks are only a problem if the fish are dying in the weight in line.

7.  I am torn on the Lake Michigan off limits rule.  Lakes like Muskegon and White fish really small with 75 or 100 boats packed into them.  I think if you are going to ban the big lake then you should not fish the drowned river mouth lakes connected to it.

8.  I think safety needs to be a bigger priority.  Running in the fog at 60 to 70 mph is dangerous!  If you try and go slow you will get run over but if you are going fast you may run someone else over.  I think a tournament delay due to safe light and/or weather is and should be acceptable.

Thanks for bring this topic up Jason.

Cy

[BASS FISHERMAN]

HELLO OUT THAR !!!

i am wantin cash dollars $$$$$$$ grean backs $$$$$$$
no mure worms!!no mure hats!!on mure worms!!no mure hats!!


RANGERS BOAT RULE 

[BassWidow]

1- Meeting the night before. (less hassle in the morning) Too expensive and time consuming. The fishermen I know need all the time at home with their families they can get!

2- Sorry but I had to put this in Better Pay outs. No Comment

3- Boat check on the trailer. ( easy er to take off you don't have to find the # in front of you).You'd still need to take off in order because 25, 50, 100 boats can't leave the launch at the same time, right?

4- Have a set of rules and stand by them. That's a no-brainer

5- Stop giving away the melonie prizes. (like 1 pair of sun glasses to a team)Circuits/directors give away what the sponsors provide them with. I've always felt that a prize is better than nothing at all. Those prizes provide a little recognition to those that don't place in the money spots. Seems like the extra giveaways would keep some fishermen coming back to the tournaments.

6- Give the fisherman some press Internet, news paper, what ever we can get, and not just the organizers friends. The guys that do well get the press. That is how it should be. I know of a case where a friend of a fisherman took it upon themself to contact a newspaper, told them a story and got it covered.

7- DIRECTORS SHOULD NOT FISH THE TOURNAMENT IF THEY ARE MAKING MONEY!!!!!!!! Define "making money". The nominal fee that most directors get doesn't cover all the leg work they do, the fact that they can't fish as long because they have responsibilities for running the tournament, the time it takes to close a tournament (paperwork), etc. If it's a really big tournament, say 50+ boats, maybe they shouldn't fish because it could take away from the quality of the tournament.

8- Change thing up, new formats for 1 or 2 events through the year. Can't fishermen get variety by selecting different tournament circuits? Like singles tournaments, two-day tournaments, etc.?

9- New lakes once and a while come on how many times do we have to beat up the same fish. The lakes have to be able to support a large number of boats/parking. For smaller local tournaments, it's not always an option to choose new lakes. You have to take into consideration what it costs for guys to get to the locations. It goes back to choosing what tournament circuits you want to fish based on where you want to fish.

10- Stop telling me that you are going to send me a news letter that I have yet to get in 3 years. My mailbox is always flooded with magazines and stats letters.

11- Get some reel tanks for the fish at the weigh ins ( a rubbermaid storage tub with please release me don't cut it)  I've never seen this be a problem. They could limit the number of bags being brought to the "rubbermaid" tubs at time and/or force the fishermen to use the bags provided by the tournament.

12- Put lake Michigan OFF LIMITS ( it's not good for the fish or the lakes, and it is a fishing tournament not lets see who can burn the most gas). If someone has a boat that is safe enough to run out there, it should be fine. Besides, having some guys run spreads the boats out so you aren't "beating the fish up" as you stated earlier.  I'd think you wouldn't want teams stacked up fighting to fish certain spots. Afterall, you could run.. you could stay. That's the name of the game when it comes to competition.

13- get some real scales. (that don't break 1/2 way through the weigh in)  Even expensive eqiupment fails sometimes. No matter what, there should be a back-up scale.

[MBell]

1.  No night before meeting, waste of time. 
2.  If the director is paid beyond entry, they shouldn't fish.  I would be willing to pay for impartial 3rd party to regulate rules but not some one fishing against me. 
3.  Make the payouts worth it to the winners, don't give the 8th place team half their money back tack it on to the higher places.  A good payout in my opinion is if you win 20% of the events or more you cover your entry fees for the year. 
4.  Anglers of the year fish for free next year.
5.  Championship- A boat is nice but if it kills the payouts all year I could do without it.  Guys only fishing a few tournaments would just not fish if the majority of the payout doesn't get paid at the ramp.   
6.  No off limits time or location.  Practice is part of the game.  Let guys run where they want, don't box them in. 
7.  I could care less about the prizes, I would give them to people watching the weigh-in or have food instead. 
8.  Post results and payout.  Let people keep track and get interested in points races.  I have no problem with tournament organizations making money thats why they do it, but just tell us what we are fishing for. 

-Matt

[gr@ssmonkey]

1.  No night before meeting, waste of time. 
2.  If the director is paid beyond entry, they shouldn't fish.  I would be willing to pay for impartial 3rd party to regulate rules but not some one fishing against me. 
3.  Make the payouts worth it to the winners, don't give the 8th place team half their money back tack it on to the higher places.  A good payout in my opinion is if you win 20% of the events or more you cover your entry fees for the year. 
4.  Anglers of the year fish for free next year.
5.  Championship- A boat is nice but if it kills the payouts all year I could do without it.  Guys only fishing a few tournaments would just not fish if the majority of the payout doesn't get paid at the ramp.   
6.  No off limits time or location.  Practice is part of the game.  Let guys run where they want, don't box them in. 

                               WOW DID YOU READ MY MIND!!!!!! couldn't of said it better and i really think it's that easy
7.  I could care less about the prizes, I would give them to people watching the weigh-in or have food instead. 
8.  Post results and payout.  Let people keep track and get interested in points races.  I have no problem with tournament organizations making money thats why they do it, but just tell us what we are fishing for. 

-Matt

[BigSmallie]

1) Big water / big fish lakes.
2) Bigger pay out with entry fees of $80 to $200 per tourn.
3) Press.
4) And I agree with the post above mine too!   
5) Team or Individual fishing format.