Average joe tournament

[Tw3ak]

1. Total weight of gear rods and tackle 25lbs.

2. Boat will not exceed 16ft.

3. Maximum 50 HP 

4. Draw lake destination morning of tournament.

5. No electronics.

 

Ok.   Fire at will. LoL

[Troy85]

Other than the tackle weight limit(mainly because would be a pain to enforce) it would maybe easier to do like a 5 rod limit. It sounds to me like it would be a fun little tournament.

[Tw3ak]

The idea for the 25lbs of gear actually came from early bass tournaments.

Tournaments at the pro level are one thing. Unrestricted. 

 At the friends level local we all tend to get sucked into the competition and spend way more than we should . its not fair to our spouse or kids. 

  No pre fishing expense minimal lures and rods .... I can make due with three rods two baitcasting and one spin.... With adjustments by season

[Angry John]

It's a money game at that point.  Expensive gear is very lite.  Not a swimbait game either as they would get like two rods and like 5 baits.  Intresting idea like to see how it works out.  You may limit some people by boat specs as me and my partner fis a 17' aluminum and could not afford to buy another for this competition.  Do aluminum get a diffrent limit than glass???

[Mike L]

The best tournament rules are those that level the playing field for anglers of all skill levels and that will get you the most participation. I've found that for a family fun tournament the fewer the rules the better. 

 

What you have are fine. 

 

 

 

Mike

[J Francho]

There's a whole lot of exclusion in the rules you listed.  That's fine, but it might be tough finding competitors.  My favorite tournaments have always been team format, best five by 3 pm.  Standard fishing rules apply.  Simple.

[Tw3ak]

The idea is to eliminate the extreme cost associated with tournament fishing.

  And eliminate the advantage that money gives. 

  Make it a brain power deal.

I fished b.a.s.s. for years. Spent too much money made state classic over and over. The more I spent the better I did. Not fair to the family

 

One of my favorite formats I've seen was megabucks, after the first period of the day everyone was fishing used water.  You had to be smart to get fish to bite behind other anglers. 

[fishballer06]

So you're going to make an announcement at 3 AM telling anglers what lake they need to show up to? And then you're going to have a scale there to weigh every piece of equipment/tackle that each angler is taking with them? 

 

Am I understanding this correctly? If so, best of luck with your format.

[Tw3ak]

Obviously adjustment must be made. However, a cost effective tournament where we level the playing field. The simple idea is make the " angler" the focus .in a perfect world same gear boat and lures new lake start from scratch.

 I live in a state where retired guys that used to fish big stuff. Guide now and fish every little tournament they are pro for all intensive purpose 99% of the time they cash a check. They don't work a 9 to 5 job. 

[Angry John]

There are two major costs that hit you every time.  Gas and entry fees.  If it's for fun then a ten dollar buy in is fun.  Fifty dollars a person gets expensive fast.  A gear weight limit is hard to enforce but a three rod limit takes seconds to check.  Six rods on a boat if shared can cover every technique and brother and father son teams are dialed in.

[Troy85]

Here is my idea for the format.  I think it will still keep you in line with what you are trying to accomplish, but at the same time be easier to regulate.

 

1. 3 Rod limit per angler(max 2 anglers per boat)

2. $10-15 per angler

3. Max HP 50(you automatically limit the length of the boat by have a max HP rating)

4. Draw the lake location the evening before(biggest problem is communication, you would have to know ahead of time who is coming to tell them the location, or have a Facebook page and announce it there.)

5. No Electronics

 

Just my thoughts, I hope you can get it going.  I think it sounds like a fun tournament.

[J Francho]

I'm always gonna get stuck on the "no electronics" part.  To me, it's a safety issue, and completely unenforceable given the fact that everyone has a smart phone, and access to either the Navionics web app, or phone app.  At that point, 1/2 the "find the fish" part is accomplished, if an angler has rudimentary knowledge of seasonal patterns.  I also wouldn't dream of venturing out on the water without my graph head unit, irrespective of fishing or just pleasure.  I always liked the "surprise location" part, and the club I was in for years conducted the classic this way.  We all met at a central location, and picked a lake from a hat.  The lakes were all the lakes we fished that year in the series.  Not sure what you gain with a rod limit.  Gear would be limited by the size of the boat, but not always.  I've seen some 18' bass boats with 50 hp motors that fish and have nearly as much storage as my 21' 10" Bullet.

[Turtle135]

I applaud the concept. It sounds like you have a target group of anglers in mind where the boat size/hp limitations will work. Winning money in tournaments is fun but taking your fellow angler friend's money in tournaments, priceless!

I fish in kayak tournaments and the inherent simplicity appeals to me (limited range and gear carrying capacity). We catch, photo and immediate release. We go by length for the longest bass (usually a 3 bass or a 5 bass limit).

[moguy1973]

Instead of weighing the equipment you could limit it to like whatever you can fit in four 3700 series Plano boxes, a gallon sized ziploc full of plastics, and 5 rods.  There could be a guy out there that fishes with nothing but jigs and Texas rigged plastics and his 4 Plano boxes could weigh way over 25lbs with his rods and that wouldn't be fair.

[clark9312]

I don't see many bass boats that have a 50 hp motor or lower on them. Most trackers I see have atleast a 60. I think you'd be better off just fishing standard rules with a smaller enrty fee. From what I can tell most(not all) of the guys that spend tons of money on big tourney rigs want to fish the bigger higher stakes tournaments. I like the idea though. Gives the working man a chance.

[Catt]

Kinda like it ?

 

Don't see a problem weighing tackle, ya got scales to weigh fish, throw your box(S) on the scales if it's overweight ya take some out.

 

No electronics! I would limit it to no down/side imaging or GPS. No cell phones period.

 

I fish a lot of "tin" boat tournaments, livewell become a problem.

 

I agree a Megabucks floormat is the most difficult, most anglers could not complete.

[Ratherbfishing]

IF you want a tournament to be for pure enjoyment, take money and "standings" out of the equation.  In the end, it is the skill of the fisherman that determines whether fish are caught and while, yes, certain tools are useful to that end, piling on lots of rules only makes an activity more cumbersome and less fun.

[r83srock]

I like your thought. We (Dad and I) fish in a fun league every Tuesday night. It’s similar to what you have laid out but more traditional rules. We fish against each other out of the same boat, it’s 3 hours long, so I minimize my tackle anyway. $10 entry and big bass winner picks next lake. It’s fun and we have had a guy win out of a canoe before.  Years ago, Gambler lures used to have a tournament on my Home lake where the winnings were high and they gave a boat away. This was a big deal around here. There was no entry fee, but they had a semi set up for people to buy their tackle. That was the kicker, you had to use their lures. It’s was pretty neat really.

[QUAKEnSHAKE]

Have some specific lure tourney days.

One day only spinnerbaits allowed

on another day only senkos

on another day only paddletails