Gentleman’s bet

[JS Patterson]

I’m curious if anyone would participate in a club where there would be no entry fees but no money won in each tournament. I like to compete but I don’t want to put money at stake, simply bragging rights. This would open the club up to those on a limited budget. This idea came to me to after I was diagnosed with stage IV lymphoma and the following life changes.  Sometimes it takes something bad to figure out what you would like to be able to do in life. If the general consensus is yes, I will try to start something local. 

[riverbasser]

Why not just make the fees low. My local club is $30. Doesnt break the bank but is just enough to make a nice reward. Honestly most of us are fishing for points and the fellowship. Everyone wants AOY and to fish the annual classic.

 

I suppose your idea would work but something about having some money on the line changes things. Even if it was 10 bucks.

 

It's like playing poker for fun, it's ok but something is missing.

[N Florida Mike]

Maybe have a voluntary pot at least.

[d-camarena]

At least do a optional side pot, biggest weight wins it as long as they entered the side pot

[Tennessee Boy]

I think the answer to your question is no.  I suggested this in a meeting of a club I was in 25 years ago.  We were making all these dumb rules to deal with guys that were joining the club to compete for the money but did not take part in the spirit of community in the club.  There was concern that one guy was cheating.  I though the easiest way to prevent all these problems was to eliminate pot.  There was absolutely no interest in the idea among the club members at the meeting.  

[Scott F]

I’ve been a member of 3 fishing clubs. Two of them did no tournaments or competitions at all. The third did keep score at events but offered no prize money except a $25 gift card at the end of the year to the guy with the most points. Because of the disparity between the skill levels of the members, the same people would have won every event. The elimination of competition means everyone was there for the camaraderie, fun and shared experience. Works well for those clubs. 

[FordsnFishin]

I think you'd be hard pressed to find a club no nobody puts money in. 

 

One of my clubs is more of that feel however. Only $25a tournament. For the guys who want to bet more we have an additional side pot that is given to the winner of that group as well. 

[Ratherbfishing]

I, like you, would prefer to keep money out of the equation.  I mean, fishing is fishing right?  And do most weekend tourney guys ever realistically expect to move into the "big leagues"?  Anyway, if I lived anywhere close to you, I'd consider joining your club.  But alas, I'll just have to wish you good luck in your endeavors.

[Bluebasser86]

We did a club with low entry fees and catch, weigh, immediate release (similar to MLF but with a 5 fish limit), to reduce fish mortality and open the tournaments up to smaller lakes, lakes with restrictive limits, and people without means of keeping a 5 fish limit alive.

[txchaser]

We do something at work where the winners gets to pick how a pot gets donated. It keeps the competitive spirit alive, and adds an element of giving. That combined with a low entry fee could make for lots of fellowship and good spirit. 

 

[Mbirdsley]

On 3/11/2020 at 1:10 AM, Bluebasser86 said:

We did a club with low entry fees and catch, weigh, immediate release (similar to MLF but with a 5 fish limit), to reduce fish mortality and open the tournaments up to smaller lakes, lakes with restrictive limits, and people without means of keeping a 5 fish limit alive.

This is something I’d like to get into or start for the guys with tin cans and smaller boats. 

[Hower08]

Theirs a club local to my area it's like $40 a year and that's it. They don't fish for money just jackets at end of year for biggest bass weighed in and points leader. It's mostly a bunch of older guys that fish it.