Basstrakk - what is it and what are it's limitations?

[snake95]

I have been following BASS tourneys as a fan since 2017.

My only tournament experience is measuring lengths in kayak derbys, so I may not understand what the anglers are weighing out there.

 

I check Basstrakk frequently during a tourney.

 

For the last weekend's classic, I was really gunning for Christie and thinking he HAD to be out of contention on day 3 based on Basstrakk weights.

In the end, all the Basstrakk numbers were off significantly for the leaders.

 

Is it deliberate to make it interesting?  Or is it interesting because of inevitable discrepancies between on the water and weigh in results?

 

What are the weights on Basstrakk?  Are they guestimates by the angler and/or marshall?  Accurate readings? A mix?

 

I can understand an angler wanting to be "approximate" to keep competitors guessing, and BASS liking that, since otherwise there would be little point to watch the weigh ins.

 

These days we have very accurate handheld scales, so surely the anglers could know what they have accurately, if they wanted to.  Couldn't they?

 

So... what is the source of the discrepancy?

 

[TnRiver46]

The competitors always say at the weigh in that they weigh more on stage than on the handhelds . Being on dry land makes a difference I’m sure. They also usually mention that certain anglers sandbag their  estimates intentionally. And Jon Cox is usually so far off the map that internet doesn’t work 

[EWREX]

it's a guesstimate and unofficial for the viewers to keep track. the "guess" is at the anglers discrepancy and he/she can pretty much call a 5 pounder a 4 pounder which could be a huge difference over a 5 fish limit. the only weight that matters is the weight at the official weigh in!

[Hawkeye21]

I thought I heard them say they pay out $1000 to the angle that is closest to his real weight.  That gives anglers an incentive to try and give somewhat accurate weights for basstrakk.

[Stratocat_Joe]

I was a Marshal at the BASS event on the St. John's River earlier this year.  As a Marshal, my primary function was to enter the weight of each fish caught into the BASSTRAKK app.  The Marshal instructions provided stated to enter the weight the angler provides.  There is a $1,000 bonus given to the angler whose BASSTRAKK weight is closest to the official weight at weigh-in after the first two days.  I happened to be with Austin Felix on day one and he would take the time to weigh each fish, then tell me the weight to put in.  The other two anglers I was with during that tournament just estimated the weight of each fish and I would enter their estimation.  Both times, the angler was about a pound light in their total estimation.  As it turned out, Austin won the $1,000 bonus for St. John's. 

[BassNJake]

Christie is another notorious sandbagger/ under estimator.

It's one thing to under estimate a 25 pound bag as a fat 4.5 and a skinny 5.5 could be close

and total bag be off by 1 or 2 pounds

But to be off 4 pounds on on a 17-18 lb bag?

Maybe the marshal fat fingered a couple of the inputs?

[gim]

Basstrack specifically says that "weights are unofficial" when you look at them.

 

As some have also mentioned, there is no penalty for not being accurate.  And since it relies on a cell phone signal to input the weight, service problems could arise if you aren't within range of a tower.

 

I've literally seen ZERO fish and ZERO pounds for an angler all day on Basstrack and then they put up almost 20 pounds of fish at the weigh in.

[TnRiver46]

Just now, gimruis said:

Basstrack specifically says that "weights are unofficial" when you look at them.

 

As some have also mentioned, there is no penalty for not being accurate.  And since it relies on a cell phone signal to input the weight, service problems could arise if you aren't within range of a tower.

 

I've literally seen ZERO fish and ZERO pounds for an angler all day on Basstrack and then they put up almost 20 pounds of fish at the weigh in.

My phone definitely didn’t work in several areas around hartwell 

[J Francho]

10 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

My phone definitely didn’t work in several areas around hartwell