paleo Posted June 26, 2007 Posted June 26, 2007 i was thinking of holding a tournament on a local lake for a small group of people with a 20 dollar entry fee that will go in a pot for the winner . i was told this would be illegal gambling, i dont see how, could anyone tell me if it is or not , i live in oklahoma Quote
squid Posted June 27, 2007 Posted June 27, 2007 It is and it isn't....depends on the area. If holding any kind of tournament that has a $ prize...most places require a permit. You need to call local DNR or some kind of Governing body and ask them about this question...each state runs thing differently. Quote
paleo Posted June 27, 2007 Author Posted June 27, 2007 can you tellme what dnr is ive not heard that acronymn Quote
paleo Posted June 27, 2007 Author Posted June 27, 2007 ohhh we call it department of wildlfe conservation here in oklahoma thanks for the tip i will call them tommarrow Quote
Ballistik Posted June 28, 2007 Posted June 28, 2007 Paleo. I am doing the exact same thing as you and its just to get some people togather on my lake to have a little fun. Just keep it quiet and go have fun. Forget the permit. Its not like your dealling with alot of money where people are going to serious. But a coouple of boats and 20 bucks a boat. Forget it and just call it a Donation to the winner for his gas mone and your in the clear. ;D Have fun and hope it works out for you. Quote
Shad_Master Posted June 28, 2007 Posted June 28, 2007 Before "just forgetting about it" I would check with the local authorities and make sure to ask the right questions. In our club, we have an optional pool for big stringer and big fish. There is no required pay-in and so we don't "officially" meet the definition for "tournament" on some lakes - however, when 12 - 15 boats all show up at the ramp at the same time and some of the guys have club shirts on - it is hard to convince the DNR guy that we are not a tournament. As a result, there was some difficulty later on when we did apply for a permit for that lake. Most permits come with a nominal or no fee at all - if they are trying to gouge you for a permit, take a look at another lake. But trying to skirt the rules can cause you problems down the road. JMO Quote
Ballistik Posted June 28, 2007 Posted June 28, 2007 Yes I agree if you have 15-20 boats involved but he said small and I assumed it would be aoubtt 5 or so. Any bigger yes I would look into it. Quote
paleo Posted June 28, 2007 Author Posted June 28, 2007 yes i had it limited to 5 boats and one fish per person for wiegh in , i went ahead and scrapped the idea but i will be fishing a few tournaments in the spring when i buy my new bass boat there was just to much politics involved to continue which is a shame ,it would have been fun and easy for some guys to test there skills Quote
squid Posted June 29, 2007 Posted June 29, 2007 Sorry to hear that it did not work out for you. Even if you have only 5 boats or less....if someone from DNR stops by and see a weighing device, and you are on a lake that requires a permit.....you will have to pay the piper. Does not matter how quite you are about it...if he is driving by and sees you weighing fish...he will come up and talk to you. Now, here in Michigan...even on lakes that don't require a permit...you still need permission to be there...from the DNR or city. Just be carefull and don't always think you can "just forget about it". That is not always the best thing to do. I don't mean to pop a bubble there Ballistik, but you do need to cover your own butt for just such a day...... Not that I know of this happing to anyone.... : : 8-)...lol Quote
paleo Posted June 30, 2007 Author Posted June 30, 2007 the lake doest require a permit or have any slot limits on it oh well i will just wait for my big boat Quote
Guest avid Posted July 2, 2007 Posted July 2, 2007 I know I am going to get severely trashed for what i'm about to say, and yes I understand what it must be like to live in Rwanda or Iran etc. BUT - for a free country it seems like America has a law, rule, or regulation covering EVERYTHING!!!! Just venting. fire away, I won't argue. Quote
Cajun1977 Posted July 2, 2007 Posted July 2, 2007 I know I am going to get severely trashed for what i'm about to say, and yes I understand what it must be like to live in Rwanda or Iran etc. BUT - for a free country it seems like America has a law, rule, or regulation covering EVERYTHING!!!! Just venting. fire away, I won't argue. actually avid you are correct in your assumption, but i beleive its due to a different breed of person we are so populated as a country now that theres gonna be all kinds of different folks out there so now, things have to be the way they are,and they are gonna get worse. hard to understand what im saying hopefully youll can make sense of it Quote
Big T Posted July 4, 2007 Posted July 4, 2007 I know I am going to get severely trashed for what i'm about to say, and yes I understand what it must be like to live in Rwanda or Iran etc. BUT - for a free country it seems like America has a law, rule, or regulation covering EVERYTHING!!!! Just venting. fire away, I won't argue. I agree 100% Quote
frogtog Posted July 4, 2007 Posted July 4, 2007 Yep there is going to be a lot of changes we older folks are going to see. This all comes from voteing in the people who raise the most money and not the ones with the most brains. :-[ Quote
RandySBreth Posted July 6, 2007 Posted July 6, 2007 It's not about freedom or not- it's about liability. If no permit, something happens, harder to sue. If you have the permit, something happens, it's still harder to sue because most permits have the "will not be liable for your idiocy" in it somewhere, and you had to sign it, right? Quote
bassdocktor Posted July 12, 2007 Posted July 12, 2007 Hey just a side note on the permit. Sometimes they can let you keep smaller fish than the legal limit. I know in Chicago we get a 12" permit instead of a 14" beside the regular tournament permit. Squid it is getting worse than that in parts of SW Michigan. Now you can only have a "contest" and not a tournament. The lake associations bought alot of the permits to keep us off the water. But a few of the sheriffs know that we are out fishing a tournament and they are all cool as long as we have our safey gear with us. Quote
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