Tournaments

[pioneer]

Do the bigger tournaments have a non-communication rule or not. How do you feel about it?

[gilligan]

Scrapper would die with that rule

[ChampionShip]

I'm ok with it either way, the only negative I can see is if someone lets the cat out of the bag while going over a honey hole and then everyone that's radio fishing shows up. I think it'd be difficult to mandate with everyone having phones with text messaging, etc, plus they'd have to find a spotter for every boat- no easy feat.

[mojorisin]

I'm a fan of no communication for a tournament but that is just my opinion. I see nothing wrong with coming up with a game plan and making changes on the fly based on hunches and past experiences versus radio or cell phone calls for one day. It either works that day or it does not and there will be other days on the water.

In one tournament I fished on another boat, a guy on our boat called in a charter captain to where we were after we filled up. That charter captain proceeded to come in there and finish higher than us. Again no biggie, but as a weekend hack, it would be nice to finish ahead of some of the professionals.

I think that only the real big money tournaments go with no communication due to the logistics as Champ explained.

[Deleted]

I'm with Mojo, I am a big fan of closed communication. It evens the field for us guys that don't have 5 boats running in the same tourney.
I was in a closed communication event once and on tourney day the fishing SHUT OFF.... I saw the best charter in the port get skunked, while my team who had never fished that port before (except a few days of pre-fishing) came in 5th place.

Finding an observer isn't always easy but its worth it. They are enforcing all of the rules, not just the closed communication piece.

[tewwbulltom]

Walleye tourneys outlaw this and not being a fan of any tournament I would say that if you are going to give tips they should all go out on the same channel for all to hear. Fishing to beat someone ain't fishing to me. On another note... Why don't they run tournaments with all participants running let's say 9 lines? regardless of how big your boat or crew is.

You have to pass lie detector test in most so cheating would be minimal. Greed is not a good thing and doesn't belong on the water.

Holier than thou Tom...ya I wouldn't believe that either.

[mojorisin]

Tom, many (Ok, most) tournaments do restrict the number of lines to 9. Most also restrict the number of fish you can keep to weigh regardless of the number of people on board. At Brew City for instance, if the fish crosses the gunnels, it must be kept and added to your count.

I used to fish lots of muskie tourneys up north in my younger years, but they became very cut throat over the years and they were no longer enjoyable to me. I find the little tournies/derbies on Lake Michigan to be more relaxing and social. My boat will be entered in the Port Shootout this season in July.

[tewwbulltom]

I'm not trying to bad mouth anyone and I really got into fishing hard when I pre-fished, something that is hard to do if you are not in a tourney. I fish for ski's on Leech and when the boys come up from Muskies Inc. every bit of water is beaten to death and a lot of wanna bees just want to dot their maps and I hope that these rookies know the how and why of catch and release. Most don't. The PMT had a tourney last fall on the St. Croix and it wasn't pretty. I live on the Croix.
I refuse to fish some northern ports due to the fighting at landings and the bs that goes on and tournaments only compound the problems. I'm lucky to have this board and others to steer clear of tournaments on the pond and trailer where the bite is and the boys aren't.
The bass guys are restricted and thank God they are. How would anyone enjoy "their" lake when you have 50 to 100 go fast boats churning up the water weekend after weekend.
You know they have lawn mower races and pumkin chucken contests so I am not surprised with all the tourneys, but they do nothing good for the fishing experience on any water. How would anyone like a hunting tournament for deer like they are starting on pheasants. Somebody is going to get shot.

Am I missing something here. I guess I'm to old to be a "Real Man" anymore.

I guess I am terrible tom