Tournament Survey

Good Morning Gang!!!

Hope that this post here finds you all had a great Christmas and that you are looking forward to a Happy New Year. Every year brings a chance at a new start, new beginnings and new resolutions…that…in most part will last a month..LOL..

I have a question for you all related to ice fishing tournaments. As you know, I run the Recycled Fish On Ice Tour Hardwater Opens. We recently announced a new tournament in conjunction with Angling Masters International, The AMI Hardwater Open. This is an online format that runs for seven weeks, with a weekly prize given away for each week, a monthly prize for the two months of the tourney and the grand prize.

I’m actually surprised by the lack of registrations and interest in this format. We ran a similar event during open water and that drew quite a few anglers from the entire state. And, the prizes for the tournament, though great, were not quite as nice as having a really nice weekly and monthly prize.

So I have a few questions that I was wondering if you all wouldn’t mind responding to. Your help, helps us put together events and or tournaments that you will not only enjoy, but talk about and promote to your angling buddies. Thanks in advance for your input…

1. On line tournament format – Good idea or not?
2. Why or why not?
3. The tournament rules are being changed to state that you can fish in any water, public or private, in the state you reside. Would that rule change increase participation on your part?
4. Suggestions?

You can get more detailed info on this tournament in the sticky at the top of the ice fishing thread or here… AMI Hardwater Open

I’m not a fan of the online tourney for one major reason: I don’t have access to fish “trophy” waters like other people do on a regular basis.

For me to spend my money to compete with guys who spend 8 hours every day on a lake with trophies in it while I’m stuck fishing crappy metro lakes for a few hours on weekends seems like a colossal waste of cash.

I’d gladly go to 1 day tournaments where everyone fishes the same lake for the same amount of time. It’s a level playing field and I at least have a chance of getting lucky.

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I’m not a fan of the online tourney for one major reason: I don’t have access to fish “trophy” waters like other people do on a regular basis.

For me to spend my money to compete with guys who spend 8 hours every day on a lake with trophies in it while I’m stuck fishing crappy metro lakes for a few hours on weekends seems like a colossal waste of cash.

I’d gladly go to 1 day tournaments where everyone fishes the same lake for the same amount of time. It’s a level playing field and I at least have a chance of getting lucky.

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EXACTLY! x2

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I’m not a fan of the online tourney for one major reason: I don’t have access to fish “trophy” waters like other people do on a regular basis.

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Same boat (or in this case flipover) as the other guys. In the waters I fish regularly a 9+” gill or 13+” crappie are truly a cause for celebration…and are returned to the water as quickly as possible.

I believe, from reading the last couple of posts, that you all have the wrong impression of this contest. By using the AMI, you can go out and catch an OK crappie and beat a guy with a trophy walleye. It all goes by size, species and location caught. It tallies that all together and comes up with a point for that particular fish. For instance, and this is off the top of my head, a 10″ crappie in MN might score 20 pts but the same crappie in another state might only get 15 pts. Maybe it’s because they are more common there or whatnot. Not sure how all the scoring works but it really levels the playing field for all.

Also, keep in mind it’s only $25 to enter and you have a great chance at winning a prize. Even if you don’t win a prize, it goes to a great cause in Recycled Fish.

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I’m not a fan of the online tourney for one major reason: I don’t have access to fish “trophy” waters like other people do on a regular basis.

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Same boat (or in this case flipover) as the other guys. In the waters I fish regularly a 9+” gill or 13+” crappie are truly a cause for celebration…and are returned to the water as quickly as possible.

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Thanks very much for the input and for expressing your concerns. The reply from sandmannd above is absolutely correct. And to explain that concept a bit more, I’ve made some examples from the AMI website and the fish calculator. This mathematical algorithm actually creates a handicapping system, much like golf does. It allows anglers compete across the board, crappie angler to walleye angler, and keep it fair. I have a pretty high handicap in golf…some would say it’s the club in my hand.. ..but when I play against a guy that has a 10 handicap, we can “compete” because the handicapping system evens or levels the playing field. So it goes with the Angling Masters fish calculator.

So as an example, here is the score you would recieve for a 12 inch crappie…in many cases, pretty average right?

Okay…so here’s another guy your competing against and he catches a 17 inch walleye..again a pretty common size. Based on the length of the fish alone, in a normal tournament would beat the crappie…but see how the calculator levels the competition? The crappie scores HIGHER than the walleye…this is all based on species and geographic location…

So you can compete head to head against a walleye angler, bluegill angler, bass angler, even a guy that targets northern pike.. This kind of tournament was designed for guys and gals JUST LIKE YOU!!!…Fish anytime you want, where you want for what you want…and win!

Let me know if I can help clarify how this works even more. I really appreciate the feedback..helps me help you!

One of the problems I see is the hero shot. If I’m by myself and I’m releasing the fish, how do I get the hero shot? Also I don’t always drag my camera out on the ice. Do you mark your ID number on the tape?

I don’t fish tournaments. Got nothing to prove I suppose.
I don’t take a camera with me. For me it’s a jinx.
But I do like to see how others are doing and their photos.

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One of the problems I see is the hero shot. If I’m by myself and I’m releasing the fish, how do I get the hero shot? Also I don’t always drag my camera out on the ice. Do you mark your ID number on the tape?

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Well, the hero shot can be problematic. We do require that there is a witness to the catch, so if you fish by yourself often I can see how that would be tough. Keep in mind however that you can enter as many fish as you want, the system will keep the best top five for the week. So if you go out once or twice a week with a friend you can enter those fish. Each five fish submitted have to consist of two different species, so if you are a crappie/bluegill kinda guy you can submit those for points. During an open water event just like this, we had guys/gals that would go out once a week and enter their fish. Just on that single day, they won the weekly prize. So it’s not really a “I have to submit fish every day” kind of tournament.

Yes, we issue you a unique pin number once you’ve registered for the derby. It is automatically sent to you and fits on the front of the official measuring tape. That is shipped to you once you’ve registered and paid the entry fee.

There are a ton of great prizes and it’s easy to do. We’ve added some incentives for the first 5 weeks, $100 big fish, and included public or private waters in the tournament. Give it a try! If you have questions, drop me a note, I’ll shoot you my cell phone number.. Cheers!

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I don’t fish tournaments. Got nothing to prove I suppose.
I don’t take a camera with me. For me it’s a jinx.
But I do like to see how others are doing and their photos.

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I’m all for this train of thought.

You know, $25 is a lot of money at this time of year, given the state of the economy, and for what?

If I make it out on the ice and hit a mega sized crappie, I am happy. I put it back in the water and I’m happier yet. When I leave the ice the whole thing is mine. It doesn’t cost me a cent to have the memory and the fish is still there for someone else to catch….who know’s maybe one of the people who paid $25 to do what I did for nothing.

I mean no disrespect, but I don’t have to pay $25 to catch fish and won’t. If I do get a pic I can toss it up here for nothing. And I still win.

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I believe, from reading the last couple of posts, that you all have the wrong impression of this contest. By using the AMI, you can go out and catch an OK crappie and beat a guy with a trophy walleye. It all goes by size, species and location caught. It tallies that all together and comes up with a point for that particular fish. For instance, and this is off the top of my head, a 10″ crappie in MN might score 20 pts but the same crappie in another state might only get 15 pts. Maybe it’s because they are more common there or whatnot. Not sure how all the scoring works but it really levels the playing field for all.

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That’s not what I was referring to.

Guy A: Seasonal employee and has entire winter to fish and does so 4 or 5 days a week. Lives near LotW, Mille Lacs, etc. Has a realistic opportunity at multiple 30+ inch walleyes, jumbo perch, monster northerns, etc.

Me: Works 8-5 during the week and only gets a chance to hit the lake on certain weekends. Travel is expensive and more than one trip a winter is unrealistic. Lives in the metro area where 5″ sunnies battle to the death for your bait and a 10″ crappie is a rarity and a cause to summon the local news station. The chances of a 30+ inch walleye, jumbo perch, or monster northern are slim to nil.

The playing field is not even.

I joined the online tournament because it sounded like fun. I don’t get out as much as I would like but this kind of tournament is a way for me to pay closer attention to the kind of rig I setup, to have a friendly competition, and as an excuse to my wife to go fish more. $25 was a reasonable price for this kind of entertainment.

Mike

I realize that this type of tournament, or even tournament fishing at any level is not for everyone. There are a ton of anglers out there that wish they could compete, but for one reason or another can’t put together a weekend to fish a regular tournament, not to mention the cost. This type of tournament, whether it’s an ice fishing one or an open water version, allows anglers to choose when, where and what. It’s also spread out over seven weeks. So there’s no time constraints, you don’t have to set aside a whole weekend to compete and you save big bucks.

I appreciate everyone’s input and feedback. I hope that you will consider giving this format a try. If you’re like me, out on the ice weekends and evenings when I get a chance, having a chance to win some cool stuff makes that trip worth taking.

Thanks for taking time to reply, and Mike, thanks for participating…we’ll see you on the ice..