What’s it take to create a tournament?

What’s it take to put on a tournament? I’m not talking a huge tourney, just a single event tournament. I want to host a tournament on the Cedar River, problem being, most larger boats won’t be able to reach most of the areas on the Cedar. I would also like to gear it more towards the younger crowd, who would most likely have smaller boats too. What steps do you have to take, such as a permit from the DNR and such to host a tournament? Thanks in advance.

First thing you want to do is check with the Iowa DNR as each state has its own set of rules. They will be able to tell you what is required. They may have rules where if your entry fee is under a certain amount or if your total number of boats is kept under a certain amount you may not need a permit. They can answer that. Be sure and get a printed copy of the Iowa tournament rules also for referrence. Most tournaments start small and grow from there. Feel free to let us know what they say and if you have any questions concerning what the rules are telling you. And we can talk from there as I’m more than willing to help you if I can.

Thanks, Bill

You’ll also need a decent scale, weigh bags, tanks, water pumps, hoses, aerators, and batteries. Volunteers to help with the registration, checking livewells and helping at the weigh-in as well as help to release the fish. As you can see, it takes quite a bit of equipment as well as a gang of people to ensure the tournament runs smoothly so to get your feet wet a little bit, you may want to consider hosting a 3 hour weeknight tournament where you measure 1 fish per angler to the nearest 1/8 inch with an entry fee of 10 bucks or so. Winner take all or if you start drawing quite a few boats you could pay down 3 places. Our club does a wednesday nighter and we’ve had 100 boats show up to fish. The only equipment you would need is a decent bumpboard and a few weigh bags.

Will it be legal to release a fish that was put in your live well if you don’t have a permit? If not, all fish need to be kept after they are measured/weighed at the end of the tournament. Each state has different rules.

You may want to also consider a “Catch, Measure & Immediate Release” type of tournament. Just convert the length of the fish to its average weight. The below link has a conversion chart for Walleye Searchers club tournaments that are held in MN. You could use a similar chart for whatever species your tournament covers.

http://www.walleyesearchers.com/lenghtweight.htm

Dave Gulczinski