Tournaments

[jimcr]

What does it take for you guys to enter a Tournament. Prize money ? Where the Tournament is? Time of year? multiple Tournaments tied together? Something to do with the guys? Large payout?

[KJ pluggin]

Location is the deciding factor for me. I would love to fish tournament around the lake but I don't have the time or money to do that right now.

[Just Hook'n]

Close to home - within 30 miles or so, format (catch numbers), chance to compete with other good fisherman in the area I know.

[plumkrazy]

Don't waste your time tourment are just a big waste of time And cost moe than there worth

[killerbe20]

For me there are a lot of factors. Number one being whether or not I am going to be giving up a number of charters for a gamble at a contest. If you factor expenses vs POSSIBLE winnings, charters win nearly every time. That being said, there are a couple I block off my schedule for just because I enjoy them so much such as the Morris Invitational and the Two-In-A-Boat.

A couple other factors I consider are:

-Do I have a GOOD crew. This includes willing to absorb expenses AND I can count on to boat fish.

-Distance from home, Racine is pretty lucky though with the number of contest either in town or close by.

-My work schedule

-Format to a point. some contests north of Milwaukee are catch as many as the boat can legally and weigh 5. I would still fish that format if it was around here but I am not going to travel great distances to fish that format.

[killerbe20]

Don't waste your time tourment are just a big waste of time And cost moe than there worth

I do not necessarily agree with this. Yes, you can count on spending more money than ever winning. If that is your man concern, then yes do not waste your time, go to a casino.

we have some great tournaments on the west side that are more focused on having a good time then just money. Also most of them offer some secondary prizes to try and offer a chance for everyone to win something. I could be wrong but I also get the feeling that the fishing climate is a little more friendly on the west side than on the michigan side.

[fishsniffer]

Don't waste your time tourment are just a big waste of time And cost moe than there worth

i also disagree with this..if your looking to turn a profit everytime then by all means dont enter..nobody wins every time..they help bring your fishing to another level..we havent done very well in them but enjoy them and its showing where we need to learn to be better..they are a fun atmosphere and you meet a lot of guys with the same passions..we look at where theyre located and what the catch/weigh is now..also another great tourney option are the little events run...wmfl,shfl,mscst,brown blast to name a few that are great fun events..

[plumkrazy]

That what my 2 cents are on this one

[Side JOB]

I dont agree with Phil either.

Its more of being able to take the time of of work for me. When i do get the time off i do love a good boat race and fishing and talking to my good budies!

[plumkrazy]

Should have kept my mouth shut on this one Don't worry this is the last post of any thing on here thank to all that have became friend on here with.

[fishsniffer]

Should have kept my mouth shut on this one Don't worry this is the last post of any thing on here thank to all that have became friend on here with.

this site is about opinion and sharing that opinion wether people agree or not..absolutely nothing wrong with what you said phil..there are plenty who agree and plenty that dont..thats what most forums are built around:thumb:

[fishy1]

If tournaments are about fun and friendship why does money even have to be involved, I fish a tournament every time I leave the dock it's me against the fish.I'm not trying to offend anyone but I have watched how normal people turn into idiots just to show they are the 'Man' .

[Paulywood]

Phil, I don't see where anyone attacked you, unless I missed something. You are far from the only person I know who refuses to fish tournaments, for many different reasons. But other people enjoy them. Neither opinion is wrong, they are both just that, opinions. All that being said, I have never fished one of the big Tournament Trail events. In order for me to justify doing it I would need to feel like I had a chance to compete and maybe win. With the distance I live from the lake and the few times I am able to fish during the year I just don't feel like I am able to do that. I would just be donating. So I try to fish as many of the club events as my work schedule allows and fish the Dreamweaver every year. That allows me to "compete" to a certain extent but they are more fun events. Maybe in the future if the large tournaments are around I will fish them. Just my opinion.

[plumkrazy]

I know no one attack me but there a re a few on here That still question my fish counts and this is for a second time so I am gone as far as posting

[CITM]

Back to the original question.

Location is important, I'll travel up to 100 miles or so but that's about it. My boat is trailerable, but the cost, time and hassle still adds up.

It must be a two day tournament.

Payouts are important. An average tournament will cost me $900 or so, we need a reasonable chance of winning some money to help defray the cost.

Format is important, I might fish local "weigh 5" tournaments but no way will I travel very far for them. The format I like the most right now is Ludington, which is catch 20, weigh 10 (for AM) and at least 3 of those must be trout.

And lastly, I'm a lot more likely to enter if it's a well run tournament. That starts with a quick, thorough captain's meeting, clear, enforceable rules, efficient weigh-in, electronic scoring (nice but not necessary), etc.

Edited July 26, 2012 by money pit
added info

[jdeck]

I entered my first and only tourney last year,found out I have a lot to learn,guess that's why I'm hooked on the big lake. If and when I can fill my cooler,I might enter another. There are alot of great fishermen out there competing.I would say location,cost and prize would do it for me.

[1mainiac]

Mostly for me it comes down to intregrity of the events. Clearly money is always a issue more so for me due to the wifes car accident 2 years ago which wiped out her income and removed her from my fishing team. I have a huge problem with the way many events have been run I will however probably fish some of the bigger events again in the future but if it is a weigh 5 event I will only do the 333. The big issue for me with the Tournament Trail is the rules changes from port to port which really means it is totally unstructured so the idea of going port to port is a waste of time. So for many they pick their home port and maybe do one north and one south of home. The flip side as pointed out by a couple of guys I fish with is we spend more doing a couple of major events than we spend to fish a entire season when we skip the big events. Fishing my home port of Muskegon in the Shootout with prefishing and the 2 day event we avg 200 gal of gas for that week we have been out 8 times this year and have not burned a 100 gal yet granted 3 of those trips were in the 17 but they still netted nice fish and a good time.

[jimcr]

Well here is why I asked this here. I am thinking about bring up this subject to the Board , we have one tourney in Milwaukee , and there are others near by . but I don't like traveling to a port the day before for a Captains meeting , and then returning 7-8 hours later to check in to fish. I think its a waste of fuel, I would like to see another tourney in Milwaukee , what kind , format, ect . are all being considered . Its a lot of work But Milwaukee is a big port. I know of smaller ports that have multiple tourneys.

Like Jim said 200 gallons of fuel, that isnt cheep . Weather by boat or tow vehicle. Any suggestions would also be thought through.

Tight Lines

Jim

[Yankee Troller]

We fish 7 of the 9 major events on Lake O each year. We just love the competition and the friends we meet at these events. Tournament fishing will make you a better fisherman hands down! Fishing different parts of your lake puts more tools in your tool box and helps you when your back at your home port. Fishing one port seems to put you in a groove from what I've seen.

Now with that being said $$$ is what draws us to tourneys now. This year we changed up our schedule and did more events that offered larger payouts. On Lake O we have 3 events that are one day shootouts with a top prize of $25k. We fish all three of those even though two of them are expensive to go fish. Some of the events this year spread the prize money out to the field and we just didn't like it. Even though it helped off-set costs to more people the prestige just wasn't there.

[Just Hook'n]

Where are you guys coming up with the sponsors for 25K payouts?

That is insane. I think our top pro prize on this side of the lake is 10K.

[Yankee Troller]

$1000 entry fees

[jimcr]

$1000 entry fees

at that price it doesn't take long.

[spoonfed]

I would pay that, met alot of friends and would have to say its made us better fisherman! We have done things that shouldnt work and do quite well! I have talked to a few on here on the phone and made some suggestions, and got the REALLY! and they did well... Its just a game. You play it well and it pays off!

[Yankee Troller]

at that price it doesn't take long.

Yup, and we were 2 ounces from it this past June. 1st place was .22 ounces ahead of us and second place was 1 ounce ahead of us. The 4th place guy was 5 pounds behind us. The top three teams had 25.5lb average boxes with 6 fish.

Two of these events are fished a few miles East of Toronto, and the other is fished from Wilson, NY (just East of the Niagara Bar). If anyone is interested in any of these events I can put you in touch with the organizers. They are invitation only, and sometimes there is a waiting list to get in, but you never know! I'm sure they would love more competitors from other states. We had two MI teams at the Wilson event this year. Fields are capped in these events also. 60 teams for the Toronto events and 75 for the Wilson event.