[Basstrap896]

I would like to open a thread to have questions that can be posted and brought forward to the Michigan Federation Committee. These questions can be reviewed during the off-season, and possibly lead to the betterment of our Federation Fish-Off:
Senario: "Big Fish" is weighed in during tournament day = 5.5lbs

1) Why is it neccesary to offer each angler the opportunity to weigh in "Big Fish" when they don't have a fish in their bag over 2.5 lbs? If this is used as a tie-breaker then I would like to see that rule changed to biggest bag over the two day's of competition. Or any other idea that does not slow down the weigh-in process.

Benefit: Weigh-in goes quicker, less documentation required by tournament director and team, less stress on the fish. Less stress on Weigh-in team (those fish must get heavier by the end of the day, don't ya just love getting spiened by them over zeolous smallies / Donnie needs hand replacement surgery).

 

[Basstrap896]

BTW.... The next time the State Fish-OFF comes to ST. Clair I will not be fishing it.
BUT, I WILL BE HELPING WHOMEVER THE TOURNMENT DIRECTOR THAT IS HIRED TO RUN IT.

 

[Doug]

Joe,

I'm not for or against your idea, but I really like your thinking! If something doesn't work, find a solution to make things work for the better. Joe, you should run as a Board member, you have helped the industry more than you are given credit for, use your abilities for the betterment of tournament angling.

Make a rule change if needed. Change the no cell or radio rule, clarify a downed boat rule or change whatever you wish. Don't ask that rules be bent at a tournament. The Directors integrity is at stake if he or she bends for one and not all.

The rules that the Federation has should be supplied to everyone at the tournament not asking them to download off the net. The booklet I have is from 1999 and I have "NOT" been supplied with any pages for the updates. I have what I have then I must ask the Board if my memory serves me correctly on a change that has happened. I am hired by the Board and use all the tools they supply plus many more of my companies to get things done to the best of my ability. Unfortunately the Board doesn't meet enough to accomplish many of the tasks that are needed. There are many items that I feel that should be done, but I'm "NOT" a Board Member! I speak with most of them on a regular basis and they discuss the ideas for the next meeting.

The only way for the Federation to move forward is with suggestions like yours.

Thank you for looking at the future not the past!

Doug

 

[Basstrap896]

Thanks for the kind words Doug.
You and your staff busted your rumps, not many if any could have done a better job. I just believe that each year we should strive to make each event better and better. We as federation members have the opportunity to voice our opions. Our club president/captain is the clubs representative and voice at the meeting that take place throught the year. Member's of the federations should utilize this opportunity so that possible changes can be reviewed upon at a high level of federation leadership.

GNT/Doug were only following the rules set forth by the Michigan Federation.
The Michigan Federation owns the playbook, Doug was simply running the plays. It the plays don't work, then we need to change our playbook for the future.

I will be giving our fishing club president / captain Mark Gomez a list of opportunities for him to table with the members of Mich Bass Federation.
I was told many years ago, if you don't like it then go fix it, lip service is cheep.

 

[Doug]

Seriously Joe, you need to run for a Board position. Change is good!

Doug

 

[boatnfish]

I would disagree with the statement that the rules should be supplied at the tournament. The information (rules) should be supplied prior to sending in your money so that everyone will know ahead of time. That can be easily done, and I will suggest it for next year.

This year we had the forms for the team captains to fill out and submit instead of them just putting the weights on a scrap piece of paper. This was a suggestion from a member at Muskegon and it worked very well.

This year we also had copies of where to park in the morning based on what flight you were in. Again, this was a suggestion of a member.

When the information is mailed out to the club presidents that last couple of years it has included a form for them to fill out and return. The form listed who is in the club and boxes to check if they are a boater, rider, alternate boater, captain, fishing for team awards. This makes things much easier for the TD to input the information as everything is computer printed and easily readable.

Suggestions do work and are implemented when they are able to be reasonably done.

I do like the idea of not allowing (especially the second day) people to weigh a big fish unless they are either in a position to make the team or could win one of the big bass pots. Not allowing people to weigh in their big fish the first day could possibly have an influence on who makes the team the second day as that breaks a tie.

I would ask that clubs take on the task of educating their anglers who have not fished a large draw event before. We had people bring in short fish, too many fish, want to protest because they were unable to drop off the rider because the docks were filled with recreational boaters and even bring down the trailer and pull the boat prior to turning in the plate, eventually being late. People need to know that this is not a 10 boat club tournament in which a quick look will tell you if everyone is in. People seem to forget about this. How many times have you seen a rider bring more tackle than the boat owner? Clubs must help the situation as well. When it means something to the club (such as team awards) they get the infrormation from their team timely. I know of a couple of clubs who actually issue a penatly to their members if they fail to turn in their weigh-in slips to the captain.

I would also like to see the first day changed from 9 hours to 8. This extra hour just pushes the time that everyone can get out of there that much later.

I am sure others have more suggests, and those need to be heard to make things change. Just saying that you don't like the way something was handled is not good enough.

 

[Bass Pro]

This past weekend was quite an eye opening experience for myself. I definately feel that myself and Bass Pro Shops employees can be a much bigger part of making this event more successful.

Next year we need to have two release boats. The time it took to leave the dock, release fish and get back was way to long for the fish waiting!

I need to have some additional staff to support the release boat as well. Including 2 people to help with replenishing fresh water to the holding tanks at the scales and for the fish once they are weighed.

In addition I could supply people to do live well checks, blast offs and check in at the Docks.

With the desire of the federation board and Doug I am sure that we can support the event with ample staff that do not also want to fish the event. This way the fisherman can enjoy the day and Doug and Bernadette can focus on the weigh in and meetings.

You know what they say.......hind sight is 20/20! We thought we had it covered! We did the best we could with what we had! Now we know better so we can do it better next time!

Just a few thoughts to put to the board!

 

[No More Mini]

"I do like the idea of not allowing (especially the second day) people to weigh a big fish unless they are either in a position to make the team or could win one of the big bass pots. Not allowing people to weigh in their big fish the first day could possibly have an influence on who makes the team the second day as that breaks a tie."

I hndled the fish the second day and I asked people what their weight was for the first day and then determined whether they should weigh a big fish or not. Some agreed, some just wantted to see what the darn thing weighed. I didnt argue and neither did the anglers, some took my advice and a few jut wanted to settle a bet or for curiosity sake (could have been the biggest they ever caught).

I didnt think it held up the line that long. There many other isuues that need to be attended to other than weighing a big fish......

If you want a quick list from what I noticed just from handling fish:

1. DO NOT USE REJUVENATE (blue stuff) PRIOR TO THE WEIGH-IN! Yes the product works, but its like 4 pots of cofee! We need the fish relaxed, not coked out. IF you choose to use it, then be darn sure you completely exchange the water in your weigh bag with the green stuff (Please Release Me). It has a calming effect and greatly speeds up the weigh-in. (fish dont flop in the scales as much and I dont bleed as much). If you dont believe me, I will let you handle your fish the next time I see a bag come to the scales with the blue suff in it.

2. When standing in line and you are called to present your fish to the tub, do NOT expect the person working to lift your fish into the tub. I had people looking at me like I was a fool, and my response was "I have to do this 300 times today OR you do it once, I think its your turn". Especially if your bag is full of water, see the next one.

3. When presenting your fish to the weigh-in tub for verification, counting and measuring DO NOT HAVE YOUR BAG FULL OF WATER! We were running out of water in the tanks and I could have used a DD22 to catch some of the fish from the tub. At times the water was almost near the top of the tub, when that happens trust me we are all getting wet.

4. Dont tell the person handling fish how many you have and how many are dead. They will tell you that, its their job! If you have a fish that is close to perishing, that is good to tell them because it will help expidite the process so that fish has the greatest chance of survival.

5. If you want a courtesy bump on the official bump board, you must do it your self. First dump your fish in the tub, then measure the fish. I cannot look when you are doing that, but I assure you that I will attempt to get that fish to be 14" as many times as I can if it is close. I spent a couple minutes on one in the fish off and was thanked by that persons partner. He told me it was the first time he ever caught a limit in the SC and I tild him, I didnt have anything to do with it. He caught em, I just measaure them.

Mini

 

[djkimmel]

Did anyone find my notepad where I was marking down how many times Mini said something like, "Get that blue stuff out of there!!", etc?

Good stuff Mini, but I have a feeling by exchanging the water right at the tubs, the bass didn't have much time to absorb the 'green' stuff long enough to counteract the 'blue' stuff. I don't think it's like cocaine...but I could be wrong. I only took 1 year of college chem and that was a long time ago...maybe before the elements table.

 

[No More Mini]

Anytime in the green stuff will help.....its better than fresh out of the blue!

Mini