Washout

I have the luxury of this being a small event. I don't expect a lot of participants. If I get a lot, I will be warned as the pre-entry is cheaper to purchase than day of entry. That's not to say that I couldn't be stunned by day of entrants, but I don't think it's likely. We have generous people giving the their own time to help out. To answer the "is it worth it?" question, yes this one is. The prizes will be donations and funded out of our other non-profit venture if need be. We have a much larger project going on at the same time, which probably will keep most of the people busy. It's a labor of love, so it doesn't seem like work to me. Getting the donations is going to be the hardest part, but that's the name of the game I guess.

Nah, this probably isn't half of what he would do for any of us. He's a great dude and all we have to do is entertain and feed people.

I would be MUCH more at home doing a bowling tournament! Scores are easier. (kind of) Seperate entries and prize categories makes sense as long as we stagger the end times. We have a lot of things going on in a small time span. Staggering the tournament end times may help. Thanks for the words of wisdom.

That makes sense. I like the 20 fish limit. How did you break up the winnings? 25% 10% and 5%?

I'm in Western Illinois and I have a very close friend who has undergone a life-changing surgery. I am hosting the fishing tournament part of a fundraiser for him. My end of the planning has led me to asking how any non-sanctioned events do the awards? My wife and I catch and release everything. We don't own a livewell, we don't have many friends that do either. We are trying to keep it open so that bank fishers can particapate as well. Would it be easiest to do it like an online style tournament, with a tape measure and a camera, or is there an easier solution to this? I want to be honest and fun at the same time. I have no idea how many people to expect, but we have some very generous people around here and I think that the majority of the people in the tourney are in it to help out a great individual.I have no idea what other people charge to enter tournaments, so does a $25 per 2 person team seem in line? Prizes are going to be gift cards, prizes and trophies. For those that didn't read the lonmg-winded explanation; Is the $25 Per two person team price too high or too low? Is the tape measure and photo part the easiest way to score? What are some fun awards to do too? (smallest fish, etc) I would like to pre-emptively thank everyone that has any input for me.

Lots of good pics but the wind has been terrible around here. I hope we get we get some pics tomorrow.

We must drive the same vintage of vehicles, but the newer stuff has warmer thermostats to help with emissions control.

Awesome job!

I was told to thank everyone for the kind words and encouragement. I came here for the advice, but I've stayed around because of the great people. Thank you guys!

So, while the bite was decent tonight, the wife got her personal best and we didn't bring the scales. She said she almost puked when she saw it's mouth open to toss the lure. Measured 23.25" All I was doing was trying out different baits and she was pulling in 16 fish in just a little over an hour. She caught this fatty on a fat albert grub to add to the humor of the situation.

For me, it's cast control and my lost lure count. I was forced to focus on those before I could figure out presentations. My fish per dollar ratio was horrendous the first year on the water. The list of people I gleaned information from would be several pages long, but I'd like to thank everyone on this board for the feedback, advice and for answering every single question I ever asked. Road Warrior and Glenn are very intelligent folks that seem happy help anyone, any time. Their attitudes are contagious and I find myself wanting to be a better person by being as helpful as I can and keeping this sport as friendly as I can. We are all on the same waters, even if we don't share the boat.

Swimtail flukes, devil spears and stik-o worked today. The list of things that didn't work was a mile long though...

My revo s is a horse. Took a bit of adjustment for me.( and some advice from this very forum), I was used to lew's reels, but boy oh boy, once I dialed that girl in... Very nice. Haven't fished a citaca yet.

I'm the only person on here that didn't like president spinning reels. I dumped a nearly new one on trade to gramps50 above, and I'm happy to have gotten rid of it. To each his own, I'd say string 'em up and hit the water. Only you can tell if they work for you.

I'm thankful I'm a baseball fan! I can bring a radio with me and not miss anything. I never thought about the football angle taking people off the water. Went out again tonight, one pontoon and it was a resident. It was so slow, they just followed us around and watched us fish. I can't blame them, we probably are fairly entertaining to watch... Caught more than I thought we would. The wife even fought one in that had her treed. She's going to fool around and get serious on me. Dove season opened too, judging by the photos on facebook, I would guess that got some too.