John, since there are vaious camps in place on the OTW tourney, why not have one of our own. There are certainly enough vendor, plug builders, etc to donate prizes. have a $10 entry fee and our own pin.
We can make it C&R and thereby avoid any controversy. Boat division or shore division but you cannot register for both. Every where from Maine to NJ (don't want to slight the Jersey guys) would be in play.
Monthly prizes donated by the board vendors who also could certify the picture of the fish.

Just some "woolgathering" thoughts.

BTW, I sincerely hope some of the other "grumpy old surf fishermen" chime in with their 2 cents. I have no agenda and am just making suggestions.

Cool idea!

How many SB.com posts do you need before you can enter?

It will never work out as long as there are prizes of any kind involved. Not too long ago there was an informal tourney amongst freinds for plugs and somebody entered a fish caught by someone else!

I think its an awesome idea. Seems it would be tough to d though.

sounds like a good idea to me. could use a format similar to what zeno uses for his C&R tournament. keep prizes to a minimum, maybe something similar to the trophies in the hab's tournament. a few may cheat (even for bragging rights only), but what are you going to do.

yeah sounds good to me, we should hand out or just designate a marker that must be in the picture of the fish, bragging rights only, no prizes.

I thought our 4 leg tournay is the same thing. Its Catch and Release , minimal prizes and in fact there is no entry fee at all. The 4 legs coincide with the 4 Barbecue get togethers we have from Spring to fall.

I know its been pretty low key lately but reviving that makes sense rather than an entry fee tourney , etc.

I like the idea of brining back the 4 leg C&R tourney. Great idea of getting this up and running paul.:uhuh:

How many SB.com posts do you need before you can enter?

208

I like the idea of brining back the 4 leg C&R tourney. Great idea of getting this up and running paul.:uhuh:


I only have two can I still enter? Do you have to be funny to enter? That would leave me out!:uhuh:

I like the idea of brining back the 4 leg C&R tourney. Great idea of getting this up and running paul.:uhuh:

Thanks Vic.
I have no issue with bring back the 4 legged tourney.Previously, I think it really ran "under the radar". I'm very active here (as you all know :)) and I never participated as I didn't know enough about it.

Kayak Division too.....

Take the prizes and use them to raffle off.....

Agreed. Maybe raffle for a worthy cause like keeping the lights on here.

Thanks Vic.
I have no issue with bring back the 4 legged tourney.Previously, I think it really ran "under the radar". I'm very active here (as you all know :)) and I never participated as I didn't know enough about it.

I'm an infrequent visitor here but would do the 4 leg tourney if the dates are posted far enough in advance. Just another reason to fish other spots and meet a few like minded individuals...

Kayak Division too.....

Take the prizes and use them to raffle off.....

IMHO, kayak = boat. don't want to make things too complicated.

Not to many kayaks can zip off to the block to wet a line and then zip back to try another spot near the mainland.

but works for me......

Sure - I've thought of reviving some variant of the 4 leg - biggest problem has most often been finding the right dates to do it...

What are some ideas on a format?

for starters...I'd drop it down to 1-2 legs......when's the last time you've been able to pull off all 4 legs in a season

Sure - I've thought of reviving some variant of the 4 leg - biggest problem has most often been finding the right dates to do it...

What are some ideas on a format?

Please, tell me what the format was for the old 4 legged tourney.

With 4 legs you can participate and win even if you only make 1 leg so in fact 4 legs makes it more likely people can make at least 1 and be "in" the tourney.

I think the downfall of the 4 leg and fewer participants in the barbecues has a lot to do with not knowing when they will be until a week or two before. It would work a lot better if we set dates very early on , almost like setting all 4 dates in April.

We are very considerate here about not scheduling our events on top of other organizations events but the fact is absolutely nobody consults with us as to when our events are. I think we need to pick dates based around likely good fishing weekends (new/full moon) and avaoiding holidays like the 4th , etc and just set our dates. If people can make it , great. Better chance of people making it if they can set a date aside 2 months in advance.

I think about the only rules were Catch and Release and some guidelines as to areas to fish which changed based on where the Barbecue was. For example , the Barbecue was at Weekapaug it was something like Jamestown to Watch Hill but when at M+D's it was like Race point to Westport (just examples , I forget exact boundaries) .

Other than that you need to fish with other people from S-B who verify your catch with a length measurement, then you let the fish go.

You gatta fish with people:err:, I don't know about that:):)

I am in would you do 2 dates new moon and 2 dates full moon?

boat division?

I'd be interested if you added the boat division.

I am in would you do 2 dates new moon and 2 dates full moon?

No , its more on dates around holidays etc , it could conceivably be all new moon or all full or it could be a new, full, between tides type schedule. I threw out the moon tides as just an example of when fishing might be good in an area when we look at choosing dates. For example , in the canal I am not big on moon tides always. Sometimes it a lot harder work , you have to use heavier jigs , move up and down the rip rap as the water goes up and down more significantly , etc. Just examples of when "good Fishing Days" are near weekends with potential to hold a barbecue and 4 leg event.

I'd be interested if you added the boat division.

I forget how we used to handle the boat/shore issue in the 4 leg. Besides , your a big soft bait guru from shore guy too! :)

I'd suggest an on line all season format. C&R. Photo or SB member witness as entry (no dead fish shots). Curved fork length and girth. One fish a month, May through Nov. You can enter a larger fish as many times a month as you want, but at the end of the month only your largest counts. The winner is the guy with the largest 6 fish (1 per month) length/girth total. Or we could do a point system, 3 points for largest in a month, then 2, then 1 for the guy with the third largest, and the winner would be the guy with the most points at the end of the season. He gets a plaque. Everybody who entered fish gets a ticket for each month entered (6 max), then they all go in a raffle for donated prizes during a party at the end of the season.


I think this format would encourage people to fish through the season, and would reward consistency as well as quality.

We used to do similar to that and do the 4 leg too. It was like two seperate tourneys although the season long was not catch and release. You still had to have an S-B person sign a slip verifying the size of the fish, like in the 4 leg, but you could keep the fish in the all season. In the 4 leg it had to be released or it couldn't be entered.

I think the idea of the two tourneys was a season long for what should be a very big fish and the 4 leg to encourage attendance at the gatherings and to add an element of luck where anybody beginner or expert, could potentially get lucky and get a fish big enough to win if there were just limited days to fish. It also encouraged people to fish together after the barbecue because you needed a witness for your fish. I think it was successful on both accounts.

I wouldn't mind seeing both the four leg and a season long revived.

We used to do similar to that and do the 4 leg too. It was like two seperate tourneys although the season long was not catch and release. You still had to have an S-B person sign a slip verifying the size of the fish, like in the 4 leg, but you could keep the fish in the all season. In the 4 leg it had to be released or it couldn't be entered.

I think the idea of the two tourneys was a season long for what should be a very big fish and the 4 leg to encourage attendance at the gatherings and to add an element of luck where anybody beginner or expert, could potentially get lucky and get a fish big enough to win if there were just limited days to fish. It also encouraged people to fish together after the barbecue because you needed a witness for your fish. I think it was successful on both accounts.

I wouldn't mind seeing both the four leg and a season long revived.

I'm up for whatever you guys decide/want to do. I'll help anyway I can

tournaments are like discussing your salary with someone at work, nothing good will come of it. Like Bill said, look at what happened in the RI Forum at the other site, turned into a frekin joke.
I wouldnt participate but I can see - Many of us have friends and contacts we share info with regularly, do I want to be saying to myself - I told Billybob there were fish at XXXX, but forget to tell SuzyQ and I know they're both competing so, now there is some bad blood, blah, blah, blah. I overthink everything so, whatever. I'm sure it will lead to some great SeaDangles posts so that will be fun

I told Billybob there were fish at XXXX, but forget to tell SuzyQ and I know they're both competing so, now there is some bad blood, blah, blah, blah.

Thats why I don't like you anymore :smash:

tournaments are like discussing your salary with someone at work, nothing good will come of it. Like Bill said, look at what happened in the RI Forum at the other site, turned into a frekin joke.
I wouldnt participate but I can see - Many of us have friends and contacts we share info with regularly, do I want to be saying to myself - I told Billybob there were fish at XXXX, but forget to tell SuzyQ and I know they're both competing so, now there is some bad blood, blah, blah, blah. I overthink everything so, whatever. I'm sure it will lead to some great SeaDangles posts so that will be fun

I think it can be done without the pissing and moaning. This site is different than that other one. If it's all about the fishing and just hanging out and having fun, there will be less griping. If money can be raised for a good cause (like Paul mentioned keeping the lights on here), all the better. There have been plenty of C&R tourneys that have been well run and controversy free. Remember the one at the beginning of the season here to raise money for the veterans? That went off pretty smoothly because there were no cash prizes to be won.

I forget how we used to handle the boat/shore issue in the 4 leg. Besides , your a big soft bait guru from shore guy too! :)

as far as i remember it was just a shore thing.
but adding boat may add interest. i know i would only do it at this point if there was a boat division...

I think it can be done without the pissing and moaning. This site is different than that other one. If it's all about the fishing and just hanging out and having fun, there will be less griping. If money can be raised for a good cause (like Paul mentioned keeping the lights on here), all the better. There have been plenty of C&R tourneys that have been well run and controversy free. Remember the one at the beginning of the season here to raise money for the veterans? That went off pretty smoothly because there were no cash prizes to be won.

Rule #1 Any pissing and moaning will result in immediate disqualification.

I tried to post a group photos from the very 1st leg . But the system won,t let me because I posted once before .....

rename the picture Clammer. That should ebable you to post it even if posted before.

Here's a couple from way back

Picture on Right is East Beach in the fall November 2000.

Picture on left may be at Mike T's September 2001.

I'm in.
41" released last night :D