Originally Posted by Mike P (Post 887742)

Then there was that 57 pounder that Lev Wlodyka caught on MV several years ago. It had an old yo-yo weight in its stomach that had been completely encapsulated in stomach tissue.

Originally Posted by Saltheart (Post 887332)

I think people expect too much from the big tourneys. The most enjoyable are little tourneys with small prizes (like a commemorative belt buckle) such that winning the prize is meaningless from a monetary view point. Its betweem friends or at least aquaintences and the biggest prize is the pride of having been lucky or skillfull or both that day (or weekend) These pumped up big events bring all the focus on winning big ticket items and that changes it from friendly sport to cutthroat ,lying , cheating, minipulating , do anything to win, fish kills.

The tourneys I have enjoyed the most were 1 day derbies where the cost on entering was like $10, a charity kept most of the money and someone gets a trophy or small value gear for winning. Our own S-B 4 leg tourneys are classic gentlemen's honor , catch and release and maybe you win a reel.

As soon as the prizes get big enough to make it a commercial inviting event, the spirit of sportsmanship gets ruined.

We grilled the original Striper Cup organizers online over the initial rules that promoted a fish kill much larger than the eventual rules that were adopted after the big protests.One thing that many wanted but that the organizers didn't was to not allow anyone with a commercial license to enter. I think that was the biggest mistake. With large prizes and commercial guys allowed to compete it became just another way for guys to earn more money from fish they were going to sell at the market anyway.

To me , the moral is that anything that turns a fishing tourney into more than simple fun between friends is bad for the tourney and participants.

Originally Posted by Back Beach (Post 888282)

Just noticed Sea Dangles alma marta took the lead for the team division...time to get some sleep...:laugha:

Originally Posted by Mike P (Post 888345)

82 points from a brand new member has a way of changing things. ;)

Originally Posted by Bill L (Post 887317)

477 fish weighed so far
1-80's
1-70's
17-50's
111-40's
211-30's
106-20's
29-teens

Originally Posted by Mike P (Post 888345)

82 points from a brand new member has a way of changing things. ;)

Originally Posted by Sea Dangles (Post 888351)

For a casual observer who is not involved with the tournament you sure seem bitter. FWIW they would have won without the 82,some guys know how to catch large.

Originally Posted by Sea Dangles (Post 888351)

For a casual observer who is not involved with the tournament you sure seem bitter. FWIW they would have won without the 82,some guys know how to catch large.

Originally Posted by Sea Dangles (Post 888451)

Mike was being coy with his statement Saltheart.And while I agree with his statement regarding the tournament,even he has to acknowledge that OTW had set the precedence years before by allowing changes midstream.The fact it was Myerson or even a record fish should not alter this exception despite the impact on the standings.It actually would have been unfair if he were not allowed to have a club affiliation.

Originally Posted by Mike P (Post 888418)

Nope, not bitter at all.

Originally Posted by Mike P (Post 888418)

Nope, not bitter at all. I couldn't give a #^&#^&#^&#^& which club wins it. :D

Originally Posted by Saltheart (Post 888580)

And that's the root of the problem. Oh well...As some say , rules are made to be broken.

Originally Posted by RIROCKHOUND (Post 888548)

Just admit you are an angry, bitter lawyer with some old axe to grind... at least keep some fuel on the fire....

Originally Posted by scottw (Post 888587)

which problem?..and what rules were broken?

the rule states that and angler must declare one or the other status at the time of registration, which makes sense, I'm pretty sure that was done...I've not seen a rule that states that an unaffiliated angler may not (affiliate) join a team during the several months of the tournament and in fact, OTW made it quite clear that this is done regularly and MikeP acknowledged the fact that there is precedence.....an unaffifiated angler joining a team has no idea as to whether he/she is going to catch a fish of consequence after joining a team(which are the only fish that may count in the standings)....what exactly is the problem?

Originally Posted by Mike P (Post 888616)

I still think that club rosters should be set either at the start, or within the first month of it.

Originally Posted by WESTPORTMAFIA (Post 888611)

Hey guys! Is it supposed to burn when you pee?
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Originally Posted by Saltheart (Post 888637)

So a heavy hitter (Someone known to catch lots of big fish every year) can join as unaffiliated , enter fish as an independent to be sure he's got some in there for some prizes , then wait for the season to progress and see how the team totals tally up. Then near the end , when its getting obvious who the winner or at least top 3 will be , he can jump in and join a garanteed winning or high placing team. I'm not saying he did that but the exceptions made to allow moving from unaffiliated to affiliated would allow this. you have been long on speculation and short on facts through the entire discussion

I've posted the rule twice in purple. Its apparant that people interpret this differently than me. To me it says when you join you decide if you are an independent or a team member. To me that's it , that's what you are for the tournament.does it say this in purple?
Why even have such a rule if you can jump around from unaffiliated to affiliated during the contest? because tournament organizers need to know where to slot your fish when you register Yes I know the slippery slope was started with exceptions in the past and that those exceptions even involved S-B team people. As I said earlier, if you do something once it doesn't mean you have to keep doing it that way forever.it appears to be pretty common rather than an "exception" or a "breaking of the rules"

The integrity of the tournament is bound to adherence to the rules by both the participants and the organizers. Making exceptions or looking for supreme court type loop holes to simple fishing tournament rules casts a shadow over things that some may not care about but that others might. those would be the people who "couldn't give a #^&#^&#^&#^& "

I joined the tournament the first year simply to be able to go to the party at the end at Harpoon Brewery (I think it was Harpoon?). I got a pin and a golden raffle ticket and Smokey and I had good food and beer at the party. We ran into all the usual hard core guys ( even #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&) at the party so it was a good social event like TFCTFN and MSBA etc. I suppose expecting or even caring about any more than that is a mistake. I wonder how many harsh critics of the tournament will be at the party?


I rest my case.

Originally Posted by scottw (Post 888631)

just doesn't make any sense...the tournament is months long and actually a series of weekly/monthly tournaments...OTW allows registration throughout the tournament(which makes perfect sense given the nature of the tournament and for maximum participation).... I'm sure that many anglers decide to register throughout the season as a result of joining a club or encouragement from a competing team, your rules would not allow new registrants after the first day (or month) to join a club/team which might discourage participation, which I'm sure is not the goal of OTW....if you make an exception for new registrants and allow them to affiliate with clubs/teams after one of your dates, it hardly seems justifiable to allow them(new registrants) to join a team after one of your dates while not allowing previously registered but unaffilitated anglers to affiliate, the only difference between the two is the date on their registration.....and in both cases, as long as any fish that is being entered is caught after the date of registration/affiliation, why would it matter ???????