New On The Water tournament rules
 

FWIW there will now be a .2 handicap for shore anglers instead of .3

Also, yo-yo fishing is not allowed.

Whats a yo-yo?

they are round annd go up and down, I still have an early 50's duncon.:biglaugh:

If you don't know then you needn't worry. You won't be in violation.:walk:

Not surprised. Next year it il be .25

Toungo-In-Cheeko :lama:

just divide into two catagories already....

OTW is adamant about keeping one category and maintaining their imaginary handicap. Similar to golf or bowling. It doesn't seem as though a shore and a boat category would be unreasonable.Someday I am sure they will present a reasonable format.The adjustment made in the handicap index will certainly prove to be useless now that they have banned yo-yo fishing from the boat category.
I wonder why there are two divisions yet they try to handicap one of them and offer one prize.

That's a very good question.



I am not even gonna comment on the yo-yo thing

anyone who fishes w/redlite is a yo-yo....

There are still plenty of ways to catch quality bass w/o yo-yo rigs Chris... unless we have a year like this past again, I bet a boat club takes it in 08'

Thats for sure

Because one truck is cheaper than two.

i don't think they want to dilute things by breaking it up. the idea of the tournament is to build interest and bring awareness to the magazine and sponsores. they probably think, and i agree, that further breaking things up would only make it less interesting, desireable and competetive from a club perspective. simply comparing the boat and surf catches from the last few years shows that the factor is required and that 1.2 seams fair. and at least with the factor, there's a chance that a real club (or website :hihi:) can win over a group of commercial guys who create what is essentially an all star team.

remember, its strictly for bragging purposes. no prizes are awarded to the club winners. all the prizes are in categories that are broken up by boat or surf or junior.

What?
 

Yo Yo Ma will be disappointed! But he'll live with the rule changes.

Rosetta stones paying off huh :hihi:

Imo its a good rule, changing it to a more even playing feild. Though impossible to prove without evidence, are they going to implement a lie detector test?

The FLW tournament had a lie detector test...

The majority of my big fish came from shore this past year so I understand there are different methods(too bad I entered the boat division last year,that won't happen again).I would not underestimate the amount of anglers from the competetive clubs(#^&#^&#^&#^&s,Linesider,Striper) who use the yo-yo technique for their big fish,therefore the handicap adjustment will be will not level the field as intended IMO. Time will tell.

How do you ban something by the honor system? Why go through the trouble of making a rule that's unenforceable to start with?

Weighmaster: "You didn't catch that fish on a yo-yo rig, did you?"

Entrant: "Hell no"

Do they expect guys fishing for the same team to blow the whistle on each other?

It's symbolic and an empty rule. The worst kind of rule you can make. One that relies on self-enforcement by the entrants. All show and no substance.

I'd let yo-yoing be an legal method as long as the state kept it a legal method.

If you look at how the tournament is set up it is obvious that it caters to two divisions.Prizes are different for shore and boat and then they try to marry the two divisions with a handicap system for fishing which is for golfers.I realize the two categories historically can not compete and like you said no prizes are awarded so essentially they would have to buy another trophy.
As far as not diluting the tournament,you answered your own question.Who among us would be less interested in the Cup if it had two categories?IMO it would serve to only generate more interest because the numbers and results would be real, not a magical formula that awards prizes based on a handicap.The club that caught the most pounds of fish would actually be the winner in their respective categories rather than a victory based on adjustments and formulas.
The idea that all boat entries are commercial fishermen is also a fantasy to make shore guys feel like more of an underdog.Surely there are a greater number of comms amongst the boats but there are commercial shore guys competing also.I would estimate the number of comm. guys in the boat division to be 50%.What exactly qualifies you to brand a certain team allstars?Obviously one guy got a bunch of his friends together to form a competetive team.How does that differ from your team(or website)which,unless I am mistaken offers a spot on the roster to anyone who "logs in."

Unenforceable maybe, but I know the Captain on our team won't allow a fish to be entered that was caught outside the parameters of the system.Now the decision to even enter the tournament is one that will be called into question. I am sure Team #^&#^&#^&#^&'s as well as Linesider B&B is also considering skipping a year.Perhaps this is the only way to get On The Water to make it a fair tournament.Personally ,I think their strategy will backfire and the number of entries will diminish until they wake up and allow teams to compete on a level playing field.The majority of the boat teams don't recognize anyone as the winner other than who weighed in the most pounds anyhow.

If splitting it into seperate divisions means we kill twice as many big fish then I'd rather see them leave it the way it is and just keep adjusting the formula to get something thats close to even. The more years worth of data they have, the more accurate the handicap will get.

It also nice to see OTW take a stand against Yo Yo'ing. The commercial guys are still going to do it, as that's how many of them are earning a living. So if this removes some of those Commercial fish from the contest I'm all for that, as the # of fish they get to keep/cull thru has always been an unfair advantage.

I do like competing against the boat guys, its kind of like Red Sox vs Yankees. Boat guys are obviously the yankees...

The sox don't need a handicap.They win like real men.

spoken like a true champ :hihi: all behind you on that one :jump:

I will not be joining back up this year, they need to get a set set of rules before they decide what the hell they are doing.

1st they make you sign up Boat or Shore, I fish both the first year I singed up as a boat entry caught all my big fish from shore
next year I sign up as a shore entry I catch all my big fish from my boat.

I haven't liked it sense day one and I am all done with it

I also fish both, and am questioning why I cannot declare how the fish was caught when I see the weighmaster. Despite the team's success from shore last year, ( I am fishing >75% from the boat), I am railroaded into registering one way or the other. Stinks. I want to be able to play both fields. Are they looking for another entry fee? Or do they feel this is the only way to keep a guy from weighing a boat caught as a shore caught???

Separate shore/boat divisions makes all the sense in the world. As Chris said, all it requires is having some trophy company make a duplicate Cup that says "Winning Shore Club". It doesn't devalue the two Cups already awarded. If you want to fish both, an extra $25 won't break anyone. Many people enter both the All-Tackle and Fly Rod divisions of the MV Derby.

They want to make it just like the Schaeffer Cup, but it's already been tweaked so that it bears little resemblance. :huh:

bob,
you don't like anything you grumpy bastard.

i'm happy whether shore and boat are seperate or not but if they are together I'd rather see the yo-yo'ing included. Us shore guys already get the handicap advantage. I'd also like the oppurtunity to beat the best rod and reel anglers and the alot of the commercial boat guys that use that method seem to fall into that category.

It is a perverted system to say the least. And I'm sure yo-yoing will still go on with some participants. What they should do is eliminate the boat division/shore division split. Also commercials have an advantage in that they can weigh any of the 30 fish they catch versus a non-commercial who can only weigh in his largest of his 2 legally caught fish. Tourney is fun but flawed.

Personally, I think the tourney is just about right as it stands now. With the surf conversion lowered to 1.2, it levels the field pretty closely IMO.
OTW has been pretty diligent in terms of assessing the competition and making needed adjustments based on the data generated from the tourney. Remember, the tourney has only been in existence for two seasons and is continually being evaluated and tweaked for the better. OTW does listen and respond to the concerns of the participants. You can’t expect them to turn this thing on its head and start from scratch each season. My feeling is with time the necessary adjustments will be made based on the data, which will result in a level competitive platform for anyone who enters.
For the people who are questioning the system’s fairness, it’s really a fun tournament as far as the team totals go and anything can happen on a given year, particularly from the surf. Look at S-B’s first two years if you need any further proof. The boat heavy teams will consistently produce the biggest poundage each season, while surf heavy teams results will be lumpier.
Eliminating yo-yo ing is merely a conservation minded gesture. Its not going to reduce any team's abillity to produce poundage IMO.