New rules for Striper Cup

[westhavendave]

Seems reason has won out on this issue. Following are the much improved rule changes. Will it change your mind about participating?

Dear OTW Readers & Striper Cup Participants,

It has been a long week in which much dialogue has occurred about what OTW is trying to do with our Striper Cup Tournament. I have received strong emails both supporting the tournament and strong emails asking for drastic changes. I am not surprised by the passion that has been displayed by anglers from Maryland to Maine, on both sides of the aisle. We at On The Water have a tremendous responsibility to the fishermen of today, but more importantly, for those who will fish tomorrow. It is our hope with this tournament to bring the fishing community together so that if we need to speak with one voice, we can. Like it or not, we at OTW are and should be held to a higher standard when it comes to the future of our great fishery in the Northeast. All of us at On The Water are lucky enough to work in the industry that is also our passion and we owe a debt of thanks to you, our readers. When I’m fishing off some jetty late at night or drifting over some shoal, the world slows down for me. I gain perspective about how I can become a better father, husband, coach, and yes, publisher. The point is, fishing, to all of us, is an outlet that takes us away from the pressures of every day life. I would never, knowingly, jeopardize what so many of us enjoy.
With this in mind, we at On The Water have been meeting all week to improve the Striper Cup while capturing the mystique and essence of the old Schaefer Tournament. We have unanimously decided that we must err on the side of caution and have greatly reduced the number of fish that can be weighed. It will take cooperation and work by all anglers who have signed up or plan to participate. Club members will need to work together so that NO fish are weighed in unnecessarily. This speaks to the very fiber of this tournament and what we are trying to achieve. Camaraderie between the clubs and anglers was always a major goal for the endeavor. The new rules will foster communication and strategy to obtain club points while drastically reducing the total number of fish taken. Individual anglers will also need to plan and be responsible as to which fish to weigh. We have no doubt that this will become a great tournament in which clubs can compete and be proud of what they have achieved. Individuals will measure their skills against other fishermen from throughout the Northeast and in the end, we hope to all celebrate a successful tournament at the Striper Cup Festival.
Below are the changes we have implemented that should reduce the total number of fish weighed in by over 90%. We have listened not because it is the politically correct thing to do, but because those calling for more conservation are right.

• Rather than being able to weigh in two stripers at least 34-inches in length per week, that number will be reduced to one (1) fish per week.

• The Angler of the Year trophies will be awarded in both the boat and shore divisions based on the five heaviest fish submitted by an individual in each division over the course of the contest, with the aggregate weight of those five (5) fish determining the winner. This is a change from the original rule, in which the Angler of the Year was determined by a total weight of all fish (potentially, 36 fish) caught throughout the contest, regardless of size. The intention of this change is to discourage taking and weighing in many smaller fish and to encourage the selective harvesting of fish.

• All club awards including the Striper Cup and state awards will be awarded based on the club’s ten (10) heaviest fish weighed in over the duration of the contest. This is a substantive change from the previous rule, which seemed to encourage weighing in many smaller fish by many members of individual clubs. This change will encourage club members to communicate with each other frequently to determine whether or not a fish should be weighed in or even harvested, based on the size of fish that have already been officially weighed in and attributed to that club. This also should level the playing field between large and smaller clubs. In the event of a tie, the largest individual fish will determine the winner.

• With the interest in this contest spreading beyond New England, we welcome participation by anglers and clubs from New Jersey.


On behalf of the entire staff at On The Water, I want to thank all the passionate fisherman from Maryland to Maine who care enough about OTW to actually let us know how you feel. I personally invite all our readers to join us and become a part of building another tradition, The Striper Cup!

Sincerely,

Chris Megan
Publisher

[JFigliuolo]

[tattoobob]

I am going to join now in the individual angler catagory. They listened and changed the tournament for the best.

[Clogston29]

[Backbeach Jake]

Thank-you, OTW.

[Bill L]

We have listened not because it is the politically correct thing to do, but because those calling for more conservation are right.

[BigFish]

Nice work OTW!

[JohnR]

[NIB]

I honestly didn't think they would or could make the changes to the tournament this yr.The folks at OTW went above an beyond correcting this oversight.They genuinely seemed concerned about the striped bass fishery an it shows.It now sounds like a contest I will be proud to win..
Much Like the Schaeffer Cup of the past.
Thanks Chris Megan
So now I will enter.The rest of u fools save ur money.

[NIB]

.Perhaps top 5 would'nt hurt either clubs an individual..I thought the old tourney had some kinda numbers limit for the clubs like top 10.??

This is a paste from one of my post's in the OTHER thread.
U think they listened to the NIB.
THats Sssscary.

[tynan19]

Great work guys! The OTW staff must have put a lot of effort into this the last week or so to change the rules that much. Job well done.

[Nebe]

Originally Posted by NIB

.Perhaps top 5 would'nt hurt either clubs an individual..I thought the old tourney had some kinda numbers limit for the clubs like top 10.??

This is a paste from one of my post's in the OTHER thread.
U think they listened to the NIB.
THats Sssscary.

nahh no one listens to the NIB

[Sea Dangles]

Originally Posted by NIB

.Perhaps top 5 would'nt hurt either clubs an individual..I thought the old tourney had some kinda numbers limit for the clubs like top 10.??

This is a paste from one of my post's in the OTHER thread.
U think they listened to the NIB.
THats Sssscary.

Way to praise yourself AGAIN NIB.Upholding a N.J. tradition?Perhaps some from this board would like side action on largest fish entered.Winner rewarded at brewfest.

[SAXATILUS]

There is definatley power in numbers. You guys should be proud of what you have accomplished. I'm sure that if it wasn't for the intelligent debates and concern for the fishery shown on this site the rules would have not been ammended. How could OTW ignore it. Nice to see they saw the error of thier ways. Great job everyone

[bobfishgerald]

A standing O for OTW and all the anglers who worked to get this done.

[BigFish]

I think it shows all of us just how aware most in the fishing community are in regards to taking care of the stocks that many have worked so hard and sacrificed so much to see them make the return they did and that we need to take great care of them! And we all have, so a big thanks to you all and especially to OTW...a first class fishing magazine!

[Swimmer]

Good work OTW.

[shadow]

Great job! otw is a great mag keep, up the good work.

[Slipknot]

Nice!
Props to OTW for stepping up and doing something about it.
Looks like Stiffy got his way with the 1 per week.
I personally did not see how that makes any difference, it was the club cumulative totals that bothered me, so I guess they went beyond my expectations on rule changes.

I wonder if they will print addendums to the rules they pass out when you sign upI guess they'll have to.

[basswipe]

[pal156]

[Saltheart]

Good job by OTW! I think we should support this tourney with enthusiasm.

[NIB]

[QUOTE=Sea Dangles]Way to praise yourself AGAIN NIB.Upholding a N.J. tradition?Perhaps some from this board would like side action on largest fish entered.Winner rewarded at brewfest


It's all in fun.Whatever u like.

[LeCounts1099]

[Skitterpop]

Originally Posted by NIB

.Perhaps top 5 would'nt hurt either clubs an individual..I thought the old tourney had some kinda numbers limit for the clubs like top 10.??


(U think they listened to the NIB.
THats Sssscary.)

Who is NIB?

[Skitterpop]

Wow! Its great they made the changes this year

Great job to all who posted, sent emails, called, and sent letters.


Congrats to OTW for admitting they were wrong and making changes

[Sea Dangles]

[QUOTE=NIB]

Originally Posted by Sea Dangles

Way to praise yourself AGAIN NIB.Upholding a N.J. tradition?Perhaps some from this board would like side action on largest fish entered.Winner rewarded at brewfest


It's all in fun.Whatever u like.

cool beans. my bad.

[Roger]

It’s good to see that there are so many honest well meaning folks on this site that they do not think about what will actually happen. There seems to be a misguided acceptance of the notion that if only one fish is weighed per week instead of two, only half the number of fish will be killed for this tournament. Real life does not work that way. Prize tournaments have always brought out the worse in people and the rule changes are largely specious.

People will cull fish. Enough do it blatantly on various party boats where the only advantage is more pounds in the cooler. To think that many more folks won’t higrade when the fish could win prizes worth several hundred dollars and “prestige” is not reasonable.

It is reasonably imagined that a couple friends can go out fishing Friday night and all weekend and kill dozens of fish trying to get to the next “bigger bass” for weigh in. If fishing for a team, the pressure will be to keep at least the two biggest per person so that their team members can also have good fish to weigh in.

So in reality, the decrease in number of weighed in fish will have very little effect on the number of fished killed due to the tournament.

The real danger is in the cumulative effect on conservation. Considering that the whole point of this is to create a media event to help OTW make money, it is logical to assume that there will be plenty of well orchestrated media coverage and it will promote KILLING bass.

That is not a message of conservation. It says there are plenty of fish to the folks were not aware of the state of the fishery. There are so many that we’ll kill them, not for food, but for possible cash and prizes.

Consider that for decades fishermen, especially fly fishermen, have promoted catch and release fishing. It didn’t catch on until recently when well publicized LM bass tournaments gave prizes for only LIVE fish. That was progress. It only happened as result of regional and national media coverage.

After eons of showing off stringers of dead fish for bragging rights, that practice became frowned upon. Apparently OTW thinks that reviving this tradition will help sell magazines and increase revenues. I think they are right. But I also think it is a giant step backward for conservation. OTW is taking from a resource that many of us fought hard to rebuild.

When Mr. Megan, the publisher of OTW wrote, “I would never, knowingly, jeopardize what so many of us enjoy,” I was reminded of Michael Jackson saying, “I love all children and would never knowingly hurt them.”

[shadow]

I think its good to see thier only going to allow a club to enter their 10 heaviest fish.I think that alone helps out alot.

[JohnR]

Roger - you know numbers better than me but their changes in the rules, and in the part that was out of whack the most, aggregate points per club, reduces the overall take FAR more than by half. Personally I think for a tourney of it's type, it has reached a reasonable level of responsibility. The ideal C&R tourney would be absolutely impossible.

While I agree you will still have those that will take advantage of the system - as with just about any tourney - I think they have done certainly most of the things they could do and it is FAR better than before...