little tournament

[peeps]

Hi:
I am new to this site and after reading about the huge bluefish tournament. We are holding our 1st annual bluefish, striper tournament to raise money for our athletic booster club but the prizes are only $250. for the biggest striper and $250 for the biggest bluefish. The entry fee is $25. We are new at this, are in Plymouth and wonder if we will raise any money. What is the fee for that big tournament? Any feedback would be appreciated. The tournament runs from 9/5/00 to 9/30/00 and registration must be done by 9/3/00. Do you think we will get anyone to sign up or is the prize too small? We obviously are trying to raise money so didn't want to make the prize too big. What do you think?

Peeps

[eelman]

Thyat entry fee is way too high for a prize that low,make the prize 500.00 and then you have something.

[JohnR]

Welcome aboard... First, the WICC tournament, which has heavy financial involvement and backing, has an entry fee of $30. This tournament has been big for many years and draws many thousands to enter. Just about everyone signs up for the prize money and/or bragging rights. But this tournament is very established. People plan vacations every year so they can scout fish during the week to prepare for the weekend.

Where your tournament is just starting out, you may want to try several things. First, it seems like your tournament is going to support a cause/club and that will get some people to sign up because its a good cause. Also try to get involvment of the local bait & tackle shops. You'll need them for the weigh stations, try to get some sponsorship from them. Advertise the tournament (e-mail me any info you have and I can put it up on this site). That entry fee is steep for that amount of prize money so it could be tight. We had our MSBA Boat & Shore Tourney last month, entry was $25 with a ton of prizes (like canoes amd custom rods and reels, several hundred in gift certicates, hundreds of dollars in tackle) with a $1000 top prize. Mass Bass also had alot of major sponsorship which helped as well.

Have you had many people sign up? How long have you been promoting the tourney???

Thanks,

John