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I don't think the commercial issue revolves around the time put in. Many commercial license holders, in fact most, in Mass are part-timers with day jobs. A lot of recs put in more time than a majority of the guys who hold comm licenses. I think the big issue is the ability to cherry pick among 30 fish, rather than having to make an instant decision to release that 40 pounder you caught with another fish in the box already, in hopes the next will be a 45 or a 50. A commercial with 10 fish in the box can box that 40 and keep on trying to top it.
Unfortunately, I don't know how you could ever enforce a rule banning the entry of commercially-caught fish. Ban all commercial license holders? That's a lot of people and I'd be opposed to it. A lot of the pinhookers were out there fishing recreationally for the OTW in May, June, early July and kept at it after the season closed. Suspend the contest for the duration of the Mass commercial season? Keep in mind, this derby ran from Maine to NJ. Not fair to anglers there--heck, Maine would lose the best part of their season, in all likelihood.
I think it's just one of those things we're all going to have to live with. You decide whether you want to compete or not and accept the disadvantage you're under as a rec.
Some other rules I'd like to see tweaked:
1. Separate divisions for shore/boat grand prize Like they have for the MV Derby--8 guys get keys there, not just 4. Weekly and monthly prizes were awarded that way (as well as for Juniors), why not do the same for the grand prize? Pass out 10 keys instead of 5.
2. Separate shore/boat divisions for clubs. Or award two points per pound to the club's total for a shore fish, like the Schaeffer.
3. If a tackle shop or other weigh station sponsors a club team, they should not be allowed to officially weigh their members' fish. There's just too much opportunity to stockpile slips and pull a smaller fish's slip and send in a bigger one's. If this isn't feasible, all slips should be numbered sequentially, and come in three copies--one for the fisherman, one to send in to OTW and the third to be kept in the shop and remitted to OTW at the end of the Cup. All slips should be accounted for, just like a cop's ticket book. One or two missing slips isn't a big deal. More than 10, that raises alarm bells.
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