Striper Cup 2008

[livinit]

Not too many of you know me, my name is Matt and I'm from the Vineyard. I'd like to say many of you have some great opinions and suggestions and I enjoy this forum.

I'm a shore fisherman and and the majority of the guys on my team are boat fisherman and half of them are commerical fisherman, but I still would like to see OTW seperate boat and shore. I don't believe there will ever be a fair way to balance shore and boat caught fish. The 1.2 is better than 1.3 or no handicap at all, but having two seperate Striper Cups is the best and fair way to go. Being a surfcaster, I'd rather compete against other surfcasters.

The MV Derby has been at this a lot longer and they understand the complexity and vast difference to boat and shore fisherman and that is why there is a seperation in every category of the Derby. But for now, this is what we have.

The most frustrating element to OTW is the updating of the website and the fact that they are not tougher on the weigh stations. There should be no reason why the Striper Cup staff is receiving weigh slips from 3 weeks ago. The weigh stations either have to have a fax machine and fax those weigh slips in at the end of each day AND/OR they need to be mailed out (post markerd) every Monday morning. If they do not comply with those guidelines then they should lose their privilege to being a Striper Cup weigh station. OTW needs to take many of those dollars they are making on advertising and hire some summer kids and help tally the weigh slips, they are under staffed. I have spoken with Will at OTW and he is having a difficult time tallying all the weigh slips, especially for angler of the year. OTW needs polite, constructive criticism and better cooperation from many of these unorganized weigh stations. I don't know if I'll fish the striper cup next year because I find myself thinking more about catching a big fish to help my team than I do about fishing. That's my problem though. Take care all.

[NIB]

Originally Posted by livinit

Not too many of you know me, my name is Matt and I'm from the Vineyard.
.

Hi Matt..

[NIB]

One of the things I have a problem with is the inablity to Shore AND Boat fish.. You have to sign up as one or the other.

[Slipknot]

Originally Posted by NIB

One of the things I have a problem with is the inablity to Shore AND Boat fish.. You have to sign up as one or the other.

I don't like that either and have not entered the tourney the last 2 year after entering the first year.

good luck to everyone

[Back Beach]

Originally Posted by NIB

One of the things I have a problem with is the inablity to Shore AND Boat fish.. You have to sign up as one or the other.

I actually like it. It helps keep the honest people honest.
What should be better monitored are the heavy fish being weighed in. If a fish may possibly qualify for weekly, monthly or big $$ prizes, it should be inspected very closely if you know what I mean. I've already heard allegations of fish stuffing. I obviously can't prove it, nor would I pursue the issue any further than in this post. Whenever there’s a prize involved, the temptation to push the envelope presents itself to some.
Livinit makes some very good points about the MV Derby, but remember OTW is a much bigger tourney with countless weigh stations. The staffs at these stations are of different capabilities and experience.
The MV derby has the same expert staff in place each year and only two weigh stations I know of, thus quality control is better.

[flyben24]

The MV derby deffinitly needs more weigh stations... especially up island

[JohnR]

Originally Posted by flyben24

The MV derby deffinitly needs more weigh stations... especially up island

There's no fish up island

Hi NIB

I wish you could fish boat and shore (and really separate divisions) but toooo many people would abuse it. Wonder how much cheating goes on as it is.

[Mike P]

Originally Posted by flyben24

The MV derby deffinitly needs more weigh stations... especially up island

You can get to Edgartown in less than a half hour from anywhere on the Island.

The fairest way to run any tournament is to have everyone use the same scale. You won't find two scales where both are accurate to 1/100th of a pound.

I've weighed the same fish on as many as three different "certified" scales and come up with three diffeent weights--sometimes more than a pound difference.

[Diggin Jiggin]

Mike,
Which shops scale ran the heaviest ??

[SAUERKRAUT]

[ I don't know if I'll fish the striper cup next year because I find myself thinking more about catching a big fish to help my team than I do about fishing. That's my problem though.}

Do I detect from your above statement that you are evolving? I stopped fishing even your Derby because I questioned if I needed the lure of prize, notoriety, or competition to make me fish. I did not; as I was out there around the calendar. Then I started to resent the crowds who would now show ONLY then, and mercifully be gone the day it ended.

This OTW Striper Cup/Team/Tournament thing is Bull: the killing of more of these big fish than you would otherwise want or eat..."for the team". And your Derby: how about knocking off a mediocre bass or blue because the fishing is maybe poor, and you may have a blindman shot at the Daily, or worse yet...the "Mystery" Prize?

Do you recall, Mr. Malowski, an old sour kraut out at Norton's one fine summer evening two years ago?

Bonds.

[livinit]

Originally Posted by SAUERKRAUT

[ I don't know if I'll fish the striper cup next year because I find myself thinking more about catching a big fish to help my team than I do about fishing. That's my problem though.}

Do I detect from your above statement that you are evolving? I stopped fishing even your Derby because I questioned if I needed the lure of prize, notoriety, or competition to make me fish. I did not; as I was out there around the calendar. Then I started to resent the crowds who would now show ONLY then, and mercifully be gone the day it ended.

This OTW Striper Cup/Team/Tournament thing is Bull: the killing of more of these big fish than you would otherwise want or eat..."for the team". And your Derby: how about knocking off a mediocre bass or blue because the fishing is maybe poor, and you may have a blindman shot at the Daily, or worse yet...the "Mystery" Prize?

Do you recall, Mr. Malowski, an old sour kraut out at Norton's one fine summer evening two years ago?

Bonds.

Cool . . . my first stalker Just kidding sauerkraut. Sorry I don't remember. I meet a lot of people on the beach and gathering from the sign on my truck that was a few years ago.

I like fishing tournaments because sometimes it pushes me to go on nights where I may be persuaded to stay home and I also like competition being that I played sports my entire life. But when things are left to the honor system in a sport where "honor" is sometimes hard to come by I question why I sign up for fishing tournaments. Most fisherman (if not all) are full of balarny.

The Derby has one weigh station that is open two times a day and I wasn't comparing the Derby to the Striper Cup with the weigh-in process, rather the seperation of boat and shore. I would like the Striper Cup a hell of a lot more if I was only competing within the same weight class. I was a wrestler in high school and the way the Striper Cup is set up I am wrestling a guy 100 pounds heavier than me with one hand tied behind his back.