Holding A Successful Open Tournament is something that many bass fishing clubs do to raise money for their organization. There is a lot of work that goes into having an open tournament so we have come up with an out line of some of the things that have wored for other clubs.
The following was contributed by the Port City Bass Anglers. They have held many open tournaments to date and have had a very successful outcome.
I. Date
A. Pick a date that will not be conflicting with other fishing tournaments,
Or events.
II. Location
A. Pick a location that has adequate parking, adequate boat docking, ramps that are in good shape, good area for weigh-in, and registration.
B. Contact the location for:
1. Any permission, or permits needed.
a. Get everything in writing !
2. Make sure of the date.
III. Set up Format, and Rules
A. Set up a five or ten fish format[ our club uses a 5 fish format. This allows someone to fish by themselves]
B. Rules
1. Tournament must follow all State laws.
2. Also you can use your State Bass Federation Tournament rules.
3. Express the laws and rules that the tournament will follow , on the flyer[ when signing the entry form, the contestant is agreeing to these rules.]
4. Make sure the host club has a copy of these laws, and rules on site, in case of a problem.
IV. Entry Forms, Flyers
A. Flyer must include :
1. Fish format [ 5 or 10 ] , legal size , penaltys
2. Rules and regulations to be followed
3. Date, and Location
4. Cost
5. Tournament Hours
6. Payout [ 80% ] Base amount per 50 boats
7. Mail in entry form
8. A release statement of liability to host club
B. Make entry form available on clubs web site[ printable- pdf ]
V. Advertise, Advertise, Advertise !!!!!!
A. Put a link to your clubs tournament page, on different web sites[ state federation sites, etc.
B. Put flyers out at different, Tackle shops, Dept. stores, or any place that has fishing tackle, including Boat dealers, and Marinas.
C. Post in area papers.
D. Go to different lakes , and put flyers on windshields, in lake stores, etc.
E. Put flyers on windshields at bass tournaments, and events.
VI. Tournament Day
A. Set up registration table, collect entry money from contestants signing up on tournament day [add $5.00 late fee , this late fee goes to the club]. Hand out boat numbers.
B. Have a Kill Switch, Livewell check area on the water [ end of a dock ].
1.Check off boat number when checked.
2. Give out a colored ribbon to the checked boat. To be tied on the trolling motor. This helps in two ways, tells host the boat was checked, also it tells host that the boat is fishing the tournament.
C. Have launch boat at the point of take off. Launch boat will call boat numbers to make an organized and safe take off.
D. Have capts meeting before launch.
1. Go over any concerns, rules.
2. Legal fish size
3. Off limits
4. Weigh-in time, check in point
5. Dead fish, and short fish penalty
6. Number of boats fishing
7. Prize money to be awarded
VII. Weigh-in
A. Have a good weigh in board.
B. Digital Scale- weigh to hundredths of ounce
C. Have good weigh in bags
D. Large laundry tub with golden rule attached, for fish check.
E. Have boat check in person at launch point, or other designated
Area.
F. Have asst. weigh master to check # alive, length, # of total fish.
G. Weigh Master to weigh Lunker first, then total weight.
H. weigh board person to transfer the info to the board, minus any penalty.
I. Get all contestants to sign a weigh in slip. This says they agree with the weight, and should stop any weigh in problems.
Follow these steps and you should have a successful Tournament…
