Jackpot Bass Tournament?

[Stan Wright]

The HFFA (Hawaii Freshwater Fishing Association) is thinking about having a
Jackpot Fishing Tournament. It would be fishing in the lake for peacock and largemouth bass.... open to any angler.

We were thinking a jackpot bass tournament would draw interest from those who don't normally fish freshwater and also introduce them to the lake and the HFFA.

What do you guys think of the idea????
Would you participate?
What kind of rules?????
Boats only? Boats and shore fishing?
Lures only, or allow live bait?
Big fish takes all, or pay several places?
All ideas and suggestions welcome.
Aloha,
Stan

[fisher dude]

sounds good should have seperate categories only boats, only shore, bait ,lures. sounds like a good idea count me in if im off on that day. maybe just prizes or something i think if money is involved its probly not as fun everybody will think the winner cheated lol! how would we know who caught the biggest fish a weigh in? we would have to keep the fish alive? dont got a livewell.

[BASSTRACKER]

i know on kaui they have club tourneys and the winner can make upwards of 200$ depending on who enters. i like the idea but the execution might be tuff.boat and non boat?how many fish, what kind?boats have livewells no problem there but non boaters?sponsers could donate various prizes like rods and reels maybe lures or other fishing gear.moneys always nice but what kind of liability does that entail? permits? cash among club guys isnt a problem but open it up to the public and seems like it gets complicated fast.insurance issues,judging issues,keeping fish issues.may have to simplify have seperate tourneys,one for boats one for not,maybe some non boat guys can fish with guys that have a boat like they do in b.a.s.s. clubs.how much will the entry fees be?25$ sounds right and would make a decent pot for a few diffrent catagories remember there isnt much room at the ramp for 20 trailers and rigs! im not much on live bait but again maybe diffrent catagories,but judging may be tuff,will have to rely on alot of honesty and sportsmanship.complicated for sure but i like the idea if the bugs can be worked out!

[roadwarriorsvt]

I like the idea. I'd say keep it simple. No matter what you do, you can't please everyone so don't even try. Keep it simple, keep it fun.

[tucmaster]

I don't mean to rain on anyone's parade, but how would tournament participants weigh in their catch? Don't the current fishing regulations for the Wahiawa Public Fishing Area require that any tuc or bass hooked and landed in the WPFA be released immediately? Isn't it illegal to keep a tuc or bass in a live well, bucket, or on a stringer, for ANY period of time?

Tucmaster out.

[Stan Wright]

A special permit from DLNR is required for tournaments. (to keep the fish in a live well until weighed.... like a cooler with an aquarium air pump)

Our club tournaments are:
Boats Only (no shore fishing)
Lures only (no live bait)
Largemouth and Peacock bass.
Fish must be alive to count. (No Dead Fish)
Boat must have some type of live well.

If they have a Jackpot Tournament, the weigh in would be held at the park under a tent so everyone could watch.

There is plenty of parking for boat trailers up the hill in the field beside the care takers house.

[Beecroft]

This idea might go against conventional thinking when it comes to BASS tournaments and how we score it however it would be a way to solve some issues but not all.
IDEA #1: We go strictly off the measurements of the fish and not the weight. Measurement can be taken on the boat and no transportation of the fish would have to be necessary. Obviously this would be based off the integrity system, but my point being a inch is an inch no matter what tape measure it is you’re using were as Stan’s boga grips make fish behemoths once on the boat (NO Stan that is not a 10 pound RD)
IDEA #2: I have none.
And when developing the Rules... watch out for Stan to throw in the occasional wild dog into the mix. It’s not right but I know from experience he will stack the deck whenever possible and don't get me started on picture taking...

Something to also think about how many fish you going to store in the livewell because 5 fish is a lot for most boats if you are trying to keep a couple 6lbs peacock bass alive... or do we just go one fish biggest of the day throwing back all others as they come.

or two fish for a boat of two anglers only???

V/R,
KEN Beecroft

[fisher dude]

sounds like a good idea just measure the fish and take a picture of the measurement everybody got a digital camera or a camera phone, make it easy just boats an just lures, or whatever just an idea i just want to fish either way measurement and picture sounds the easiest but not that exciting during the weigh in cant do the pull the fish out of the bag bassmaster deal lol!

[Stan Wright]

The measuring of the fish sounds good. Only down side.... nothing to get a bunch of people to watch the weigh in if there isn't one.

I suggested we just give $100 each hour to the one big fish....
Or did I say give away a pick up truck? I forget.

[BASSTRACKER]

we are back to club guys only if you use pics only...........dont know how to keep people there for any period of time till a weigh in.my livewell wont do more than 2 or 3 good sized fish.i think most boats here wont, no ones running a 21ft bass rig that i know of.only way i see to keep people there is have them fishing. boats,lures...... as many people as your willing to safely put in your boat.everyone puts in for the fee and have only the biggest fish brought in in every catagory. i do like the truck idear!money dont hurt either,fishing gear for kids be great,maybe skunked will donate a reel hahahahahahaha

[paka555]

whatever u guys decide count me in...Im new 2 the fourm...and i like the idea...but heres my 2 cents..how about boats only, kayaks included, lures only-no live bait, all registered fisherman/woman issued a large 12"x12" green floresent card with registered numbers in large print and club logo to be used as a back drop for pictures of fish. fish cant be brought 2 weigh in wont last! thats jus my 2 cents....Aloha

[Carolina Bassin]

A tournament sounds great. They need to wait a little to see what the Lake is going to do though.

[Ken]

What do you guys think of the idea????
Would you participate?
What kind of rules?????
Boats only? Boats and shore fishing?
Lures only, or allow live bait?
Big fish takes all, or pay several places?

What do you guys think of the idea????

Good idea!

Would you participate?

If only I live on Oahu...

Boats only? Boats and shore fishing?

Boats only...but a boater/non-boater pair system would be very effective for those who don't have a boat.

Lures only, or allow live bait?

For Tournaments...artificial only (this would allow fly rods too! ).

Big fish takes all, or pay several places?

Top three plus Big Fish

Rules:

Top 5 fish, measurements only, C&R only except Big Fish (have to think about the bedding fish or a committed spawning pair)

For Big Fish category, must be kept alive and weighted...only the Big Fish can be kept, weighted, and released later.

All boats who wish to compete in the Big Fish category must have a functioning live well of a certain size to ensure survival of culled fish or the eventual Big Fish qualifier.

Big Fish is disqualified if the fish is dead.

Maybe a $10 entry fee per angler...nothing too expensive since this tournament is to encourage participation...but 100% entry fee would go to HFFA for future projects to improve the fishery.

Restricted to maybe 50 anglers/25 boats only...the lake is "big"...but with 25 boats, it can get crowded for sure.

Teams of 2 only...since most boats are smaller boats. This is to ensure safety during the tournament.

Random draw for boater/non-boater unless a boat come with a team of 2 already.

My CAD$0.02...a little cheaper than your US$0.02

[BadBass]

i'm in however you do it. But the picture thing would be hard because of the angle of the photo could change the way the fish looks. I been looking on the web at people who caught bass and take pictures and really cant tell if its a medium fish with the angler holding it toward the camera to make it look larger. Also what if it boils down to a 1/8 of an inch? hard to really tell from a picture. weight cant be argued. lol well it can but i think pictures would cause more problems.

But like i said anyway you do it im in. hahahaha this coming from a guy who hasnt even caught a fresh water fish yet! LOL

See ya,
Bad Bass

[Beecroft]

Aloha everyone,
Well this has been talked about for a while (since Jun 24th) and what I can find on the internet is that the Hawaii Freshwater Fishing Association (HFFA) does a tournament every month and all proceeds go to the helping fund future projects IE Fixing the dam …I hope, but to be more realistic it said it aims its sights more at the hatcheries.
So if they do one every month do they have a set way of conducting the tournament (I know stupid question or we wouldn’t be talking about it in the forums) or would we be conducting the first one of many?
I guess what I am getting at is who is going to organize this event? HFFA ? I am sure they are going to want us to organize it and work through them so that their name is on it. (Personally I could care less however if we need representation to get this off the ground are we going to nominate someone or a committee to make this happen.) Who is going to be the person that gets the names gets the special permit to do this and handles the funds so that this all comes together in other words.
I understand the BASS CLUB has a meeting at DOTs at the end of every month is that when we are going to hammer out all the fine details because if so I would like to be there and not only sign up and make my donation to the club but also give any input that might help.

V/R,
Ken Beecroft