John,

  Thanks for the break-down.  Capt. Scott and Randy both make excellant points.  That can really play into what everyones strategy is as the fishing pans out.  How about something on eht really fun side.  In a lot of the non competative fishing events they had a blind bogy that was drawn prior to the start.  Some fun gift was give to this winner.  Well the tournament sound like an exciting event.  I hope to have a boating partner for this one.

Shane

Hey John,

I finally returned to San Diego and have had time to check in with the angling world.  Overall I like the concept and it looks like fun.  I will probably have some more thoughts, but some quick hits based on my first pass through the information are as follows:

I like the format.  The scoring format especially lends itself to providing to opportunity to for anglers with less capable boats to finish high or win.

Anglers with powerboats have a distinct mobility advantage over anglers with non-power craft such as kayaks.  To encourage participation, what about at least one prize dedicated to the top finisher fishing from a kayak or other non-powered craft.  Maybe something equivalent to a 4th or 5th place prize.  Kayakers, float tubers, etc transported by boat would not qualify for this prize.

A single day event may attract more participants than a two day event.  I like the two day format though.

On Photographs:

Which File format: I would presume jpg files should be submitted rather than raw formats and this should be specified in the rules.  Will tourny staff and a suitable card reader to transfer files from memory cards or are anglers required to burn a CD? I would presume the former.

Image file sizes.  Should anglers submit 7 or 10 or 12,etc megapixel images or should a max camera resolution setting be specified.

Who owns the rights to submitted digital images? Does the angler give these up for submitted catch verification photos or does he/she retain all rights to those images. The Release of Liability gives permission to use likenesses in tourney related pubs but does not really address this issue.

Hey Craig, Welcome Back! Are you just here for the holidays, or is your east coast assignment still going on?

All great points. I like the idea of a non-boat prize.

Files would be jpg, a CF/SD/MMC/Memory Stick reader / USB enabled laptop would be on-site. Will be checking out the possibility of loaner / demo Point & shoot cameras. Also not sure how the photo requirement would play out with non-boat contestants.

Good catch on the photo rights. Contestants would retain rights to all pictures after first use on the website for tournament reporting. I would get separate releases for specific pictures we might use in the Gallery. I’ll add that to the release .

I’m back in San Diego now with no more trips expected for at least 5-6 months.

I know many kayakers that have waterproof or water resistant cameras - though it can be difficult to photo one’s own catch.

There are also many digital cameras, including some waterproof models, for less than $50 with bare bones features.  Typically they produce images around 1 MP - sufficient for this excercise I think - and have built in memory and a USB interface to transfer images but no card.  That is why I asked about media requirements for image transfer.

John,

I’m thinking a team fishing division for those whose funds might keep them from otherwise entering. The team of two for instance could share the costs of a guide if using such or the cost of renting or otherwise paying the costs of a vessel. I’ve fished team tournaments for black bass and that was always an enjoyable outing lending to camaraderie, and more learning. We’ve also run it where two people sharing a vessel share the costs and compete in two ways at the same time: against the whole field as individuals and also as a team made up of the two aboard each vessel against other similarly teamed vessels.

Too complicated? I don’t know but I supply it as food for thought. We found that while having competition it also forced teams to work together to do well as a vessel.

- Joe Austin
email: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

John,

I saw the note about the tournament in September.  I have a couple of questions.  Can we fish as a team or is it individual?  Can we have more than one competitor on a boat?
bob

Bob Day - 27 August 2008 05:14 PM

John,

I saw the note about the tournament in September.  I have a couple of questions.  Can we fish as a team or is it individual?  Can we have more than one competitor on a boat?
bob

Right now, the tournament in Sept. is on an individual basis. I wanted to make it possible for kayak and board fishermen, and people without boats/rides to compete on a more-or-less equal footing.

You can have more than one competitor on the boat, you just have to keep everyone’s fish pictures straight. That’s why we’ll have a photo ID marker that you can stick in the picture of your fish.

I realize that having multiple competitors in the boat could open it up to cheating (like everyone pooling their fish so that one person could win), but this is sort of a low-stakes kind of thing, not sure why someone’d want to risk their personal reputation for a TFO rod (much as I like them). There are a couple of alternative ways you address this - for example, you could require every boat owner to take a randomly assigned Free-agent, similar to what they do in the WON Bass Pro-Ams. Or we could get independent IGFA Observers to ride on the boat. There are a number of them in SoCal, but that seemed like too much for this go-around.

I agree with you John about why would anyone cheat.  I think the honor system is best for the first go around.  I am looking forward to giving it a try.

bob