River Bassin Tournamen Report

[hoglaw]

On the whole, this was a great event that I really enjoyed. I have one major suggestion that I need to email to them if anyone has their contact info and I'll get to that in a minute. All in all, it was well organized and the guys that put it on are really enthusiastic about making it work. Two kayaks and a canoe were given away as well as a few other prizes I didn't hang around to see.

The winning length for three fish was 48.5 inches. I don't recall the guy's name who won it. He was a nice guy...held himself out to be a pro. The way he won it irked me a little.

The map for this event has been posted for a long time. If you didn't read the original thread, this was a CPR river fishing tournament - only fishing publiclly accessable flowing waters. There was about a sixty mile or so radius from Springdale to fish, with a few other spots designated as "out of bounds." So I start talking to the guy who won, and I find out he fished the same stream I did. I ask him where, and after beating around the bush for a while, I find out he fished in an area that was previously designated out of bounds. I was planning on fishing a spot just below where he fished, but I looked at the map and fished elsewhere.

He told me that on Friday, after the tournament meeting, he called the guy in charge and explained why the spot he wanted fish should have been in bounds. His explanation was a good argument - this water should have been in bounds all along. The tournament director agreed, and told him to go ahead. However, this wasn't communicated to any of the other fishermen. Most probably wouldn't have cared, but I would have fished downstream from him and I guarantee I would have caught 50" (or at least I tell myself that).

Now, I have nothing against the guy who won. He planned to fish a spot, he asked permission, and he got permission. I kinda feel like he should have asked before the meeting since that's what he was planning to do all along, but I can't fault him for getting a legal advantage over the competition. Further, his advantage on this water wasn't major. Like I said, most people wouldn't have fished this spot anyway except for those of us who know how good it is. So I don't have any ill wishes towards the winner - he legally fished a good spot and caught a winning three fish. However, I think that if a section of water is going to opened up that has been posted as out of bounds for months, that all competitors should know about the special request and the change to the fishing area. They had our email addresses and phone numbers.

Like I said though, most folks wouldn't have fished it anyway. I don't want to gripe, but I've fished where this guy fished and below for the last decade. I guarantee I fish it more now than anyone else in the state of Arkansas except maybe for a few kids who live on it. This is, for all intents and purposes, my home field and I had to go 15 miles upstream from where I wanted to be simply so I could be "in bounds." I guess my suggestion in the future for these things is to let folks know when there is a request to change the boundaries, and certainly to let them know when the boundaries change. For anyone else who is lucky enough to fish in one of these awesome events, make sure you let the directors know that you'd like to know if the rules change the night after the rules meeting.

They're going to have another one of these in the fall. They're also looking at doing one in south Missouri which I think they should. These are awesome events and it was an absolute blast to fish it. The prizes are phenomenal. I also got to meet TrophyFishR and his awesome wife which was a lot of fun (and they did awfully well).

[Quillback]

I agree with you, if an area is marked "Out of Bounds" it should stay out of bounds unless all particpants are notified of the change. Something like this makes the tournament organization look very shady. I would be very leery in particpating unless they make the rules and any changes to the rules known to all.

[Guest]

I'm very proud of my wife in the way she handled the pressure of a bass tournament.

This was her first derby and she was real nervous going into the event.

We fished extremely hard and could have easily quit given some of the conditions and other factors.

The measuring device and its numbering sytem was frustrating, but we got the hang of it.

She stuck with me when I got down on myself for choosing and unproductive area.

We made a major rebound about midday, those on-the-water decisions were crucial to upgrading our limit.

We finished third overall in the team division.

I finished 3rd in the individual division and she finished 9th

She was the top female angler.

I'm so proud of her, its a privelege to be married to such a good woman.

Hoglaw, it was a real treat to hangout with you and your gf.

I could tell that ya'll were very disappointed.

[hoglaw]

I don't have any problems with the organization. There was a good reason why this area shouldn't have been off limits to begin with and they just weren't familiar with the geography of the area being from Virginia. It should have been in bounds all along, but they definitely shouldn't have changed it on the fly. I emailed my complaint to them and hopefully they'll notify all competitors if a previously off-limits area is opened up. Aside from that issue, they did a great job running the tournament and I know they had no vested interest in the guy who won winning. No doubt in my mind they work hard and try to be fair, this was just a mistake on their part and I'm probably the only person that it affected negatively since I doubt anyone else would have fished where he did anyway.

I would have zero reservations about fishing with them again in the fall, I just want them to know what they did was a mistake and to be able to learn from it going forward. I hope some more OA folks join us next time around. The fall tournament is going to be an absolute blast.

[hoglaw]

To further underscore this point, about two hours ago I sent my complaint to Drew who as far as I can tell owns or is in charge of this organization. I guess he went back through the applications becuase he called me on my cell phone right after I wrote that last post to apologize, and to explain what happened. The winner called the guy who owns Lewis and Clark after the rules meeting to ask for clarification on this particular stream since, as I said, the area he fished shouldn't have been out of bounds anyway. The guy who owns Lewis and Clark apparently said that it was okay and told Drew about it....or something like that.

He was very embarassed and very apologetic about the issue, promised to institute measures to keep it from ever happening again, and offered to send me a few things to make it up to me. I told him I was just glad they paid attention to the error and that they would fix it going forward, and that I looked forward to fishing one of his events again. These guys really work hard to make this vision of theirs a success and I'm definitely a supporter. I can't wait for the fall and hope to see a bunch of you guys there.

[RSBreth]

I think any of the problems were simply due to the local outfitters and Drew not being familiar with every waterway. It's funny - I know where you're talking about, and I thought that's where I'd go to - if I fished it and it wasn't out of bounds. Since I wouldn't be able too, I didn't pursue the matter of it being out of bounds.

I'm glad Drew's trying to make it right with you - he really is trying to get this thing off the ground but obviously there's going to be bumps along the way.

[gotmuddy]

If they get a tourny in my neck of the woods I would love to do it. If they did it centered in mtn home with a 60 mile radius it would cover a huge number of places.

[Smalliebigs]

To further underscore this point, about two hours ago I sent my complaint to Drew who as far as I can tell owns or is in charge of this organization. I guess he went back through the applications becuase he called me on my cell phone right after I wrote that last post to apologize, and to explain what happened. The winner called the guy who owns Lewis and Clark after the rules meeting to ask for clarification on this particular stream since, as I said, the area he fished shouldn't have been out of bounds anyway. The guy who owns Lewis and Clark apparently said that it was okay and told Drew about it....or something like that.

He was very embarassed and very apologetic about the issue, promised to institute measures to keep it from ever happening again, and offered to send me a few things to make it up to me. I told him I was just glad they paid attention to the error and that they would fix it going forward, and that I looked forward to fishing one of his events again. These guys really work hard to make this vision of theirs a success and I'm definitely a supporter. I can't wait for the fall and hope to see a bunch of you guys there.

I'm glad you had a good time and I think you will find Drew to be one of the most on point, cool individuals you will ever meet. I really do think that is crap what happened, as you and I had conversations before the event about where you were going to fish and you stated the area you wanted to hit was out of the boundary. Oh well, at least you have good attitude and it sounds like Drew is doing evertything he should do. Drew and I had a few conversations after I bought one of his Kayaks he designed with Jackson and he shipped me about $100 worth of accessory items he felt I would need without taking payment for them......nice guy. I really hope they have a tour stop in Missouri someday it will be very cool. I'm bummed I didn't get to this event. Also congrats to Trophyfisher and his wife sounds like you have yourself a partner there????? you're a lucky guy!!!