Would It Work?

[Pepe]

I used to compete in Long Distance Motorcycle Rallies where each competitor was required to document each "score" with a written log & photos. In this age of Go Pro Cameras and Major League Fishing would the following work?

Video cameras on each boat, set up to record the angler. As he catches a keeper he weighs it, showing the digital weight to the camera, reading it out and logging it. Fish is released in place.

Digital Boca scales, freshly calibrated, are handed out just before launch, as are blank SD cards.

Logs and SD cards are turned in at weigh in and winners declared. Large video screen can be utilized to show the winners catches. Using the log, it should be easy to find the right clip

As long as it is a keeper, it counts. No limit.

Instead of a scale at weigh in, the TD would need video equipment.

Thoughts?

[Bluff-Bassin]

Sounds somewhat similar to the Major League Fishing concept. I could see it working. Only difficulty. 1 it'd be a huge start up cost for a circuit looking to provide all the tech equipment needed. And from my experience workiing with the gopro the editing can take quite a while (hours). Longer than anyone waiting around in the weigh in would want. Plus what would happen if the camera malfunctioned sometime during the day? It's happened to me. Would it be the anglers fault?

[Al Agnew]

other than the obvious advantage of being able to immediately release the fish, the thing I like most about this idea is that each legal fish counts, instead of having to count only the legal limit (or one less). To me, the angler who can catch 20 legal fish in a day is doing a lot better than the guy who only catches five, but one of them happens to be a big one.

It's depending upon a lot of expensive technology that wouldn't work on smaller tournaments, but for the big boys, it would be doable, and the ability for spectators at the "weigh-in" to view footage of the fish as it's being caught might offset the lack of watching the anglers holding up fish and dropping them into the weigh-in tank. It would certainly be a better conservation measure.

[Quillback]

There's an annual tournament in Texas - can't remember the name, it's held at Lake Conroe outside of Houston, made up of pros from the FLW and Elite series. The lake has a 1 fish only regulation and it's a slot limit, so if they get one that's in the slot they'll keep it to show at the weigh-in, but all others are weighed and released. They have a marshal on board that verifies the weight with the pro. Since the tourney is televised they have some video on some of the boats, but it is not there as a weight verification tool.

The format seems to work well, and I don' see why it could not be used on the bigger tournaments where you have plenty of volunteers to be marshals.

[fishinwrench]

A club I was in used to score on paper with a point system based on length of the fish. I really thought that was fun.

You didn't loose the advantage of catching a big fish since a 20"er was worth more than two 12"ers combined.

You were partnered by a draw and you measured and scored your partners fish, then you turned in your partners card at the end of the day. Each angler could score their 10 best fish.

When the club decided to join BASS and become a "federated club" they had to quit that method of scoring as a method for qualifying anglers for BASS federated events. That was per BASS Federation rules. Never understood WHY?