Oakley Big Bass/KVD Classic

[5bites]

I'm glad to hear about the paid advertising Phil has a neat thing going here. I should have left the free part off so that was my own mistake obviously. The point I was making though is we are here all year long discussing and contributing to this forum, the lake, and hopefully each other. Oakley is an in and out deal. So what if you hear the same thing resonated repeatedly? Use it. The Big Bass Bash certainly runs a fine successful tournament with far less corporate backing and phenomenal payouts so maybe this formula that gets repeated is for good reason. It just might work. I'm trying to offer constructive criticism that I know for a fact would be beneficial to the ones that you count on, the anglers. It may not be good for Oakley or Johnny but I'm not concerned about them honestly. I expect this to be taken as seriously as the last discussion and I'm ok with that. I'll be here all year. See you next year.

[Longball22]

I fished this tournament for the first time this year, and enjoyed doing so. I saw some less than desirable behaviors out of people on Saturday in particular, but nothing I wouldn't expect outside of a tournament environment. What really did surprise me was the lack of information I was required to provide before the tournament, and even when I went to weigh a fish at the scales(What's your name?). I haven't fished tournaments, bear in mind, but here are a few questions that might address boater etiquette:

1. Do tournaments normally require someone to produce a fishing license, boater safety cards, and things like this at the weigh in? I know laws vary from state to state(Arkansas does not require this), so I'd be curious to know how many out of staters that came in for this tournament weren't complying with this one. (Anyone born 1985 or later is required to take this course before operating a boat) I've definitely seen some folks older than 30 that would benefit from this one as well, but that's another topic entirely....

2. Are there tournaments committed to educating anglers on these types of etiquette? With Mr. Morris being committed to promoting angling, I was personally surprised that a corporate sponsored, amateur tournament didn't make any mention of proper etiquette, or for that matter, fish care. (I understand that only three fish were killed this weekend at the scales, but imagine if this was a drop-shot-a-thon in July)

[motoman]

..........

1. Do tournaments normally require someone to produce a fishing license, boater safety cards, and things like this at the weigh in? I know laws vary from state to state(Arkansas does not require this), so I'd be curious to know how many out of staters that came in for this tournament weren't complying with this one. .......

-

I've never fished a tournament that required proof of a fishing license..........That would be a simple requirement. Good idea there...........Kinda forces peoples hands to follow one rule in particular. Gotta produce a valid fishing license to weigh any fish.......make it very clear when registering and at launch.

[Ketchup]

they run a bass tournament. Their not Conservation Agents. They, like any "business" are in this to make money, so acting as Conservation Agents in multiple states would most likely take away from that "business" aspect

As far as boater etiquette goes, again their not there to teach you the laws of boating. That could be a law suit waiting to happen when you kill someone while fishing in their tourney and thru the court process you say you didnt feel like they provided a good example of how to turn at high speeds, or when you got arrested by the Water Patrol for cutting off a pleasure boater that then jumped in your boat.

Its simple people, fish by the way they do things, or skip the lake that weekend.

[OBBT Staff]

I'm glad to hear about the paid advertising Phil has a neat thing going here. I should have left the free part off so that was my own mistake obviously. The point I was making though is we are here all year long discussing and contributing to this forum, the lake, and hopefully each other. Oakley is an in and out deal. So what if you hear the same thing resonated repeatedly? Use it. The Big Bass Bash certainly runs a fine successful tournament with far less corporate backing and phenomenal payouts so maybe this formula that gets repeated is for good reason. It just might work. I'm trying to offer constructive criticism that I know for a fact would be beneficial to the ones that you count on, the anglers. It may not be good for Oakley or Johnny but I'm not concerned about them honestly. I expect this to be taken as seriously as the last discussion and I'm ok with that. I'll be here all year. See you next year.

Please don't take this as me running down the BBB in any way but our setup meaning our rig, equipment, staging, tanks, fish care, audio, TV production, serving food during the event, etc etc simply can't be replicated at multiple weigh in locations. This isn't two 10x10 pop up tents and a scale. It's a massive production and effort at our weigh in location. If you've fished our event you see that and understand that it isn't going to be replicated at multiple weigh in locations. We run 10 events all over the country and at the other 9 there's zero discussion from anglers regarding multiple weigh in locations. BBB and a handful of others who run events on large river systems deploy multiple weigh in stations but they are small in scale and don't require the same set up. People are used to that around here and expect it and I get it.

There are advantages and disadvantages to both set ups but we prefer ours and that's what we've built our events around. Secondarily we are there to help promote our sponsor and partner Bass Pro Shops and their outstanding facilities on the lake. It's literally the reason with are at this lake for KVD's event. Without them this event wouldn't exist. While that may not be a problem for a handful of "locals" on this forum it would be for those who love this event and attend it every year. Again, anglers from 20 different states attended this years event. It's a destination event on a destination lake and people enjoy it.

Finally, here's the punchline. Since we started this event in 2010 the attendance has grown 15-20% each year. We've increased the paybacks every year and continued to provide a quality event at a reasonable entry fee. All the while paying attention to the fishery, our fish care and the customers we serve. Our overall attendance is up year to year at every event that we host. We survey consistently and ask how we can better our events and we try to make small adjustments where possible. The adding of weigh in locations isn't happening and we continue to reiterate that when asked. Again, there's no smoke and mirrors here. We are open and direct with our communication regarding this issue.

To be honest I'm not sure why people continue to harp on this point when it isn't changing. Thanks for your feedback regardless.

Mark

[OBBT Staff]

I fished this tournament for the first time this year, and enjoyed doing so. I saw some less than desirable behaviors out of people on Saturday in particular, but nothing I wouldn't expect outside of a tournament environment. What really did surprise me was the lack of information I was required to provide before the tournament, and even when I went to weigh a fish at the scales(What's your name?). I haven't fished tournaments, bear in mind, but here are a few questions that might address boater etiquette:

1. Do tournaments normally require someone to produce a fishing license, boater safety cards, and things like this at the weigh in? I know laws vary from state to state(Arkansas does not require this), so I'd be curious to know how many out of staters that came in for this tournament weren't complying with this one. (Anyone born 1985 or later is required to take this course before operating a boat) I've definitely seen some folks older than 30 that would benefit from this one as well, but that's another topic entirely....

2. Are there tournaments committed to educating anglers on these types of etiquette? With Mr. Morris being committed to promoting angling, I was personally surprised that a corporate sponsored, amateur tournament didn't make any mention of proper etiquette, or for that matter, fish care. (I understand that only three fish were killed this weekend at the scales, but imagine if this was a drop-shot-a-thon in July)

Thanks for the positive feedback and the questions. Here's the answers.

1. Our rules are simple and concise as to what is required by our entrants. You can find them noted on our website and you and any angler who enters our events provides an acknowledgment that they've read and understand all rules and requirements. They are here: www.oakleybigbass.com/rules We administer polygraph examinations throughout our events and are diligent in our enforcement. The rules related to sportsmanship are crystal clear as are the rules on encroaching on another boat. It is the contestants job to provide notice of rules violations that happen on the water and we have a formal process for filing a complaint or protest. This is no different that any tournament that you will fish in.

2. Again, please refer to the rules on our website and you'll see the information regarding both sportsmanship and fish care. They are clearly addressed.

Finally, we collect all necessary information from our anglers through either our online registration or an onsite registration. In either instance you complete a form with all relevant information. From that point we don't require added information at weigh in because we have you in our computer system and we can see all your data when you arrive (Your name, your address, your date of entry, how many times you've weighed in, how many events you've fished etc etc) We have someone inside our rig who is managing the weigh in process, the back end data and entering the weights into the system which updates to the live leaderboard. This process has been streamlined over time and it's the primary reason our weigh in moves so quickly and we can get you back to the water as soon as possible. If you attended the weigh in then you saw the process first hand.

Thanks

Mark

[Champ188]

Please don't take this as me running down the BBB in any way but our setup meaning our rig, equipment, staging, tanks, fish care, audio, TV production, serving food during the event, etc etc simply can't be replicated at multiple weigh in locations. This isn't two 10x10 pop up tents and a scale. It's a massive production and effort at our weigh in location.

Translation: As much as a fishing tournament, it's a dog-and-pony show to make money for yourselves and good ol' Johnny.

It's a destination event on a destination lake and people enjoy it.

It isn't a destination event for the bass that get hauled out of the river arms and bounced around either by boat or trailer all the way to the far east end of the lake. I assure you, they have no interest in visiting Johnny World. Your tournament has by far more entrants than any other annual event on the lake and hauls fish farther than any other. Even the local Homer Sloan and Shriners derbies have multiple weigh-in locations. But then they are only 10x10 pop-up tent events that raise money for sick kids and other charities, not big commercial bassapalooza productions intended to line the pockets of yourselves and good ol' Johnny.

[OBBT Staff]

I knew if I kept posting you'd implode. There's that agenda I was referring to.

Take care

[m&m]

Translation: As much as a fishing tournament, it's a dog-and-pony show to make money for yourselves and good ol' Johnny.

It isn't a destination event for the bass that get hauled out of the river arms and bounced around either by boat or trailer all the way to the far east end of the lake. I assure you, they have no interest in visiting Johnny World. Your tournament has by far more entrants than any other annual event on the lake and hauls fish farther than any other. Even the local Homer Sloan and Shriners derbies have multiple weigh-in locations. But then they are only 10x10 pop-up tent events that raise money for sick kids and other charities, not big commercial bassapalooza productions intended to line the pockets of yourselves and good ol' Johnny.

Champ, i wish more people would catch em up in the river arms and release them in Long Creek. It just might increase my chances.

lol

Mike

[Champ188]

Far more amused than imploded, Mark.

Hey, since you're headed over to Grand and obviously planning on coming back here next year, here's a name you might want to keep in mind: John Higman from Evansville, AR.

Seems John decided to test his skills at circumventing the rules of the Arkansas Big Bass Bonanza a few years back and was downright successful, winning the whole shebang and $101,000. Did I mention that he finished second in 2008 with a fish over 7 pounds? Picked up a darn good paycheck that year, too.

Well, in 2010, he was back and by gosh was leading again with a fish over 8 pounds, and his dad weighed in two more over 7. Finally starting to smell a rat, tournament organizers started examining the situation and next thing you know, the Higman fellows were disqualified. And all this after John, being the kind-hearted pillar of the community that he is, gifted a buddy with $86,000 of his 2009 prize money.

Just thought you might want to keep an eye out for these dudes since Evansville is only a couple hours' drive from either Table Rock or Grand.

You just never know how those feel-good stories of big-bass derby winners might turn out.

Here's a little YouTube video of Mr. Higman in 2009.