Blastoff to Weigh-in
(An insider’s look at tournaments)
By Rob Brewer
Recently, I was asked a few questions about our tournaments and what all goes on during a typical day on the water. It was suggested to me that it may make for a good article for those who are considering “getting their feet wet”, but are uncertain as to what a typical tournament day involves. Since I am the tournament director for the club, I thought I might “walk” you through a typical tournament from start to finish.
Know up front before you read any further, this isn’t a “how to win” tournaments article. That is something I’m NOT qualified to write. Sure, I’ve won a few and taken home some money, but I’m not always in the winner’s circle. It’s all I can do at this point to consistently finish in the top five. This article is more of a “what goes on” type, written for those are shall we say…. Curious.
First realize there is a lot of “behind the scenes” activity that takes place. Most of this happens without the contestants giving it a second thought. It is mostly administrative in nature and just seems to “happen” for most of the anglers involved. There is the drafting of, and voting on the tournament schedule, then bouncing it off of other area club’s schedules. Once approved and released, it is posted on our website. As the tournament nears, I’ll call the lake patrol and request the gate be opened early to accommodate our launching prior to sunrise, so we can blast off at sunrise.
Two weeks before the tournament’s scheduled date, I’ll send out a “group email” to all members and those on the waiting list. This email will basically ask whether or not you intend to fish in the next tournament at LakeX. After a week goes by and I have all the replies I am going to get, I will conduct a drawing to match partners. I have all the boater’s names in a coffee can and all the non-boater’s in another. I simply remove a name from each can until everyone is paired up. There are more boaters than non-boaters; so often a few boaters are paired up together and it is up to them to decide whose rig will be employed.
Once the drawing is completed, another email is sent out. This one is called the “pairings”. It will have all the pairings listed, blast-off time and any special instructions included. These instructions might be a reminder that it is supposed to rain or to be extra early because we have to buy permits for a PortsmouthLake that is not covered by our Norfolk permits or anything else worth mentioning. Usually during the week between the pairings email and the actual tournament, partners are talking strategy, fish location and whatever other “Intel” they may have gathered lately.
Now it is tournament day. This is the fun part. If it is your first tournament, it’s probably a day you’ll remember the rest of your life. There are those who are always there early, launch, and get everything situated. You’ll find me in this group because I have other duties that take from my time in the morning. I try to be the first one at the ramp, get my boat in the water and park my vehicle. There is much to do before blast-off. While everyone else is comparing “dock talk”, I have entry fees to collect, livewells to inspect, waiver forms for guests to fill out and there’s always a few questions to answer. If you are fishing with us as a member or guest, your basic responsibility is to be at the ramp early enough to launch your boat or get your gear into your partner’s boat, pay me your entry fee and be ready to go before blast-off. Blast off is always sunrise for that particular day. It is not required, but some observe the etiquette of the non-boater paying the boaters $5 entry fee.
As the time nears for blast-off, all of the boats are fired up and idle out into the water surrounding the ramp. Weigh-in time is reiterated and I announce the time I have on my watch. I mention my watch because it’s also the penalty clock as well. If everyone who said they were fishing is already there, we’ll sound the air horn, indicating blast-off. If not, we’ll wait until the “very minute” of sunrise, then blast-off. If you are later than sunrise, it does not matter if you are just pulling up to the ramp or miles away, the field is off to go fishing against the clock. If you should arrive late, you must go find a member of the club and have them inspect your livewell prior to you actually fishing and pay your entry fee at weigh-in.
During the course of the tournament day it’s “fishing as usual”. Many of the boats will talk to each other briefly and discuss how the day is going. It may be as simple as holding up a hand with the number of fish in the livewell or it may be a five-minute discussion on where and how they were caught. Everyone puts forth their best effort and the cards fall where they land.
As the weigh-in time draws near, many boats begin to fish their way back closer to the ramp. Come weigh-in, I am already back monitoring the field and looking to see if I have to “use the clock” on anyone. At weigh-in, usually 4:00, all contestants must either have their boat beached or be hauling it up on the trailer. Once I establish accountability of the field and no longer have to “watch the clock”, I can start to set up the scales. Once the scales are assembled and I have a scoring sheet ready, we begin to weigh fish. I usually weigh the fish and call the weight to the recorder. Huck, our Vice President, usually fills this role and he does a fine job at it. We don’t have a particular order to weigh-in; it’s sort of first come, first served. Some guys who have a nice limit try to hold off and weigh-in last, just to make the current contender sweat a little. Stan and his partner of the day are famous for this.
Once the weigh-in is completed, the winner is announced. Then the field is ranked first through whatever place, pending the number of teams participating. Once the field is ranked, I pay the angler who caught the lunker of the day his prize money. This is required by the rules to be split amongst the team, unless otherwise agreed to before hand. We then conduct our club meeting. The “official” portion is very brief. We address any issues or vote on items that need it and the meeting is adjourned. Then it’s time for “how it was done”. The top finishers discuss how they caught their fish. As with any group, it is basic at first, but the longer you stick around, the more details you can extract.
Personally, I can talk fishing better than I can actually do it, so you’ll find I’m always one of the last to leave, regardless of where I placed. After all, I’m here to learn. Aside from actually fishing, I know of no better way to learn than to be around guys who were just on the water piecing together the same puzzle I was trying to put together.
That my friend, is a typical tournament day of ours. Sometimes the weather is too cold, too hot or raining, but at least we’re fishing. We have a great time and it really is a great bunch of guys who would do anything for each other. It doesn’t matter if it’s Bob breaking another rod, me trying to float my truck or Rex losing his fish and Bang-o-lure at the boat, there will always be a good fish story at the end of the day. Hopefully, this has given you a good overview of what goes on in a typical tournament of ours. Give it a shot. Theirs is no better learning tool than fishing in tournaments.
Fishing is life, Rob
