Team B-Faithful MSSA Tournament

[B-Faithful]

Funny how a tournament is deemed greed when the vast majority of people pay lots of money to participate, yet very few win.

One would think that greed would moreso be not wanting others to be able to participate in recreational fishing the way they want or not wanting high levels of participation in fishing so they can have more of the resource to themselves.

Tournaments are celebrations of recreational fishing season in a competitive setting. Anglers participating in tournaments are fishing under the same regulations and guidelines as every other angler on the bay whether they are tournament fishing or not. The state management creels and size limits are not liberalized for those participating in a tournament. The MSSA tournament even has a much larger min size and tighter creel than those not participating in the tournament. (Maybe the state regulations should match those of the tournament - 36" min and max 2 fish per boat per day).

Lets face it, most anglers are competitive whether they are in a tournament or not. The competitiveness can be the simple trash talking on a boat between anglers over who caught the larger fish, or even those over internet boards who want to be recognized as superior fishermen than others based on the way they enjoy to fish. Tournaments are merely organizing the competitiveness of anglers into a controlled event. No one is forced or even obligated to participate should they not enjoy the setting or the rules of a particular event.

To make others feel good, according to a conversation with the MSSA yesterday it was confirmed that less than one fish for every two boats entered was weighed-in in the name of the tournament despite the tournament being 3 days long. Yes, The number of fish weighed was less than half as many boats entered. My bet is that those not fishing the tournament this past weekend were more likely to keep a limit of fish than those who did participate. I know the most fish we kept in one day of the tournament was 2 despite a crew of 5 and one of the fish was only kept because we believed that it would not have survived the release (hook in the gills). We didnt want the fish to go to waste and it will be consumed.

[reds]

Originally Posted by B-Faithful

Funny how a tournament is deemed greed when the vast majority of people pay lots of money to participate, yet very few win.

One would think that greed would moreso be not wanting others to be able to participate in recreational fishing the way they want or not wanting high levels of participation in fishing so they can have more of the resource to themselves.

Tournaments are celebrations of recreational fishing season in a competitive setting. Anglers participating in tournaments are fishing under the same regulations and guidelines as every other angler on the bay whether they are tournament fishing or not. The state management creels and size limits are not liberalized for those participating in a tournament. The MSSA tournament even has a much larger min size and creel than those not participating in the tournament. (Maybe the state regulations should match those of the tournament - 36" min and max 2 fish per boat per day).

Lets face it, most anglers are competitive whether they are in a tournament or not. The competitiveness can be the simple trash talking on a boat between anglers over who caught the larger fish, or even those over internet boards who want to be recognized as superior fishermen than others based on the way they enjoy to fish. Tournaments are merely organizing the competitiveness of anglers into a controlled event. No one is forced or even obligated to participate should they not enjoy the setting or the rules of a particular event.

To make others feel good, according to a conversation with the MSSA yesterday it was confirmed that less than one fish for every two boats entered was weighed-in in the name of the tournament despite the tournament being 3 days long. Yes, The number of fish weighed was less than half as many boats entered. My bet is that those not fishing the tournament this past weekend were more likely to keep a limit of fish than those who did participate. I know the most fish we kept in one day of the tournament was 2 despite a crew of 5 and one of the fish was only kept because we believed that it would not have survived the release (hook in the gills). We didnt want the fish to go to waste and it will be consumed.

Mind showing me the numbers on fish kept by tournament entrees vs not kept?

If you don't have any, then DNR's determination will have to stand.
When they bumped the Tournaments back to May 1 and after, it was done because of the mass number of fishermen that a tournament attracts. A large number of boats equals a larger then usual number of fish caught.

[B-Faithful]

That is impossible to determine. I will say that any fish not weighed-in obviously was not kept in the name of the tournament but rather because the regulations set by DNR allowed anglers to do as such. Therefore, DNR needs to manage based on the season length, creel, & size limits. I do not believe it is of the DNR's concern/business to what motivates people to fish, rather than to deal with the levels of harvest based on levels of those that choose to participate in recreational fishing. If DNR is wanting to reduce participation through eliminating motivating factors in anglers wanting to take trips, the charterboat industry should be very concerned. It would certainly set a bad precedent.

MSSA made it easy to determine whether a fish should be kept in the name of the tournament this year. They issued text message updates to the leaders of the tournament, were very good about online updates on their site, popular forums and facebook. They also would respond via vhf to any any inquiries to what it would take to place in the tournament. Besides traditionally it takes at least 34lbs or so to get into the top ten or even win a divisional prize.