We have the following complaints. We do not, however, as far as I know have verifications.
They involve the following.....
No Wake violations
Life vest not on with motor running
Fishing inside the bouy markers protecting the eagles nest on Bartons.
also....Not technically a rule broken but a sort of grey area issue....
Some borderline fish were not checked at the scales to be ensured they were long enough.
These will be discussed at Hamilton as well as the next meeting.
My bad. I forgot my jacket while I was launching my boat before the tournament started, but I realized it and put it on. I think this is a rule but I can't remember because I haven't seen the rules in a long time. I guess I can say that I observed all three violations/complaints(including my own) but I didn't say anything to the tournament director that day. I believe it needs to be reported in a certain time frame after the tournament is over. If it wasn't reported then, then it really shoudn't be said a week later. It's not relevant now and it is only going to make people upset. A rule is a rule and one rule is that protests/rule infractions should be reported in a timely fashion if they are not, then it does not need to be said especially when you say there are no verifications. It now turns into rumors or people talking blah about other people... not necessary! Its a small club-good guys-good time(when the fish bite)!! I think everyone in the club follows the rules and represents the club very well. People make mistakes and if it happens again file a protest and it will be addressed if not we move on to the next tournament. We don't need these issues like we had in the winter. Let's just have fun(while following the rules of course). Good luck to all at winni!!
You are correct that things need to be brought up in a timely manner. It is very difficlult when things get brought up "after the fact". Fellings can get bruised. Fortunately here you are verifiying at least a couple of the infractions. I said I could not verify them because I did not see any of them. I did see a boat very close to the island on the river side but I looked for a bouy there and there was none. The last one was on the front right corner when looking from the ramp. Not sure if that is the same boat you and others saw but from as far as I could see at the time I saw it they were legal.
As for revalance I disagree. We promote a public image. Not only of ourselves but of "bass fishermen/torunament fishermen/and bass clubs. Having the public see no wake violations and people fishing marked federally restricted areas gives every one who is connected to us a black eye unfortunately. At least we can cast a spotlight on what is going wrong and take steps to correct it. Hopefully no one gets upset with this but it does need to be addressed and get everyone back on the right page.
We do have a great club with a bunch of great people. We just need to have people be a little more aware of the rules because we may have gotten a bit lax.
Thanks again for your thoughts and for the well wishes up north!
I didn't know there were bouys for an eagles nest.I too have and did forget my life jacket at Bartons,fortunately I don't think anybody was around to witness it.It happens. Maybe a reminder of some of the rules during the meeting. How can we address these rules or guidelines before tourneys? Maybe a meeting on the shore as a group before we launch. I noticed that when we are on the water for our meeting things are missed because we are all spread out. I know I've missed things that are said on the water. Just a suggestion. I agree that things need to be brought up in a timely manner, within 24 hours after the tourney maybe. See you guys Saturday! TBO
