1. What is the penalty for weighing in a dead fish?
2. What is the penalty for weighing in a short fish ?
3. What is the penalty if you late for the weigh in ?
I would recommend the following:
Dead Fish - half a pound per fish
Short Fish = short fish does not count and a one pound penalty per fish.
Late for the weigh in - one pound penalty for each minute late, after 5 mins. team is disqualified. ( If you going to be late because your broke down you can bag your fish and have another boat bring them to the weigh in )
I know I 'm not the only one that has seen these infractions and i will go along with what ever the members of MAFF decide to do. But when your hosting a tournament and have to make a decision that could mean a team being in the money or not it would be nice to know the rules.
Thanks
Ed
aka Happy Hooker
Justin and myself have always said dead fish a half a pound.
I would hope people are honest enough to not weigh in a short fish. from now on they need to be twelve or more, period.
and if theres a question theres no penalty, the fish will not be counted.
and being late for a weigh in has to have a good reason like you said, if thats the case than text or call someone and we will come get you.
thank you Ed, I do not want any part of these tourneys if dishonest people are going to show.
Short fish, I think I've seen one make it into a weigh bag (not a common event) but to me it, like many of the other parts of MAFF tourneys, this has fallen into the trust category. Your suggestion though is fine though but if the person didnt have a ruler and comes to the weigh in not knowing but ask for a ruler, then by all means let them measure and throw back if its short. Your suggestion is good because it would really only apply to those who arent on the up and up.
Late rules, I admit, I probably have pushed it by a minute or two in the past. But since the guys running it are also fishing, trying to weigh in, dealing with getting the boat put up...there really isnt an official time keeper. So although time keeping is a really simple thing, its still something else to keep track of. Once again, I think it goes back to the trust thing but there should be some kind of maximum time. 5 minutes seems right.
While we are on this subject can we talk about proper livewell size for the fishes concern. This is more about the cartoppers. ( I know I have only fished a couple MAFF tournies to date but I plan on fishing several more this year starting with Oldham. I have seen some tiny livewells. I am talking like 28- 32quarts and a few of them. I dont know what those teams would have done if they caught a 5lber. It would not have fit in what they were using let alone any other fish. I saw others using "storage bins". There is no insulation in those at all. In April and May... Fine. But moving forward they are death traps. We need to take care of our catch so these places dont become terrible fisheries. Thats all I am trying to say.
1. The half pound rule for a dead fish has been in affect and discussed a few times. It just needs to be enforced and the team running the tourney/weigh-in needs to be the one to do it!
2. Any fish under 12" is disqualified. If someone doesn't have a measuring device on their boat, (which they should if they are fishing a tourney with rules) then they should be allowed to ask for a courtesy measurement at the weigh-in. However the 5 limit fish count has to still be enforced. If you are not sure about a fish, it's your call whether or not to bring it to the weigh-in to be measured and counts towards the total 5 fish limit. If it meets the 12" mark, great for you. If it does not, then it is disqualified and you have one less fish to weigh, period. I don't think we should penalize a guy for asking if he isn't sure.
3. Being late for a weigh in happens and I've been on the bad end of that deal once or twice and fish were never weighed. In my opinion, if the weigh-in process has begun and you are within sight of the ramp (both you seeing everyone and everyone seeing you too) and as long as you are not fishing past the deadline time and are able to meet up with everyone else while the weigh-in is still going on, I'm not against being allowed to weigh in what you have. If you are nowhere to be seen though and you have not contacted anyone saying that you are broken down, then you're disqualified. We do after all have to respect those that did make it back on time.
Just my 2 cents as always!
Last edited by pocketfisherman on Mon Jun 11, 2012 5:22 pm; edited 2 times in total
measure and cut something 12 inches and bring it with you. If someone cant figure out a way to determine if a fish is 12 inches or not, they should be fit for a helmet to ride the short bus.
I say no wasting time with courtesy measuring. get a ruler or a small tape. if you cant do that then dont fish tourneys.
measure and cut something 12 inches and bring it with you. If someone cant figure out a way to determine if a fish is 12 inches or not, they should be fit for a helmet to ride the short bus.
True also! We are all supposed to be grown-ups!
3. Being late for a weigh in happens and I've been on the bad end of that deal once or twice and fish were never weighed. In my opinion, if the weigh-in process has begun and you are within sight of the ramp (both you seeing everyone and everyone seeing you too) and as long as you are not fishing past the deadline time and are able to meet up with everyone else while the weigh-in is still going on, I'm not against being allowed to weigh in what you have. If you are nowhere to be seen though and you have not contacted anyone saying that you are broken down, then you're disqualified. We do after all have to respect those that did make it back on time.
Just my 2 cents as always!
I hear ya but ,the problem with this is that depending on where you are fishing... in sight can be as little as 25 yards or as mush as 500 yards or more. I know if under your senerio I was 75yards away from the ramp and 2 minutes late but because I was coming around a point blocking me from site I was penalized and then in another tourney a boat was 200 yards away and 2 minutes late but straight out across the lake comming in within sight and allowed to weigh in and count, I would be dissapointed and left with a bad taste in my mouth. It really should not be ambigious. Be at the ramp ( not near it) at 2:00. At 2:01 you are late and minus1lb. 2:02 you are minus 2lbs. Thats how just about every tournament is run.
Lets first clarify that one..This is not a club, which is why its the best place on earth to fish....hahaha
Dead fish, 1/2 pound deduction has always been the rule
Under 12" will not count..Get a ruler, but im not going to call people shady or cheaters until they give me a reason too, and so far, no one has...no extra penalty, just public shame and you will be "red flagged" hahaha
Late for weigh in, most certainly can happen, but obviously call someone, or be in sight. I understand we can lose track of time, but if anyone can tell me with a straight face they dont know when 1pm hits...then 1:10, then 1:15, 1:30..exc..hahaha, everyone knows exactly how long they have left, its the nature of competition. You can spend more time checking how much time you have left, then casting when you have less than an hour left. With that said i think we allow for an explanation before we just DQ a team. Again, we seem to all be nice guys and girls who are more willing to listen than some of the clubs people may be a part of, which is why MAFF is AWESOME!
As far as live wells. Everyone for the most part does a wonderful job keeping fish alive. I dont think we can sit here an force people to buy a 52" coolers. Some car toppers simply dont have the space. I have fished in many many of these and seen guys in mid summer with 32" foam coolers come back with a full bag of healthy bass, even a lunker. And i may be wrong but "The Landlord" uses a storage bin and he is one of our elite fisherman and has not had issues keeping them alive. I think its a case by case thing. Fish have unfortunatley died in coolers as well as big bass boat live wells, but its pretty rare with this group, thankfully.
But your overall point is well taken. The health of the fish is a top priority and always will be in these tournaments.
Yuk! I heard the word "club" and MAFF used in the same sentence a few times here....
Lets first clarify that one..This is not a club, which is why its the best place on earth to fish....hahaha
Dead fish, 1/2 pound deduction has always been the rule
Under 12" will not count..Get a ruler, but im not going to call people shady or cheaters until they give me a reason too, and so far, no one has...no extra penalty, just public shame and you will be "red flagged" hahaha
Late for weigh in, most certainly can happen, but obviously call someone, or be in sight. I understand we can lose track of time, but if anyone can tell me with a straight face they dont know when 1pm hits...then 1:10, then 1:15, 1:30..exc..hahaha, everyone knows exactly how long they have left, its the nature of competition. You can spend more time checking how much time you have left, then casting when you have less than an hour left. With that said i think we allow for an explanation before we just DQ a team. Again, we seem to all be nice guys and girls who are more willing to listen than some of the clubs people may be a part of, which is why MAFF is AWESOME!
As far as live wells. Everyone for the most part does a wonderful job keeping fish alive. I dont think we can sit here an force people to buy a 52" coolers. Some car toppers simply dont have the space. I have fished in many many of these and seen guys in mid summer with 32" foam coolers come back with a full bag of healthy bass, even a lunker. And i may be wrong but "The Landlord" uses a storage bin and he is one of our elite fisherman and has not had issues keeping them alive. I think its a case by case thing. Fish have unfortunatley died in coolers as well as big bass boat live wells, but its pretty rare with this group, thankfully.
But your overall point is well taken. The health of the fish is a top priority and always will be in these tournaments.
we hate clubs
Yuk! I heard the word "club" and MAFF used in the same sentence a few times here....
Lets first clarify that one..This is not a club, which is why its the best place on earth to fish....hahaha
Dead fish, 1/2 pound deduction has always been the rule
Under 12" will not count..Get a ruler, but im not going to call people shady or cheaters until they give me a reason too, and so far, no one has...no extra penalty, just public shame and you will be "red flagged" hahaha
Late for weigh in, most certainly can happen, but obviously call someone, or be in sight. I understand we can lose track of time, but if anyone can tell me with a straight face they dont know when 1pm hits...then 1:10, then 1:15, 1:30..exc..hahaha, everyone knows exactly how long they have left, its the nature of competition. You can spend more time checking how much time you have left, then casting when you have less than an hour left. With that said i think we allow for an explanation before we just DQ a team. Again, we seem to all be nice guys and girls who are more willing to listen than some of the clubs people may be a part of, which is why MAFF is AWESOME!
As far as live wells. Everyone for the most part does a wonderful job keeping fish alive. I dont think we can sit here an force people to buy a 52" coolers. Some car toppers simply dont have the space. I have fished in many many of these and seen guys in mid summer with 32" foam coolers come back with a full bag of healthy bass, even a lunker. And i may be wrong but "The Landlord" uses a storage bin and he is one of our elite fisherman and has not had issues keeping them alive. I think its a case by case thing. Fish have unfortunatley died in coolers as well as big bass boat live wells, but its pretty rare with this group, thankfully.
But your overall point is well taken. The health of the fish is a top priority and always will be in these tournaments.
I understand where you are coming from but rules are needed. Everyone in my club were/are nice guys but we had rules to avoid conflict. It was when something happened that the rules did not cover that any discussion would come up.I am not saying you need a manual, 3" thick but you should mirror what 99.9% of tournaments do.
As far as storage bins ( and this is not meant as a critque of anyone. I don't even know the team you mentioned or the fact that they use a storage bin) being sufficient for keeping 5 bass alive for 5,6,7 hours on a 85* day in July Aug or September..... Sure they might swim away at the end of the day but they sure were put under a lot more stress the needed. A storage bin is basicall a pot sitting on a stove without the insulating quality of a cooler.
I look at it this way. If you can put up $50 every other week and fish these tournies, you can put $75 dollars aside and get a proper cooler. It's not asking a lot.
I have a coleman crawdad and have no problem putting my 70qt Marine cooler in it. In fact I know that a 100qt will fit in the same coleman crawdad. I have been in one that had a 100qt cooler and we fished fine out of it. Like I said, there were a couple coolers at Norton that a 5lber if caught, would not have fit. GThe fish would have to remain bent.
I want to say that 'tone" is hard to determine when going back and forth on the internet. I am in no way trying to be confrontational or argumentitive. Just trying to look out for what I think is right in a friendly constructive way.