2012 OPEN BASS TOURNEY - $10,000 FIRST PLACE

[Mark117]

HERES JOHNNY!!

Looking for ideas & some answers to a few questions.

Thinking about running a BIG 2 day team tournament (6 fish limit/per day) in the spring with a $10,000 cash first place prize. 100 boat max field
$250 ENTRY PER TEAM
$30 CLASSIC FUND
------------------
$280 total entry per team

TOP 10 TEAMS QUALIFY TO FISH A 1 DAY "MYSTERY LAKE CLASSIC"  PAYING TWO PLACES: $2000 1st & $1000 2nd    $500 bigbass

HOW DO I PULL THIS OFF?

Lake Drive fills 150 boats every year?
Mosquito Madness Open fills 100 boats before Thanksgiving?
Sturgeon bay Open fills 200 boats every year before Easter?
Wonderland Open fills 100 boats most years?


Q: How do you draw the most anglers to fish a super tournament?
Pay 1 in 5......20 places per 100 entries.

Q: Attract more anglers from out of state?
Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, & Illinois.

Q: Forget the Prizes, mystery money, & pay only cash money?
CASH MONEY ONLY PAYBACK!

ALL IDEAS ARE WELCOME

[motocross269]

Is it guaranteed 10,000 dollars payback?

I can never understand Open tournaments that publish a payback when it is based on X amount of boats........Then they get 20 boats and everyone is peeed that they didn't payout 10k....... We can do the math...just put out 100 percent cash payback or whatever.....

[McCarter]

Historically, 100% Cash Payback dont draw large numbers of participants.  Apparently, we bass anglers suffer from some form of mental instability where the less money we could actually win is the key factor in what tournaments we choose.

If you want a large draw, payback between 62%-72% and have a classic on one of the toughest fisheries in the area.  You will have no problem filling the field.

McCarter himself

[Frank]

i would make it 5 bass limit.  there is always someone that has to fish alone.  6 bass is not legal for 1 guy.

Frank

[Eric]

HERES JOHNNY!!

I thought you got kicked off here.  LOL

[dartag]

HERES JOHNNY!!

I thought you got kicked off here.  LOL

" I thought you were his PO. "




Good luck on organizing your tourny.  Be interesting to see what the payout for the rest of the places will be.  Have to be a big lake for that many boats.    Wonderland got 84 boats with about the same entry last year.   

[Mark117]

Historically, 100% Cash Payback dont draw large numbers of participants.  Apparently, we bass anglers suffer from some form of mental instability where the less money we could actually win is the key factor in what tournaments we choose.

If you want a large draw, payback between 62%-72% and have a classic on one of the toughest fisheries in the area.  You will have no problem filling the field.

McCarter himself

Brian......YOU'RE MY BOY BLUE!?      I LOVE YOU MAN!

[Mark117]

HERES JOHNNY!!

I thought you got kicked off here.  LOL

YOU COULD ONLY WISH! When you get over 3000 views on one topic let me know??

[Mark117]

I can never understand Open tournaments that publish a payback when it is based on X amount of boats........Then they get 20 boats and everyone is peeed that they didn't payout 10k....... We can do the math...

Moto, I know you fish the BFL's and they promise the world ($6000 first place for a 1day event & $9000 first for a 2day event) if they get a full field of 200 boats? That has never once happened in MI. Yet you still fish them??  They payback like 72%??

If I guaranteed $10,000 and only 20 boats show........can I refund the entries, cancel the tourney, and keep the 10K money??

The only guarantee I can tell you is that if 100 boats prepay I will pay 20 places like the BFL & first place will get 10K cash money!
No little john boat, no boat or motor certificates, only cash money!

[motocross269]

The BFLs don't advertise their tournaments as a fixed amount to win...They do publish a Payout table....That is what I think is the way to go unless it is a guaranteed payout...That is just me though and what do I know...

I agree with Frank on the 5 fish limit.....

Jon, I don't know what to tell you to attract more boaters...Like I have mentioned before we advertised 2000 dollars guaranteed first place and only 16 boats showed up over the last 2 years.....Our tournaments are very well run and we have all of the equipment necessarry to run a weigh in.....No real large conflicting schedule issues either...

IF you figure out the secret let me know....

[thedude]

i think the biggest thing is reputation. i think most people are skeptical and at least half are willing to let the more eager anglers try things out the first go around... usually that backfires when you try and run something big. Advertise 100 boats and only get 50 and then next year you'll get even less because you only got 50. Which is ironic, because if all the guys on the fence showed up in the first place, you wouldn't have a problem.

People are happy to go back to the established trails with less than 100% payouts because they are established and consistent.

Realistically all you can do is have some opens, don't promise too much, make it worthwhile for the angler but enticing enough to not be on the fence about it and work with what you get.  Run a solid tournament, be consistent, be fair, and build a reputation for just that. It might take a year, it might take 10 years... at some point you'll have that credibility as a tournament to fill a 100 boat field and pull off what you are talking about.

The big tournaments are disappearing around here and so far all i've seen show up in their place are mediocre and haphazard trails that will be lucky to pull 50 boats.

[Mark117]

The BFLs don't advertise their tournaments as a fixed amount to win...They do publish a Payout table....That is what I think is the way to go unless it is a guaranteed payout...That is just me though and what do I know...

Jon, I don't know what to tell you to attract more boaters...Like I have mentioned before we advertised 2000 dollars guaranteed first place and only 16 boats showed up over the last 2 years.....Our tournaments are very well run and we have all of the equipment necessarry to run a weigh in.....No real large conflicting schedule issues either...

IF you figure out the secret let me know....

Moto, what tourney are you running? $2000 guaranteed for first? I'm there!!

Thanks moto for all your imput. I agree 100%. Michigan is a strange state.

[Mark117]

i would make it 5 bass limit.  there is always someone that has to fish alone.  6 bass is not legal for 1 guy.

Frank

Thanks Frank,
I understand the 5 fish limit & I like the team format. Top Bass is a great tourney for single anglers. This would be a team event.
A lot of tourneys in the spring involve some sight fishing and snagging a bed fish is easy. With two anglers in the boat you can only hope they keep each other honest. Safety is another issue for me. Cold water, cold weather gear, rain suit, & if you fall in no one can pull you out? Just my thoughts.

[Skip Johnson]

Do a pro/am with large pay back, keep it simple by makiing all entrants bring their own link!

[Waterfoul]

So just how do you entice a pro to enter a new pro/am tourney Skip?

[Skip Johnson]

So just how do you entice a pro to enter a new pro/am tourney Skip?

Its all about the $, plain and simple!
the team tx format has been beaten like a dead horse!!
Id do a $500 pro entry and advertise a $25k first place based on 100 entries...advertise the same with the co's, entry of $250 and paying $10k for first place.
Pay back like 90% at the ramp and 1 place for every 7 entries.
NO END OF YEAR CHAMPIONSHIP....give the 10% to the top 5 aoy!

Get sponsors to donate product, raffle that stuff off with a paid raffle...pocket that $ to cover expenses and advertise 100% cash pay back!

Id be first in line to sighn up for that trail!

I personaly hate team tx's and I know I'm not alone, I have NEVER had a fair split of a team tx check....I usualy pre fish alone 2 or 3 days that week and I NEVER had had a partner take that into consideration when splitting the winnings...PRO/AM style tx's are the way to go!

[ROI Outdoors]

I Love this Game.  You've been cleared for 3000 views and we'll be taking off shortly.

[Skulley]

So just how do you entice a pro to enter a new pro/am tourney Skip?

Its all about the $, plain and simple!
the team tx format has been beaten like a dead horse!!
Id do a $500 pro entry and advertise a $25k first place based on 100 entries...advertise the same with the co's, entry of $250 and paying $10k for first place.
Pay back like 90% at the ramp and 1 place for every 7 entries.
NO END OF YEAR CHAMPIONSHIP....give the 10% to the top 5 aoy!

Get sponsors to donate product, raffle that stuff off with a paid raffle...pocket that $ to cover expenses and advertise 100% cash pay back!

Id be first in line to sighn up for that trail!

I personaly hate team tx's and I know I'm not alone, I have NEVER had a fair split of a team tx check....I usualy pre fish alone 2 or 3 days that week and I NEVER had had a partner take that into consideration when splitting the winnings...PRO/AM style tx's are the way to go!

The following is just my viewpoint and not meant to influence your choice of whether or not you are going organize draw tournaments, one on one, or team formats.  What I am going to write is just how I look at and decipher bass tournament formats.  Remember that there is no perfect format to running an event.  What I may or may not say might not have anything to do with the subject but just a viewpoint on how an angler may or may not view an event.

Skip is making a ton of sense here.  Especially the part about team tournaments and partners.  Skip fishes a lot more tournaments to my knowledge than most and I respect his opinion on this particular subject.  But I also respect a lot of the other anglers opinions on this subject also as they fish a lot more events than I do because right now my son playing travel soccer is taking up a lot of my time.  I don't compete as much as I used to but that will change as soon as he gets a driver's license and starts driving himself to training and in some cases his games.  He is only 11 so I am a few years away from coming back and fishing as many events as I used to.  I do still try to fish tournaments when I am not involved with him and in most cases he has been my partner of choice lately in team events.  My daughter is 17 now and she was my partner for many years until she found some new interests...........her art as she is a very talented artist and boys.............God I hate that boys part........note to McCarter.........your day is coming as that beautiful little daughter of yours grows into a young woman and then drives you crazy.  See me when she gets there as you're going to need all the insight you can get.  Your hair will turn grey quicker than you think.  Anyway, back on subject..............

I actually like both formats, however in the team format, if you have a non-boater for a partner, the boater does end up fishing alone in practice.  I tend to try to find partners that are boat owners as they spend time on the water and usually bring something to the table rather than a non-boater who does not really have any "spots" on the lake because he doesn't get out unless a boater invites him or is dedicated enough to put the time aside for pre-fishing with his/her boater partner.  You can count these people on one hand and not use all your fingers.  The non-boater believes that an even split is "because I put in half the money, I should get half the winnings."  To Skip's point, they didn't tow the boat to the launch to prefish those 3 days during the week, nor did they spend any money to help out the boat gas during the pre-fish. Nor did they spend the countless hours on the water with the boater to find fish that the "team" could catch and weigh on the road to 1st place............

My choice if I can't get a boater to team up is to then and sometimes first and foremost fish with my children or my lovely bride.  Your wife and children won't talk about where you have been fishing to other competitors as they want to save your spots for their children.  I tend to fish with my immediate family members more so than friends and acquaintances.

Now let's say I team up with Skip.  The split on a team tournament if we are in the money is more equal as I am a boater and so is he and he and I both know that we are going to spend time on the water separately and as a boater I would trust that Skip is bringing something to the table for the next team event.  He is going to have "spots" out there that are going to produce and so am I.  Now that is a more economical way to me to split team winnings equally and fairly.  Then all we have to do on the day before the event decide who's boat we are going to use and then share the gas for the day of the event or the days we may or may not spend together on the water.  If we are both fishing separately in practice to find fish then the cost is a wash.  If we practice and use his boat or my boat, then we share the expense for the day.

In a pro/am format...............it is all about the cash money$$$$$$$$$$$.  I like paying 1 place for every 5 entries as that gives a little better payout........not too much better, but still a little better.  Keep it at 90% payout because that tends to draw more entries.  This can also be applied to the team formats.  That's one issue I am a little different than Skip on and the other is the "END OF THE YEAR CHAMPIONSHIP".  I like the "CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT" if one has to qualify to fish it.  It allows the "cream to rise to the top".  The most consistent teams or anglers will qualify.  But at the same time, Skips suggestion really accomplishes the same thing in a payout to the top 5 aoy's.  In the bigger picture, it's all good either way you go.  

I would suggest you talk to other tournament directors and tap their knowledge as to what they feel what works best for their trails.  Not all will be cooperative as they are going to look at you as competition to their trail.  Some will be more than accommodating.  Good luck and I wish you great success in your quest to start a trail and we'll see you on the water.



BD