BBT PAYBACK

[Monkey-Man]

How many boats do you guys draw for your tournaments? are you guys fishing the west-side like BBT does? How much are your enrty Fees?

[SethV]

This is why I run Belleville Lake Bass Club tourneys at 100 % payback, no BS when it comes to money, me and the other 2 guys who run it, we all pay entry fees, all the guys know where the money goes and how much is payed out

Hey Doug - when I lived in NY I ran a Tuesday night trail - that is exacly how we ran it.  100% payback, I paid an entry just like everyone else.  I bought the digital equalizer scale and all the stuff to run it.  It was fun, I never would have dreamed of trying to take a kickback from the guys.  I made my money by bringing big fish to the scale (well, some of the time).  For these little trails (less than 40 or 50 boats) I have a problem with a director trying to profit off of the tournament or fish for free.

[TCook]

I was looking over BBTs paybacks on the 3 opens they run, can someone explain to me why all three pay backs were largely different? I am confused why it wouldn't be the same percent for all of them.

From BBT entry form for opens:
"100'S are not Classic Qualifiers no membership required 90% payback plus trophies
ENTRY $100.00 TEAM OR SINGLE, Big Bass $10.00 per team optional"

Actual numbers for opens:
Memorial 100: 6300/7400=85%
BBT 100: 3150/4300=73%
Firecracker: 2250/2900=78%

I still cant figure out why these numbers differ so much? If 5 boats are fishing for free the percentage is still well below the 90%. Why would the BBT 100 be a lower payout than the firecracker which had less boats in this case? If the same amount of boats were fishing for free in each event it seems like the percentage would be lower with less boats. The only other variable I can figure is the amount of prizes given out at each event is different and BBT is counting those prizes as part of the cash payout and keeping the cash. Is this the reason or can someone clear this up for me?

[thedude]

Tim - they probably take a fixed fee off the top every time to cover "costs". They also might purchase things like trolling motors, hats whatever - I would guess that would account for the varying percentages. No one can really answer it but russ

[Cy]

I think you're right Tim and Justin it has got to be the cash equivalent of the prizes.  They must be factored in to the overall payout.  That is all I can think of anyway.

Cy

[LGMOUTH]

There is no reason to come to poorly conceived notions. Why dont you just call up Russ and ask him. Obviously no one on here will know the answer. Her is his number 616-875-7939. Im sure he can shed a little light on this subject. It could be as simple as a misprint, who knows. Oh wait Russ would.

[TCook]

I don't think it was a poorly conceived notion but I think I will refrain from beating this dead horse any further.

[LGMOUTH]

I don't think it was a poorly conceived notion but I think I will refrain from beating this dead horse any further.

Ok maybe I should have said any PRE conceived notions.

[bigjc]

Your going to be banking off of that stupid membership fee that you are charging for that huron valley crap circuit your running. Don't think that you can fool us with your gibberish.

Yeah, nobody gets anything past you PT.....don't you have anything better to do???  What is your beef with Eric?  From everything I have heard the 2009 Huron Valley Series was a huge success.

Let me guess, you are still sore over some sight fishing event that Bond smoked you at???

[bigjc]

[/quote] This is why I run Belleville Lake Bass Club tourneys at 100 % payback, no BS when it comes to money, me and the other 2 guys who run it, we all pay entry fees, all the guys know where the money goes and how much is payed out, if you need to make money off fisherman, try getting a JOB, I do this because i enjoy it and watching other fisherman come to the scales with huge smiles and nice limits, our classic is no entry fee and we have a banquet after the tourneys are over, we had close to 5800.00 last yr to pay out in our classic, so if you want to fish our tourneys, I will be posting when they start and our schedule soon  thanks  Doug Arter  BLBC
[/quote]

Thanks Doug...you guys run a great event and there is no better deal than 100%+ payback

These guys run tourney's cause they love bass fishing, if you are anywhere in SE Michigan, BLBC on Belleville Lake is the place to be on Tues. nights.

[Lightningboy]

First, I've been fishing Tuesdays at Belleville for many seasons now.  Seen the ownership change several times, sometime for worse, sometimes for better.  Doug, Mark, Butch, and all the others have done a superior job since taking the helm.  Belleville is unique in several ways.  Great bunch of compadres, I look forward to seeing old faces each spring.  Tough sticks too.  Plus Belleville presents multiple fishing options each season; as Big JC once put it, you can almost play to your strengths on that lake.

We can hem & haw all day about how much anyone charges, but I have a basic and I believe fair personal rule about tournament paybacks;  I have no problem with the TD making 15% of the take for the work they do.  Money can be saved off the top of the paybacks for an end of season classic, and you can label the entry fees as such or call them membership fees, it doesn't really matter in the long run. As long as the TD doesn't make more than the 15% they earned by running the show, I'm satisfied.

Hey Doug/Mark/Butch/anyone else who cares: Mike & I are headed to Guntersville the week after Easter for the FOM National Championship.  Any info from anyone whos been there would be greatly appreciated.

[champion_206]

I don't understand why people bit** about entry fee, how much the TD keeps, the payouts, If You don't like how they run there tourneys DON"T FISH, don't belittle someone whos taking there time, away from family, or things they NEED to do ( cut grass) etc. to run a tourney circut, there not getting rich from doing this, I Fish alot of tourneys on erie and some out there are not the best payouts, but I fish cause I love to fish, worry about yourself and stop whining. If all I had to do was whine about who makes what and who does what I would STOP fishing. Hope to see alot of you in May on Belleville, and at Anglers Marine tourneys on Erie, Doug Arter