Top Bass 2006 schedule UPDATED 1/17/06

[djkimmel]

Well, I finally remembered to call Elmer at Top Bass. Got him today and he said the 2006 schedule is almost completely set. I believe he is just waiting for confirmation on a couple more ramps.

Here's the Top Bass 2006 schedule:
5/27/06     Saginaw Bay
6/10/06     Houghton Lake
6/24/06     Sanford Lake
7/8/06      Wixom Lake
7/22/06     Houghton Lake
8/6/06      Muskegon Lake   (Sunday)
8/19/06     Sanford Lake

Championship
8/26-27/06? ? ?Wixom Lake

[blakstr1]

Thanks Dan, thats a great schedule for us Mid-Michigan guys...

[5alive]

I like the schedule, I may have to take part again this year. Other than the west side. Would like to see a different lake for the championship though.

[dhuff]

I'm glad to see that they picked some bigger lakes this time, instead of trying to get 72 boats onto Lobdell.  I have heard alot about the championship tournament being held on Wixom Lake.  I have heard that the tournament directore lives on the lake so that is why he puts the championship tournament there every year.  If that is true sounds like he may be taking a home field advantage.  I will just leave it at that...........

[MBell]

I heard the same thing about the championship, thats why it's on wixom every year.  I like the format of the tournaments, however I was passed in a no wake zone during blast off by one of the directors. Only fished a few so don't know if this is allowed because they have to come in early for weigh-in.  The weigh-in was great and the top bass staff were great, I'll be back for more next year. 
-Matt 

[djkimmel]

Do Elmer and Steve actually fish the events? I only fished the one at Houghton Lake in June last year and didn't notice if they actually fish. I only saw them at the weigh-in area. I did enjoy the event and it seemed like a decent bunch of guys - we did not have a huge turnout in the event I was in - about 40 or 50 boats.

[MBell]

I don't know if they fish, I didn't see them weigh-in but I think they do.  The guy doing the blast off was the last one out and he weighed fish.  Now days 40-50 boats is a pretty big event with all of the competition, I think the format top bass uses could do pretty good in other parts of the state.
-Matt     

[Cheetam]

I don't know much about Top Bass, so excuse my ignorance, but what format do they use?  Thanks!

[MBell]

You fish by yourself, 5 fish. 
-Matt

[Cheetam]

You fish by yourself, 5 fish.?
-Matt

Sweet...thanks for the info Matt.

[chase5004]

Refernce Elmer and Steve fishing? They both due and they normally fair pretty good. They are both put into the hat for boat position and whoever gets drawn first the other one does the blasting off. During the 2 day championship one of the many volunteers does the blasting off using a megaphone on the Cody-Esty Bridge.

The best part of this tourny series is that you do not have to be a member of any club to fish. I think it is a great format. It would be nice to fish with a partner sometimes on those long days.

Pat
Chase5004=Pitchnflip 

[djkimmel]

Just noticed I obviously have something wrong on the 7/27 date since that is not the weekend.

I'll have to get that corrected. Plus, there's an open tournament on the same day at the same ramp on Houghton Lake in June. I want to see if Elmer knows about that and if any changes have been made.

1/17/06 - updated two dates above - 1 correction and 1 change in bold. Also, Top Bass has the permit already for the South MDNR ramp at Houghton Lake on June 10.

[blakstr1]

I've probably asked this before so please excuse but...what are the entry fees for a Top Bass tournament and what is the average payout like...say based on 40 boats...

[Hooksetter]

This is straight from the Top Bass 2006 Tournament flyer.

Entry fee is $60.00, cash at the ramp only. Payback is in cash, 90%+, one place for every 7 entries.
One example is? 35 entries pays $750.00 for first & pay another 4 places. For 55 entries first is $1000.00 & pay another 7 places. They used to give plaques too but I don't see that on the flyer.

There is also an optional big bass pot and another optional pot.

If you call Elmer ( 517-592-3644) or Steve (734-788-9406) they would probably mail you a flyer.

[MBell]

Here is a scan of the 2006 flier. 
-Matt

http://www.geocities.com/mexque725/topbass2006.pdf