Belleville Lake Tournament 6-24-07

[McCarter]

Hey gang.  Anthony asked me to post this for the upcoming Belleville Lake ABA tournament this coming Sunday.

Registration is 5 am - 5:30 am at the DNR ramp on Huron River drive.

Heres the catch.  If you are not a current ABA member or have not fished an ABA tournament this year, he is asking you pay 2 tournament fees.  Basically you would have to pay for this tournament and pre pay for another.  I guess they have had problems with 'jackpotters' signing up for only one tournament and never fishing another. 

Just a heads up if you were planning on fishing this one.  I dont want to hear about anyone showing up down there and then finding out the hard way.  I will try to keep you guys updated on any ABA news, though i am not fishing with them at this time.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Anthony Adams at 586-202-3594

McCarter himself

[dhuff]

WOW!  That is just plain bad, making people sign up for two tournaments.  NO WAY!  If they have problems with jackpotters then just beat them.  I believe there was a post on here in the ABA section not to long ago stating that it was no easy task taking money from the ABA anglers and such and how they weren't worried about that sort of thing.  Now all of a sudden they are worried about that.  Here are the exact words from the Belville topic down the ABA page.....

" I've heard members say the same thing about Saginaw, Erie, Wixom, Lobdell, and Cass when we put them on our schedule.. Seems to be a different winner on those lakes every year." 

"One thing I like about about District 7 is it has a bunch of good fishermen who seem to always be in the running. I would put our top 5 members against anyone any day..... On any lake."


Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.........  Seems to me that if more people worried about finding there own fish and figuring out the lake then they wouldn't have to worry about these so called jack potters.  Instead it seems that too many are worried about them and not figuring out the fish for themselves to give them a chance at beating these guys.  It is getting to the point now in tournaments that I think I have heard it all.  Politics and things like this are what make alot of guys shy away from certain tournaments or tournaments all together it is a shame.  These tournaments should be fun.

[Cheetam]

So, if I am a member, and didn't fish any tournaments this year because money was tight, and chose to only fish one tournament this year because it was close to home, I couldn't...unless I pre-paid for another tournament?  Crazy stuff...Flame on...

[McCarter]

It does seem silly to me to force possible new members to pay for 2 events when they havent even tested the waters yet.  Plus, turning away anyone willing to pay a membership fee is just taking money away from the ABA.  I know 3 different boats who were going to fish, and one of them was bring up to 5 new members.  I had to call them all to give them a heads up on this situation after talking to Anthony and everyone of them has said they are not coming now and will not even consider the ABA in the future.  It was embarrassing for me to make those calls.

But Anthony feels strongly about protecting his current members from getting taken by local guys who only join to fish the one tournament.  thing is, there are some very good fisherman in the ABA and i think a lot of those guys could hold there own against the local guys.  No way to better yourself than to fish against people who are better than you, right?  I dont know.  It was not my decision.  I was excited when Belleville was added to the line up.  I thought it would be an excellent lake to draw new members.  Even if they only came out for this one, maybe they like what they see and fish the entire season in 08, especially if Belleville was on again.  That lake draws big crowds in almost every tournament out there. 

Really, if you guys want to fish it but dont want to have to pay the double entry, call Anthony and talk to him.

McCarter himself

[Flippin222]

I have never heard of such a thing.  Seems wrong.  Especially since it apparently is not required for other lakes or divisions of ABA.  Sounds like someone or a few people are tired of losing to a couple of local teams that are good on Belleville.  Anyone tired of donating money to a few anglers or teams on LSC or Lake Erie?  Maybe those trails should adopt the same policy so that I might win some money.

[dartag]

me confused.  i joined ABA in april to fish kent and cass this year.  since i didn't fish kent and i if fish cass ,  i will be considered a jackpotter.  really didn't want to drive to NY to fish a regional then to FLA if i qualify for the nationals..   

[Cheetam]

me confused.  i joined ABA in april to fish kent and cass this year.  since i didn't fish kent and i if fish cass ,  i will be considered a jackpotter.  really didn't want to drive to NY to fish a regional then to FLA if i qualify for the nationals..   

But you ARE a jackpotter on Cass, aren't you 

From the sounds of it, you wouldn't be able to fish Cass, unless you prepay for another tournament...

[dartag]

me confused.  i joined ABA in april to fish kent and cass this year.  since i didn't fish kent and i if fish cass ,  i will be considered a jackpotter.  really didn't want to drive to NY to fish a regional then to FLA if i qualify for the nationals..   

But you ARE a jackpotter on Cass, aren't you 

From the sounds of it, you wouldn't be able to fish Cass, unless you prepay for another tournament...

  that is my favorite lake as you know.  except when i took Kev last year and broke my streak.   maybe i will start my own series there for next year. 

[fishon1219]

  that is my favorite lake as you know.  except when i took Kev last year and broke my streak.   maybe i will start my own series there for next year. 
[/quote]

Why do you have to bring me into this mess. I am just sitting here minding my own buisness and BAAM. There's my name.  I cannot wait to win my 5 bucks back from you old man

[Eric]

The original post said asking.  It didn't say mandating, making, etc.  In todays world and the competition to attract tournament anglers to a trail, I can't believe anyone would specifically exclude potential new anglers.  Anthony is a pretty smart guy and has been doing this for quite awile.   I trust what he is doing he thinks is best for the ABA and the tournament scene altogether.  I still won't be there though.

[motocross269]

Hopefully Anthony will clear this up.  Something doesn't sound right. 
Home water sandbagging has been going on since tournament fishing started.  It is just a fact of life. 
I am really interested in fishing some ABA tourneys next year so I will be watching this closely.

[Team houston]

I planned on trying to make this one also. Now I don't think I will make the effort for twice the price.

[dhuff]

I would like to know why the statements were made that they were not worried about this and then all of a sudden they are.......  I pulled the exact quotes from the belville discussion from months ago.  I thought about jumping in on a few of the ABA's this year but I will stay away and jump in a few others.  Good luck guys.

[BassinGT]

Is there anyway to make sure the launch will be open that early? It does get locked up at night and if I remember correctly from last year we had to wait a while for it to open up.

-Gary

[jcox7]

WOW is right I fish most ABA tournaments and this is trash there are guys that fish nepressing every year and they do not fish another tournament.  For a trail that plays everything by "the rules" I know this is not a rule.

[Anthony Adams]

The original post said asking.  It didn't say mandating, making, etc.

Eric has it correct ...

We have a great bunch of anglers in the ABA many who have a shot to win an AOY title .... and in the ABA that includes 1000 cash and a fish-off with 3 other anglers for a Triton 21 foot boat. This year many of our members have a chance to go to a No entry fee National championship with over 400 K in cash and prizes and a chance to win one of 3 Triton boats.

1 point can and does make the difference for members to have a shot at these prizes... At this point in the season a new member does not have a shot to go to a national championship. Or to win a title.

The state fish-off, AOY and the National championship is what the ABA is all about. Lets show the members who have come out all year and fished hard a little respect. I would hate to see one of them loose an AOY race (and a new triton) because of a angler finishing 1 place ahead of them. Then that angler never comes back to fish another ABA event ever.

Last year I had 2 members who missed the national championship by 1 & 2 points. Both those members wanted to go and could not. Both had a shot on Lobdell lake and both finished in the top 8. However we had 5 new members that signed up that day and none of them ever came back... 2 of those new members finished ahead of these two members and knocked them out of the ABA championship.

All I ask is if you've never fished the ABA and want to come out this weekend then to pick an ABA event sometime or somewhere in the future and pay for that event as well as this one.. It's a request and a show of respect to our current members that you intend to come back...If you do not intend to ever fish an ABA event in the future then please respect the guys who do...

I would hope that this request would not offend anyone ....

[Skip Johnson]

I totaly agree with anthoneys point I was just a few places from a new triton at nationals and Im going back to nationals to try for it again.
our seasons half over theres only a few tournaments left if you didnt get in you missed out on a good trail!

[motocross269]

How do the points work?? I looked on the ABA site and didn't really see anything in the rules.
ABA doesn't take x number of anglers through qualifiers and on to nationals..Like the BFL?  I am getting the impression through these posts that the Points that you accumulate in the division are used for scoring at the nationals.     

[Anthony Adams]

I am getting the impression through these posts that the Points that you accumulate in the division are used for scoring at the nationals.

Actually points are used for your national ranking, which is used to qualify for Regionals, Nationals and they are used for ranking for Angler of the Year and various prizes (to much to list)

http://www.americanbassanglers.com/rules.php

See section 19 & 23 for how the points work.

The top 500 regional point holders plus 30 Active Military will be invited to compete in the Regional Championship.

The top point holder from each Region (by points) will be invited to complete in the Angler of the Year Final Round and a TR21 Triton Boat.

The top 50 anglers from each Region, by points, plus the top 10% of anglers from the previous year championship will be invited to compete as boaters in the National Championship.

[Durand Dan]

I understand the concerns being put forth on this this thread. However I believe it underminds the intent of the ABA rules. As a member you have the right to enter any ABA sponsered tounament by paying the entry fee and following the ABA rules. If I choose to fish a tournament in Alabama and finish in he top 5, am I depriving a local member of a chance to reach the nationals? This may be the case. I think the decision to access extra fees needs to be reviewed by the American Bass Anglers national board.