"Grand Daddy" of the 2010 Michigan Tournament Season??????

[ROI Outdoors]

Just looking to get some feedback on what would have to be done to get 1 BIG SUPER HUGE Open tournament going?  Being the state with the 4th highest tournament participation in the country we should have plenty of oppurtunities for over $10000 paydays but the problem is there is to many guys doing the own things - we should all get together and have 1 BIG BAD BODACIOUS Open!!!

It shouldn't be hard to get together with all the anglers we have; so how can we make this happen?  There should be no reason we can't find a date that we can ALL mark on our calendars - 200 boats at a $100 - $150 a piece - $20,000 - $30,000 to work with plus sponsor carrots would sure be fun. 

Anybody down?  St. Clair, Erie, Sanford, Wixom, Muskegon, Grand - lots of lakes here so what's the best bet to make this happen?  

[billy8878]

I would be in. I think to get that many boats it would have to be a singles tourney, but who knows.

[markgoetsch]

I'd be in and to get the most people I'd say it should be on either st. clair or Erie.

[Durand Dan]

I'd say the only way to pull off a tournament(s) like that would be for someone to take the ball and run with it. 100% pre-registration would insure that the prize money could be guaranteed. And starting to take registrations the 1st of the year would give everyone plenty of time to sign upI'd like to see Wixom or the Grand rather than the same people winning on St. Clair or Erie!
So who's up for the challenge of running something like this?

[Ranger5Smallie]

I think those days of 200 boats is over for the forseeable future.  To many tx's!!  Guys dont have to drive far to fish every weekend.  But if you get 199 boats registered on the west side of the state...I will take boat 200.

[FOB]

August 1rst, 2010.  12th Annual Wonderland Marine West open tournament, Lake Erie Metro Park.  More info / flyers to come first of the year.

[Waterfoul]

I'd say run it out of Muskegon.  If the day is right many will run to White, Pentwater, etc...  If the day is a bit rough some will STILL run.  Fishermans Landing can easily handle that many boats, and you can get a tournament day price break on the launch fee... making it only $5 to launch.

It just seems that MANY fishermen/women in Michigan think all the big tournies have to be on the east side.  I think many of those people have never fished on the west side.  Another point is on the East Side you pretty much have to have a Canadien license to open up a lot of the good water.  Asking all the east side guys to buy a Canadien license for just one tournament is a bit skewed (my opinion of course...).  I think the idea is to keep the total expenditure as close to the tournament entry fee cost as possible(not including gas as it would be a wash no matter where the tournament was held... we all HAVE to have gas). 

But as you know ROI... I'm probably in no matter what!! 

[ROI Outdoors]

I'd say the only way to pull off a tournament(s) like that would be for someone to take the ball and run with it. 100% pre-registration would insure that the prize money could be guaranteed. And starting to take registrations the 1st of the year would give everyone plenty of time to sign upI'd like to see Wixom or the Grand rather than the same people winning on St. Clair or Erie!
So who's up for the challenge of running something like this?

I like Wixom because it is somewhat centrally located and it from what I hear fishes great all season; St. Clair & Erie are to weather effected and the Grand gets absolutely hammered all summer long so Wixom is my vote. 

Does anybody know the Top Bass guys because they could surely be of assistance if Wixom is the site?

Advertising is simple with the internet and word of mouth, sponsorship should be easy to lock down if a good amount of guys get involved so you've got 100% payback with additional carrots - this will only work if a good number of anglers get on board so let's start with a potential date that doesn't conflict with any other major date (this will be the hardest part!).  I think we can all agree that this isn't rocket science so lets do it! 

I'm down, Durand Dan is in, Waterfowl is down, markgoetsch is in, billy8878 is ready, Ranger5Smallie is #200, and FOB can get Wonderland involved if he's willing - that's a great start so let's get a date and a lake dialed in so we can get the state of MI back into the BCS of the national tournament scene!

[VinceR]

It can be done, but you can pretty much forget about holding a tournament that big on an inland lake. For one, most won't have a launch ramp to accomodate a 200 boat tournament. And two, even the biggest of the inland lakes (Houghton Lake) will become rather crowded with 200 boats. I fished there for two of the NBAA championships, and it was starting to get pretty crowded with 100 boats. Even then, we had to use two ramps. I fished a 50 boat tournament on Wixom, and it got pretty crowded, plus there isn't ramp space there for much more than 50 boats.

For as many boats as you want to draw, you will pretty much be limited to the big water, Erie, St. Clair, Saginaw Bay, Muskegon (with Lk. Michigan open), Grand River (with Lk. MI open). Maybe even one of the northern lakes like Traverse Bay or Charlevoix (with Lk. Michigan open), or Elk and Torch or Burt and Mullet (with the connecting waters).

Where ever you select, you can't be worried about the local favorites. Every body of water will have them. I have never let that stop me from fishng them. While I mostly fish the east side these days, I used to fish the Grand in the days of the 200+ boats in the Charity Classic, and and 150 boat full fields for Tri State. I've also fished in full fields for Tri State and the original Federation on Muskegon. I seems that there were a couple of individuals and teams that always took my money. From what I'm hearing, some of those dudes are still taking the money over there. The kind of money that we're talking, here, will certainly bring them out.

Which ever lake is selected, to draw the kind of field that you are talking, you need to select a body of water where everybody has a chance to catch a lot of fish. That narrows the choices down. I may be mistaken, but, I'm betting that has a lot to do with why Wonderland can draw 200 boats. "FOB" can correct me if I'm wrong.

Having fished both sides of the state, that is why I choose to fish the east side. Guess what? I'm still handing my money over, but I'm having fun catching a lot of fish when I do.

I should add that where ever you decide to have it, I would probably fish it. 

[VinceR]

After giving this some more thought, I think that your biggest obstacle will be scheduling. If you look at the tournament calendar (Roy Randolph's calendar is about the most complete there is), you will see that it looks like there are multiple tournaments held every weekend. The challenge would be fitting another tournament into the mix that will not conflict with the existing ones. That may be the single biggest reason that hardly any circuits are drawing big numbers anymore.

Another reason may be that the tournaments, now, are not just "opens". Many are part of a championship or classic series. What that means is that anglers are reluctant to miss one because that would mean losing valuable pionts towards making a championship or classic.

Again, I will use the Wonderland Open as an example. I believe that part of the reason they are able to draw the anglers that they do (besides fishing on what is one of the best bass lakes in North America and a $10,000.00 guaranteed payout) is scheduling. This tournament typically falls on a day when anglers don't have to choose between this one, and their circuit tournament. The anglers know it's going to happen, and when it's going to happen, and I fully believe that they schedule "around" it. 

[motocross269]

Sanford lake has a brand new ramp and Parking lot that can hold alot of boats...I don't have a clue where you would launch a large open out of Wixom...Things would be tight on the water through that hole chain if you get more than 100 boats no matter where you go....

Is there any place Around St Joe and Lake Michigan...There is good fishing in the river and out in the Lake there and you could draw some boats out of Illinois and Indiana....

The Marble chain in Coldwater has alot of water but the fishing is tough....

[Waterfoul]

St. Joe is probably not a viable option... the river gets pretty hairy not far from town for a guy running an outboard... especially in summer when the water is on the low side.

The only real options on the east side are:  Holland (run anywhere on L. Michigan), the Grand (ditto), and Muskegon (ditto again).  These are the only places where you could park that many rigs.

Or... there's always Grand Traverse Bay... but it is notoriously rough.

I've been out of most ramps on St. Clair.  Metro or Harley could handle this event.

[gr@ssmonkey]

man vinceR...i was almost getting excited - till u reminded me about reality your exactly right to the "T".....and it saddens me i barely caught 1 year of full field tri state tournaments and never dreamed that growing bass tournaments, would turn into hundreds of small "derby's"....back then if u wanted to fish for money 90% of the competitors at a tournament came from over a 100 mile drive,not because they wanted to but because that was the only tourney going on.....they also payed nice and top heavy...
 
i think the things that vinceR points out about the wonderland tournament are really the solutions to throwing a 100-200 boat tourney.....no conflicting date with any major trail,i definitely agree that a pre sign-up would be the only way to ensure payouts, i like the single's idea(personally i think these tourney's are the future for hardcore tourney anglers in michigan) i would  liked to see the tourney on sanford/wixom even though i have never been there but if the ramps and water can't hold a 100 boats then my vote would be..........drum roll please........charlevoix.....only because i think it's sort of an untouched (for the most part) destination and it has all the right answers(plenty of water/big ramps/lots of big fish/not very much fishing pressure.........

All that being said.........i'm in anywere anytime..........

[motocross269]

As far as the 100 percent payback......I think guys like to have a number figure thrown out there....If you think that you can raise X amount of money through sponsors then publish it..

Alot of clubs do that for their Charity opens....2000+ dollars guaranteed first place..No matter how many boats...Thats what we do and we cover the 2 grand as much as we can with sponsor money, then pay down from there based on boats plus donate as much as we can to the charity......That is the cool thing about the Wonderland open...10 grand guaranteed(I know quite a bit of that is backed by sponsors)....You know that money is going to be there....No matter what or who shows up...That would motivate anglers...

We paid 2 grand last year on a very small turnout so it can be done...(Thanks to some good sponsor work by some of our members)

Obviously this won't be a charity open so you won't have to worry about paying on that....

I guess the bottom line is...If you tell me that I am fishing for 5-10 grand guaranteed I am going to sit up and take notice....If you tell me it is based on the number of boats and 100 percent payback then that could mean alot of different things as far as the end of the day checks...(Depending on pay formula and how many show up)

I am not being critical but it I believe it is something worth thinking about......

[mikesmiph]

Scheduling would be the big one for me. I work weekends, and have to take time off for any tourneys I fish. Cant interfer with my clubs tourneys either. Big order, I know. Luke, we've talked several times. I like your spirit and dedication to fishing. I will make every attempt to be at anything you put on.I'd even help where I can.

[Durand Dan]

I'd say the only way to pull off a tournament(s) like that would be for someone to take the ball and run with it. 100% pre-registration would insure that the prize money could be guaranteed. And starting to take registrations the 1st of the year would give everyone plenty of time to sign upI'd like to see Wixom or the Grand rather than the same people winning on St. Clair or Erie!
So who's up for the challenge of running something like this?

I like Wixom because it is somewhat centrally located and it from what I hear fishes great all season; St. Clair & Erie are to weather effected and the Grand gets absolutely hammered all summer long so Wixom is my vote. 

Does anybody know the Top Bass guys because they could surely be of assistance if Wixom is the site?

Advertising is simple with the internet and word of mouth, sponsorship should be easy to lock down if a good amount of guys get involved so you've got 100% payback with additional carrots - this will only work if a good number of anglers get on board so let's start with a potential date that doesn't conflict with any other major date (this will be the hardest part!).  I think we can all agree that this isn't rocket science so lets do it! 

I'm down, Durand Dan is in, Waterfowl is down, markgoetsch is in, billy8878 is ready, Ranger5Smallie is #200, and FOB can get Wonderland involved if he's willing - that's a great start so let's get a date and a lake dialed in so we can get the state of MI back into the BCS of the national tournament scene!

Here is the Top Bass web site. Steve and Elmer however prefer to run show up and fish tournaments and do a great job. I can remember the last tournament they had on Lobdell had over 65 boats if you can imagine that! There partisapation has wained a bit in the last few years, but they still have strong showings with top anglers.

http://www.freewebs.com/topbass/

[TCook]

  As much as I would like to see a tournament of that size and payback here in my home town on the St Joe river it would never work. The river would fish small and be very tough any time other than the spring and fall. Also unlike running a tournament out of the Grand or Muskegon there is only a few places within a long running distance from the St joe river so the field would not be spread out. There is one launch with alot of parking but if I would have to guess it could handle around 100 rigs maybe more.
  Maybe the best way to get an idea of what would draw the most anglers is start a poll with the lakes that could handle 200 boats and the dates that work around the bigger tournaments and trails in MI. I would be interested if this event was held on Muskegon, St Clair, or even a spring event up north on one of the inland lakes or the big water like they do at Sturgeon Bay. It will be a tough tournament to put together but myself along with many anglers in the area would like to see less of the small trails and more of the bigger events like this.

[VinceR]

Another thing that should be seriously considered is lodging. A tournament of this size will mean that a considerable number of anglers will get there by as much as a week ahead of time to pre-fish and familiarize themselves with the water. Even those who don't need a week's worth of pre-fishing will still like to get there the day before. Particularlly those that might have to drive a long distance to get there.

[ROI Outdoors]

Another thing that should be seriously considered is lodging. A tournament of this size will mean that a considerable number of anglers will get there by as much as a week ahead of time to pre-fish and familiarize themselves with the water. Even those who don't need a week's worth of pre-fishing will still like to get there the day before. Particularlly those that might have to drive a long distance to get there.

Yes it is 2:24am and I am still thinking about the 2010 tournament season - it's become a little more than an obsession but that is why it is so much fun!!!!!!

Dr. H. Belanger Park 250 parking spots Detroit River

Fisherman's Landing 250+ parking spots  Muskegon Lake

Harley Ensign 349 parking spots St. Clair

Elizabeth Park Marina 215 parking spots Erie

North Channel 158 parking spots St. Clair

As far as lodging goes I know the GM of the Sleep Inn's of Michigan which is part of the Choice Hotel family; we could definitely be looking at some a major discounts on lodging.  I have a few non-fishing related sponsors that would probably be willing to help out so lets get a date and get the ball the ball rolling.  I personally like the Detroit River because it keeps us somewhat protected if there are strong winds, Muskegon Lake is one of the best tournament venues in the state but I think the majority of guys willing to fish something like this would be driving a long way so I leaning towards the River/St. Clair. 

150 boats at $150 a boat; say $25 dollars goes towards Big Bass paying 50/30/20 that would be $1875, $1125, and $750 respectively.

That would leave $18750 left over to pay out on total weight

1st $10000
2nd $3000
3rd $2000
4th $1000
and so on down the line............................

What launch/lake is the winner and what day can we get a majority of guys fishing this?  What about something in September or early October? 

Doesn't P. Sacks have a Shimano Live Release System just begging to be utilized in 150 plus boat event?

Terry where you at?  Lunch Money Open can move up a couple of weeks and become the "Grand Daddy of 2010".  If we build it they will come - sponsors, anglers, and fat stacks of cash will come in droves!

Pick a date and site and lets get the ball rolling and the money flowing.  I gotta go change my line and sharpen my hooks.

[motocross269]

I would think some date in the fall that doesn't interfere with the BFL regionals would be a great idea.....That would really cut down on your scheduling conflicts....

Roy Randolph should have his calendar published soon...I haven't checked out his site in a while maybe it is already up....

If you launch out of Erie Metro that may help you pull up some of the southern state anglers....

It's too bad the Last BFL is a two day tournament...It would work great to fish it on Sunday after that.....