An Idea for '04

[Aquaman01]

Here's an idea that would be fun - lots of fun for next season ('04).

A tourney series for 'rough' fish on Metro area river sites.

Metro RATS - Rough (or Real) Angler Tournament Series

A tourney for the not-so-pretty species? All day, boat & shore, any fish can be weighed if taken by angling, points awarded for species variety, and any other stuff we can think up.

Initial thoughts -
-A series, based at various river launches in the Metro area.
-Open to shore or boats - the shore folks could fish the area around the launch or hike a bit and be back with their buckets for weigh-ins.
-Since we're not pursuing Sacred Gamefish, a stringer or basket would be okay in lieu of a livewell, or for shore folks they could weigh as they go. The individual who wants to baby-sit the board and fish the launch could have their fee waived for the day
-Have a point bonus above & beyond pounds for rare catches, like gar & bowfin. (no turtles) 'cause face it, the winner is gonna be the one with the most carp.
-A series would allow us to hit different seasonal patterns, like the bowfin spawn & sucker run, and avoid others like the carp spawn.

The fee would be small, maybe $10.00 per event, with 60% going to the purse, and the other 40% for a grill-out at the launch afterwards. That way no one would have to lock into a yearly big dollar commitment, and it wouldn't exclude non-boat owners from the fellowship and fun.

CPR when possible is of course encouraged, but keeping is okay too (can't have too much cut sucker in the freezer). But if ya kill it - ya gotta deal with it. No bank-stinkers.

Rough fish are excluded - no LM Bass, SM Bass, Walleye, Pike, Muskie, crappie, sunfish, perch or catfish allowed.

Whadda ya'll think? Kick out some ideas, supportive or non. Would ya do it or not?

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Aquaman
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Peace and Fishes

[Rick]

It sounds like fun. Going after big rough fish has it's own rewards, that's for sure. Not only that, the Mississippi, Minnesota, St. Croix, Zumbro, Cannon, and more Rivers are all ideal spots to have a great gathering or rather Rough fish tourney.

[CANOPY SAM]

This sounds like a really good idea for fathers and sons/daughters. I'd probably rather do this than fish the Metro Lets league. Would you make it $10.00 per boat, or per person. I think my kids would absolutely love to do this with me. At least the kids could get into some really big fish, and probably lots of em'!

And think of the numbers of fish you could catch in a day, vs. what we bag during game fish tournaments! Big gobs of crawlers layin' on the bottom of the river - my guess is you'd be pretty tired of catchin' big rough fish by the end of the day.

You might wanna consider having boats only weigh in the largest one or two fish of any species they catch. On a good day you could fill up a boat with carp and sheephead in no time.

Me and my kids are as good as in!

Great idea Aquaman!!!!!

[Lunker]

Sounds good to me as well. i like the idea of the cook off at the end as well, as long as none of the fish are included Just do the organizing aquaman, and I'm sure you'll find plenty of people around the site that would join, as well as outside the site. I have friends that would like to do something like this too. If you need any help just mail me at [email protected].

[Sheephead Slayer]

Sounds like a good idea! But I would need a partner who will take them off my hook for me, otherwise I'll be cutting my line alot

[Aquaman01]

Cool! Glad to see serious interest! You bring up a good point, Sam, about the boats. Perhaps split the boards into boats / shore participants. Again, that could be figured on a per event basis with a contingency plan for if only say...one boat shows up that day.

Fee per person, I'd say. At ten bucks, the pressure is pretty low. Even if somebody skunks out, there's always the grill-out to look forward to.

My kids would be all over this thing! Only problem is no matter how hard I try to put my daughter on suckers to stock daddy's freezer with cutbait - she keeps hooking smallies! I'll have to coach her better.

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Aquaman
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Peace and Fishes

[Jim W]

Huh,
The way I've been fishing lately, I would have the sheeper trophy signed sealed and delivered!
Sounds fun!

Jim W

[Aquaman01]

The consolidated thread for this topic is "Metro RATS Thread". Thanks.