Metro RATS thread!

[Aquaman01]

There has been plenty of interest in the
Metro Rough Anglers Tournament Series
for the '04 season, so I'm consolidating the various comments and suggestions into this one thread the best I can with simple copy/paste functions. Bear with me, this could take a bit.

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.

[This message has been edited by Aquaman01 (edited 07-29-2003).]

[Aquaman01]

Comments and ideas from other threads
<<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.>>
RICK
<<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!!!!!>>
CANOPY SAM
<<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].>>
LUNKER
<<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 >>
SHEEPHEAD SLAYER
<<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.>>
AQUAMAN
<<Huh,
The way I've been fishing lately, I would have the sheeper trophy signed sealed and delivered!
Sounds fun!>>
JIM W
<<I'm really interested in doing this with my children. Anyone else? Any additional ideas?>>
CANOPY SAM

[Aquaman01]

What would ya'll rather have - a seperate tally board & fee kitty for boats & shore, or a boat angler possession limit? Or some other idea to level the playing field without joy-killing it for the boats?

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Aquaman
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Peace and Fishes

[CANOPY SAM]

I still think you should limit the number of fish weighed in to the one, or maybe two, biggest fish of each species a person catches, regardless of whether it was caught from a boat or shore.

This would add a bit of strategy to the game in that a person might be taking a chance at releasing a large fish in hopes of catching larger. It would certainly reduce the number of unnecessarily killed fish. And if you had more than one "way in" during the day people would have a better idea of what the mark to beat is.

I also think that $10.00 per boat, instead of per person would attract a few more people. After all, this would obviously be for fun only. If it were $10.00 per person, and I bring my kids to 2-3 of these in a summer, the fee for these events could run into the hundreds of dollars. The BBQ afterwards could be a "bring your own" thing.

Just my thoughts!

[Rick]

How about $10 per person and kids free???

[Crawlerman]

I like the idea of a charge per boat; it may encourage others that are planning to fish alone in this to perhaps give someone who was planning on fishing from shore to join them? I know if I do this there will be an extra spot in my boat (albeit it's only a 14'; it's plenty for 2 people) Unless you wanted to do a flat fee for entry and then a small charge, say like $2-5 per boat?

[Rick]

Then how do you handle the shore anglers with respect to payment?

[Lunker]

I could be fishing from shore or boat(not sure) but either way I'd be fine with $10 per person. I do like the idea of having kids free, maybe 12 and under or something , so parents could bring their kids without additional costs.

As far as limits, maybe have the two heaviest fish from each species of rough fish, so a person could have a couple carp, buffalo, sucker, redhorse, etc. And add up all the weights. Just my 2 cents

[Aquaman01]

Okay, see how this sits with ya'll -

$10.00 per TEAM and a TEAM can be a solo entrant boat or shore, or a pair of anglers on a boat, or a pair of anglers on shore - but no more than two anglers per entry fee. If one of them is a kid - great. If two of them are kids - great. Kids under 12 free. If Mom shows up with six kids (four under 12) and a family license, that would be (2) entry fees and we would encourage pairing up into teams, rather than Mom's team culling the biggest fish from all six kids. That's an extreme example, but you see what I mean. I'd hate to institute (1) kid per adult/team, but anyone got any ideas?

I still like the idea of having a percentage of the door going to grilling/pops at the end and the largest % going to purse. Lugging fishing gear around is enough of a pain without lugging a cooler full of ice & brats up and down the bank all day. A lot easier if a volunteer shoots up to the closest supermarket & gets the stuff.

Overall cost of this to each person is gonna be pretty low, especilly if you compare it to LETS, at least for me, anyway. It seemed that after every pre-fish I ended up at Gander dropping $30+ for lures or whatever that I thought I needed for that body of water. For RATS a guy can get by with hooks, swivels and sinkers!

Question - If kids under 12 are free, what if a team is composed of two 11 year olds and they place? Should they claim purse if they don't pay fee?

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Aquaman
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Peace and Fishes

[Aquaman01]

I really really like the idea of this being open to both shore and boat teams, but it'll take a lot of hammering out of details, and that's fine by me. Let's brainstorm this though.

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Aquaman
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Peace and Fishes

[This message has been edited by Aquaman01 (edited 08-04-2003).]

[Aquaman01]

Anybody got any more thoughts on this?

[CANOPY SAM]

If you're on shore alone = $10.00.

If you're on shore with another person over 12 = $10.00.

If you can jump in a boat with another angler = $10.00.(2 anglers in one boat = $10)

If you are alone in your boat = $10.00.

If you are in your boat, or on shore with one child under 12 = $10.00.

If you are in your boat with 2-3 kids, any under 12 are free, one over 12 + yourself = $10.00, each additional kid over 12 = another $5.00 each.

Same goes for shore fishing - one child over 12 + yourself = $10.00 + $5.00 for each additional kid over 12.

If you've got the courage to show up with several kids under 12, GOOD LUCK! Rivers are not always safe places to babysit your kids for a day. Maybe you could say $5.00 for each additional child. Or is there an easier way to do this?

I'd say tourney hours should be really easy. How does 9:00 am - 3:00 or 4:00 pm sound? If you wanna bow out cause the kids are tired, you don't have to be present at the final weigh-in to win. Kids get really turned off by fishing if you push them to "tough it out"!

It'd be really great if we could come up with some cheap little trophies to give to the kids that win. Kids LOVE trophies!

[Aquaman01]

Thanks for your thoughts, Sam! I appreciate the time and input! How about...

-2 person or 1 person teams, boat or shore - $10.00 per team. Every team must have one person over 12 years of age (or legal boat operating age) and teams must not TYPICALLY exceed two anglers, but a kid under 12 may be added to the team for another $5.00.
(It's hard for me to figure out how to balance the fee/chance of winning for a team of 3 and a team of 1)

-Kids under 12 could qualify for a 1st, 2nd & 3rd place trophy for weight of a single fish. I could (or LETS treasury?) buy these trophies and then get comped from daily fees.

-By weighing in only the biggest two of each species, it's easy for a boat to safely cull as they go, and shore teams could weigh in immediately any fish that's too big for the cooler/bucket and then take the two biggest from their tallies. (I'm laughing at the visual of a mud-footed Huck Finn-looking kid hurrying down the bank to the scales hugging a big carp).

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Aquaman
<')}}}}}><{
"The bow is set to distant shore,
then loss is gained and gains once more.
When beach is reached and sails are torn,
the journey is it's own reward."

[Aquaman01]

How about locations?

Montissippi Park in Monticello or 101 bridge park in Elk River should be good in the spring.

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Aquaman
<')}}}}}><{
"The bow is set to distant shore,
then loss is gained and gains once more.
When beach is reached and sails are torn,
the journey is it's own reward."

[wounded minnow]

The Rum River/Mississippi area (169 Bridge) has a multitude of areas both land and boat. There is always somthing biting in that area also.

[Mr Special]

Here goes my spots,

But for starters I would say the Hwy35W bridge offers tons of shorespots and a launch.

The park in Elk River where you guys were for the catgathering is a great spot.

I know a spot in Rockford on the crow river that has launch, shoreline , dock and full park with horseshoes next to it.

The spot at Watertown on the Crow river, where the dam is a good spot.

On the St. Criox where I fish for spring walleyes is a good spot, but the closest launch is in Hastings which is about 2miles away.
Wait theres a great spot at the Hastings launch too.

[riverbasher]

Hey Aquaman,
The 101 bridge/access is only about 1 1/2 miles from where I live when I'm not serving in Iraq...lol. I hope to be part of this next year when I come back home. I also have a buddy who live in Monti who posts on here(can't remember s/n but he posted on my thread in Mississippi River North) and probably would like to be involved. Sounds like fun. I just bought a jon boat(My dad graciously picked it up for me) from Fonz58 so I'll be hitting the river in my new RIVERBASHER 2 jon boat next year in the Elk River/Monticello vicinity

I can't wait to get home!!

SGT Riverbasher

[Joe's Kid]

How about the river bottoms at Fort Snelling State Park?
Seems to be plenty of doggies and carp to go around there. Picnic areas, rest rooms, and plenty of room to fish on shore.

[Aquaman01]

Excellant locations! How 'bout times of year?

Oh yeah - I still need a co-organizer...please? Duties are basically...
-Show up to all events (4 or 6 - probably on Sundays)

-Take turns with me for fishing from close to the scales during the events.

-Take turns with me for for running to the store for sodas & dogs & chips during the last 1/2 of the event.

-Put up with mild & simple rules & regs - firmly enforced.

-Liberally apply opinions and ideas to make these mini-tourneys a hoot.

Rob

[riverbasher]

Rob,
I can probably help if I am back home in time next year from my deployment.

Jeremy

[Aquaman01]

Thanks Jeremy! I have another possible volunteer as well. I'll get some dates set, one Sunday per month in May, June, July and August, and then contact ya'll somehow to work out details.

Rob

[CANOPY SAM]

Sounds like we're almost there Rob. I look forward to some laid back fishing for a change! Had a good time last summer, but I really missed my kids during those hot summer afternoons trying to boat keeper fish. I'd much rather have been lounging in the shade, drinkin' a cold one, and laughin' at my boy haulin' on a big sheepshead!

This sounds like it just may turn in to a pretty good gathering for us "not so competitive" anglers. I honestly couldn't care less about the purse. Maybe we could arrange for one of the tackle companys on this site to pitch in some little tackle packages for each of the kids that show up. Hats, t-shirts, whatever... Give a kid a prize, it doesn't even matter what it is, and just watch their faces light up! That's really what it's all about anyway, right?

[Aquaman01]

I hear ya, Sam! I hear ya! That's what I'm shooting for with RATS - straight up fun with room for the kids.

As the dates get closer I will solicit donations from our esteemed FM Pro Staff and Sponsors for kid give-aways. The gracious Staff & Sponsors are giving pretty heavily of both themselves and their stocks for the Ice Series, LETS dates and Trout Day.

I have two kind volunteers to help me with the event duties. Thanks, ya'll!

The time is almost here when I will post dates and locations. I have to clear it with my boss, as well. I'm thinking one Sunday per month in May, June, July & August. I realize that Sundays will interfere with some family faith-based activities, but Metro LETS is on Saturdays and I can't take any Saturdays off with seriously impacting my income.

I am also working on a draft of rules.

Peace,
Rob