Statewide Leading Edge Tournament Series 2005

[ChuckN]

L.E.T.S. Go Fishing!!

Leading Edge Tournament Series 2005

We have made some changes to Statewide LETS for 2005, and it is going to be an exciting year with a great schedule!

Official Rules and Information

L.E.T.S. is a league format event in which teams of 2 anglers compete for points. This is a multi-species

tournament series which allows for a wide variety of fishing options.

League Size- 15 teams

Teams- 2 people must sign up to be league members.

Teams may use substitutes, but at least 1 registered

team member must participate.

Cost- One time league fee of $10 per person/$20 per team. New for '05- $40 tournament entry fee per team and optional Big Fish pot of $10 per team. All fees will go towards event pay-outs and any league expenses. The first 15 teams to send in their

dues will be allowed into the league. Last year’s

participants are allowed to register first.

Registration will begin FEBRUARY 1st, 2005.

Pay-out Schedule(based on a 15 team league):

Individual event pay-outs* (15 teams)

1st place - $225

2nd place -$175

3rd place - $100

4th place - $50

5th place- $50

*payout schedule is 100% payout and will be lowered if not a full field of 15 teams. Payouts will be calculated appropriately to the number of teams. In the case of under 10 participating teams, there will be a 3 place payout per event.

Events- New for 2005 Each event will be a 1 day tournament.

Sunday will be the tournament day from sunrise to 2-3pm.

Depending the conditions the tournament directors have discretion to have a 4 hour break for safety of the fish and to release the fish without further harm.

Dates and locations:

Whitefish Chain- June 5

Lake Ida (Douglas Co.)- June 26

Rush Lake (Otter Tail Co.)- July 17

Otter Tail County Mystery- August 21

**OT Mystery will be based in Battle Lake, MN and choices of lakes will be drawn within a 20 mile radius. Ben's Bait in Battle Lake will be choosing the lakes, and we will draw the lake early Sunday morning and drive to the drawn lake.

Lodging- To keep in the spirit of sharing

information, fellowship and camaraderie, we encourage

teams to camp or stay in the same general area. The following are suggested headquarters:

Whitefish: To be determined.

Lake Ida- Team member Ron B has invited us to his home in Alexandria.

Rush Lake- I (Chuck) will host people at my residence near Battle Lake, MN. Camping will be available.

Otter Tail Mystery- I will host this event also.

To hold your reservation, payment must be received no

later than FEBRUARY 10th. More details will follow where to send RSVP. Deposit will be $50 per team (includes $40 first event and $10 membership dues).

General Rules- L.E.T.S. prides itself as being a

catch-and-release league. Taking some fish for the pan

is ok, but selective harvest is strongly recommended.

1) All rules and regulations of the State of Minnesota

must be observed at all times. There will also be a

boat and trailer inspection for aquatic vegetation

prior to teams launching their boat.

2) A cell phone or marine band radio must be in the

boat at all times. This is necessary for safety and to

contact other teams for large fish verification.

3) Teams must respect other teams. No fishing within

30 yards of another team will be allowed unless

invited by said team to do so. Non league boats must

also be respected at all times.

4) Check-in: There will be a meeting of all team members one hour prior to the start of each event to inspect boats and hold a league meeting (possible discussion and voting). A watch synchronization will take place each morning. Check-in times will be strictly enforced for meetings and weigh-ins.

5) There will be a staggered start. Teams will draw

for starting position before each event. Boats will

then leave the starting point in 5 second intervals

with the last team being the starter boat. After the

break, this order will be reversed.

6) Scoring- The scoring system will be based on weight

converted to points.

Point values- 1 lb of fish = 1 pt (Across the board

for all species)

Walleye= Minimum size = 12 inches

Pike= Minimum size = 20 inches

LM/SM Bass= Minimum size = 12 inches

Sunfish= Minimum size = 7 inches

Crappie= Minimum size = 9 inches

Perch = Minimum size = 9 inches

Lake Trout= Minimum size = 16 inches

Muskie= Any legal Muskie must be measured and calculated according to length and girth calculations.

One bonus point will be awarded for each Pike,

Walleye, Bass combination brought in for a maximum

bonus of 3 points.

7) Limits- Each team will be allowed one persons'

legal limit per day. * Change for '05 Sunfish limits will be 10 and Crappie limit will be 5 each day.

8) Lifejackets- The wearing of lifejackets while teams

boat is under power of main engine is strongly

encouraged.

9) Live wells- All boats must have a live well or

other means such as a cooler with an aerator capable

of keeping fish alive. Stringers and fish baskets will

not be allowed.

10) Fishable waters- Any water that can be accessed by

boat without having to pull, push or drag the boat

will be deemed tournament water. The use of a

push-pole, oar or paddle will be allowed.

11) All teams must remain in their boat except in case of

emergency, or at breaks and weigh-ins.

12) Fishing in Minnesota presents a wide range of

weather conditions that anglers must face. Events will

only be cancelled in the event of lightning. The event

will not be completely cancelled, only postponed until

the lightning has passed. In event of lightning, all

boats must return to the starting area within 1/2 hour

from time lightning is spotted by league president.

This will allow ample time for teams to reach safety.

Teams failing to report in will loose all points for

that day except under conditions where teams must take

immediate cover and unable to make it back to the

starting point. Teams will be contacted by cell phone

or marine band radio if a postponement is called.

13) All rules and scoring decisions will be made by

league president and are final. In the event of a

rules violation or conflict by the league president,

the league vice president will make the call. Any

rules changes will be announced prior to each event.

14.) All on the water verification will be done using

published formulas to decide weight. All formulas will

be posted prior to the first event.

15.) Short fish penalty. Any fish more than 1/4" under

prescribed length will be thrown out including 50% of

teams largest fish. This rule shall also apply with a

slot fish violation.

16.) Impose 30% weight penalty for any published rule

violation.

17.) Random drawing for a complete bag check at weigh-ins.

Every fish in the bag gets measured on the official

stick. No one knows until they come to the scales if

they are going to be measured or not. This doesn't

mean that a measurement on any other fish or bag can

not be requested at any time.

To register for L.E.T.S. Go Fishing or for any

questions you may have, please contact either:

Chuck Nordahl “ChuckN”

L.E.T.S. League President

[email protected]

Paul Waldowski

L.E.T.S League Vice President

[email protected]

Please visit our HSOforum for more information:

Aaron Hanson

L.E.T.S League Treasurer

Please visit our HSOforum for more details, pictures and results.

http://www.fishingsavvy.com/

[Guest]

I would like to add that teams may fish 1, 2, 3 or all 4 events. This will be on a first come first served basis, so get your registrations in early!!

[Mark Christianson]

Hey Tom/Chuck,

For the Metro LETS, can a team fish 1,2,3 or 4 events as well? I assume so.

I'd like to work in a State event and a Metro(or two) if I can make it work.

[Guest]

Not sure, I have not heard what Metro is going to do.

[ChuckN]

We have 2 new teams that want to join! So far I have a count of 7 teams that are in. I will need word from last year's teams to hold their spot. Registration will begin in February!! More details will follow..

[Bushwacker]

I am one of the new teams. My buddy and I are really looking forward to it. Last year I had to get married(actually I had the pleasure of getting married), buy a house, work on the house, work on the house, work on the house, and in my free time, I worked on the yard. The whole time I was working on the house, I told my new bride that next summer, I fish. So from what I see, the LETS tournament series looks like a great place to spend time fishing! Only 149 days until the first event, I better start sharpening my hooks. It looks like a great time.

[ChuckN]

We are accepting deposits to hold your spot on LETS!

Please email me at [email protected] and I will let you know where to send the deposits to, and sign your team up.

We have 10 teams so far.

Every (new) team should have received an email from me.

This year, custom plaques are currently under construction to be given away at EVERY event for 1st through 3rd places, along with the cash prizes! Sign up now!

[ChuckN]

I've had a lot of requests from prospected full touring teams, and others wanting individual events. Due to the limit of 15 teams we could score a problem trying to fill individual events when we have others that would fish the entire circuit.

There will a be a deadline of May 1, 2005 for teams to commit to the series. After that date, we will take individual event RSVP's.

I have developed a list, 1st come, 1 served for having the option of fishing an individual event. Those teams will be notified after May 1.

[Guest]

Sounds fair Chuck.

If you took those that want individual events now, would that fill the league or will it leave a lot of gaps?

[ChuckN]

There is no problem right now, but it could be an issue with the interest in some of the events. We cannot fill 1 or more events and tell a full touring team they cannot compete because.... We want to avoid that.

[Guest]

Exactly.

[ChuckN]

Updated list of interested teams!!

We are encouraging everyone to sign up for all 4 events to guarantee a spot, but after May 1st these are the individual teams that get 1st dibs if we have openings.

If there are any discrepencies in this list, please email me and let me know.

[email protected]

We have received deposits from some teams so far, so if you would like to take care of that please let me know also.

$180 for all events if you wish to pay for them all.

$60 now to hold your team (1 $40 event dues + membership fees, $10 per person). Remaining balance on dues must be paid by May 1.

I've had a lot of questions on this, so to clarify:

LETS is only accepting deposits from FULL TOURING TEAMS, not individual events until after May 1st.

LETS full touring teams:

>Team CD/PP

>Paul/Kevin

>Team Dittman

>Matt/Brian

>Ron/Steve

>Brad/Charlie

>Team Bushwacker

>Team Borch

>Team Adam

> Individual Events

>

>-Rush Lake

>Team WallEYES

>Team Threeway

>Team Rocketman

>-OT mystery

>Team WallEYES

>Team Threeway

>Team Rocketman

>-Ida

>Team Rocketman

>Team Oliver

>-Whitefish

>Team Oliver

See you all on the water! Can't wait....

[Deitz Dittrich]

Post deleted by Deitz Dittrich

[GullGuide]

Post deleted by GullGuide

[Bushwacker]

After seeing all the people in the league, thank goodness this is a multi-species league!

[Deitz Dittrich]

Bushwack-Its all about fun anyway.. to be honest, I havn't been on a single body of water that we are fishing.. and if it were up to me to catch a walleye to feed my family... we would all be dead!

[GullGuide]

Hey Bushwacker! Welcome to LETS!!

[Bushwacker]

Thanks guys, I think it will be a great time. Of all the lakes I have only fished Ida once, but that will be part of the fun.

You are all just lucky that rock bass are not one of the point fish because my partner is by far the best rock bass fisherman in the state. He can troll a spoon, cast a spinner bait, pig and jig, Lindy Rig, slip bobber, and come up with a rock bass with every single technique. He's got the knack.

[ChuckN]

To the top!!

[ChuckN]

This is a reminder that if you are thinking of signing up for all of the events, take action before May 1st!! After that the individual events will start getting filled up.

We will need every team's dues paid in full by May 20th.

[ChuckN]

The May 1st deadline has passed.

Everyone that signed up for the individual events on the list above are in!!

Now we can fill up every event for whoever wants to sign up! Just contact me for more information.

May 20th all remaining dues should be paid for the events. Contact me with any questions. [email protected]

[ChuckN]

There are openings for the Brainerd area Whitefish event on June 5th!! Get signed up now!