I need ideas

[irvingdog]

My brother and I are going to take a houseboat on Rainy again next spring. (Every-other-year event) This time, there will be nine of us guys. And now, I'd like to form a tradition. A Big Fish contest.

Oh sure, we could all toss 20 bucks into a kitty. Been there, done that.

We're bringing 5 fishing boats. 2 guys per boat, so a witness is not a problem. And who doesn't have a digital camera nowadays? (yes, it's safe to assume catch and release. We eat "eater Walleye's" and that's it.)

Any ideas? What do you guys do. Don't be shy. The only bad idea is the one not said out loud......

[eskay]

Irving,

What we've done is that the winner gets the evening off from cleaning fish, cooking dinner and cleaning up. He then gets his dinner served to him, and his beverages brought to him as he wishes. After a long day of fishing, the evening off is a great prize.

We also do it by boat (partners), so that the guys in the winning boat both get the prize.

[irvingdog]

Oooohhh. That's good. Right off the bat.

Keep them coming.

[BAIT956]

Good ideas by eskay. Here's what we do. Sort of like a Little Brown Jug or Paul Bunyan's Axe.

For the Wisconsin boys, we have a replica of Bucky Badger and use it as a traveling trophy. The winner gets to keep it for a year.

For the Minnesota guys, we use an Ice Cream Pail painted an labled, as a traveling trophy. ( Some of these boys are good sized)

Pictures are taken and distrbuted by internet. Bragging rights for the year are coveted.

A lot of smack is given and taken all year long.

[lakertaker]

Irving,

The above suggestions are great, we made the mistake of setting up a tournament for money and found out people do some dumb and unethical things when there are $$$$ at stake, it actually tarnished some frienships for a short while. My opinion is friendly and big fish wagers are fine but stay away from prize money. Good fishing!

[Pherris]

Me and about 11 others have an annual bass fishing tournement. No money It is usally a 5 day event with 2 runs a day. We have a leaders vest(it is a fishing vest with various patches on it)and a canteen for the bottom guy each run. Top guy each run gets to wear the vest and is the boss of the canteen/cabin boy. Canteen boys other duties are to clean the cabin do dishes and generally be the maid until the next run. It is always in good spirit and no unreasonable requests are made we do have a rule that if the leader askes the canteen boy to do something out of the ordinary by the leader ie. go pull my boat and wax it. It is voted on by the others. It is all in fun but we have a really good time with it. At the end of the tounement we have trophy's The overall winner gets the champion trophy and takes possession of the vest until the next year. We also have a big fish trophy for big fish and the last place guy gets the Angel fish trophy. The names of each are put on the corrosponding trophy. We also assign someone each year to design a t-shirt. The design is kept veery secret until the unveiling opening night of the get together. The cost is shared equally amoung particpents. It is a really good time and we have some that come from as far a Florida to participate. It is all C&R bass. We used to let the top guy pick 1 lure from each of the others box but over the years we all have pretty much acquired the same stuff and we all have enough senkos so now the winner gets $100 Bass Pro gift certifcate.

[Kidd]

I'm just going to give you a little food for thought here.

We use to houseboat at Rainy with anywhere from 8 - 12 guys and we would have a fishing contest every year. However, Rainy is a great fishery for Northerns, Walleye, Smallmouth and Crappie so we came up with a point system and the winner was tallied at the end of the week,

For example:

5 points for a for a 30 - 40 inch Northern and 10 points for a Northern greater than 40 inches

5 Points for a 15 - 20 inch Smallmounth and 10 for greater than 20, Same for Walleye and Crappie.

Set your own sizes and points. This way, if someone wants to fish for something other than a Northern, they can without being "punished".

It was a blast totaling up your points at the end of each day.

[ghotierman]

The points system is a good idea. Just be sure to set some clear criteria for the contest. I fished with some buddies out on the Missouri in S.D. We each put $5 in the pot for "big fish". Well, conditions were far from ideal, windy, rainy, cold. Only a few walleyes were caught..and they were barely 12inches. I hooked into the biggest fish of the day...a nice battle ensued, part of which was caught on video...when the fish broke the surface..it turned out to be a 6lb carp! I argued to no avail that I should win the 'big fish' pot...not a 13 inch walleye! They meant 'biggest walleye'. Just say what you mean...

turns out I had snagged the dorsal fin of the carp...it was hooked like a giant minnow! quite fun really. I would have felt better if they had disqualified me for a foul hook rather than for the species.

have fun..

[VMS]

We have a tradition on our annual manitoba trip that involves only quarters.

The captain of the boat sets the rules. Usually we have the first fish at a new spot gets a quarter from the others in the boat (with a twist that if you already caught a "first fish", you must catch two in a row before anyone else to get another "first fish") Then, with the length limits, we have what we call most stick-fish (those fish that are too long on the ruler), biggest stick-fish, and first stick fish. Each category is worth one quarter from the others in the boat... Usually this falls for Northerns, but we do it for walleyes as well.

With the length limits, you can really have a good time with it. I will usually create a day where the payout is for the last fish before a major move (to a new spot), the smallest fish, and the largest fish not being a "stick fish" It is just hilarious watching a bunch of guys measuring all the small fish for quarters.

We usually have 4 in a boat on this trip, so lots of quarters can get handed over in a day between the guys.. and, with low payouts, nobody is going to pull any type of strings since there are always 3 other sets of eyes watching everything..

Steve

[beeonkey]

This is one that can be very interesting to say the least. Draw names of a person in the group. Who ever draws your name gets to pick a lure out of your tackle box and you have to catch a fish on it. Yes any lure in your box!! The person to catch a fish on their lure wins. It's not a contest for the hole trip but it's fun. You could add other rules if you need to. We usually do it for a half day after we have fished for awhile.

[irvingdog]

TTT