A. We use two different type of tournament structures in our club.

PAPER TOURNAMENT --This is where members of our club are put into groups of three. Then those three members are allowed to fish wherever they want during the allotted time period. Each bass is caught and its weight is estimated on a "Golden Rule". The other two members are witnesses to the catch. After the day is finished, each persons weight is added up and the winners are determined. This form of tournament is great for getting members of the club to meet each other, and it is also a very low cost event. We do not provide boats for this type of tournament, so some teams have to fish in local ponds, streams, creeks, etc. An entry fee of $5 is used to purchase prizes. This type of tournament structure is fun and easy to organize for any new club.

BASS TOURNAMENT-- This is the more involved and more costly event. We hold two tournaments in the fall with our club, the "Old Minnow Bucket" and Big 10 Classic are also held this way. The biggest feat in these type of tournaments are getting boats. A few of our club members have boats, but not nearly enough to have all of our members fishing out of. So, that's where your local BASS clubs, state federations, friends, etc. come into play. We collect a $25 fee from every angler wanting to fish. Then we call and ask fisherman throughout the state if they would mind donating their time and boats by becoming drivers for our tournaments. You'd be surprised by how many GREAT people there are out there that are willing to donate their time and expertise to helping some college kids fish. After getting the drivers and boats, it is pretty much smooth sailing. One student is assigned per boat driver. They fish as a team for the day. The student will weigh in his/her fish and that will be the students total only. The boat driver will weigh-in his/her fish. We will then take the students weight plus the boat drivers weight to get the boat drivers total weight. This does a couple of things. It forces the boat driver to help the student catch fish. They would much rather keep 10 fish instead of 5 and they cant do that if the student does not catch anything. This also helps the student and boat driver get along better. If you were competing against them things could be a little different. This type of tournament takes a great deal of work, but is a great deal of fun to participate in. This is just the gist of how a big tourney is held, but it should help you get started.