# bad tournament experiences



## lordofthepunks (Feb 24, 2009)

im curious about other peoples bad experiences during tournaments, you dont have to name names or circuits (unless you want to i guess). ill start. last season my partner and i finished 2nd at a tournament at deercreek. the payout advertised was based off a 100 boat field and was supposed to pay second place $1000.00. i think the field ended up being only 28 boats. do the math and you get a 28% field and 28% of the advertised purse is what was paid to every other position. that puts 2nd place at $280.00 . we got only $200 and no explanation. we asked the director, thought maybe he made a mathamatical honest error. no explanation. never did get any explanation.


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## Papascott (Apr 22, 2004)

Very first tournament I fished was on a small private country club lake. My cousin and I had a real nice bag with only a few teams left to weigh. When the remaining teams seen our bag they actually started trading fish to make the biggest bag possible out of the two teams. Lost by quarter pound or something like that. This was more of a drinking affair than a fishing tournament but still was pretty messed up.


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## mikeshookset (Feb 28, 2005)

Papascott said:


> Very first tournament I fished was on a small private country club lake. My cousin and I had a real nice bag with only a few teams left to weigh. When the remaining teams seen our bag they actually started trading fish to make the biggest bag possible out of the two teams. Lost by quarter pound or something like that. This was more of a drinking affair than a fishing tournament but still was pretty messed up.


drinking has no place during a tournament it only ask for trouble. a few years back i had a team do it at piedmont and when i was told i went into the parking lot and when i seen the open brown bottles they goy dqed no questions asked when they tried to give a explanation my ears where already shut.


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## mikeshookset (Feb 28, 2005)

lordofthepunks said:


> im curious about other peoples bad experiences during tournaments, you dont have to name names or circuits (unless you want to i guess). ill start. last season my partner and i finished 2nd at a tournament at deercreek. the payout advertised was based off a 100 boat field and was supposed to pay second place $1000.00. i think the field ended up being only 28 boats. do the math and you get a 28% field and 28% of the advertised purse is what was paid to every other position. that puts 2nd place at $280.00 . we got only $200 and no explanation. we asked the director, thought maybe he made a mathamatical honest error. no explanation. never did get any explanation.


that would really suck.. you should have been givin an explanation and if there was a mistake it should have been corected on the spot with at least a apology. any body can make a honest mistake but it should not be swept under the rug. maybe they pulled that before and thats a reason they only had 28 percent of a field guys will stop fishing tournaments that dont pay out as advertised very fast.


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## Cull'in (Nov 21, 2005)

I've been fishing tournaments for 30 years. I've won plenty and lost alot.
I've seen people accused of cheating, people disqualified for various reasons, paybacks and turnouts that didn't meet expectations and had less than pleasant run-ins on the water with guys but I've never walked away from one with a bad taste in my mouth.

Maybe I'm lucky, maybe I've just chosen the right events to fish. Hell, maybe my demeanor is such I just don't let too much bother me.
I've enjoyed 'em all and I'm looking forward to 2010!


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## Salmonid (Apr 14, 2004)

Our SWOCC Catfish series has a pre launch meeting and we have a published speadsheet showing the exact payouts based on the number of boats, so at the pre meeting, if there is 18 boats, we know exactly what 1,2,3 and Big Fish will payout based on our clubs 92% payout schedule. Thats a good way to go, everyone knows up front what the payouts are. 

Salmonid


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## Basscat2 (Oct 2, 2009)

I don't know if this calls about a bad tourny experience, but, I fish some of all the circuts in NE ohio.

Regarding the payouts:

Some put it in writing, the percentage of the payback like you said at the bottom.
Rory has a 100% payback from the fishermens entry fees and I think he covers his cost with the sponcers he earns. So in a nut shell the fishermens monies goes back to the fishermen 100%.

Some don't really put it in writing, if the field is full it is, but if the field has 52 boats where a full field is 80 I don't know what the formula is, heck i don't know if anyone does?

Another circut tells you in writing, you get about 91% of the entry fees back in the pay out after covering expenses, and they give you the formula for you to figure it out which is great like rory's.

That's what I THINK I know about a few circuts, I'm not saying the circuts shouldn't make any money, thats not it at all. I just think they should put it in writing, an accurate formula so the fishermen know exactly what there getting into. Which, most circuts do. If its in writing, the bad experiences from what the payback is will never happen.


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## Gomez (Apr 13, 2005)

Cull'in said:


> I've been fishing tournaments for 30 years. I've won plenty and lost alot.
> I've seen people accused of cheating, people disqualified for various reasons, paybacks and turnouts that didn't meet expectations and had less than pleasant run-ins on the water with guys but I've never walked away from one with a bad taste in my mouth.
> 
> Maybe I'm lucky, maybe I've just chosen the right events to fish. Hell, maybe my demeanor is such I just don't let too much bother me.
> I've enjoyed 'em all and I'm looking forward to 2010!


I gotta agree with you Cull'in, although your making me feel a little old with the 30 years thing but I guess it has been about 20+ for me as well. I've fished at all levels all over the country and I really don't have anything bad that sticks in my throat either. I do agree on the payout deal though, there should be some kind of formula so there are no questions on the payouts.

Good thread though this is interesting stuff!


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## lordofthepunks (Feb 24, 2009)

to this day, its my only bad experience regarding tournaments. i hope i never have another one.


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## bassman2 (Jul 14, 2007)

no bad tournement payouts at the "Electric Bass Circuit" 
www.electric-bass.org we payout 100% and also our payouts are small so we can spread the money out farther. Last year 53 different anglers received a payout. No one wins the bulk of the money. It works out that if you're in the top 25% of the field you'll get your money back. works great for us that just want to have fun competing and the money simply makes it more fun.


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## Spot (Feb 2, 2006)

gomez you are old......lol


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