A unique website dedicated to fishing information from Florida's Northern Big Bend. This includes the area from the Econfina River west to the Apalachicola River
Chalk wrote:Noble of Gary to state his side, sounds like he didn't even weigh the fish - so what's the point. People make mistakes, it wasn't weighed.
Agree...where is the beef with a 27 and 1/8" over the limit relish. Most likely you will get a pass from the man, and more applicable to this thread IT HAD NO AFFECT ON THE TOURNAMENT that I know of.
Well, I don't fish tournaments so can't speak to the rigidity of rulings, but what I can do is speak just a wee bit to Gary's character. We haven't seen eye to eye on every issue posted on this board (speaking more of off-topic issues) BUT my interactions with him (long ago, he may not even remember them) have me appreciating he's a highly disciplined, hard working, well-meaning fellow who actually practices what he preaches (and that being with a relatively soft, kind voice). Less and less folks like him around each day in this crazy world.
ZERO offense intended to the many of you who do enjoy tournaments, but can't say seeing a good guy get crucified on an issue over which he's trying to be straight forward makes me any more eager to jump in the game.
"The Marines I have seen around the world have the cleanest bodies, the filthiest minds, the highest morale, and the lowest morals of any group of animals I have ever seen. Thank GOD for the United States Marine Corps." Eleanor Roosevelt, 1945
We're confusing a couple issues in this thread. As long as I've been associated with the NFGFC, courtesy measures were permitted to determine whether a trout qualified as a slot fish or over slot. This isn't a legalality issue, as most teams have multiple anglers, but an issue of which fish are permitted by tournament rules. These measurements are available upon request.
The only courtesy measures being used to determine legality of a fish happened informally prior to bringing fish to the scale when the penalty for an illegal fish was fish disqualification without replacement rather than team disqualification. If you look back in several posts or have attended meetings you've probably seen that NFGFC is taking a stronger stance on illegal fish. Episodes in previous years such as described above as well as the Club's objectives towards compliance and conservation necessitate the stonger position of team disqualification. Additionally, I've been carrying the ruler around most of the year and encouraging tournament participants to compare it to theirs. If you look in prior posts you'll see this change in bold, underlined font along with encouragement to compare personal rulers to the Club's. I'm appy to discuss any questions or concerns that may exist at the next meeting. I'll also have the tournament ruler available for comparrison again that evening. It should be noted that illegal fish can be short or long.
As for anyone who witnesses something they're uncomfortable at a tournament, please come speak with me prior to pay-out. I'm not interested in taking any action or reposessing funds once they've been handed out. Similarly, I don't recommend handing your registration tickets to other members or officers, seeking their courtesy measuers, etc; the Club elects a tournament director to manage these issues. Last tournament multiple teams told me I didn't need to measure their fish b/c someone else had performed a courtesy measuer or told me that they had given another member their ticket to hand and therefore couldn't put it in the collection box. It is each angler's responsibility to remain compliant with the torunament rules and applicable laws, not a third party's. I can't manage 30 boat tournaments with people going in every direction, please address tournament issues to my attention and don't rely upon a third party, even if that third party is a Club officer (except Matt who faciliates at weigh-in).
Finally, for those of you seeking additional details on the previous thread or questioning my efforts to quash that thread, I was trying to close it b/c I don't think this type of publicity enhances the image of the Club or encourages participation in tournaments. I'll happily have conversations with individuals to address concerns, but the original thread did not have any foreseeable benefit (or possibly even intent) to accomplish the goals of the Club and these tournaments. For those folks seeking soap operas instead of fishing info, Days of Our Lives is a different station. If you're debating whether to participate in a NFGFC tournament, I guarantee that every effort will be made to encourage your participation as well as that all tournaments are conducted as fairly as possible. If there was any question as to favoritism or anything of that nature, Matt and I would have benefited most from a disqualification as we had the #2 red. As I stated in the previous post though, I was not going to disqualify anyone based upon rumors that come out 10 days after weigh-in. Alternatively, I would have disqualified Gary had someone told me of his red at weig-in.
Thanks again Gary. Hopefully this issue is closed. Congrats on bringing some fine fish to the scale.
In the end we will conserve only what we love. We will love only what we understand. And we will understand only what we are taught.
I've received a $100 fine for possessing a 27 1/4" redfish before and a stern talking to about a 14 9/10" trout. Why risk the tournament participant receiving a fine over 1/4"?
I've received a $100 fine for possessing a 27 1/4" redfish before and a stern talking to about a 14 9/10" trout. Why risk the tournament participant receiving a fine over 1/4"?
The officers discussed that as an alternative. We decided accountability and allowing folks to catch as large of fish as the law allows was a better option. This was the same meeting where slot vs hawg trout tournaments were discussed and there have been some forum discussion around that decision as well. End of day, An 8# red is way more fun than a 6.5. As anglers we need to know the rules and how to measure fish
Too funny Barry! Folks should put their money in so they can watch the entertainment first hand instead watching the "Hollywood" version
In the end we will conserve only what we love. We will love only what we understand. And we will understand only what we are taught.
