Worst tournament mistake?

[Kalimino]

What is yours?
You know how tournaments can be on a slow day and your stress level goes up a little. In a recent tourney my partner and I had our 5 fish (limit) when the eyes started feeding agian everthing was moving along rather quickly - somehow I culled our 5 th fish - yes threw him back in the water. You know that relaxed feeling you have when you have your limit in the livewell, well my partner had that feeling and I did not. It took me a while... "um-uh I think we only have 4 walleyes now" and of course it was a long and stressful TWO hours till our next fish.
We did finally fill BACK up..WHEW!!

Kalin

[Dutchman]

Back when I first started fishing tourneys I was pretty broke, come to think of it that hasn't changed much... anyhow I made my own measuring board and somehow it measured short, so a 15" fish would only measure 14 3/4" When I finally compared it to a real board I realized that I had lost quite a bit of winnings because I was returning those 15" fish instead of weighing them (Most S.D. tourney's always had a 15" minimum) I still have that board, but I use a "Judge" now...
"Fishing is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope"

[asu72]

leaving fish to look for fish if you know what I mean!!!!

[Sunshine]

Throwing back fish that would have cashed a check for me. Unfortunately, I'm dumber than I look :-) and have repeatedly done this while going for the win instead of just being satisfied with placing. Must be a a real sickness when you know your throwing back fish that will put money in your pocket. Why do I always feel that I must go for the gold?

[ChadM]

Staying in an area when others were catching fish and I was not. Should have pulled the pin and found my own fish rather than getting ticked watching everyone else catch em.

[Eyez]

Not having fun. ;)



Dusty

[Western Walleye Editor]

Same - Rookie Pro on the the RCL at Lake Sharpe and the first 2 fish in the boat were 18.5 and 18.5. Having a 26 from the same hole the day before made me change my mind on keeping the 2nd 18.5 and threw it back. I ended up weight a scrawny 16 inch sauger rather than that 3 pounder I would have gained 2 pounds and a check. Taught me an important lesson to remember why you go in with a game plan.

Honsie

[hgmeyer]

Dennis... I have to disagree with your post... I do not think you are dumber than you look... it's about even....LOL... just kidding... Don't beat yourself up for making a good decision...

[Sunshine]

Hey! I resemble that remark! ;-)

[Gander Mt Guide]

I fish alot of Musky Tournys and I believe this may be applicable to Walleye ones too. I rush too much, my presentations are too quick. Too much speed on baits (especially in cold water) can ruin you. When you're under the gun to catch fish, the first response is to do everything quickly....you have to slow things down. This is the biggest reason I like 2 day tournys, I wear myself out half way through the first day.

[WAZZZ]

Not me but a close Co-angler buddy. Ranked 2nd for Co-angler of the year in the last tourney of the year had a good weight on day one had a brain fart with his pro partner on day 2. Got their times mixed up. Came in at 3:40. Should have been in at 3:20. Lost all their weight. Not exactly sure what it cost him in $ but I'm sure next time he will take an interest in time-management.

[Netminder]

I would have to say without a doubt my biggest mistake is second-guessing my original plan. I've spent days prefishing to develop a game plan only to change when I got on the water the morning of the tournament. BAD IDEA! Trust your plan and at least give it a chance to succeed or fail before abandoning it.

Netminder

"Learn from the mistakes of others, because you won't live long enough to make them all yourself"

http://www.walleyecentral.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=101809

[Unlogged T-Mac]

In a 2 day tourney, last year----

I weighed in on day #1 in plenty of time (and even and saw our weight posted ..sitting in 2nd place), but spaced out turning the card in. Penalty---Took a zero for day one.

Came back really strong on day two and ended up in second overall (with only our day #2 weight counting).

The problem was: Had I turned in our day one card on time we would have won the tourney with a 12lb bulge over the guys who did get the win.

How big was the mistake? ....$7500.00 (US) it cost us.

OUCH!

[Far Beyond Driven]

Skipping weigh in.

Local tackle store has a $10 in heaviest cooler takes all 6 hour tourney each Satruday morning. Everyone on the radio was into fish, all we managed was one big 18# king, so we pulled the boat out and headed home, driving right by the tackle store.

Checked in my cooler the next weekend for the same weekly tournament and saw that 3 fish for a total of 11# took the $80 pot the week before.

FBD, Holland, MI

[weighemall]

I've made plenty of big mistakes...I had a buddy in the PWT that made one of the biggest mistakes I've seen (his rookie year).

This tournament was a "six fish limit". He lost count of the number fish he had in his live-well. He spend most of the day thinking he was one fish short, but he actually had six in the box. He had a black livewell, so it was kind of hard for him to see the fish when he took them out of the livewell at the weigh-in. He took out five fish, and brought them to the scale...When he returned to his boat, he saw the sixth fish in his well...He was devastated.

The good news is, he still made it to the Championship.

[Gilligan]

I'll 100% Eyez. Promised myself that when it wasn't fun I would either find a way to get the fun back in or quit.

My partner Eyedoktr and I set our #1 goal this year to have fun. We both have been through the ringer this season with jobs, health and family issues. During prefish for two back to back weekend tournaments I was so sick that I should have been in the hospital and was going on 2 hours or less sleep a night. Still pushed to prefish in the cold, wet rain for about 10 days. AND we weighed 0's for 2 consecutive weeks smashing all chances to stay anywhere close to the circuits leaders.

We sorta stopped, refocused and figured out how to have fun again. We spent much of our next 2 tournaments practical joking, and just plain having a blast. I think that short of keeping the fun in this is the quickest way to ruin friendships. Fishing has been my passion for over 40 years, I'm not going to let what I weigh or don't weigh ruin that.

By the way...my partner STILL hasn't looked to see what I left in his glove box 2 weeks ago!!

[luvtotroll]

Losing count of fish in tournament in a no cull state. Thought I had only four fish when I put a 4 lber in the box. Turned around and caught an 8. When counting before I put that one in the box I came up with six (limit). Had to let the 8 go.
Right as I was releasing it I had a friend fishing the same tournament come by. He saw me release the eight and asked If that was the size of fish I was throwing back because he had a zero so far. Of course I said yes. Finished 11th, should have been 2nd. Bummer

Scott

[MOUNTAIN MAN]

Without a doubt the worst mistakes I have ever made in both Bass and walleye tourneys,(while running the boat myself),was the imfamous leaving fish to go to other fish. I said mistakes, because I still can't break myself of the habit. My wife and I have tried as a remedy to leave the spot when the bite slows, but we are sure there are still some fish there and circling back to it in an hour and a half or so. The results have been close to amazing.
Several other tourney anglers have posted in the past that they used to leave a spot for the day if it stops producing for 20 -30 minutes, but have changed their game plans on some bodies of water so as to fish 4,5, 6 or more relatively close spots in a circle. Apparently from further discussions the reason is two fold. #1 Good locations seem to quiet down and become active again in relatively short periods of time when left alone. #2 that way if for some reason the fish you prefished decide to feed at a different time of day you will pick up on it as you are making your rounds.

But needless to say if the fish they need continue to bite at one spot they never leave it.... still a hard call when they stop biting for a while, but at least with the circle thing you don't make the mistake of not trying those fish again unless the next spot or spots are on fire.

[yep]

The question of when to stay and when to go is never easy. There is no "general rule". The famous statement "Never leave fish to find fish" sounds good, but it's never that cut and dry. There are some systems where spots will produce fish through out the day, and there are some systems that are "run and gun" systems. It all depends on where you are, and the time of year...

[sevenmmm]

Having my boat rigged by novice. He wired my electronics to the bowmount batteries. 2nd day of a PWT Tourney the battery went dead. Fished the whole day without GPS or Sonar.

Never had the idea it was so simple and never investigated the wiring thinking it was the unit.

AARRGG!

PS. Good thing you only asked for the worst!

[Kalimino]

And I thought I was the only one who couldn't count - I sure don't have a problem counting those last 4 worms at 1:30 on a 3:00 weigh-in:)

[marcbodi]

Hi,
Me and my buddy were fishing a Tournament in the Maumee River and it was a buddy tournment and you turn in six fish between you.I had 5 nice fish and he had 5 nice fish.He moved down the river to fish another hole and when it was time to wade back to shore to go to the weigh in i found out that my stringer had come loose from my Waders.I met him on shore and told him what happened.He said he was going to try to catch 1 more fish for our 6.It was getting late for the weigh in and I told him we had to get going.We were at our trucks and he was talking to his buddy.I left my waders on and drove to the weigh in and got there with 5 min to go.He got there 5 min late so the fish didn't count.He weighed the fish and we would have taken 2th place.With the big fish I had on my stringer we would have won.he said it was my fault that the fish were late for the weigh in even thou we were at our trucks at the same time.



May I be fishing somewhere Tomorrow

[Hans Brinker]

Turned the card in??????? What the heck. Once you sign the slip at the weigh table after they weigh your fish, they give you a copy and then they take the original. What kind of funky system were you involved in???? Once you get your fish to the weighmaster there is NO Possible way you can get DQed. You need to find some "real" tournaments. That Tourney was poorly run.

[Rip V. Winkle]

Biggest tournament mistake I and another fellow competitor ever made was being the proverbial "Nice Guys" stopping to render assistance to a fellow competator's sunken split boat complete with floating fishing equipment debris while I had 6 fish weighing 39 pounds. Seems he was rescued minutes before but we had no knowledge of it. We were clocked 20 minutes late because we called the Coast Guard and any excuse we had wasn't good enough. Now I NEVER render assistance and I go out of my way to NOT to help ANYbody in a tournament for ANY reason. Cruel and hardask you say, but that is the way it has to be. I am playing to win and I could care less about any other contestant just like they are to me. Show me a GOOD Sameritan and I will show you somebody asking to get SHAFTED. Seems the following year a "Big Name Competitor" got the rule changed so you can transport fish in somebody elses boat if you conk out and you and the rescuer don't get declared late. Seems it was never problem if it happened to Joe Nobody and he got DQed ut when it happens to a BIG NAME it is a Major rule change.

A GOOD DEAD NEVER GOES UNPUNISHED AND I LEARNED THE HARD WAY.

[tryfishing]

I think you need a heart check-up my friend. Looks like you are letting your heart get pretty hard.

You may not win today when you reach out to help someone... but you will always gain respect from real men. It is hard because society tells us to look out for ourselves... that is called selfishness!! I should know, because I have been in your shoes. I got a heart check up the hard way... it cost me a lot inside. But now I work hard at trying to serve others instead of myself. I still do not have it all together but the Lord will help ya with a new heart if you just ask!!

Good Luck...
Dal

[hgmeyer]

I pray that "you" don't meet up with "you" if you need help... Obviously you never learned what every combat veteran learned, if you and your buddies don't take care of each other none of you will survive. Money is meaningless when another person's life is on the line... Tragic that you still haven't learned what life is really all about...

[Marble Eyes]

Dear Diary,

As I write this I am still sore from the ripping I just gave myself that cost My Co-angler and I a second day trip to the RCL League Super Tourament on Saginaw Bay today.

We fished for 2 hours on my #1 hot spot, nothing. We made a run to spot #2, and caught 6 eyes out of 6 bites. The Problem, they immediately were going belly up, I tried the Snap weight routine. I haven't learned how to fizz a fish and really didn't want to experiment on 7 lbers in a Tournament and of course no Ice to cool the water in the live well. :(

Anyhow we had a long run, stayed 30 seconds short of being late the rain came with the Wind in the last 10 minutes, and beat the living daylights out of us, the fish and the boat to get back.

Result=no time to work on fish on the way in, 2-3 footers right in your face for 20 miles.



total Gross weight 24 lbs. 10 onces.
Penalty 5x8 0z.

Net Weight 22 lbs. 2 onces

I placed 16th, Cut off was 15th place with a weight of 22 lbs. 4 ounces.


OUCH I think I need a squirt of Bactine, cause its hurting real bad right about now.



Oh Yeah and I was 20 seconds from being left at the Dock at the RCL Championship in Red Wing in 02, Seems I decided It would be best to leave my watch on Michigan time, and was looking at a alarm clock in a hotel room showing 6 O'clock thinking it was 5. Needless to say I was a bit hurried when I realized the error. Fortunately My Pro Didn't get too upset that I Showed up 1 minute before take off.

Sorry Waz. I won't do that again. :) Hey we caught Fish, I just needed a bit more sleep than most that morning...

[Richard Boone]

fishing in the pwt as a am.

[Rip V Winkle]

I know what you mean and understand, but until you walk in another man's shoes and bear his load I suggest you hold your tounge and confine your comments to the theoretcal hypothesis catagory. Since there was a 800 dollar entry fee on the line for this 3 day Pro-Am draw for partner event and the so-called Christian GUYS that run the this bigtime pro circuit DO NOT give rip-rap about anybody or anything except their bottom line and whether they get back to go to church on Sunday, the question I asked myself is why should I care. There is no points or awards for being a nice guy as there are no real men in this circuit since they all want to win and will walk over anybody with track shoes with sharpened spikes to get to get a higher placement. Then for the ultimate hypocrisy, they go to the tournament anglers church meeting before the next tournament and pray for another high placement at any cost. Being nice only gets you a sign put on your back that say,"Kick Me I'm nice and I will smile". As the holocaust victims tell everyone, "NEVER AGAIN" and I agree 125%. Showing mercy to the people who smite you will never be in my program unless God tells me personally otherwise. Since that hasn't happened yet, I will play by my rules. Take no prisoners and show no mercy is the only way to play in a competitive event. Nice guys finish last. Vince Lombardi never got to where he was by being nice did he?

[Rip V winkle]

Tragic???? LMAO. We are not talking about war. We are talking about what you have to do to be competitive to fish in a major stakes walleye tourney. When you enter a bigtime stakes with bigtime money on the line you better be ready to do the unpleasant things to your fellow competitors because that is what it takes to win. You don't lend out tackle, tools or equipment of any kind. You don't fix other peoples' broken stuff. You do NOT stop and Transport fish when other competitors boats or motors break. You do NOT give any type of aid or comfort to the competition, PERIOD. HADA. ZIP. IF you can't stomach the dirty deeds then don't enter the event. If I had it to do all over again and if it ever happens again I think I will take the "We can talk about this in court with my attourney". The "sue their pants off approach" is the way you get respect and turn peoples's heads around. My approach now is I don't argue with tournament idiots, I just say "Get a good attourney because the next time you will see me is in court". They have yet to make anyone sign a waiver to give up the right to sue if somebody screws you.

[Shellback]

Hey Rip, I kind of get the idea from your first post that the occupants of the boat had already been picked up by the Coast Guard and you were trying to save the folks gear. If that is the case, I can see where you are coming from somewhat with $800 entrance fees. But if you were to leave people in the water just to make it back to weigh in, I think you need to evaluate what's more important, a persons life or winning a tournament. If you choose the tournament, maybe you should confine your fishing competition to friends, and who buys beers at the end of the day. I also believe it's a disgrace for the tournament directors to DQ you for being late for salvaging gear from an accident. I do hope that if you recovered and returned the gear the owner showed thanks or compensation.

[Dustywaterwolf]

Hey Rip- You better look at the first three letters of your on line name, R.I.P., because I can guarentee you that there are not going to be a lot of people who would stop to help you out with knowing the attitude you have got towards helping out in a situation where someones life is on the line. SHAME on you for putting your pocket book in front of trying to save someone who could really be in seriuos trouble. Need I remind you that in the situation of you greedily looking the other way in the event that you do come across a similar situation as you once did already and there was someone in a life threatining situation, that by law you could be held responsible for their death, should that occur, if you do not make any effort to help them out. The contract you big time, big money fishermen, (whom the fishing public for whatever reason idolize)should be signing is in the event you do not help a fellow angler who is obviosly in distress, be it a fellow competitor or just a weekend angler, you should be completely disqulified from the entire tournement. PERIOD. I would suggest you fish a lot closer to shore on those big waters you fish unless you are a really great swimmer or you may just R.I.P.-RIP. You need to think of the bigger picture, the guy that you are going to so casually ignore that is going to drowned probably has a wife and a couple of kids and works hard for an honest living so he can follow his dream of fishing with you pro's (whom definately right now you are not). How in the world could you live with yourself! You better go see a doctor, sounds like you need a heart transplant, and then think of the HEART DONOR!!!

[hgmeyer]

I'll bet your dog doesn't even like you... You are a sad case and a poor excuse for a "sportsman"... Great logic... Someone screwed you so now you will screw everybody... Thankfully, God takes care of fools and drunks... So I am sure if you capsize I'll be there to rescue your sorry butt... no thanks or reward needed. I like getting up in the morning and when I shave I don't have any desire to cut my own throat...

[Rip v winkle]

There was floating gear all over. We had an obligation to check for people in the water since the waves were nearly 5 feet, we didn't find anybody but still took the time to check being the "Nice Guys" that were were. I could care less about the floating gear. Coast Guard didn't know about this accident when I radioed it in and asked us to stay there to get a fix on our radio position while we broadcast to them. This stuff took time and WE WERE PUNISHED FOR IT PURE AND SIMPLE. Later on after the tourney ended the officials took off for dinner without all teams being accounted for and two guys spent the night clinging to there capsized boat in 3-5 without rescue till the morning.

[Rip v winkle]

No where did I say I wouldn't stop to pick up a floating or floundering body that I spot. All I am saying is there a a limit on what I will do. If I don't see trouble I sure as heck don't go looking for it. I can quickly "put the wet guy in the boat taking 1 minute, but I won't transport gear, equipment or fish...so he can beat me at the weigh in with fish I transported for him because I was a "nice guy"?????


Unfortunatley for my pocket book, was picked by the tournament officials. You guys are axactly the kind of individuals they want paying the high dollar entry fees. When they tourney fields get pared down by do-gooders stopping to do good deeds it just leaves a lot less competitors left to beat. Nice Guys Finish Last.

[Rip v Winkle]

I won't be capsizing or sinking my boat because I am smart enough not to be trying to go 40 MPH in 3-5 foot waves as the guy who sunk and split his boat open as it was later determined as he laughed about it at weigh in. HE later said that the poorly made boat was his sponsor's problem not his. You are most correct about God taking care of Drunks and fools, but God hasn't requested my services so I assume God has the tools to do his job and has never needed me for moral support. I wonder if God could show up at the captains' meeting or the Christian anglers' memebers meeting before the tournament and give the hypocrites some expectations on what GOD expects in a walleye tourney???? I will say a prayer to see what God thinks.

[Rip V winkle]

But on the flip side if you stop and render the wrong assistance the victim ends up sueing you. Last time I checked I have drove by many auto accidents with out stopping because I don't want to endanger myself or expose myself to rendering the WRONG aid. It is a crazy world but the chances of getting sued because you stopped and injured somebody in the process of rescuing them are 1000% greater than getting charged with somebodies death because you did nothing. I will not take a chance with the intelligience of people on juries in today's world. The lady that got 7 million from Mcdonalds for the hot coffee spill taught me how smart juries are in today's world. I want to be a plaintiff NOT A defendant. Defendants are LOSERS.

[Hawker]

I would never want to be caught in the same tourney with a person like the person who calls himself Rip V Winkle. I'm afraid I'd be going to the officals each and every tourney with an Un-sportsman Like protest against him. He'd be the same guy cutting me off on the highway on the way to the lake, the gas station, the resturant, the boat ramp, pre-tourney boat check and the weigh in line. He'd be the one with the blinders on to everything except the things that "serve" him. All the blame for everything goes always to someone else cause he's never ever wrong. He's smarter, knows better and would never make any of the simple mistakes that make the rest of us human!! He's also likely bringing up a family of children that will be just like him only worse when they mature, that is if he's found a mate that will put up with the attitude he's shown on here. Until you get a true life changing "change of heart" Mr. Winkle, may your days be blessed with misery, your life filled with turmoil, and your attempts of rest and sleep broken and disturbed with thoughts of being late to weigh-in's, broke down with no help, and of being all alone!!!
Hawker;( ;( ;(

[huh]

Are you saying you should have entered as a pro?