RE: PWT's call on the Lake Sharpes Tournament

[Jason Martin]

The Lake Sharpe tourney is now history. Most of the posts focus on the effects the decision to continue the tournament had on this particular tournament. I would like point out the future effects this decision will have. What is going to happen the next time this situation arises? and it probably will. The pros will think back to Lake Sharpe and be less apt to head for shore and more willing to risk a trip back to the scales. In my opinion, this is asking for a disaster. Yes, it would still be the pros decision but when there is fairly large sums of money and the thrill of competition involved sometimes common sense takes a back seat. This is where tournament officials need to step in.

As for the chance some took by making the run; the fact still remains that the weather got very ugly within the legal tournament boundaries. This is what should be considered, not whether the decision to make the run was a bad one or not. Besides, hind site is always 20/20 so it is easy to critisize now. If it was so obvious making the long run was a mistake on the fairly calm morning of day 3 why weren't the boundaries restricted and why did 40+ boats do it?

But still, I feel for the PWT officials as no call would have been the right one. Maybe they need to eliminate the gray area and set some rules in stone, like when the wind exceeds XX MPH the tournament day will be called.?

Just my thoughts and opinions.

Jason Martin

ps. yes I was there (as an amateur) and made the one way run. Regardless, I had a great time and learned a lot. I am looking forward to LOTW and think the PWT is a great thing. I would recommend it to anyone thinking of doing it as an amateur.

[Todd_NE]

I feel some sympathy for the guys who waited for the PWT to make a decision, that's a fact. But if the weather is bad enough you pull over on your way in, I can't help but think it's too dangerous to go on without the delay in decision anyway.

Irregardless, you can't penalize the guys who made the choice to stay close either. I pre-fished the Sharpe PWT and fished/pre-fished tournaments on Francis Case (next lake down the mizzou) in like conditions around the same time and even the same day (friday). We lost a tournament by a few ounces because we made the decision our safety was in jeopardy, even though we were on tremendous fish in one tournament. We bailed for a cove near the weigh in and I'm glad we did!

I also know that it's tough to have a one-size fits all policy saying the PWT should cancel any tournament when the wind hits xx mph for example.

Should this be straight wind, gusts, directional, etc? Heck, some parts of Sharpe for example are pretty sheltered while other bodies of water aren't. Some lakes get nasty waves, some get rollers. On rivers you only have so much room to quarter the wind, on and on... I do think weigh-in times should be lengthened in the advent of lightning for sure!

Let's face it, all of us who fish are reliant on cooperative weather. Perhaps the PWT tournaments should have one less pre-fish day and say that the tournament should be three-days over a maximum four-day period. Doing this would keep expenses the same (theoretically) but there are pros and cons. The prefishing day could be kept too.

Bottomline, money and competition make for strong thought and emotion.

Todd