King Of The Lake Spring and Fall

[getitwet]

Well its already that time of year where we start planning for the upcoming yr.

We have had some great discussions with many of you in past on where and how the tournament scene is going.  One conscensus is that they are getting too expensive for the average guy and most are only catering to the big boats and "pros".    Entry fees for all tournaments have gone to a min of $650 to $1500.  This has eliminated many teams.  In the past 14 yrs I have seen our tournaments go from 200 to 650 and the average boat size from 20 to 30ft.  We have seen prize money go from 4000 to 20000 for first, things have chaged a lot but the one thing that has not is WE STILL LOVE TO COMPETE!!. 

I cant remember doing something like this in the past in a public forum.  The ideas that are be proposed are ideas and not implemented and are proposed in order to include more people and encourage more participation.  We would love to have more boats as our sponsors would get more exposure and thats the only way we can leverage them into more donations. 

There are a lot of you that find excuses not to fish and really that is your personal decision as nobody is forcing anyone to do what they dont want to do.  The excuses i here all the time is "we cant compete against the big players"  I think in a 5 fish one day tournament or a 2 day 10 fish tournament we have seen many teams come for a weekend and do real well.  in fact we have had them win.  "too expensive for my blood" This I understand as it cost me and my team over $2500 in any tournament except for my home ports events.  "I like a one day vs 2 day tournament"  Again I see the trend as it evolved in the 1 day events and most would think it is easier to win because it is only one day but in fact I believe you have to have your ducks in order to compete against the big players there because you have to catch 6 fish instead of five per day.  Please don't take this as a knock to the 1 day events as they are great and we need different types of competition on the lake or it would get boring.

I have some ideas I would like to propose.

300 or 400 entry fee for the weekend, based on 50 teams payout would be

300 - 1- 7500 - 2- 3000 - 3- 1500 - 4- 1000 - 5- 1000 - 6- 500 - 7- 500

400 - 1- 10000 - 2- 4000 - 3- 2500 - 4- 1500 - 5- 1000 - 6- 500 - 7- 500

For $100 or less per teamate you could participate for these kind of dollars.


2.  $200 for Sat and $200 for Sun

These would be 2 stand alone tournaments on each their resppective days.  You could fish 1 or 2 or all combined if you want to fish for bigger money.

Based on 30 teams 

1- $3000 - 2- 1500 - 3- 750 - 4- 500 - 5- 250

Based on 50 teams

1- $5000 - 2-2500 - 3- 1500 - 4- 500 - 5- 500

You can see that these one day tournaments can provide some good returns.

If you get lucky you can take home some serious money. 

Big Fish Friday is another option that we will be keeping as it has been a good event and proven that people like it.  Most tournaments have duplicated the event because of its popularity and I think it gives us a reason to get out on fridays. 

$50 on Friday will stand

In conclusion, these ideas are just that right now.  By doing something along these lines we eliminate all excuses pretty much of why someone would not compete.  For as low as $200 you can fish in the King Of The Lake!  Thats awesome.  It has not been as low as this since 1999.  Talk about rollback!! 

If you have ideas you want to share or if you have not fished it and because of this you will please let us know.  I would like to keep this thread  as positive as posible and not turn this into a pissing contest as i have only done this because I see many of you on the sidelines looking in and think why arent you here fishing,  you guys are good fisherman, why not compete.  Have some fun with it, meet new freinds and learn amongst eachother.

Have a good read a looking forward to hearing from you

[SpoonPullers.com]

[karl]

some great thoughts Yvan....it costs alot to compete and i think thats why the number of competers are less than ever.lower entrance fees would (i think) increase the number of boats thus increasing payouts.400 for the weekend would be great.

[Yankee Troller]

Yvan - You saw what a Sat/Sun split did for the Pro Ams with no real weekend winner. I would stay clear of that.

[getitwet]

yankee
Im glad you brought that up.

There is a clear winner unlike the proam.

Think of the one day sat or sun as a glorified calcutta.  The defined winner is definetly the 2 day winner.

Nothing would really change in the format exept dollars and allowing people to fish a single day if they cant make a commitment for 2 and or if they dont want to compete for too much entry money.

[Witching Hour]

Well written Ivan.
I'm sure these new preposals will reep benefits for the KOTL.
Thumbs up from me on the entry fee.
Looking forward to next yr!

A couple suggestions:
- There seems to be a strong interest (amongst the fishing community at large) for immediate results and or a live web internet stream. This could increase KOTL awareness / increased sponsorship 'plugs', etc.
- Also, I love the newsletter the 333 publishes throughout the yr. More sponsorship 'plugs' / team stats & finishes, tourney info / stories, upcoming rule changes, things to remember, etc, etc.

If you need a volunteer for whatever just say the word.

Cheers,
J

[A-TOM-MIK]

My $.02

First priority to me as a past or potential "sponsor" and as an "event organizer" as well as a "player" (those entering the events) is giving the players as close to what they want as possible. We all know everyone will never be happy, its human nature whether you are Canadian, American or what have you. To satisfy "all" is merely impossible, but through the years if you can sustain the liking from a "majority" then you will always yield a favorable vote from your "field" of players.

I have taken a tremendous amount of time consuming info via internet forums, amongst talks at the widely diverse forefront of events available today and I've even taken the liberty of mailing out questionnaires to as many as 100 past and present players in my eastern basin area, still the end result is favoring your majority of players to keep the game moving on.

I would rank the interest I have consumed in the last 10 years into 4 categories or topics, I will list these here in no particular order, I feel they gain succession from most important to least differently to everyone, however #4 is certainly the least important, but needs a mention as it is part of our "tourney sport" that actually defines some of the first 3 over the course of time due to the fact they are the ones at times most openly stating likes and dislikes.

1) Rules: Your events rules need to favor the majority of players you are looking to cater to, if not take a look around and see which events are flourishing and which are not. Today's diversity is off the charts and the diversity is continuing to grow, I think in the end it will either water down the sport or lift certain anglers/teams reputations, dependent upon success and placements of top names

2) Fee structure: As bringing up this thread as Yvan "with a Y" has done, the fee structure is all over the map (which is good also) but it still remains a very important aspect to the event at hand to make it an attractive and viable draw. Maybe not so known to anglers outside my eastern basin area, but we have events here that cost less than $100 per team which includes food, that are drawing 75 to 110+ teams per event annually and for 6 or 7 years running. 

3) Tourney info: Not to be confused with the rules of the event. This is a very important part of each and every event mentioned, high dollar or low, big or small. Information concerning the event at hand is SO IMPORTANT, everyone wants to know who placed where and who won what. In the BEGINNING of an event what will we win? After the event who won and who placed where, not just the top 3 or 10? Exactly all info pertaining to the event is simply crucial, maybe an underlying hurdle that some event coordinators over look and do not take serious enough. Info like: How many teams? Payout structure? Properly listing winners after..... etc... etc...   

4) Those who aren't going to "enter" anyway: These anglers and teams will always have something to say or if you would of only done "this" I would of been there !!!! Like I stated these anglers and teams will add definition to an event, but they are always there and in every port and city the locals usually know who they are.

Just a note: I am looking forward to each KOTL in 2013, I think someone should start rating every event on the lake in an open forum, have a check list of all the above I have outlined, as more and more newer "players" come into our game this info would be a key tool to prompt an angler or team to opt which events to fish over a season. Ive been noticing it for a few years already, events are picked out way in advance by some. If I was a new team supporting an event I would certainly want my monies worth !!!

Tom



 

[A-TOM-MIK]

BTW Yvan no matter what you choose I will be there, well ..... as long as my captain agrees !!!!!

 

[getitwet]

These are very good points and that is why I put this up. 

J and Tom, I agree 1000% on info relating and that is on the agenda at the top.  Also part of this is what I have proposed to John Whyte here and havent finalized yet is to move all info here to this board as all of us come here on a regular basis.  Start a link from here to relay info easier.  I think we do some things really well and some things poorly.  But I have to state that many tournaments are running today based on our trial and errors over the 14 yrs and we seem to have pioneered some great things on the lake. 

If we partner up with spoonpullers the info relayed here can be with min vi phones or whatever else we can publish quickly with.  I think this is the future is everybody wants it now.

Look at this spring for example.  There was a tourney of 20 teams i think (not sure) at the ramp for 1 day.  Now they can join us for $200 and the possibility of winning $5000 to $7000 first place for one day.  (50 that we had plus 20 they had = 70 teams for one day)

The idea is to create a farm system and to bring some teams out from rec fishing to competition.  All tourneys have come way up in entries and have eliminated the possibility of people to just try it to see if they like it.

I really believe this could be a winner! Hopefully we get the Trophy j's of the world that love to fish maybe throw his hat in the ring without going broke seeing if he likes it.

[troubles]

Yvan,
Good timing on getting out information early regarding your plans for 2013 King Of The Lake Series.I believe that both new and existing Tournament Teams are looking at options for the upcoming year. I personally dont see any Pro Am changes that are going to improve those tournaments to the point that they are going to grow entries and payouts.Our decision has already been made to fish as many of the 2013 KOTL Tournaments as possible considering entry restrictions.Hopefully we can get to fish one of the Tightlines. I have Partnered up with Lester and we will be there in April.

I personally think that $400 or $500 overall + $50 big fish Friday is reasonable and the $200 1 day would work also for guys who need Sunday to get home after an Event.IMO.

I believe that what will really increase entry numbers is High first place prize and 5 or 6 fish per day structure.
Lets face the fact that the 12 fish per day Tournaments are losing teams and their rules may be outdated .Most teams feel that they can usually put together a 5 fish box and may be in the running.

As Tom said we will be there no matter the changes.Looking forward to 2013.

Thanks Yvan

[tyee3904]

Limit the amount of guys per team to 3, that way you will get more boats involved.

[JIMMAY]

Limit the amount of guys per team to 3, that way you will get more boats involved.

How?

[tyee3904]

Limit the amount of guys per team to 3, that way you will get more boats involved.

this idea is coming from the same guy who had all of the GOSDs shortcomings figured out?

First off, what are you talking about??
I NEVER complained or had to figure out any "shortcomings" of the G.O.S.D as i feel it is fine the way it is.
It's been run on and off for over 30 years and some newbies think they should have a right to voice changes so they can save a dime, freedom of speech so be it!

Now, back to my responce.........alot of teams are made up of more then one boat owner, limit the amount to 3 guys per team and one team of 6 well hopefully turn into 2 teams of 3.........Just a thought!

[fishdawg]

my aplogies... too many guys with Tyee in their user names these days it seems...   
nonetheless silly idea... 

[tyee3904]

Ok, here is a better idea i thought of.
Entry fee's based on per fisherman or people on the boat with a minimum of 2 people per boat and no maximum.
So, say $200.00 per person across the board, if your fishing or not.
Maximum 6 rods per boat.
A 2 man team pays $400.00 in entry fee's, a 6 man team pays $1200.00 entry fee's.
This should increase the amount of teams and the small teams (2 man teams) not having to break the bank to enter.....
This way it is level across the board, $200 per person on the boat, 2 man minimum, no maximum accept for rods used!
Obviously there is an advantage to having 6 plus guys working the rods vrs 2-3 guys which is the way it's set up now so the big boats have an advantage and the cost is the same as the smaller boats with less guys per team.
It's tough to satisfy everyone though!

[Gman]

my aplogies... too many guys with Tyee in their user names these days it seems...   
nonetheless silly idea...

THAT is some funny shiat 'Dawg,,,

Cheers G