There is no way in Hell I'm going to win, or even place in the top ten, but I'm going to compete. Trying to engineer parity will not work. Somebody who spends 150 days on the water is probably going to win. It doesn't matter if they can only submit one fish a month; they'll probably have twenty chances to get a big fish that month compared to my 4 or 5. I don't care. I enjoy reading their reports and learning from them. Winning WCW should be a reward for effort and skill; not luck. If you want to increase participation you should look at prizes for spots in the top ten. 5-10 is a possibility for those who don't get out quite as much. Reward those of us on the kayak fishing short bus and we will happily compete. :scratch: Hopefully, with increased participation we will have increased sponsorship and there will be swag for all.

Love the feedback. Good suggestions Tyler and Chris.

You don't have to be a genius to know that to be competitive an angler will still have to catch mostly yellows, whites or halis. But, throwing in all species will give people at least some points for their efforts, and make everyone feel they are a part of this contest, not just making a donation. No one is going to win this thing by submitting a 5 lb bonito in Jan, a 6 lb barrie in Feb, 4 lb sand bass in Mar, etc. But wouldn't it make it more fun if everyone can look at the leaderboard and see their name with points behind it?
And while a minimum weight of 10 lbs, will make picture viewing more impressive, it will still limit the amount of contributions. In the end, the winner will still be the one catching all THE WHOPPERS. But along the way, all participants can have fun.

The point of a 100+ day/yr fisherman and someone like myslef who gets out 12-15/yr is well made. Take any other tournament everyone fishes on the same day for the same amount of hours. Thus leveling the playing field to an extent. My idea is instead of one fish/month you declare that on such date I will be participating in the tournament. Determine how many days you want the tournament to go for say 12. Now you can declare any day through the year as a tournament day for you. Now you are comparing 12 fishing days for everyone. To take it further the moderater can declare which days are tournament days so now there would be equal time and same day comparison just like a regular one day tournament. If I am missing the spirit of a year long tournament just disregard this.

Sorry Sterling, I don't agree with your tourny day thing. Year round is year round, but I understand the point that not everyone can get on the water that much. I wish I could spend more time on the water but I have to work. I am stuck with weekends and pm shifts after work during the summer. How about a sidebet of only fish caught on the weekends?

10# minimum would have eliminated almost all my yt this year, and my one legal hali :oops: .


While some consider it unfair, I think skill and time on the water should show. If we wanted to make this more luck based we could pull species out of a hat and roll the dice :roll: . Those that can spend the time on the water should get their reward. If not this wouldn't be as fun to look at. In all honesty do we really want to look at tons of calico/cuda/turd reports, although I can see the point that at least that way everyone can weigh something. Maybe have biggest cuda, biggest cali, biggest turd awards at the end of the year. The prizes don't have to be big, I don't think any of the people really do this for the prizes. A monthly prize would also be cool, I know its hard without sponsors but again the prize doesn't have to be big. Or we could just go down to the OEX store and weigh in for a monthly prize. I oppose having 2 divisions. Too many headaches, which division to enter etc.

Speaking of prizes, can we get some shirts with Andy's WCW slam graphic printed? I'd buy/like to win one of those. (that was someone elses suggestion a while ago)



I know a lot of these are logistical headaches and some are unrealistic, but just some more thoughts.

edit- remove drunker ramble...

I think a format closer to the "slam" would be cool...

Check out the REEL Ironman competition at the top of this forum. You can submit all the trash fish you want. :D

how about a southern division and a northern division? i did no enter last year for the simple reason i only fish LJ 3 to 6 times a year, really my only chance at a yellow, i did well in 05 mostly on halibut points, but having the other fish included could make it more interesting, should make for many more posts and pictures.

I liked the rule changes for 2006. I didn't get out as much as I wanted, but it only would take a one or two decent fish a month to keep people moving the board.

I think if there are enough participants, hopefully double or triple of this year, the money can be trickled down to the top ten. That should keep it a little more interesting.

Three species, nice and simple.

Maybe a monthly side pot, top three point getters of the month? I don't know about the fee structure on that one though.

The reel ironman was cool. Next year how about doing the same thing, but with swim baits. Any lead head with a plastic fish body type lure?

I like the point syetem of the past two years. If halibut are worth more points it will encourage more of us up north to join.

im game for 07 as well juss saying that we should in some way make it more inviting so we/they don't feel like we'll/they'll just be the caboose.

The WCW has been a lot of fun and a great learning experience even though I didn't get out on the water as much as I wanted. I'm definitely in for 2007.

The yt/wsb/hali scoring seemed pretty fair and I like the mulligan and exotic concept. I'd kinda like to see the exotic category expanded to 1 exotic per month for 1 or 2 points per lb and maybe add pacific halibut to the list - a little incentive to make a trip north next summer.

Plasticman it shall be for 07 Tyler, good idea :D

Crap, I still have a bunch of rusty irons for sabiki sinkers. Anyone know where I can get a good deal on 2oz leadheads? :lol:

What about incentives to get people to participate in WCW? You could have the La Jolla Invitational Tournament in September. Everybody in the top 10 or 15 at the end of August gets entered into the Invitational. The Invitational Tournament would run the whole month of September. This would be a biggest fish, winner take all format. There would be a cash or sponsor donated prize for the single winner. Any points for fish caught in the Invitational would apply to WCW as well. The addition of an invitational tournament should do the following:
1) Increase interest and participation in WCW
2) Encourage WCW participants to get out more often to make the cut in August
3) Throw a little excitement and unpredictability into the mix. A year-long contest should reward skill and effort. The invitational just opens up the field a little without impacting the integrity of WCW.

:thumleft: or :thumbdown: :?:

I had one - lock the damn forums! :lol:

I hear the idea of invitational tourney for top XX has been on the table for a while.

While, I plan on joining, hell I pretty much fish every tourney, even bass :oops: :P , I don't think it is a good idea on BWE part to lock the forums. I just think puniative actions for not participating in the WCW will not work. Incentives work better for participation, are we forgetting the work of Skinner. People will look elsewhere for reports.

This is BWE's tourney, so we will have to live by what they decide. I think there are a lot of good ideas on the table, & like Mike Knott, it has been fun reading them all. :D

Chris

Sweet - just like NASCAR's race for the chase ... great idea!
Arne

Just one more chance for Team Bad Lamb Fo Sho to kick ass! :mrgreen:

ok now my sober thoughts :lol:

I think keeping the format a bit simpler would be best... The exotics AND including mexico in the WCW is like selling mulligans at a golf tournament... :wink: