Progressive LOC Boat Derby, make it happen in 2011

[Patriot]

Sounds like there needs to be a fail-safe way to make this happen.

I suggest starting out with a smaller prize amount and add to it as people register.

As of a certain date $??.??, this is the prize value. And then adjust it from there in a bi-weekly bases or weekly basis if needed or whatever.

I'm sure next year, the problem that happened this year, will not be.

Any other suggestions?

[A-TOM-MIK]

A a guilty one (me)................ maybe all those willing to participate should give Dave a call with our credit card numbers so he can run them at will on a given date for 2011:

Not to burden David with a heavier work-load than he already has, but if he is willing maybe this will work ....... ?

Tom

[brucehookedup]

That sounds good to me, im in. Well dave what do think? How many boats where you short?

[LOC Derby]

For the 2011 derby season, we should have a discussion about what type of event would be attractive to the most people. The “progressive†type is safe from a promoter’s view because the payout rises when more people enter.

The down side is until you get so many entries, the prize pool looks small. This can keep other people from entering and you run into getting to a certain point and it becomes stagnant.

Collecting CC numbers and waiting to charge them at a certain date makes me uncomfortable because I know MYSELF I wouldn’t be willing to do that and asking others to do something I wouldn’t do isn’t right.

The first thing that would have to decide is what type of event people would like to have. If it’s a winner take all derby it would probably be won in the late summer of the year, but a very large lake trout could take it early.

The other type, monthly, weekly or daily would be more fair as far as the size of the fish to the time of year but this is the point where you can run into headaches and disappointed customers.

After the demise of the $1000 a day derby, I talked at length with the owner. Personally I thought he had come up with a good concept, and it seemed to be well accepted by the fishing community. There were several times during June where no fish were caught that met the minimums for a week or so and the prize pool grew to multiple thousands of dollars. I think at those times it could prod people to get out and fish when maybe they wouldn’t have.

Unfortunately, they ran out of monies to pay the winners and as a derby promoter I can only imagine the personal angst this caused, not to mention the bad will from the contestants.

From my experience and Dave Henderson confirmed it to be true with his event, as the event goes along, registrations drop dramatically. So if it’s a daily, weekly or monthly event we would have to consider the prize structure based on pre-registrations and any registrations during the event a bonus and awarded accordingly.

The next thing is price. Do we make it high or do we stick with a low regular LOC price? And if we keep it low how will it compete against the regular LOC events where you can win $12,500, $7,500 or $20,000 Grand Prizes for a $30 entry? (Plus all the other amounts)

With the structure decided upon do you charge charter captains and the regular angler different fees?

And not of little concern is with what is come up with can the current infrastructure, weigh stations etc be willing to participate? Do we really need/want another event or are the Lake Ontario fishermen and women “over Derbied�

[brucehookedup]

My thoughts are lower the fee say 300 or 400, base a daily payout the way you had it stuctured with size of the fish. You would give daily prize monies according to the entries you have at a certain deadline. Anyone entering late pays 50$ more. Then that money( all of the entry money from the late boats ) goes into a pot that pays out the largest fish in each catagory as a bonus. Sounds good?

[Tall Tails]

I personally didnt like the boat entry and that is the main reason I wasnt participating. I couldnt go to my friends boat and fish with them during that time frame because I have my capts lic. I also wasnt goin to pay 575.00 to win 575.00. I would pay 80.00 or even a 100.00 to win 500.00. I would even pay 100.00 to win 250.00 but not even money.... Make it a personal entry not a boat entry and I am in for sure!!!!!!

Thanks again for all your hard work in the LOC Dave as it is the best DERBY on the Lake!!!!!!!!!!

[TOP SECRET]

I'm personally beginning to think there just isn't room for more than one derby. What about the option of combining the 1k per day with the LOC? The LOC already gives x amount for big fish of the day. Why not remove the current LOC fish per day and make it an option. Now if a one day fisherman wants to get in on the LOC the ticket price is only $10, but if he wants to get in on the LOC AND DAILY FISH the ticket price is $35. (these $ are guesses)

I'd really like to see the LOC price for a daily ticket come down. I know I have people who want to come out with me in August and don't want to spend the $25/person (family of 4 = $100).

Nick

[LOC Derby]

Nick,

There is no daily winner in the summer LOC, the boat event was envisioned as giving the Summer LOC a "daily big fish" component. Not sure what you mean in combining it with the $1K event but if $575 per division couldn't fly, $1000 isn't remotely possible. Maybe adding a "Cash Bash" like the old ESLO would be the appropriate way to go.

In the Summer LOC the daily price for entry is $15, not $25.

Thanks

[GAMBLER]

I say just push the summer derby more and get the prize money up.

[brucehookedup]

I like the idea of winning every week or every other day, depends on how much you fish and lucky you can get. The thought of winning just your entry fee back isnt the attraction.

[Patriot]

I thought it was only $60 to enter the "Boat Derby".

And honestly I believe there are too many derbies/tournaments on Lake Ontario.

I fish two derbies. The Spring Derby and the Fall Derby, that's it.

But maybe a weekly prize for the three or four largest fish would sound good to some people.

Winner take all, no way.

[TrophySeeker]

Here is my opinion. I'm not sure all will agree. I think the Boat Derby was just about perfect, running concurrently with the Summer Derby. However, I think it should be a fixed price of $250 per boat. I'm not convinced that charter boats should have to pay more. Typically they fish 2-3 charters a week. Should we charge retired people more because they have the ability to fish more than those of us that get out usually only 1 day per weekend? It seems obvious to me that the charter captains didn't really support the current format based on the fact that only 18 boats had entered. If the payout were $1000/day ($500 salmon, $500 trout), and an entry fee of $250/boat, for 30 days we would need 120+ (the "+" is the pay to LOC) boats work. The question is - would 120+ boats enter? Based on the this link and the other regarding this derby, there seems to be some interest, but I don't know about getting 10 times the number of registered boats next time...

[Fishtails]

And honestly I believe there are too many derbies/tournaments on Lake Ontario.

And this is based on what....your opinion ? It's a put and take fishery....get over it !!

I'm pretty sure all the towns and businesses that profit from the influx of tournament fishermen during any of the "to many" tournaments and derbies you are referring to would disagree. If you're anti tournament...how come you fish two of them? That's like being a vegetarian who occasionally eats fish or chicken. You either are, or you aren't.

[Cannonball Runner]

Alot of the Charters fish the pro/ams and Scotty's . If the price was lower they might think about it.

[Patriot]

And honestly I believe there are too many derbies/tournaments on Lake Ontario.

And this is based on what....your opinion ? It's a put and take fishery....get over it !!

I'm pretty sure all the towns and businesses that profit from the influx of tournament fishermen during any of the "to many" tournaments and derbies you are referring to would disagree. If you're anti tournament...how come you fish two of them? That's like being a vegitarian who occasionally eats fish or chicken. You either are, or you aren't.

Yes, this is my opinion and probably many agree.

And yes, those who profit from these tournaments will disagree with my opinion.

I feel that derbies/tournament that help with funding the pen rearing projects are a good thing but I still don't participate in those. However I am a member of ELOSTA and I believe they do help with some funding of these projects.

I don't have a snowballs chance in hell of even placing in these derbies/tournaments but I enter those two LOC derbies because that's when I plan my extended stay/vacations.

Oh, I'm in Oswego about every other weekend, so towns and businesses profit from me regardless.

So I guess I am and I am not.

Hey, I love fishing just as much as the other guy (probably more).

I was one of those fishing businesses but my opinion was still the same! Too much of a good thing gets old

[Finders Keepers]

IMO, I think the boat derby was a great idea, however I think the initial registration cost was too high for many anglers with the current state of our economy. I say run it the same, but lower the cost to enter (say $100) and lower the payout accordingly (run the numbers and see what can be supported). If you run it concurrently with the Summer LOC, the weigh stations shouldn't have an issue since they are available for the LOC weigh-in anyway, so there is no further burden on them (other than maybe filing some paperwork and reporting). The other issue I see over and over again, is a lack of advertizing - if the anglers don't know about it, they won't register for it. Advirtizing needs to be widespread and done in the winter (not just prior to the derby start date). Sponsorships are also a good way to get "stuff" to give away. I remember when I was young, Sodus Bay had a yearly ice fishing tourney that was huge - they not only had $$ as prizes, but stuff: gas augers, shanties, tackle, etc. Same with the old ESLO derbies, I remember every time you entered a fish you were given a small door prize, like a lure or small grab bag. If the weigh station supplied these, how many more people would bring their fish there to weigh it in? And more traffic in their shop means more tackle being bought there - If I needed a new lure or two, I would buy it there if I was going there anyway. Also, see if you can get Cannon, Big Jon, Atommik, Stinger, and so many other vendors to donate gear to give out - it's a tax write-off for them when given to non-profit organizations. How much more interest would be generated if you had a pair of Cannon electric riggers to give out? Not to mention, you could hit up Kodak (we use digital cameras and video recorders to take pics/videos don't we?). See if they would donate some high end digital cameras - these could even act as prizes on certain days and lower the $$ burden of paying out cash! I know wouldn't mind winning a sweet camera instead of cash! Point blank, free "stuff" attracts people. Just some ideas for thought based upon my experience fund raising for the youth groups I advise...