115’s Club
I have always wanted to start my own Bass Club, just never had an idea that I thought could fly, until now. After many hours of discussion, thought, and preparation, I have put together an idea for a Bass Club that I think will help to fill in a niche that the industry seems to be lacking at this time.
At the present time there are several types of Tournament Bass Fishing groups, series, clubs etc. that all seem to have their own purpose in the industry. Whether it’s a high profile, big payout series, a HP restricted series, or your small grassroots clubs, there seems to be a place for just about everyone to be competitive on their own skill level.
Currently there are two excellent series in Ontario for the HP restricted angler. However what I have noticed is that many of the anglers (especially newer or beginner anglers) that fish these series have become discouraged by the rising costs in entries/membership fees, selection of lakes, dates etc.
What I have done is come up with an idea for a club that is limited to those very same anglers who wish to still compete in HP restricted events, but with lower overall costs to fish, and best of all, they call the shots. Events will be fun yet remain competitive.
As stated the overall costs to fish will be low. As this will be a club and not a business, 100% of the entries collected will be paid out to the winners. Club Members will have the ability to elect Club Officials. This means that all decisions will be made by those fishing, and not someone else. Particularly the selection of which lakes to fish, how the events will be run and costs of each event to name a few. But perhaps best of all, the club will still remain much like a competitive series including a year end invitational, but again, YOU the anglers call all the shots!
Here is a little more information in detail about what I was thinking about. This is only a start by which things can be built from and decided upon, not what will be set in stone. Once enough interested have joined, only then will the details be worked out in full.
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115’s Club
Mission Statement:
The goal of this club will be to provide an affordable, fun, yet competitive atmosphere for the average angler with smaller boats rookie or experienced alike. In addition this club will also act as a stepping stone for beginner anglers who wish to get their feet wet in tournament fishing, but can not yet afford their own boat or the total costs associated with some levels of the sport.
Format:
- Events will be run in a Boater/Non Boater format.
- Prior to each event numbers will be randomly drawn to pair up all Boaters and Non Boaters. Each Boater must register with a Non Boater partner and Vice Versa in order to enter to keep numbers even at each event. However the Boater may not necessarily be paired up with that Non Boater depending on the results of the draw.
- There will be a 5 fish limit per team, per event. Points will be awarded to each competitor in their respected division.
- Season will consist of Five 1 day Qualifier Events, as well as a 2 Day Invitational. Qualification will be based on total points accumulated during all of the Qualifying Events in which the top 50% of each division will make the cut.
Tournament Info:
Dates & Locations:
- Possible Dates (which do not currently conflict with any of the other restricted HP series) are as follows:
Date Location(s)
Qualifiers:
- June 23rd & 24th TBA
- July 21st & 22nd TBA
- Aug 11th & 12th TBA
Invitational:
- Sept 29th & 30th TBA
- Locations will be decided based on a vote completed by a minimum number of interested members. Locations will be finalized with the corresponding dates as such when lake and launch site availability is determined.
- List of possible lakes/locations to be voted for:
- Lake Couchiching- Washago or Orillia
- Balsam Lake- Balsam Lake PP
- Cameron Lake- Fenelon Falls
- Sturgeon Lake- Lindsay
- Lake Scugog- Caesarea or Port Perry
- Tri-Lakes- Emily PP or Bridgenorth
- Rice Lake- Hastings or Bewdley
- Seymour Lake- Monument
- Bay Of Quinte- Belleville or Trenton
Points System:
- Points will be awarded equally to both Boater and Non Boater for each event. Total points at end of season will determine AOTY and parings for Invitational.
- Point System will be based on Weight and Finishing Position and calculated as follows:
- Position
- 1st 100
- 2nd 99
- 3rd 98
And So forth…
- Weight
- Top Weight: 100 Points
- Next closest and so forth: Rounded Percentage of Top Weight Times 100
- Example:
- Top Weight: 18lbs 100 + 100 = 200 Points
- Next Weight: 16lbs 99 + 89 = 188 Points
- Next Weight: 15lbs 98 + 83 = 181 Points
- Weight Points Calculations:
18 / 18 X 100 = 100
16 / 18 X 100 = 88.8 = 89
15 / 18 X 100 = 83.3 = 83
Entries & Payouts:
- Events will be $50 (no GST as this will be a non profit club) Per Person (Boater or Non Boater). Invitational will be free entry for both Boater and Non Boater in the top 50% of their respected divisions based on total accumulated points.
- $10 per Person per Event for Big Fish Pot.
- $10 Membership Fee at the beginning of the season to help cover the costs associated with the club events.
- Qualifying Events will be paid out at 85% with the remaining 15% going towards the Invitational.
- Pay Structure (Based on Full Club/Field of 60 Teams) for each qualifier will be as follows. There will be 1 Pay Spot for every 6 Teams to a Maximum of 10 Pay Spots or 60 Teams.
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As I said this is all still up in the air at this time. Just wanted to get the word out and see how much interest there is for a club such as this. If anyone is interested or has any questions, please feel free to post, U2U, or contact me at the following address. Take care!
Aric Stoner
Bobcat93dl@hotmail.com
