Tournament Angler Bill of Rights

If you follow professional redfishing as an active competitor or armchair quarterback this has been a wacky season with plenty of controversy to go around. Whether it be screwy payouts, dysfunctional scales, or inconsistent measuring of fish the sport has certainly gotten a couple of black eyes.

Since tournament redfishing is something I am passionate about, it pains me to see that tournament organizers seem to have taken the anglers for granted in many cases. Business is business after all, but it seems like some simple areas important to customer (ie. us tournament fishermen) satisfaction have fallen by the wayside.

So, here are some areas I think are crucial for the tours to get right if they are interested in providing good customer service. Think of it as a tournament angler's bill of rights - these are concepts that should be pretty easy to grasp but seem to have fallen by the wayside a bit.

1) Accurate length measurement of fish. There have always been grumblings on every tour about favoritism at the measuring board. Some guys think the weighmaster is too strict, others think that guys wearing the right sponsor's hat get a break, etc. How hard can it be to establish a standardized system for accurate measurement that can be used by every tournament? You shouldn't have to go to the scales guessing on whether your fish will measure or whether your fellow competitor's fish is going to slide through even if it is 1/8" over the slot.

I like the one we developed for the Florida Lure Anglers club where the redfish tail is pinched and then swept downward toward the measuring board's centerline to achieve maximum length. Once it is at that centerline the weighmaster should pause to show if it is over or under the line. This method eliminates the arguments that he is pinching too hard or too soft. It also gives the angler a gametime standard to use in his determination of whether his fish is inside the slot limit.

How about mounting a video camera focused on the measuring board with a live feed to a flat screen monitor so everybody could see the measurement? That could silence a lot of the critics for a fairly minor capital investment by the tournament ownership.

2) Accurate weight measurement of fish. You would think this is kind of a "no-brainer" but the "elite" Redfish Cup recently showed us that it is not. It is not that difficult to operate a set of scales, nor is it that difficult to have a set of backup scales on hand in the event of a malfunction. The HT3 Series has this battle won hands down - not only are their scales accurate but they are also computer driven to lock in the weight the instant the scales settle and that data is fed directly into a spreadsheet for live leaderboard updates.

3) Fish where fish are. Here's a novel idea. I realize there is an economic kickback to the tournament operators for visiting certain venues and that often doesn't equate to putting the tournament angler in the best redfishing waters. My problem comes when in order to compete you will have to make a long and unsafe run to get to the winning fish. Is it going to take somebody loosing their life running from wherever the tournament launches to Louisiana for tournament organizers to get this right? You shouldn't have to own a center console boat designed for kingfishing to compete in a redfish tournament. Tournament boundaries are another idea that could be explored but wouldn't it just be easier to have tournaments at good locations? I would rather see a redfishing tournament be about the fishing, not the boating.

4) Fair and balanced payouts. Like the idea of broadcasting the measurement of fish for all to see, a little transparency about the payout would be nice. Again, the HT3 Series seems to have nailed this one along with the Redfish Cup. The Cup has it easy since they have a set number of boats and they have developed a pay scale which is very balanced so the top 20% of the field gets a check with enough numbers written on it to mean something in comparison to their entry fee. The HT3 Series publishes a formula showing how they will pay back depending on the number of boats that enter. They also have the mathematics figured out where the payback is fair and balanced.

So, there you have 4 pretty easy ways to make the tournament experience more enjoyable for the anglers in my opinion. 2010 should prove to be pretty interesting as our game evolves so we will see if the tournament organizers make some adjustments for the good of the anglers or if the status quo will remain intact.