Changes to the "Mad Dog"

The 20th annual "Mad Dog" Moore Memorial Bass Tournament was held on Sept 10th at Lake Fork with a record number of teams fishing (194). Due to the problems that we encountered with the long weigh-in line we have decided to change the format from a team stringer tournament to an hourly big bass tournament. Lots of details to work out but most likely 5 places per hour and then an overall standing. Each year that we encounter a problem, we try to address it and correct it for the next year. Next year's tournament is scheduled like always, the first Saturday after Labor day. September 9th 2017

NOoooooooo not another big bass tournament .

With that many teams why don't you do a staggered start with a staggered weigh-in. I have fished in a ton of tournaments over the years that had that many teams and the starts and finishes were all in flights. There are plenty of big fish tournaments on Fork. It does not need another one. I feel you will lose entries if you do that.

I have fished this tournament for years but if it goes to a big bass event,I'm out.

Great call!

No No No just do boat numbers and send them off 1 by 1. then do flight weigh ins. this is a great tournament and me and my dad have fished this tournament the last 4 years and is a great time. this time was kinda crazy with the weigh in but we can do stuff better. but please don't make it a big bass tournament. you will honestly not have the turn out for this tournament if you make it a big bass tournament.

it is for a great cause, and I will still be there no matter what, but please keep it a stringer tournament.

what does everybody else think?

fork needs another big bass tournament.....

+1

We have considered the staggered flights and got lots of negative feed back on that. With it being in HOT September, if you draw a flight that has you starting late, you lose that morning bite and nobody wants to be on the water till 4pm in September. We are looking at doing hourly weigh-ins that would pay five places per hour and then have an overall payback. The details are not ironed out yet. But, after the long weigh-in line we had and the negative feedback from many, this appeared to be our best option. It will allow more people to get checks and there will still be some good money for those making it into the overall standings.

Another vote for staggered flights. I would rather fish until 4 in a bag tourney rather than until 3 in a big fish tourney.

I hate to hear folks talk about not fishing if we go to an hourly tournament. As with everything else you can't please everybody no matter what is done. We talked to a lot of tournament fisherman prior to making this decision and had negative and positive feedback on flights and hourly. We will continue to do our best to put on a great event, take care of our fishermen (Free BBQ n beer, tshirts, tackle packs, live band, huge raffle, etc.) and keep raising money for a great charity. BTW....the donation to the Shriner's burn hospital for children will be the largest donation we have ever made. Most importantly...we will continue to do our best and put on a great event in honor of our fallen brother who made the ultimate sacrifice...Michael "Mad Dog" Moore. Thanks to everybody who has supported us over the years and continue to do so.

Just got the ok to put how much our donation to the Shriners will be this year so I want to let everybody know.....we are very happy to be donating $30,000.00 to the Shriners Burn hospital for children. Thank you to all of the fisherman that made this possible!!!

My opinion only: I'd fish it if it was a 3 fish bag.Less # of fish stressed /mortality.Flights takeoff preferred . Hourly BB tournament & I wouldn't. Just my personal opinion on 2nd week of September weather conditions. I don't really have a dog in this hunt this year,but would DEFINATELY fish it next year. Never really saw the reasons/benefits of 5 fish stringers instead of 3 fish stringers on a slot lake when you can only weigh in one over fish anyway. I think an hourly would just make it total chaos & so much more work for workers/volunteers, staff but as stated above it's just my own opinion. Hope the Good Lord lets me be there for the next one.

$30,000 donation...WOW!!!!!! Fantastic!!!! What a tribute to a fallen HERO!!! That's the whole purpose of these type of things honoring those that made the ultimate sacrifice serving. Absolutely amazing work folks!!!

Stagger the flights by registration, sounds like 25-30 anglers to a flight, it works for bass champs, media etc... Pretty simple solution really, easy fix imo.

Big bass moves away from the team mentality! That's my biggest complaint. It can work, but you have to have a pretty good prize to get the draw you're going to want. How about guarantee the boat and truck prize and you will draw the people!

As to the other items, it was made clear the BBQ wasn't "free", they were pounding hard for donations on top of the raffles, entry fees, and other donations, not that I really wanted it; just an observation.

I understand the charity aspects, and 30,000 is a nice piece of a donation, but it just seemed to get out of hand.

As I said earlier Fork does not need another BB Tournament. A 5 fish team tournament is what it has been for years and that is the way it should stay. As you can tell this format must be working because of the turn-out. When the turn-out is this good then flights is the only way to work it out. Like some people said earlier you can't please everyone all the time but in order to prevent a major fish kill if you would send everybody off in flights and bring them in in flights then that problem will be solved. When September rolls around the bite usually is all day long. Now if this tournament was in July or August then I could see why people would complain about the early bite. I have been fishing in September plenty and I can catch fish all day long in September. Some days are better than others but that is why it is called fishing and not catching.
Leave this tournament just like it is. Put everybody in flights. Just like a quote said from a great movie "Build it and they will come." If you do it this way the fisherman will still come. Me included.

Fork doesnt need anather big bass tournement. Should be flighted

I was there. They were doing the best they could but several issues.
Not near enough weigh in tanks with stones. Need atleast 8 tanks double line.
Need a better set of scales. Took forever for the sacales to lock up.
Need to speed up the measuring process

I've fished it before as well and I've enjoyed it but I'm not in favor of a BB format... The overall feel of the event will change and few will be at weight-ins. People have no reason to be hanging around unless they have a check coming... I'm not in favor if it matters at this point.

One thing that really holds up the line in a 5 fish tournament at Fork is weighing peoples Big Bass... I would make sure everyone one in line knows what BB is and if they can't beat an over or a 2.50 please don't slow up the line and make us weigh that 1.78...

I fish a lot of big tournaments with big fields you stager the weigh ins and that is just the luck of the draw! But you go to an hourly event your about to loss a lot of people! Staggering flights is not hard especially if you have a experienced tournament Director, that wasn't the problem at that event weighed to many little fish for a big bass, not enough COLD staging tanks with oxygen in the shad, way to many guys trying to weigh two and three fish stringers for 2 pounds knowing that ain't enough! Just my two cents!

Get rid of sour beer faces and they will come

Hourly tournaments need to be more than one day or if only one day the prizes need to be huge in order to get anglers out there.
IMO, Keep it a team tourney just like always. Hire David Haas and Mark Howard to do the weighin. I bet if you asked them, they would come in early from the tournament to do the weighin. Those guys can make it happen.
Awesome donation to the hospital.
Hope to see you all next year.

Next year, Mad Dog Moore will have its largest turn out ever, believe me!

I can't fish the tournament but do have an opinion to protect the fish. A Big Bass event won't fly as others have attempted this as a small group. Previous posts have mentioned a flighted event and that's the way it should be. Thirty boats per flight with 15 minute staggered starting and weigh in times. Simple to do and you will get finished about the same time as this year.

there is another way to protect the fish without going to a big bass event.

this is done is some tournaments now. Just monitor the number of bags in the weigh in line.

In other words, let the anglers keep the fish safely in their livewells until they obtain a bag from the tournament diretor. Accept no fish in bags other than the official bag and limit the bags.

you could still have a staggered start so that not all 200 boats show up at the same time.

Yeah it's a pain in the butt having the bag line longer than the weighin line, but no fish die and you can keep the team concept

Don't worry about fishermen having to miss the morning bite in a flighted tournament. I draw early flights in the winter time when I would much rather have a late flight number so I could fish later in the day when the water warms a little. That's just the way it goes.

You'll never make everyone happy. BB tournaments seem to have no problem drawing participants for other events

You are right. BB tournaments do draw good numbers but there is a lot of money involved and these tournaments are 2-3 days long. If Mad Dog would do this then it would be worthwhile. A 1 day BB tourn. would be silly. I strongly believe if this turns into a 1 day BB then you will lose at least 40% of your entry field. I love 5 fish tournaments. You have to have everything going your way in a BB tournament in order to get a check. In a 5 fish tournament you just go catch fish and come in at the end of the day and see who's is bigger.

If Mad Dog becomes a 2-3 day BB event and they can spend like the other BB event's then sign me up I am in.
If Mad Dog is just a 1 day BB event then it will not work unless the world is given away at it.

Just out of curiosity, where did all this negative feedback about staggered flights come from? Seems pretty unanimous that going to a BB format would hurt more than help.

Just my 2 cents. I love fishing this tournament but I am out also if it's a big bass. It is a great open team event that will be missed. I like the staged start idea.

The bass cat owners tournament has a similar number of boats. They about 25 weigh in bags that are specifically marked. You stant in line to get a bag and then go get your fish from the live well and weigh them. This makes the long line be for getting the weigh bag, not standing in line with fish. It seems to work well.

I probably would be out on a big bass event, I've never been a fan of that type of format.

Obviously there is a lot of support for a "team/stringer" tournament. The "Mad Dog" board will reconsider our options on the best changes that need to be made to the tournament. It is impossible to please everyone but we have continued for the last 20 years to try and improve the problems that are brought to our attention or that we encounter. We will strive to make the changes to the tournament that will make it run smoother and continue to make it a fun tournament for the majority of fishermen. Some of the issues pointed out in this forum are good points that we will be taking into consideration and work to resolve. One of the issues brought us is the donation bucket at the food line. That will be resolved.

Please don't misinterpret our concerns, I think,we all just want this tournament to thrive.

I don't want to divert the conversation here and I'm more that happy to start a new thread but I was really surprised to hear the widespread objections to a BB tournament. What is it that you don't like about BB tourneys? Given the same amount of payout money and the same number of payout places, what's the downside to BB tourneys? Is it that you really don't like BB format or that you like stringer tourneys better? Is it that the stringer format is more enjoyable or is it about odds/confidence of getting paid? Would love to hear more specific input.

I just enjoy bag tourneys more. The hourly thing makes the fishing less enjoyable IMO.

you guys will do the right thing some great suggestions on here so looks like it will be a flighted tourny held later in sept when weather is little cooler.

The reason BB tournaments are so exciting is the hourly pay-out's and the end money. Yes the Mad Dog money is great but it is not good enough for a BB tournament with hourly pay-out's. Now if all you want to do is a big fish tournament then bring your 5 biggest and weigh them in. This is why BB tournaments are 2-3 days long. The object of a BB tourn. is to get your money in the hourly's. To do this there is a lot of time wasted in the weigh-in line. This is okay for 3 days but not for 1.

Like I said in an earlier quote "If it ain't broke don't fix it". It has been working great for a long time. It just need's to be tweeked a little bit to handle the greater number of fisherman.

Stagger the flights and weigh ins.....big bass hourly events are a serious beating

Change is good for you, need more raffle prizes.