And gets a zero pretty much has no chance of making regionals, yes? The way the points work with a true zero for missing, now makes it pretty much impossible to qualify. Right?

Wrong. They can win a tournament and fish at least 3 in their division to qualify as well. It's listed in the rules.

Frank, I tried PMing but your inbox is full. Let me know if a captain is the issue, I have my information in with LEBC in case someone needs a one off captain.

No. Not at all. I could not make the first tournament. My guys and I have been trying to figure out if they can qualify for regionals because they took a zero. I feel terrible.

Let me rephrase this: other than winning, they probably won't qualify? I feel awful for these kids. Fished 3 tournaments and haven't finished worse than 44th.

My boys last year had a TERRIBLE year. Started off winning the first one , put up one fish at the next one, a zero and then some more 1-2 fish finishes. I had a lot going on personally, they were finding out all about the working, not fishing, life and instead of a banner year - they had their worst yearly finish of their HS career. They did get show points and squeaked into regionals. Lots of life lessons for them last year....
It can still be done, just behind the 8 ball. Tell them to keep chipping and flipping.

That's what I've been telling them, just take it 1 tournament at a time and see what happens. Keep grinding. Thanks all.

Yes it is almost impossible to qualify for Regional if you miss a tournament. Most tournaments you're getting 450 points just for showing up...so even if you WIN the tournament you're only gaining 50 points...but you lose 450 by missing a tournament. I've seen kids qualify for Regional that didn't catch a fish all year...i've seen a tournament winner miss Regional because they also missed a tournament.

Yeah. The more I think about it the more I see it’s a participation trophy league. Just show up to all the events and catch a few fish all year and you get to go to regionals. Where a team misses 1 and fishes no worse than 44th with a high of 9th gets left out. Doesn’t make much sense but participation trophy mindset is where we’re going.

Yeah, I dont see it that way at all. It takes a certain amount of "points" to make it to regionals, not everyone makes it. Now, there is a "curve" if you will because of the number of teams that dont fish all events. A lot of teams fall off in the spring, either because of other sports (baseball in particular) or they feel they are out of the points. I can guarantee that if all teams fished all events it would take catching fish to make it to regionals. So how is the THSBA supposed to predict the amount of teams that will show up all year in order to make a "winners" only regional. I am sure the regionals cut off has to more to do the number of boats expected/needed for the event than the number of "winners" they are getting. Only the winners are getting awarded any trophies, everyone else is just paying the prizes, just like every other tournament trail out there. How much money would be available to award the winners if the THSBA only took the top 10 boats? Or, how much would it cost if they only took the top 10 boats?

It’s a tough subject. One thing I want to say is I love The THSBA and respect Them and the jobThey do. They do a great job. Just don’t think how it’s done right for points is the right way. I say that with total respect. That’s all. I’m proud to be a part of it.

Outside of winning a tournament it is basically impossible to make regionals if you miss a tournament. Few years back I could not captain the 1st tournament of the year due to a company trade show we do every yr. We could not find a captain to step in so the guys did not get to fish. Lowest placing they had after missing that event was 18th with one top 5 finish. They were 15 or so spots out of the cut line. Luckily our club has now developed a network of local guys that are glad to help when a situation like this comes up. Personally I don't think you should make it to regionals if you miss 20% of the regular season schedule. I know kids are busy and many are involved in many different activities, but if it is a priority you can find a way to get at least one team member to every tournament.

Then there are the teams that pick up their wrist bands and have someone turn them back in to collect the points. Not sure how that can be avoided currently, legal or not legal.

I still think you could make the regional if you finish high enough the last tournament, assuming you’re close now. Best of luck!

It has been a tough year on the team I captain. My boat blew a motor on PK and so we limped back in. We got points.. On Texoma still in break in period and not running right so we went just for points and tried to catch a fish but I was NOT going into that wind with a bum motor. On Texoma most boats did not catch a fish so it did not hurt us.. My boat is running and the goal was to make regional and I think we did.. Whitney they had 3 fish for 9.58 lbs but lost 4 others near the boat.. Man what could have been..The blown motor have been a mess...