Is anyone interested in fishing a Striper Tournament Trail in 2005 that consist of 4 or 5 tournaments, Texoma, Whitney, Tawakoni and either Canyon, Buchanan or To;edo Bend, unless you have better selections or want to double some lakes.

The entry fee is $150.00 plus a side pot for Big Striper and is 80% payback, unless we can get sponsors to cover the cost or running the tournament and then we will make it 100% payback plus. There will be a Championship with a $250.00 entry also.

At the same time, we will have a second Amteur Tournament with a $50.00 entry fee and the payback will be the same as above. "No guides allowed", part time or full time. This is for newcomes, first time tournament anglers, the weekend angler and beginers.

If you are interested, send me an email, we may limit the field and it will be who ever signs up first.

I would fish Texoma, Whitney, Tawakoni and Canyon. Sounds like a good tournament trail, I will be there. There just are not to many anglers on this board that are competitive enough to compete against other anglers for money. The guides are affraid they will look bad if they loose.
TT

Not all guides are afraid. Lady on the lake normally has two in her boat. I am a guide. Randy Wood is a guide. Many guides participate all the time in Texas Striper Association events on many different lakes. You are right however, there are some that feel it is a risk on their business.

Michael Acosta

I fish as many of the tournaments as I can and I basically "turn my money over to the guides" as they usually win.

Jeff told me to just give the money away up front and then save my gas and other tournament expense money.

I'm thinking he's right.

That's why I'm interested in this amateur thing! I'm as amateur as you can get.

Bonita, what about a pro-am deal? That way, the novices could learn and maybe win at the same time!

Hey Ax,

The pro-am thing is a great idea. I can't afford a guide cause I got to pay for the boat!! (so my wife tells me)

I would be willing to join up and use my boat, gas, and all of that just to learn some new techniques. Don't need for the guides to show spots just some different ways of doing things and what time of year to do them.

Is it guides period? If you do not have a guide license, but have guided before are you out???

Doubt any are afraid to fish the tournaments, even on lakes they do not "guide" on.

Axman,

You are beat before you start. You definitely know how to catch fish, don't cut yourself short. I fished and won and lost tournaments in a 15 foot deckboat pro long before getting a guide license. The guides do not always win in a big fish event. Anyone can win. I guide on several lakes, but I fish tournaments on many additional lakes.

It's all about fun and lets not forget that. Most of our TSA events when fished with a couple of friends or three is probably the cost of good golf game and dinner (80.00 split 3 ways). Your probably going fishing anyway. The idea is that everyone with a common interest goes out and competes in a heathly competition. If you win great, if not you have learned more than you can by yourself in a dozen times on the water. I know I never stop learning.

I hope this puts another perspective on the subject, but I am not opposed to trying other tournament styles. come to the TSA planning meeting when announced and voice your desires.

Michael Acosta

Axe,
I still don't buy your "guides always win" theory anyway...

Jeff & I are still smarting from a not-too distant outing on Texoma, and I sure didn't scare anybody at Bridgeport.

mark
www.texomasportfishing.com

How about the 9th for a meeting?

Set a date, Randy, and I'll be there.

Guys,

There is some confusion on the Striped bass Fishing League (SBFL) trail as opposed to the NSBA sanction of TSA tournaments. Our plan is to continue with our TSA partnership as long as the TSA are interested in our participation with them. The SBFL is designed to support that partnership by increasing the visibility of striped bass fishing in the Texas area. For example, we will only hold one SBFL tournament on a lake and that will require fishermen to fish another tournament to get their 2-events to increase their chances of winning a divisional champion title. If the TSA is the only other tournament on that lake, it should increase the participation in our partner events with them.

Our plan is to have 4 Striped Bass Fishing League's going on with approximately 25-teams in each league. One will be in Region-I, one in Region-II and two in Region-III (due to its vast acreage size). The Region-I and II leagues fish in 5-tournaments in their region only. The Region-III will be divided into a Region-III North and a Region-III South with 4-tournaments in each and the 5th tournament will be held simultaneously with the Region-III Championship. Any team qualifying for the Region-III Championship and that are in the SBFL can participate in both. Any non-SBFL team is welcome to participate in the tournament for the prizes as an open class team. Guides are welcome to participate in all events except the smaller Fun Class tournament where any of our NSBA traveling Gold Cup Teams are also barred from participating. If there is not enough support in the South (Texas) Region-III league at the present time, that is ok, we will just need to work with the TSA to build it up.

Here is a Draft of what we are trying to work out. Ron Staples would be the NSBA representative trying to make this happen and prosper. The NSBA executive board would be the overseeing authority of the program. Basically, there are 4-tournaments built into one Super-packed weekend where most teams can pick and choose the events they want to participate in.

S U P E R - W e e k e n d - E x p l a i n e d
SUPER�Weekend EVENT
SUPER-Weekend is a term used to describe an event similar to the MEGA-Fest events. The event will be a weekend event with a program schedule, many local things going on, and fishing tournaments for the fishermen. We hope that these events will grow into a community event. At some point we hope it grows into a MEGA-Fest weekend where we have a big tent, a stage, a TV show shot and aired, opportunities for local things such as the local dance teams, the local school jazz band, etc., to participate and help us draw interest to the event by using our tent and stage while the fishermen are on the water. Over time, it will have boat dealers bring out boats to display and truck dealers to bring out trucks to display. Concerning the tournaments, there are 4-associated with the SUPER-Weekend.

T O U R N A M E N T - 1
SUPER Fun Class Tournament
First is the SUPER Fun tournament with a $25 per boat entry fee. This tournament is open to all people except professional fishing guides and the traveling NSBA members participating in the Gold Cup Series (GCS). There are no points involved and no requirement to keep fish alive or be penalized in the fun event. It is designed for fun only. The tournament creel for this tournament is 2-fish per boat.

T O U R N A M E N T - 2
SUPER-1000 Divisional Bonus Points Tournament
Second is the SUPER-1000 Divisional Bonus Points tournament with a $50 per boat entry fee. This tournament is only open to NSBA Competition teams including the NSBA members participating in the Gold Cup Series (GCS). It is like any other divisional tournament where the NSBA contestants are competing for NSBA points to win the title of Divisional, State, and Regional Points Champion. However, the NSBA owns these tournaments and the point�s value to win them are double the value of regular tournaments that we sanction for other organizations and clubs. There are no requirements to keep fish alive. It is designed for competition, fun and participation and like any of our sanction tournaments; it is the way NSBA teams earn their invitation to fish in the NSBA National Championship. The tournament creel for this tournament is 1-fish per boat. Hopefully, it helps take the intimidation away. Any professional guides who are also NSBA competition members are welcome to participate.

T O U R N A M E N T - 3
SUPER-Winner-takes-All (WTA) Side Pot Tournament
Third is the SUPER-WTA side pot that allows competitors to select an option to win a winner-takes-all purse to be awarded on Saturday. This WTA option is open to anyone participating in any of the other tournaments. The entry fee is $50 per boat and the payout is 1-place.

T O U R N A M E N T - 4
Striped Bass Fishing League (SBFL) and Open Competition Tournament
The forth and final tournament of the SUPER Weekend event is the Striped Bass Fishing League (SBFL) and Open Competition Tournament with a $150 per boat entry fee. These tournaments are for the teams wanting to become serious Competition teams and, although it is not required that a team move up to Gold Cup Series (GCS) Competition, these teams may want to go a few steps farther and earn an invitation to compete in the Gold Cup Series (GCS). Some teams may get sponsors, but some may chose not to. This tournament has 2-sides, (SBFL & Open Competition) both competing for the cash and prizes but only the SBFL teams reap the benefit of earning points and fishing in a league competition with a championship at the end of the season specifically for them. SBFL teams may be in uniforms representing their teams or sponsors. This first year, this SBFL tournament trail is open to the first 25-teams to sign up per REGION. This is simply an add-on for those NSBA teams interested in participating on a limited trail where the �Best-of-the Best� must face each other to see who will be invited to join he GCS and/or who will be the SBFL Classic Champion and win a boat package specifically for them. SBFL team members may also be on the rosters of a GCS team and participate in GCS Competitions as a team mate; however GCS Team Captains may not participate in a SBFL boat during SBFL tournaments. If a GCS event is not scheduled simultaneously with the SBFL-Tournament, a GCS team can register and compete in the Open Competition side of a SUPER-Weekend event. Like the GCS, the SBFL tournament is not a divisional tournament and no NSBA Divisional points are issued to win the title of any Divisional, State, and Regional Points Champion. Any SBFL team wishing to be considered as an alternate for the current GCS competition season should also fish on Sunday to accumulate their 4-fish weights. The tournament creel for the SBFL and Open Competition Tournament is 2-fish per boat just like the Fun class, but the GCS is set up as a 2-fish 2-day tournament where the aggregate total (up to 4-fish) wins the tournament.

Striped Bass Fishing League (SBFL) Classic Championship Tournament
Held at the Striped Bass Classic, this tournament will pit the best from each league in a championship tournament with a special prize only open to the SBFL teams. This tournament is held at the same time as the National Championship and any SBFL teams that earn an invitation to the National Championship can compete in both simultaneously.

I will be mailing out to every NSBA member the details and a special invitation to participate. I also hope this helps explain the program better. I am sure that there will be come more improvements prior to the invitations going out.

Warren

Guides don't always win - true - but what's the percentage???

I'd rather spend my money in a pro-am tournament and be on the boat all day with either Mark, or Jeff, or Mike, or Randy etc. etc. where I can improve my skills.

I don't care about the money. I just want to learn more. That's not gonna happen unless an amateur is in the boat with the pro!

I've tried to fish as many tournaments as I could this year and I have enjoyed it for sure, however, I haven't learned a single thing - except the guides usually win.

There's no sharing of info prior to the tournament because everyone is protecting their secrets then after the weigh in - poof - everyone's gone in 15 nanoseconds so there's no discussion then.

Unfortunately, my job prevents me from being able to prefish a tournament most of the time. Guides on the tournament lake get to "prefish" the lake every day.

While I agree there is some "luck" involved, believe me, my skills are not to the level where I can compete with most of you guys.

So, if I'm not learning anything about striper fishing and I'm not competitive against the "pros" at this point, the amateur and pro-ams become very attractive alternates.

Then, I can just let the "pros" battle it out on the "big" tournament fee extravaganzas!

But, that's just me.

I would be interested in fishing the Tournament 1 maybe the Tournament 2, but at this point in time I am not ready to dedicate the time and energy it takes for the Tournament 4.

My goals are to have fun and learn...a Pro-Am would be good too. Winning is important and if I am fishing...I have already won no matter the size of fish I catch

Well said Fuzzy. I'm in the boat with you.

Perhaps we should air all this out at a TSA meeting soon to be scheduled.

Fuzzy, between the 2 of us, surely we can con the wives outta $25.