+1.....1/32 is about like a pencil stroke!

I don't like to fish tourneys where I run the risk of getting a ticket! Might as well play "ticket roulette"!

Was the fish dead after being measured for 5 minutes? LOL! I'm sure the little sucker swam off fine....it's just funny IMO!

one of my only gripes about BASSCHAMPS!!


GIVE US A DAMN COURTESY BOARD TO USE NEAR THE WATERS EDGE!

I can see the logic in making people go buy a board, because it increases the sales for thier sponsors.


i believe many instances such as this could be eliminated. I see absolutely no reason in the world why there isn't a courtesy check board available away from the stage area. I still get pist off thinking about the way I was talked to when I mistaked an empty tank for a courtesy check board.

Don't feel bad, I had the same thing happen to me in the first hour. I ask for a check as well and they said they could only check my board. Funny, they checked the fish at the Skeeter tournament. Anyway, my board was short so I thought I was ok but I wasn't. Game warden was not there so they sent me on my way. I don't understand the reasoning behind squeezing the tail either. Depending on what part of the tail you squeeze you can get different lengths. Why not measure the fish in it's natural position? I just need to catch a 25 inch fish then there is no problem!

board are gonna be different in the boats, because they get banged around/kicked around, and are not treated as sensitive measuring instruments. that 90 degree bend in our boat boards(even the same brand) can be bent on accident and not noticeable to the human eye.

well count me in on the list of guys that got to talk to game warden at fork sunday. some advise to u guys that have a plastice measuring board that folds throw it in trash its not worth it u feel like a idiot but my fish just barely touched there line and then we used my OLD BOARD THAT IS NOW IN TRASH CAN AT LAKE FORK IF SOMEONE WANTS IT. NO TICKET THANK GOODNESS. but did have fun and will do it again just with a new board

I don't understand why you guys think it is wrong when a tournament organization does not supply a "courtesy board"? It seems to me if a tournament has a "courtesy board" and you bring in a questionable fish then the tournament organization is aiding you in bringing in an illegal fish? A fish in the slot is a fish in the slot, period. If you had any question that your fish might be over then you should have thrown in back! If you have a fish in your possession and walk on to the bank to check it on a "courtesy board" then the game warden has every right to write you a ticket if the fish is not legal!

Not to mention if you are measuring you fish to go under rather than trying to see if it will go over you are measuring your fish wrong in the first place! No "courtesy board" can fix your hope that the fish will go under if you if you are measuring it wrong!

I for one think Bass Champs did it right, NO COURTESY BOARD! I can only imagine the long line of guys trying to get their fish to measure under the line at the bank holding their fish out of water!

Jeff Welch had what I thought was a real good explanation on their web site about how to measure a fish in a slot event. He said the correct board and way you measure the fish is just as important as changing your line or putting gas in your boat!

Same thing happened to me 2 yrs ago in a tourny at Fork. On my board it was just under the 16" line, but by a hair, I thought about it for 2 hours then took it in to weigh, made the line just before it closed (last hour of last day), they threw it on the board and it was on the line from what I could see. The official pinched the tail, swished it back and forth for what seemed like 10 minutes, but was probably one one or two, then sd, nope too long it crossed the line. No game warden at that point, so they DQ'd me. I was a little upset at first that it took all that to reach a conclusion, but they are just trying to keep everything fair in their eyes. When prize money is on the line, they have to make a judgement call. The look on the officials face sd it all, looked like he may have felt worse about it than I did. Live and learn I guess. Glad there was a warden that was sensible about it. There are many that wouldn't have thought twice about whipping out the autograph book.

I got a warning ticket as well and for you guys that are making it sound like people are knowingly brining in illegal fish, it is obvious you have no clue about any type of tournament fishing so you might want to back off a little bit.

My fish was legal UNLESS you barely put the fishes lip to the bump board and then did everything possible to make it touch the line. One side, it was clearly over but on it's short side I could gently push the fishes lip against the board and make him go under.

I have no complaints about BassChamps or the guy that measure the fish. He measured the long side first and it was an 1/8 over. I measured the fish within seconds of being caught and measured it's short side and the fish was easily almost 1/4 under the slot. After relaxing it was a little closer.

As I said, no problem with the BassChamps guys at all but if anyone knows that Red Headed Jacka$$ Game Warden out there, please tell him that I think we all understand that he has a job to do but he can lose the tone and the attitude when addressing law abiding fishermen. It's guys like him that give law enforcement agents a bad name.

If the GW is present at the weigh in, why not use his board to measure the fish for the tournament or atleast the same brand board as the warden? After all, it's the GW's board that decides if a fish is in the slot or not.

yep that's tourney fishing at Fork. couldn't tell you how many I tossed back that I was uncertain of. Not just Fork really any slot lake.

What ever happened to giving the angler every opportunity to weigh the fish?

If the fish measures on one side its good. Same way on the other end of the spectrum, if the fish measures over on one side its good.

GW isn't going to flip flop a crappie around to make sure its over the 10" line on both sides... If it measures its good

Game warden has no business being at the weigh in to write tickets for fish that are being released. They need to get out on the water and do their job. There is no telling how many violations are occuring on the water while he is sitting at the weigh in writing tickets for fish that are being released.

The warden told us that if one side was long and the other was short, the fish was long.

That is a valid point.