Tales from O H Ivie, Basschamps Championship

I wasnt able to fish it this year unfortunately, but it sounded like fun. Lets hear everyones stories!

I’ll go , this video sums up my entire tournament

https://twitter.com/omgness4real/status/1447298859349258242?s=10

You win the internet today.

We had a good time. Caught a ton of fish just couldn't really dial in those bigger bites. Were in the check cut after Saturday then crapped the bed yesterday. Dumped our two unders and drove home. Practice was some of the most fun fishing I have had in a long time. They were destroying a top water bait from sun up until dark.

Sounds like it was tough. Was two 10 fish limits for 300 boats correct?

That is hilarious. Watched it 4 times and still laughed out loud !

I am betting there were a lot of fish caught but the weird slot limit skewed the results.

They have the weird length limit rule like Grapevine. Can only retain two under 18 inches. You'd need at least 3 over 18 to complete your limit.

Makes sense, there were a lot of really good teams in that deal to only have been two 10 fish limits caught for 2 days of fishing,

That’s per person. So teams can have 4 unders. It wasn’t the slot that skewed the weights, it was the fact that the lake is fishing tough.

Josh, this deal they were only allowed two unders because of being able to keep up with who caught what. GW been working hard over here and that is one of the things they been writing tickets for. Either way, it’s not been great fishing and you are certainly right about that.

No, each team could only have 2 unders per day.

Lot of boats, lot of alcohol.

Lots of scratched up boats and 3 boats rotating spots at same time is all I’ve heard. Apparently was heck of shallow water bite

I wouldn’t call 4 total limits out of 600 anglers fishing two full days a heck of a shallow water bite!

Just cause they didn’t weigh them don’t mean people didn’t catch them. Slot lake…..

I think everyone on this thread is under the influence based on comments. LOL!! It was very tough.

Well, I can’t speak for anyone else but we worked our butts off to catch our 7 keepers.

Fair enough. I didn't realize that. I guess it makes sense. Fishing was still tough. I was the only idiot who called for less than 50 to win and I got laughed out of the room.

Josh, this deal they were only allowed two unders because of being able to keep up with who caught what. GW been working hard over here and that is one of the things they been writing tickets for. Either way, it’s not been great fishing and you are certainly right about that.[/quote]

Leave it to the GWs at Ivie to do this. The 2 understand rule was put in place to take the overpopulated unders out of the lake. It wasn’t out there for any other reason. If 2 people are in the boat then 4 unders should be allowed.
Always was before.

Leave it to the GWs at Ivie to do this. The 2 understand rule was put in place to take the overpopulated unders out of the lake. It wasn’t out there for any other reason. If 2 people are in the boat then 4 unders should be allowed.
Always was before.
[/quote]
Only if the two caught per person are actually caught by that person, you can’t have one person catch three and the other catch one and have them in the livewell. Or one catch all four unders, it’s not legal. No need in blaming the wardens, it’s a rule that some can’t comprehend. Yes, it was like that in some tournaments before, I doubt it will be anymore and if poly is given it should be a question.

Dad and I always questioned that about "how do you know if each person actually did catch 2 unders and not one person catching 3 or even 4". I bet we do see a change in team touraments on Ivie. Used to be if it was a team deal and you fished solo you were at a disadvantage because you could only have 2 unders. I bet we see some changes now where it is just 2 unders per team simply because you can't prove who caught what and if a polygraph is given thats going to be tough to get around.

As usual, we had a great time. Got there Wednesday and practiced all 3 days then fished just Saturday. Like literally everyone else we talked to, the number of 2# fish in the lake is incredible, but we found the 18" fish nearly impossible to find. In 4 days of fishing we had exactly one in our boat. Our traveling partners had 2; a 7-8# fish in practice and a nice 4+ on Sunday but that was it. I bet that place is amazing in the next few years with the great population of fish it has today.

For us, it was simple...caught fish rather consistently all day on Saturday and culled our unders probably 8 times but never found anything over 18". Dumped our 2 that would have been about 5# and didn't fish Sunday which was good because I clearly overserved myself watching my Texas Fightin Aggies beat Bama Saturday night!! Fished 10 feet or less because we never got bit deep in practice. I am guessin that potentially was our mistake but who knows. Champs put on a great show and I sure wish Ivie wasn't on the regular season next year because I would love to go back there for a Championship again.

Teams could only weigh in 2 under 18. Great Lake with the absolute giants. Ive never seen fish hit a top water harder.

Yea I saw that. Most team tournaments out here don't use that format but I bet after this weekend we will be seeing that more often, and understandably so. The lake can be a really awesome topwater lake. Partner and I won a big tournament few months back with 33 pounds all on topwater in about 30 minutes. If you find that magic spot she will treat you right.

What did you weigh in?

When a GW counts how many crappie are in the boat, do they ask each angler how many they contributed to the limit or does the total limit just double?

Heck I don’t know what it matters anyway. The tournaments all release them anyway. The law was changed trying to get people to keep some of the smaller ones.

I’d guess it matters because it’s part of tpwd rules for the lake I believe at Fork it’s one over person, if a team event two can be weighed but each person has to catch one and I believe it’s in the poly question for some tournaments.

By this logic every team can also have 10 fish in the boat. Its absolutely legal by TPWD regulations, heck nobody would ever have to weigh a dead fish again. You might get 3 overs in a 300 boat tournament on Fork, and how many times has a team weighed 2 overs. I can only think of one time off the top of my head when those Burns brothers did it. Much easier to police a needle in a haystack on who caught what than it is on 300 teams. Just opens the door for dishonesty… after Crankin Craig and Rooster this year I think we all learned there’s more dishonesty among our fellow competitors than we ever imagined. That’s my .02, Basschamps is the best out there, always appreciate their efforts to provide a level and fair playing field at their events.

I don’t recall a team tournament allowing ten fish in the boat at one time? So you are allowed five fish in the boat is the normal rule, tpwd has a slot rule. I don’t see how hard this concept is to grasp but I’m sure for many it can be.

Just my two cents but because people are allowed to fish solo (and for some they find themselves in that situation last minute) the tourney should set the rules to mimic what a one man team can weigh in. This makes it fair and insures that you aren’t going to get sideways with parks and wildlife. The tourney rules should always be consistent with parks and wildlife but can certainly be more restrictive.

Byler and France had 2 overs a few years back as well.

If we are alone in Champs at Fork as long as not two in possession can't you weigh two? I could be wrong but it seems like that was addressed.

Catch one, run to weigh it and release to champs tank and go back out.


Of course I would never have to worry about this, I can barely catch a bar fish there.

You couldn’t catch crabs at a whore house.

LMAO thats a fact........dayum tuff crowd

This made me LOL.

We caught a lot of bass in the tournament. None over the slot though. All in all it was a fun event and very well run. Thanks to BassChamps staff and to Concho Park. Also quick shout out to the folks in West Texas. I had a hub blow out on my trailer and got help from a guy I’ve never met. He helped me get a new hub on and saved me from having to tow back to Houston on 3 wheels. Great event, great fishing and great people.

Caught all the 1.5-2lb fish we wanted in practice with a few overs. Had a decent first day thanks to a 6lb over but couldn’t follow it up on Sunday. Was a fun time everyone at our house caught fish and one of the teams finished in top 10.

I've had a dude help me change a flat once in the middle of nowhere. good people out there

State law is per person, not collective for the boat. Pretty simple to understand.