Fishing Rodeo's

Rodney Birditt · Post by **Rodney Birditt** » Mon Dec 09, 2002 5:29 pm

Has anyone ever fished a tournament rodeo?
And if so what did you think of it.

Thank you......
Rodney Birditt (Fishhead).

JT_BAGWELL · Post by **JT_BAGWELL** » Mon Dec 09, 2002 10:19 pm

Maybe, I have lived a sheltered life but, I don't know what a fishing rodeo is. I guess I need some input too.

JoeM · Post by **JoeM** » Tue Dec 10, 2002 1:34 am

Rodney and Jeremiah- Your guess is as good as mine. Better actually. I've never ever heard of such a thing. (Carp Roping, things like that?)

Anybody out there who can describe this activity? Thanks for uncovering this unknown practice.

Rodney Birditt · Post by **Rodney Birditt** » Tue Dec 10, 2002 4:05 am

A fishing rodeo is a bass tournament and in the tournament say an 8 hr tournament every 2 hrs is designated for every team to come in and weigh their fish and you have a winner every 2 hrs. Then at the end you total all the weights of each team and have an overall tournament winner. This type of tournament was fished at Logan Martin Lake in Alabama about 3 weeks ago lasted 12 hours. Just was wondering if anyone had ever heard of one or fished one. An angler that fishes a weekly tournament that I put on fished it said it cost about $250 per team paying $250 every 2 hrs then a $1000 overall winner. Said it was tough about 20 degrees on the water that day. By the way they did poorly and said never again, because you couldn't get to far away from weigh-in before having to be back again.

...................
Rodney Birditt (Fishhead)

johnnie crain outdoors · Tue Dec 10, 2002 5:13 am

Fishhead, How did you ever get a name like that? Actually, from what you descibed, I think I would like to fish a rodeo. Weighing in every two hours would certainly ascertain that anglers with huge motors didn't have that much over the smaller motors, seems like it would really even the odds. Also, if thios was done in hot weather, I'm sure more fish would survive.
I have fished eight hour events where every hour we had to move to a new location, like a ten hole golf course setup. I loved it. The only problem was, that we decided to use a whistle to signal change times and we were fishing right beside a soccer complex, whistles were going off every ten seconds. I probably only made four casts, moved too much. Really, though, it was fun and since it was my idea, I have to live with the whistle snafu.
I once fished a twenty four hour tournament on Bull Shoals, Missouri. Started at noon Sat. ended at noon Sun. You could fish any or all of the time. At midnight I had to go to the truck and respool all my rods, it's amazing how many backlashes one can get in the pitch black. I didn;t have a flashlight (DUH). Fun post, catch ya later, Johnnie Crain Iowa Pro Staff.

Cancatchbass · Post by **Cancatchbass** » Tue Dec 10, 2002 11:59 pm

There are several tournaments each year in my area (eastern Ontario Canada) that are similar to what you describe. Normally they are called a "Dash for Cash", "Big Bucks" or something similar. LOTS OF FUN!

Basically, each team is allowed (but not obliged)to weigh in ONE fish each hour. And, there can be only ONE fish in the boat at any time.

There is a set of bouys out in front of the weigh-in station. Once you pass through the bouys, you are commited to weighing in your fish.

The largest fish (or largest 2 fish)weighed in each hour receive the $$ for that hour. For example the big fish may win $500.00, 2nd might be $250.00. Normally there are additional prizes or $$ for the largest fish overall.

What makes this type of event so much fun is all the strategy involved. Imagine 15 minutes into the hour you catch a 4 pounder. On this lake it's a decent fish but you know there are better. Do you weigh it in? Do you keep fishing, hoping for a better fish, knowing you may have to dump the 4 pounder if you catch a 4 1/2, when the 4 pounder just MIGHT be good enough for that particular hour? Which means you may have had 2 chances to win $$ (in 2 different hours).

Now imagine the last couple of minutes before the hour is up. There are a bunch of boats milling around just outside the buoys, deciding whether to pass through. The bluffing that takes place makes the average poker game seem real tame.

"How'd you do? A 5 pounder! HA! Better wait for the next hour to weigh in. We've got a 6, and Jerry over there has one that will go over 5 1/2, easy. Saw him catch it."

The guy with the 5 leaves, keeping his fish for the next hour. You weigh in your 4 to take first place money for the hour, and Jerry weighs in his 2 1/2 to take second. How sweet it is!

There are countless variations of this scenerio, all of which are fun. The next hour you might have an honest 6, Jerry might have a 5 1/2, but, this time, the with the 5 has wisened up. He weighs in his 5, followed by you and Jerry. He has just "wasted" a 5, which might well have won the following hour, which you win with a 3 1/2.

Get my drift? What could be more fun than fishing 8 (or whatever) mini tournaments in a single day, with the added ****e of all the various possibilities that the "weigh-in or not weigh-in" perk adds to the stew.

Sorry for the long post. Obviously a subject dear to my heart.

ps. Are there any ProStaff spots available for the great state of Ontario?

Cancatchbass · Post by **Cancatchbass** » Wed Dec 11, 2002 12:28 am

Something strange with my previous post. The word ****e was changed to ****e?

Cancatchbass · Post by **Cancatchbass** » Wed Dec 11, 2002 12:30 am

Did it again??? The word is
s p i c e.
Is there some sort of built in censorship program on this site that doesn't like the word?

brendanc · Post by **brendanc** » Wed Dec 11, 2002 4:03 pm

The system has a "Filth Filter" in it. It is set to recognize certain words and combinations of letters. Take the first 4 letters of S P I C E. The system just catches the first 4 letters and stars them out... The only option would be for us to remove the 4-letter version of S P I C E from the system.

Sorry for the confusion...

BC