Just a reminder...The Jamborree on Memorial Day has no off limits time so you can go fishing right up to start time and can go out for night bite or night fishing but most folks go to Roosevelt as you can hit fish all day and not affect you tourney spots.
I usually go the Weds till friday to find spots for the club and keep a list to give to folks who cant pre-fish and we all get together prior to blast-off so each has three or four patterns and spots to work.

Since I'm not able to fish the tournaments, maybe I should stay out of this conversation, ...NAW!!!  What the heck - my concern about a "trial tournament" this year is that a decision should have been made BEFORE the season began.  As long as no one has begun to dominate the race for "angler of the year", and every one is on the same playing field, a early vote and decision to try it is fair for everyone.  (I can't imagine we could rap this up before the Columbia River Tournament).

But once a few people suddenly find themselves in the running for Angler of the Year, and perhaps by only a few points, it would really be a scary thing for those individuals to know that an "unknown factor" due to an experiment was now being put into the formula late in the season.

With nothing to lose personally in the club's decision to experiment, my main concern is keeping hard feelings out of a last minute decision.  Politically it seems to me that it would be smarter to discuss it this year (openly and thoroughly) and if accepted, apply it to next year.  Once the race for angler of the year has already begun, I suspect keeping the existing rules will lead to greater peace among the natives...  But that's just one opinion of a guy that is jealous that he doesn't get to fish the tournaments (My boss won't let me off on Sundays - can you imagine that!  Just teasing Lord...)  The Rev.

I see no reason not to try, all it will need is a member to make a proposal at a club meeting and we can gauge the response.

Personally, I like things as they are, however I am but one of many many members and will bow to the majority opinion.

Rob, try raising the issue formally at the next club meeting - you may get some resistance trying to change this season during a points tournamnet, but as Kirk suggested, perhaps for next year's draw...... stick it out there and let's see where this goes.

Faz

I would like tovsuggest an experiment of sorts.  Perhaps our TD and board could consider using one of our events this season.  Open the lake for a Friday and gauge the results.  It would certainly have to pass muster with the entire club, but I for one am for accepting change.  If an angler wins the event and was there on Friday, it may require some tought.  Or perhaps prior to next springs draw event, we give it a go then and see if it works or provides an unfair advantage.  

Well these are the kind of responses that I was hoping to hear. This helps us get a feel for how others plan trips and our lives are different. I have a 3 1/2 year old son, so I didn't think about the school aspect of children. Its a good point.

This year happened to be a good year for vacation for me because I am maxed out. I have to take so many days this year or I will lose them. So what better time to take them them before a bass tournament, Right? Gives me time to get there instead of rushing Friday night, run the water a bit.

Well thats what I was thinking. I am sure we all use most of our vacation time to fish. What bass angler doesn't? But more people have been opposed to it. So I guess it will stand as is until enough people feel that it shouldn't. I didn't think that many people think it such a big advantage.

Hey Rob,
  This is the first opp. I've had to sit down and read the site for a few days.  I guess my feedback to this subject would be.... It may help some of us to change the rules to assist in our knowledge of new water but one aspect of the club which has not come up in conversation is this club has always been a family club.  My 10 year old son and 8 year old daughter will fish every tournament with me this year except the Draw.  The Hudgens Family also brought their whole family to the tournaments as a mini vacation.  I assume you dont have kids of your own as the hassle of getting them out of school for a day every month during tournament season adds up fast on their report cards.
  I appreciate your enthusiasm for the sport and for the club.  We (WBC) need more enthusiastic new members and appreciate you greatly.  As a father, juggling time with your kids, your love of the sport of bass fishing, work, and vacation, it's easiest for us Dads to fly over after work and school on Friday and do these tournaments as a family unit.  Will I ever have the chance to change my opinion of this matter? Yes, 10 years from now, when the kids are off to college and I've got nothing better to do but go fishin'.  In the mean time, I like to keep it fair and uniform for all.  See you at Silver!!!!!!          RON

What a great topic.  I have never been that competitive so I'm pretty wishy-washy on  both sides of the issue.  We normally take a day or two to fish after the tournaments to cash in on the winning pattern or hit another lake on the way home.  Maybe for a lake the size of Roosevelt there could be a 100 mile or so rule about the launch site.  Someone could travel way up north and fish and enjoy the beauty of the scenery and not invade into any fishable tournament water.  I've taken a houseboat from out of around Colville.  It's very beautiful too.

Rob - the way I see it, your family gets to benefit from the knowledge gained over the tournament weekend, capitalizing on the known "hot" patterns and locations, thus increasing your catch ratio and fun on the water.

I guess it's just a glass half-empty, half-full kind of viewpoint.

I agree. This conversation got people thinking, which means they are considering other's opinions. Thats the kind of thing you want in a club. You don't want a bunch of selfish people wanting things their way. We need to mold the club to fit the needs of everyone as much as possible. I like seeing a lot of responses to a topic I started. Thats kinda cool.

My hat is off to all members, regarding  this topic.
The manner in which eveyone resonded and respected the views of others, regardless of which side of the topic they were on, boasts well of the members in this club.
Larry G.

I thought about th etime after a tourney too, but what chance does my wife or son have of after our club beats the lake up for 2 days??? You'll never make everyone happy, and that's fine. I think we can all live with the rule either way. I just thought we were about getting people involved in bass fishing and having fun. So why restrict ourselves. We have enough restrictions in life. We are a fishing club, not a tournament club. Larry G. was right, this club is more than tournaments or Angler of the Year.

It is easy for me to see advantages for those who are able to pre-fish a lake right up to the day of the tournament.
But a tournament is just one of the club's functions.
As I look at this year's May, June, and July tournament schedule, it seems they fall on the same week as our Thursday night general meeting.
Many of our members who would normally be at one of these meeting would have a hard time deciding between supporting the club by attending or leaving so they could pre-fish for a tournament. In my 19 years as a member of this club, I recall members solved their  fishing with the family issue by scheduling their time off, for right after the tournament, instead of before, resolving the closed lake issue.
Larry Gonczy

Bottom line this topic is as controversial as any and we may never see eye to eye on this. Everyone goes to these tournaments with a little different view, I think these types of discussions are health for the club and I hope they continue

How many guys that would be prefishing would be out sticken fish the 1-2 days prior to a tournament? I don't know how the pro's prefish but I thought they used non pointed hooks and just let bass pick it up and spit it. I am sure they do like to catch a fish or two to see what size they are dealing with,but not every. How smart would that be? You would have to be pretty confident to go catch up a bunch of fish the day prior to a tourny. You may have a second place in mind, but what if that fails? THen what? You corked yourself. And on any given day there could be any given number of anglers hammering your spots that you are unaware of. Just because the lake is closed to WBC guys it is not to the public. So what % of the fish have soar mouths not caused by prefishing?

I dunno. I could go both ways. It really doesn't matter to me. If I guy wants to go catch a bunch the day prior, fine. If he wants to to go out and look for fish and scout, fine. I understand the family vacation thing also. That is why me and my wife go the weekend, or two, prior. We look forward to those weekends alone .

If this comes up in the meeting tomorrow, bring your camp stoves and tents.

Mike

Rob,

In all seriousness, after thinking about what everyone has said here, I tend to lean towards having Fridays open for fishing. Either way, it is not a big deal to me, but I see a lot of benefits that I hadn't thought about before with opening Fridays. I was going to go on with one of my typically long posts, but I think I'll just say that for now 

Chris