Well I don't want to beat a dead horse either. I started this post to see what others thought. I want things to change for the better because majority of the members agree. It's always hard to please everyone. I wasn't sure of the general thoughts of the members about this. I am glad to see people giving their ideas. That's what a club is about, and that's why this is a good one.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.  

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.