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Maybe a yearly "dues" is in order here Jeff. I don't care for lurkers either, like you said, glean info, contribute nothing. Perhaps a $25/year membership or something. You could recoup some costs
and/or put the $$ into a tournament fund for prizes or something. Though I hate the idea of fishing for cash also, maybe a big ticket item in your spring tournament where everyone gets a free ticket and elgible for a drawing. Idk, just rambling ideas. I certainly wouldn't have a problem with something like this. This is a great site, and even though I mostly got out of the game, still visit regularly and occasionally contribute, thanks for your hard work and dedication

As a Newbie to the site, I would like to say thanks for the hard work you do and to everyone else who contributes. This site is a great resource. I guess for right now I would be considered a "lurker" but as soon as I have something to add or contribute I certainly will. This year will be the first time salmon fishing, so with any luck, I will be contributing. Fingers crossed

reel wrote:

Maybe a yearly "dues" is in order here Jeff. I don't care for lurkers either, like you said, glean info, contribute nothing. Perhaps a $25/year membership or something. You could recoup some costs
and/or put the $$ into a tournament fund for prizes or something. Though I hate the idea of fishing for cash also, maybe a big ticket item in your spring tournament where everyone gets a free ticket and elgible for a drawing. Idk, just rambling ideas. I certainly wouldn't have a problem with something like this. This is a great site, and even though I mostly got out of the game, still visit regularly and occasionally contribute, thanks for your hard work and dedication

While its surely not a bad idea, I think we would lose alot of people if there were a "dues".  I dont want to see the knowledge and this resource get diminished.

As for the lurkers, I am mainly talking about seasoned vets that get alot of information and never bother to return any.  I am not really referring to newer guys that are learning the fishery.  I understand why those folks might be hesitant to post - usually as time goes on that changes.

There's nothing overly wrong with tournaments. I don't choose to participate for several reasons. Still, I do believe they suppress informaiton on the site. I seriously doubt the tourneys would turn out much differently if every tournament contender posted every fish, every lure and every spot they boated something in the week before a tourney.  
What I likely would participate in is just a "southend" fishing day outing where everyone who fished showed up at a specific time and we all just lied to each other about what we caught that day, had a few snacks, a beverage and got to know each other better.  No prizes or perhaps random weight prizes so a guy with one fish had as much chance of "winning" a lure pack or other prize as anyone else.  Just spitballing, but food for thought.

We have talked about that a number of times a while back and I guess deep down that is where the cabin fever tournament came from.  For the most part its all luck, a ton of guys get together, and minimal entry fee.  It seems to work out pretty well.  Weve also talked about doing a picnic style get together in the summer, just never got through the logistics and that idea just kind of disappeared.

On a side note, we are probably going to start a new tournament this year.  We are still working out the details so nothing is for sure.  But the tournament would be a Port Vs. Port tournament.  Portage vs. Mi City.  Every boat out of portage for example would be on the same team.  I think its a great way to get new guys involved and introduced to new people, share info, tactics etc.   Hopefully we officially do it.  

This is exactly why we did the Coho Cabin Fever. Usually tons of fish around and its anyones game. Also fish are close to shore so more people are able to catch fish than offshore.

If your thinking about adding another tournament, how about a HELP OUR HATCHERIES TOURNEY????
All money goes toward something at the hatcheries that might be needed. Cost are always going up and if it wasn't for the work that our hatcheries provided our fishing would look alot different.

I went to a fishing derby in Canada on Lake Superior and they had a mystery weight tournament run by the Rotary Club. Here’s how it worked. The RC gathered a bunch of “prizes” from around town. Free Car Wash, dozen donuts, two pounds of moose meat (not really, but it could have been anything.) Top prize was a small boat and motor. The fish was about 99% lake trout and they knew there probably wouldn’t be any less than 3 pounds or larger than 20 pounds. So they randomly assigned a mystery weight between 3 and 20 pounds to a specific weight – like the free car wash went to the person who weighed in the fish closest to 7 pounds 3 ounces. So each person could weigh in one fish and it might have been a new boat or moose meat, even if it was a scrawny four pounder. Made for great fun, great participation and the mystery weights were revealed at a community picnic sort of setting. The Rotarians actually used the event as a fund raiser since entering a fish cost five bucks (loonies), and there were hundreds of fish entered. It was fun, there was the usual fisherman banter and a guy in a 14 footer had as much chance of winning as the guy with the biggest/best boat in the tourney. Be tough for the  coho fever tourney but would be fun in the summer events.