South East Michigan Tournament Series

[Duck-Hunter]

After fishing Branch County Panfish Club for the past two seasons and also fishing the Frostbite Series previous to Branch a few friends and I have realized we are lacking serious ice fishing tournaments in our state. Michigan produces world class ice fishermen and we have a top self fishery. We are going to be sitting down in the next couple of months and organizing a series that will be ran just like a big event. We will have a solid rule structure along with bucket and equipment checks. This will not be another "derby style" tournament, we will be going by weight not big fish takes all. Everyone that will be helping us run this all have an extensive tournament background. We are planning on having one to maybe two tournaments a weekend(Saturday and Sunday). I just wanted to look for some input and get word out to start. As of right now the lakes we have in mind will range from Wayne County to Jackson County and Genesee county to Washtenaw County. We will be covering a lot of area. Bag limits will be 16 fish, this will be a panfish series. We will determine one to two targeted species depending on the abundance the fishery holds. Examples: 8 bluegill/8 crappie or 16 bluegill, 16 crappie. More than likely we will be looking at 8 bluegill and 8 crappie as our most common bag limit. Sunfish will fall into the bluegill category(pumpkinseed, redears, and hybrids)

2man teams

Fishing 8am-1pm

Fish must be alive, frozen fish will not be weighed

No fishing closer than 15' from another fishermen, occupied shanty/hard sided shanty

No alcohol

No hole blocking, if the hole is open(not being fished) it is fair game

No Prefishing after 7pm day before tournament day

You can only fish one line, a tip up counts as a line(even though this will be panfish tournaments)

This post is just a small breakdown at what we are looking to accomplish. We will have more rules and details as we meet up and organize more over the spring and summer. The point of this post is to see how much interest we will receive.

Thanks,
Justyn Gafford

[Ice Scratcher]

Sounds pretty cool..

Is this something that keeps a running total of points/wins for a final prize? Or would each event be treated as a separate thing?

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[Xx xxx xX]

If it's total running it would be more fair to go to lakes throughout mi. I wouldn't head south to fish in a tournament every weekend on lakes I don't know.

[Duck-Hunter]

This will be ran as a series. We will keep points and also do a championship at the end. Team of the year and top 5 teams will be acknowledged. Every tournament there will be cash prizes and I'm sure we will have other prizes to hand out.


We are going to keep this cost effective on the anglers fishing the series. We are staying in the area that was stated in the original post. We are not looking for $100+ entry fees. This is something that will be sort of a stepping stone/learning experience for people looking to get into tournaments like the NAIFC or Midwest open without paying $200 entry fees, traveling out of state, etc.

[Duck-Hunter]

If it's total running it would be more fair to go to lakes throughout mi. I wouldn't head south to fish in a tournament every weekend on lakes I don't know.

I understand what you mean. We spent 2 years fishing a series that was 1.5-2hr from our area. We usually would be lucky to get a chance to Prefish the selected lakes. With running this series and also fishing NAIFC tournaments and the Midwest open we will not have time to venture north and pick lakes. The lakes will be posted with plenty of time to prefish so if you and your partner would like to come down a day early and prefish you would be more than welcome. 

We are fortunate enough to have a great crew of guys that will be able to step in when we are gone and we know everything will be ran smoothly with our absence. We will see the following we gather after the first season and who knows this could turn into venturing state wide. We love to fish new waters and break down lakes we never stepped foot on, that's how 95% of our fun fishing is. We lake hop, fishing 1-4 lakes a day

[SKIFFLAKEJIMMY]

I like it.

[DickTate]

I've always liked the idea of a traveling ice fishing league, with a friendly little wager to make things more fun.

[tazdevil300]

good luck and sounds good just will keep to my area as I agree traveling over an hour all the time isn't fun.Lots of fun fishing in a club though and worth the comaradirie

[Duck-Hunter]

Taz is right one if the best things about being in a club/series is the comradery. When we first started fishing Branch County we personally did not anyone. After a few tournaments next thing you know we had a bunch of new friends. The greatest thing was the learning experience. We learned more after the first season than what we would accomplished in years of fishing "derbys". That series has some of the top names in the state and nation. Being able to fish side by side with them and learn from them was awesome. It was totally worth the drive to have that experience.

Between myself and the crew that will be running this we all have tournament backgrounds. A couple of our guys run bass tournaments in our area which is also a valuable asset having guys that have experience with running a series. The biggest thing we are aiming for is fun. We are going to keep it that way, but the rules are not going to be lax. We will go over the rules and everyone will be handed a copy of the rules at sign up so there is not any misconception. Ie: team shows up with one too many fish to weigh in you will be docked your biggest fish, if you show up to weigh-in with fish under the bag limit that's what will be weighed. No running back and grabbing more, you will be on shore at the end of the tournament or you will be docked "x" amount of weight and after 5 minutes you will be disqualified.  These are just some examples until we sit down and workout the official details.

[slabzilla73]

Sounds like a great idea, look forward to hearing more later on for sure. Keep us posted.

[jdgambler2]

sounds like fun

[joedevera]

Any word on dates/lakes?

[RLWagner]

Sounds like it has potential. Certainly worth watching the evolution of the idea. Kinda miss being able to register for the MWO every year given its popularity. A new event is needed.

Thanks for keeping us posted.

[mszczep1]

Totally into it!  Have only done derbies so far.  Any restriction to mobility on the ice?  I fished a derby at Independence Lake (Washtenaw) that was foot only.  Was fair to me, cuz I don't have a machine.  Another derby I fish is on a big lake, best fishing on the other side.  Not too good for me. 

[P Meyette]

sounds like fun keep us informed please

[dgb]

Looking forward to seeing what you guys put togther. Me and a buddy use to fish the trap attacks in the Irish Hills area (wamplers) and enjoyed them. Our best finish was 9th.

[aacosta]

I like the idea as well, like the idea of foot travel only to help even things out

[crappieslayer37]

Not a Michigan resident, but i too would be interested in some tourney fishing within a couple hours of n.w. ohio.

[SkiSoloII]

Definitely interested, keep us informed!

Dave

[Icefisher40]

So did this circuit fizzle out then?

[crappieslayer37]

There is insurance/liability issues that many of the fun little tourneys like this get squashed. Todays generation want to sue someone for a quick buck.

[Ice Scratcher]

Not to be a stick in the mud, and certainly ain't taking either side, because I can see both...

But the no machines, only walking ideas..

When you get down to it, many guys aren't necessarily able to pull all that gear around, and are ATV dependent due to many things, age possibly being the biggest factor..

Other guys can walk 4 miles, without thinking about it.. But might not be able to afford some of the tools other guys have...

Putting a restriction on or leaving conditions dictate..

Someone won't be happy.. Like I said, I'm not taking sides..

Unless you're talking a walking only Lake Erie derby, now that sounds just fine lol..

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