Freeze Your Rat Off Ice Derby Jan16-17 2010

[Iceshanty]

http://www.theriverratmarina.com

Rules for 1st Annual “Freeze your Rat Off” Ice fishing derby, Jan 16th&17th 2010

1.   Must have ticket before tournament starts @ 7am Saturday 1/16/10.
2.   Each angler must have his or her own ticket, no entering fish that were caught by someone without a ticket.
3.   Tournament hours are Saturday 1/16/10 7am-330pm, weigh-ins start @ 4pm at The River Rat Tackle and Gun Shop. Sunday 1/17/10 7am-200pm weigh-ins start at 200pm and close at 3pm. Prize giveaway’s start @ 330pm.
4.   There will be cash prizes in 3 divisions, paying the three heaviest fish. The divisions are Walleye, Yellow Perch and Panfish (Crappie, Sunfish and Bluegills). In the event of a tie length of the fish will determine the winner.
5.   All waters of Oneida Lake are open for this tournament, no fish caught in bodies of water other than Oneida Lake (west of the first impassable dam downstream of Brewerton, or east of the first impassable dam upstream from Sylvan Beach) are eligible for this event.
6.   All winning fish are subject to final inspection.
7.   Tickets are $10 and need to be shown at time of entering fish and for door prizes. Must be present for all drawings.
8.   Rulings by The River Rat staff are final.
9.   If the ice is deemed unsafe by The River Rat staff we will set a “rain date” for as soon as the ice is safe.

[The River Rat]

This is the first Derby we are putting on and I had a customer point out to me today that on the flyer I put fish are judged by length and in the rules I put by weight. Disregarding the fact that I am brain dead, which is the better format? I think I am leaning toward the length first and the weight as the tie breaker. Any suggestions?
Thanks
Matt the Fish

[rgfixit]

Don't ask...just dictate the rule the way you will judge....that's my suggestion.
RG

[Irish Jigger]

Personally I would go for length. It's harder to manipulate length if someone were to try and cheat and as far as the tie breaker the first entery takes it. That way you won't have someone stuffing sinkers down a fishes throat to increase weight.

[Kuyahoorakid]

Personally I would go for length. It's harder to manipulate length if someone were to try and cheat and as far as the tie breaker the first entery takes it. That way you won't have someone stuffing sinkers down a fishes throat to increase weight.

I have to agree, length would probably be the only fair way to judge it.

[Gamma Fish]

This is the first Derby we are putting on and I had a customer point out to me today that on the flyer I put fish are judged by length and in the rules I put by weight. Disregarding the fact that I am brain dead, which is the better format? I think I am leaning toward the length first and the weight as the tie breaker. Any suggestions?
Thanks
Matt the Fish

The YMCA Crappie Derby in Fulton always used length of fish and then weight for a tie breaker if needed.   Never any headaches there with that system.

[The River Rat]

OK its official. This derby is going to be length, with weight as the tie breaker.
thanks
MtF

[kchamp]

cut the fish open to make sure no sinkers

[jmny004]

I believe the first tournament will be a learning experience. I believe trying to judge length by a 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch will lead to numerous complaints by the participants. And it will be subjective to how the measuremaster measures the fish, Mouth and tail closed? A stop on the front of the measuring board to make sure all fish are touching the stop with their lips closed to be  measured?
If you went with weight as the determinate factor , it could be measures in 100Th of an pound,and readable by looking at the LED readout on a quality scale. A fish weighting between 1lb and 2lb, (1.01-1.99)has 100 weight possibilities,that the contestants would be able to see mechanically displayed.(Human factor removed) A fish measuring between 16 and 17 inches will be a subjective call by the measuremaster and using a relatively refined ruler,gives you only 16 possibilities. Good Luck with the tournament.

PS. i purchased" The  equalizer" scale to weight my bass to cull in a tournament. This might be just the ticket for your tournaments.

[Gamma Fish]

I believe the first tournament will be a learning experience. I believe trying to judge length by a 1/16 to 1/8 of an inch will lead to numerous complaints by the participants. And it will be subjective to how the measuremaster measures the fish, Mouth and tail closed? A stop on the front of the measuring board to make sure all fish are touching the stop with their lips closed to be  measured?
If you went with weight as the determinate factor , it could be measures in 100Th of an pound,and readable by looking at the LED readout on a quality scale. A fish weighting between 1lb and 2lb, (1.01-1.99)has 100 weight possibilities,that the contestants would be able to see mechanically displayed.(Human factor removed) A fish measuring between 16 and 17 inches will be a subjective call by the measuremaster and using a relatively refined ruler,gives you only 16 possibilities. Good Luck with the tournament.

PS. i purchased" The  equalizer" scale to weight my bass to cull in a tournament. This might be just the ticket for your tournaments.

This is a DERBY !    I'm sure if it were a huge money tournament that more stringent weighing and measuring rules would be in place.

  One person handling the measuring/weighing with a quality measuring device and scale will be sufficient.    Mouth closed, tail open or closed to get the longest possible measurement.     Simple, straight forward and proper for a derby !

[walleymaster96]

The YMCA Crappie Derby in Fulton always used length of fish and then weight for a tie breaker if needed.   Never any headaches there with that system.

when do they put on the crappie derby. I've never heard of it. Is it something new?

[The River Rat]

Thanks for all your input guys, I am going to go with length down to a 1/16th of an inch. Now I just need all of you to get your buts in here and buy your tickets.
Thanks
Matt the Fish

[cspoof]

River rat   

      YOU Have to go by weight.  You will get 100's of panfish all the same size.  I have run many Derby's and they all go by weight and then length for that reason.

[MeatHunter737]

River rat   

      YOU Have to go by weight.  You will get 100's of panfish all the same size.  I have run many Derby's and they all go by weight and then length for that reason.

but how many 15'' perch are gonna come through?? and you may have a small handful of 14'', ...that will go by weight

[browntroutslayer]

dont worry about 100 "panfish" all the same size, one big crappie will dunce all those sunnies and gills

[dylanfan2321]

Where exactly do we buy the tickets...Can't wait now if only I can find some drinking oops I mean fishing buddies!!

[slider]

can a pittsburgher join in the fun

[Gamma Fish]

dont worry about 100 "panfish" all the same size, one big crappie will dunce all those sunnies and gills

I've heard some comments about this scenario.    Crappies should be a totally separate event as the state size limit is 9".  How many 9" gills and sunnies will come into the scales ?    Not many so for those who are sunfish and gill fishermen, they have no chance right from the get go.
  Something to consider and making a quick change in the rules/regulations.

[The River Rat]

I have heard a lot of great feedback and im trying to set the rules to benefit the enjoyment of the derby. I am leaning towards no crappie in the derby instead of having a seperate category for them. the crappie bite is not great right now and the bluegills and sunfish bite has been fantastic.
Tickets can only be purchased here at the shop until saturday morning at 7am when the derby officially starts. I will have the free coffee on and the shop open at 5am saturday moning for all your bait needs.

Thanks
Matt

[Gamma Fish]

I have heard a lot of great feedback and im trying to set the rules to benefit the enjoyment of the derby. I am leaning towards no crappie in the derby instead of having a seperate category for them. the crappie bite is not great right now and the bluegills and sunfish bite has been fantastic.
Tickets can only be purchased here at the shop until saturday morning at 7am when the derby officially starts. I will have the free coffee on and the shop open at 5am saturday moning for all your bait needs.

Thanks
Matt

Good move !    No Crappie makes a lot of sense for this  derby !       

[The River Rat]

Ticket sales are going very well and ill be honest, I would really lie to see 100 people enter this derby. The weather forecast is great and the fishing on this lake is heating up in the last week so get all your buddies, friends, family, kids who ever and come on out. I am going to open the shop at 5am saturday morning for bait and tickets.

Thanks
Matt the Fish

[MACHINIST]

Matt has a great shop that has all of the stuff everyone will need for a great weekend guys come on up and meet.Great place for soft water also.I will be up to help him on Saturday evening and also to be there for the presentation from maki plastics.hope to meet some of you up there

[GotEmHooked]

dont worry about 100 "panfish" all the same size, one big crappie will dunce all those sunnies and gills

             YUP!

[crappieslayer22]

ill be up ther ein the am for my ticket!!

[The River Rat]

The ticket sales are closed for the derby and we ended up with 90 entries!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you everyone the response has been great and is making me come up with new ideas for a second tournament this winter. The payouts for the 3 divisions will be as follows. 1st place $150, 2nd place $100 and 3rd place $50.

Thanks
Matt the Fish

[The River Rat]

The weigh in's are today and any fish that is going to get entered has to be here at the shop by 3pm. The final prizes and door prizes will start at 330pm. Hope to see everyone here at The River Rat.

Thanks
Matt the Fish

[The River Rat]

Hello Everyone!!!
Sorry this took so long to post up here, but were busy getting ready for the Northeastern Sport Show at The State Fairgrounds this coming weekend.

Lets start with a big thank you very much to all 90 participants who came out and made our first Ice Fishing derby a huge success and as got me thinking about another 1 or 2 more events this winter???

We gave away $900 in prize money to 9 winners in three divisions, as well as a host of door prizes donated by The River Rat Tackle and Gun Shop, Micale Motorsports and Mad River Tackle.

In the Panfish division.
3rd place Justin Cornell (Bluegill) 9 1/4" 9oz
2nd Place Mike Micale (Bluegill) 9 1/4 " 12oz
1st Place Rob Cornell (Bluegill) 9 3/4" 12oz

In the Perch Division.
3rd Place Josh Queir 12 7/8" 1.1lb
2nd Place Tom Merritt 12 15/16" 1.0lb
1st Place Brian Hammond 13 3/4" 1.6lb

In the Walleye Division.
3rd Place Rob Copie 21 1/4" 3.9lb
2nd Place Mark Chybinski 21 3/4" 4.8lb
1st Place Steve Perry 21 7/8" 4.2lb

I will start taking suggestions for dates of the next tourney. My question is this, If I organize 2 more tourneys for February 13th & 14th and for March 13th and 14th is that too much or can we get 100 entries for both?? Your feedback helps me gauge what I do. Mandy and I and all my staff enjoyed putting this derby on so if we think it will be supported we will do up to 2 more this winter.

Thanks to all that went first with us.
Matt the Fish

[slider]

the valentines day one may cause a increase in divorce rates in your area.
But thats the breaks.

[The River Rat]

A few friendly IC guys and my wife have all advised me tocome up with an alternate date. It is going to be the following weekend 2/20&21.

[slider]

i think its a safe thing to say that im sure there was a lot of males with self preservation in mind making that decision