NEW...Puzzled by lack of participation

[trekr200]

Fellow anglers,
I am puzzled why more people didn't participate in the Recycled Fish/Angling Masters Hardwater Open Online Tournament.  I admit the tournament could have been publicized better, but it is another way for us as die hard ice anglers to have fun and win great prizes.

Here is how it worked...the online tournament ran from Jan 7 through Feb 24. For a measly $25 entry fee you received:
- A measuring tape that was to be used to measure the fish
- A nice t-shirt from Angling Masters International
You had to create a "cabin" on www.anglingmasters.com. This is where you would post your pictures to your live well.

You could fish in any state that had ice and catch any species that was in season.
The rules were simple:
1. Catch a fish
2. Using the measuring tape, take a full shot of the fish and take a shot of your PIN number and the head of the fish
3. Take a photo of yourself with the fish, also known as "The Hero Shot". It took me a while to master this requirement. However, my Vexilar made a good holder.
4. Log on to the AMI site and submit your fish to your live well.
That's it!

There was a winner for each week, a monthly winner, and a grand master winner. Weekly winners won the following:
- Kahtoola MICROspikes
- Jason Mitchel Meat Stick rod
- Grabber warmers assortment
- Vexilar Hat
- AMI shirt and hat
- other stuff
The monthly winner won the following:
- Clam Prospector shelter
- Clam folding cooler chair
- Strikemaster lazer hand auger
- Hardwater Open LS shirt
- other stuff
The champion won a fishing trip to Canada.
Also, during the first 5 weeks, AMI gave $100 to the highest scoring fish.

This was a lot of fun and I learned how to be a better ice fisherman. Since I had some "skin" in the game, I had to get out and fish more. Fishing more taught me how to use lures and bait more efficiently, as well as slowing down my jigging technique. Honing my jigging style helped me lure in more fish of different species. Also, I paid closer attention to the advice and recommendations on the IDO site. For example, the posting on using the Lil Cecil for finicky pan fish help me the day I scored 7 very nice Sunnies and a nice crappie in Red Wing. Because of this tournament I caught my first walleye through the ice…something I had wanted to do for the last 2 seasons.

Now there is talk that there won’t be another hardwater tournament. I talked to Teeg from Recycled Fish and he told me that they took a bath with the tournament this year because so few people registered (approximately 12).

How many thousands of people ice fish in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, North and South Dakota? And only 12 people, nationwide, entered this tournament? Those of you who are regular contributors to the 2010/11 Ice Fishing Photos thread would have no problem getting your pictures to your live well if you entered the tournament. People who post “I’m new to ice fishing” messages would find this tournament fun and educational. Young kids who want to find new ways to get more out of ice fishing should think about entering the tournament next year.

Thanks
Mike

[hnd]

you are puzzled yet you admit that it was poorly advertised? 

[Sullymon]

Exactly! Poor advertising ... this is the very first time I heard of it. Gee, I wonder why nobody participated?

[SmellsLikeFishNH]

Never heard of it at all, and i read this place all day long.....if only my boss knew.. :-)

[eriksat1]

Exactly! Poor advertising ... this is the very first time I heard of it. Gee, I wonder why nobody participated?

+2 Same here I am on here a lot and never heard of it until now.

[Idahogator]

Exactly! Poor advertising ... this is the very first time I heard of it. Gee, I wonder why nobody participated?

I'm on the list for email from Recycled fish ~ not a word about it.

[Nam 69]

Never knew about it, Maybe next year put it out where all can see it, I go to Pa Lakes and Chit Chat and thats it

[jiggin365]

so 12 people won all those prizes?

[trekr200]

so 12 people won all those prizes?

3 out of the 12 won all the prizes.

[trekr200]

If you would have known about the tournament would you have participated?

[hnd]

probably not.  i dont' fish alot of trophy areas.  these types of online tournaments are mostly dominated by pond fisherman. 

[trekr200]

probably not.  i dont' fish alot of trophy areas.  these types of online tournaments are mostly dominated by pond fisherman. 

Define "pond fisherman"

The fish I caught were by no means trophies.  Sunfish, perch, a crappie, a walleye, and two northerns.  This was enough for me to win week 7.

[Santo180]

First I heard of it either.

[potatomansoup]

 first I've heard of it too, sounds like it would have been fun!

[corny13]

I also had never heard of it, might have fished it if had...

[Idahogator]

Next time it runs, post it up on here ~ I'm in and here's my entry fee.

                                                                                                

[Rebelfisher]

never ever heard of it, otherwise Id be in.

[trekr200]

I will make sure the information is posted for next year.  Thank you for all the comments.

[Sullymon]

probably not.  i dont' fish alot of trophy areas.  these types of online tournaments are mostly dominated by pond fisherman. 

How do you figure?

[surflizard]

I saw an ad for the t-shirt in North East Icefisherman Magazine, but no mention of a tourney ??

[HARDTOP]

I also had never heard of it, might have fished it if had...

me also

[TA]

If you would have known about the tournament would you have participated?

Nope. 

[Sullymon]

I would have entered

[openingact]

might have participated

[wirenut45]

would def. be in.

[Fatfish]

I would ,but I can not get my dam camera to work right . For some unknown reason I cannot get it to transfer pictures to my computer ,and the ones that are in the computer,I cannot send out. Is it because my camera is to old. Jerry

[trekr200]

I would ,but I can not get my dam camera to work right . For some unknown reason I cannot get it to transfer pictures to my computer ,and the ones that are in the computer,I cannot send out. Is it because my camera is to old. Jerry

I am sure you could get some assistance from the folks on this site.  What kind of camera do you have?

[DasRottweiler]

I would ,but I can not get my dam camera to work right . For some unknown reason I cannot get it to transfer pictures to my computer ,and the ones that are in the computer,I cannot send out. Is it because my camera is to old. Jerry

If you have the Internet on your cellphone, you can take pics then email them to your email address-then drag em to your desktop , bring up the Photobucket website, register and upload photos to Photobucket. From there you can post the pics anywhere on the net. The photos allready on your PC can be uploaded to Photobucket as well and then be posted online. There is a help section for posting pics somewhere on this site, do a search and there will be more thorough instructions in that post/thread. GL Rott...

[W4lleye]

you are puzzled yet you admit that it was poorly advertised?