Thoughts on the 2005 F-H Derby.

[muskymuskymusky]

TY all who ran the derby.

I really enjoyed the derby, I found it was a great way to expand my fishing techniques and my species fished for. As for changing it, I would go with the one thread for all teams thing mentioned above.
Changing the number of fish to 3 instead of five would deffinately make it less interesting for me because once i have three big fish i would be less likely to get anymore points, i really feel good when i get to cull a smaller fish even if its only 15 points more it gave me a smile.
The length of the derby is fine with me, If we shorten it or have 2 derbies as suggested you will find the derbies less participated in because people would pick and choose which derby they enter. As for myself i would take part in the winter but not in the summer derby.
The suggestion that we make one fish species worth more than the other would ruin the derby for me altogether, my thinking behind this is that i joined the derby so that i would target different fish and have reasons to do so if one became worth more than the other you would find people only searching out those fish.
As for manditory fishing pics i dont really care either way, i dont worry to much about whether or not someone else might cheat, its for fun anyhow not cash.
One other thing might be a team shuffle half way through the year as it seemed to me that some teams were down 5 or 6 team members half way through the year, my team had like 6 People with no points. Im sure that had somthing to do with why my team losing interest in the derby.Anyways thats some of my thoughts on the derby.

thanks
Chris

[steve-hamilton]

If we shorten it or have 2 derbies as suggested you will find the derbies less participated in because people would pick and choose which derby they enter. As for myself i would take part in the winter but not in the summer derby.

this i agree with. no point in me entering the ice fishing derby, unless you can enter fish from open water, during ice fishing time....

and i'm sure the ice fishing faithful wouldn't enter the open water derby....

but maybe that would increase the participation from those who are involved....who knows.

[Paya]

I enjoyed the derby and for me this is just a fun. nothing else. I was able to meet some of great anglers and learn a lot.

Team Captains and administrators did a great job and I would like to thank to all of them for time they have put in for maintaining this derby.

Nothing is perfect so there is always space for improvements.

I would like to suggest we have one common mail address where everyone reports their catches. In this case multiple moderators/captains can go simply and add new records regardless of team they belong. So if someone is absent there is always someone looking after points
As per above comments suggestions:
Decrease # of species from 5 to 3 - agree

Digital camera for monsters - sure ..I don't have one but if required I'm getting one. I guess this would be required for anything over 100 points ? As well this is way different for all of as. We all know that what is considered to be monster in Rideau will not be the same in Lake Ontario

Length of derby - I like year around since I target different species in different time of year - ice fishing derby ? no thanks to cold for me

Personally I would like to see 100 points category increased, I'm not sure if we are really good or this is way to low on length of fish to meet this number. For me when someone reports over 100 points we all should say WOW!!!!

/p

[Bobber]

To the guys who ran the Virtual Derby this year, great job.

I'm sure I'm going to get razzed for this, but I will be the first to admit that I did not contribute my scores like I should have. My apologize. Bobber bad boy.

While I like to leave this to the guys who are running it, they do a great job, I personally found it difficult to measure and keep track of the fish I caught all the time. I usually just catch and release immediately, often forgetting to measure, cause I want to get right back fishing. Impatient I guess. I think I would be more proned to be fishing for the one that's going to be the winner. Eg, if I knew the Bass to beat was 21 inches, then I'd be working to beat 21 inches. Anything smaller than that I wouldn't worry about, only the ones that I think would be close to beating the biggest. I'd probably like to see something like a team limit where each team fishes for the top 3 bass, pike, perch, etc. Each team only counts 3 species, and each team player is always fishing for the next biggest fish that will beat the ones they have already recorded, not just catching 3 of each species and getting point for them. As the derby progresses, it becomes increasingly harder to beat the top 3 fish you have for the team. This is where the competitive nature of catching the lunker comes in. I think this would be less administration too, and would make the lenght of the derby more exciting as you approach the end and see who is pushing for that big one right up until the last second of the season.

Again, this is run by the board. It's your choice. Just my 2 cents.

[lub0]

Bobber, I think this is a really great idea!

[BASSSTALKER]

I agree with Moosebunk.

There should be an ice derby and then a softwater derby. I lost interest becasuse of the length of the derby.

That's all i got

[GetTheNet!!!]

To the guys who ran the Virtual Derby this year, great job.

I'd probably like to see something like a team limit where each team fishes for the top 3 bass, pike, perch, etc. Each team only counts 3 species, and each team player is always fishing for the next biggest fish that will beat the ones they have already recorded, not just catching 3 of each species and getting point for them. As the derby progresses, it becomes increasingly harder to beat the top 3 fish you have for the team.

Hey Bobber,

While I think that that would make for a great derby that I'd love to fish, I think that one of the things that makes the virtual derby special is that guys can contribute to their teams in anyway they can. People who don't have access to big water can continue to score points for their team with fish that they catch in their local streams or for youngsters who catch panfish off the dock. For some river fishermen, the biggest smallie they might ever catch is 18 inches, someone who goes out on lake Erie for the opener might take the river fishermen out of the derby on the first day. While the very accomplished fishermen would surely gain from your changes, some beginners might find it a little too discouraging.

[wolfe]

I enjoyed the Derby both years, but must admit as the kids' school season and the cold weather approach, I not only lose (fishing) time, but interest.

I would be in favor of 2 separate derbies (soft vs. hard water), hence 2 shorter derbies rather than 1 long one.

I would not be in favor of knocking the 5 best fish down to 3. I think 5 is a realistic number, and as others have mentioned, I enjoyed culling a fish and always trying to better my catch.

The Derby gave Tyler the extra competitive incentive to fish harder and longer than he may have otherwise. That's a good thing for his Mom. Because we were on separate teams, we had a friendly family competition as well. He loved sticking it to me that his team was constantly ahead of mine ...and he couldn't wait to report his points to Team Captain R.J. Even Shane, though not on a team, wanted to report his catches (we fibbed a little...guess you could say he was on a "virtual-virtual" team)!

Well, enough said. I'll leave the logistics and bright ideas to the Captains and others. But I'd like to thank those who made the Derby work this year, and last -- especially keeping track of all the points and the great spreadsheets and up to date info.

There's my spare change for the tip jar, Moosebunk.

W.

[Moosebunk]

MERRRRRRRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE.


Some decent thoughts on the Derby. I can't do another year long derby. I have the drive to get out with folks as often as I can regardless if it's derby business, and everyday on the water I compete with myself to get fish as is. Gonna step out next round unless it's a derby of a few months, or something very different for a change.

[scttsmpsn]

I lost interest as well but it is a good idea.

Someone mentioned a shorter derby. We could always do an ice fishing derby, an early season derby and a summer derby. This could keep it interesting.

cheers,

Scott

[Bobber]

To the guys who ran the Virtual Derby this year, great job.

I'd probably like to see something like a team limit where each team fishes for the top 3 bass, pike, perch, etc. Each team only counts 3 species, and each team player is always fishing for the next biggest fish that will beat the ones they have already recorded, not just catching 3 of each species and getting point for them. As the derby progresses, it becomes increasingly harder to beat the top 3 fish you have for the team.

Hey Bobber,

While I think that that would make for a great derby that I'd love to fish, I think that one of the things that makes the virtual derby special is that guys can contribute to their teams in anyway they can. People who don't have access to big water can continue to score points for their team with fish that they catch in their local streams or for youngsters who catch panfish off the dock. For some river fishermen, the biggest smallie they might ever catch is 18 inches, someone who goes out on lake Erie for the opener might take the river fishermen out of the derby on the first day. While the very accomplished fishermen would surely gain from your changes, some beginners might find it a little too discouraging.

That's a great point GetTheNet. Perhaps there is some happy medium in there somewhere. I'll give it some thought and see if I can't come up with something to suggest.