TBSC Winter Invitational 2007

[Grauer]

Announcing the 1st Annual TBSC Winter Invitational
Dates and Additional Info can be found at

www.TampaBaySpearfishingClub.org

[Grauer]

Early Registration ends March 2, 2007. Registrations must be post marked or hand delivered to Aquatic Obsessions.

Aquatic Obsessions
6193 Central Ave
St. Petersburg, Fl
33710
727-344-Dive(3483)

[jeepshapes]

damn. you pull all the hobbit love. another sign of moderators keeping the little man down:) everyone should come shoot as it will be a fun event and good warm up for the wcc.

[Grauer]

damn. you pull all the hobbit love. another sign of moderators keeping the little man down:) everyone should come shoot as it will be a fun event and good warm up for the wcc.

I pulled the thread cause it got way off topic, not a mod

We have many that have alread preregistered :thumps: :thumps:
So who all are plannning on competing? And what is your goal big fish or Aggregate? Step up and start talking smack ladies :D :D

[bgbill]

Mike Weinard (The Collector) and I are in, we are looking forward to the tournament, it should be a lot of fun. :thumps:


Just don't forget the beer.

[fishnshoot]

Myself (Bruce), Joshua (kin folk), Matt Smith (good friend), and Brian Mitchell from TBSC are in on my boat. There are two or three other friends of mine who said they would shoot in the tourney as well. We're signing up today at the shop. Its been about 1.5 months sinch I've been spearing, Im killing anything legal that moves. Look foward to seeing everyone there.

[Nsearch]

Nice work fishnshoot. Our boat is full with Trey, me, and 2 friends of ours from the east coast. Grauer, if we end up diving the same spot am I going to have to collect your fish for you again?? :D

[Nsearch]

Just FYI, tomorrow is the last day to have your Early Registrations postmarked. Early Registration is $50 and Late Registration is $70. Late registration starts at 7:00pm on March 16th and is over at 8:30pm. This is the only date and time for Late Registration. This Late Registration will be held at: Aquatic Obsessions Scuba, 6193 Central Avenue, St. Petersburg, Florida 33710.

Thanks to all those who have already sent in their Early Registrations!!

[Spearchucker]

Hey Chris,

Your rules are a little ambiguous. You say that it is a mandatory diver check in, then go on to mention that only one person from each boat has to be there. Can one person check in the whole boat? The reason I ask is that I have an event at my sons school friday night and cannot attend the Captains meeting. I can, however, have Ritchie check our boat in. If I absolutely have to be there, then I will probably just have the other three guys enter, and I will not enter and just be driver for the day.

[Nsearch]

John,

Only one person from your boat needs to attend the mandatory diver check in (Captain's Meeting). Thanks for your participation and the best of luck to you guys http://www.spearboard.com/images/icons/icon14.gif :beer:

Bryan

[jeepshapes]

sorry john. chris likes to keep the rules like his lifestyle:)

[hogsniper]

Great job Chris and Brian keeping on top of this tournament. It looks like we ended up with about 60 pre-registrations. Hardman and some of the other club members have done an awesome job of securing some great new sponsers and a couple thousand dollars in prizes that will be awarded by diver mystery tickets. The trophies look great too. This is the best priced tournament of the year with a free t-shirt, lots of prizes, and plenty of trophies. It is great to see people from all clubs planning to compete. This is a no-bitching-no-drama-no bs tournament, so lift up your skirt, grab your balls and come have fun.

[hogsniper]

John,
Call me if you need to have someone check your boat in Friday. I will handle it. If anyone else has an issue, call me as well at 727-224-8819-Howie.


Hey Chris,

Your rules are a little ambiguous. You say that it is a mandatory diver check in, then go on to mention that only one person from each boat has to be there. Can one person check in the whole boat? The reason I ask is that I have an event at my sons school friday night and cannot attend the Captains meeting. I can, however, have Ritchie check our boat in. If I absolutely have to be there, then I will probably just have the other three guys enter, and I will not enter and just be driver for the day.

[Grauer]

If a decision to call off the tournament due to bad weather is made it will be announced here on Spearboard Friday afternoon 12pm 3/16/07 . Or you can call Aquatic Obsession 727-344-DIVE(3483) after 12pm.

If the it is canceled, the Capt meeting and tournament will be moved to the rain dates of Friday 3/23/07 and Saturday 3/24/07

[Nsearch]

TBSC Notice – Thursday March 15, 2007 (1301 hours)

Due to the most current weather predictions for this Saturday with winds just under Small Craft Advisories and the propensity for Saturday’s winds to generate Small Craft Warnings, the Tampa Bay Spearfishing Club is moving the 2007 TBSC Winter Invitational to the Original Rain Date and implementing the Original Alternate Rain Date. The Rain Date is next weekend, March 23 and 24, 2007. The times and locations are the same. The Diver’s Check In, Late Registration & Captain’s Meeting will be on Friday March23 and the tournament diving, weigh-in and awards will be on Saturday March 24, 2007. The Alternate Rain Date is scheduled for March 30 and 31, 2007. The Alternate Rain Date is available only if the tournament cannot be held on March 23 & 24, 2007. We thank all spearfishermen for their patience in this matter. Weather is always the final hurdle in off-shore or near-shore diving. We are glad that the initial turn out and interest in this tournament is so high. We have collected just under $10, 000 of bonus prizes to give out to participants of this tournament. And we are very happy that so many divers have stepped up to participate in an event that helps to add financial support to “Diver’s Rights” and the FRA.

Dive Smart, Dive Safe,
Bill Hardman, TBSC Vice President

[Dean Palmer]

For those who have the day off anyway, The St Petersburg Underwater Club (SPUC) is having our annual Island Party on Shell Island at 4pm this Saturday due to the tournament being rescheduled. All spearos are invited!

The Underwater Club will be cooking hot dogs and hamburgers, and providing soda and water. Bring a side dish or dessert if you come, and anything else you might enjoy having/sharing at an island party.

Rides to Shell Island will be provided from the seawall at the north side of Billy's Tierra Verde Restaurant for those of you without a boat. Contact Scott Hooker at 492-5900 if you arrive and don't see the boat/taxi to the island, but be assured someone will be along in a short while, starting just before 4pm.

For those of you not familiar with the area, Shell Island is located just south of the tip of Pass-a-Grille (South St Pete Beach). Directions can be found at: http://www.spearfishingspuc.org/islandparty.htm

Hope to see you there
Dean Palmer
Webmaster, www.spearfishingspuc.org

[Nsearch]

btt

We had a good time at the Island Party, JBY and Hogsniper's nephew were catching snook and even a juvy gag was landed. I tried my luck but live bait seemed to be the ticket. The fireworks were f-in hilarious, I was almost positive that Chris was going to take one of those roman candles in the chest :crazy: The food hit the spot with that chilly north wind. :toast: Thanks to all that helped organize and transport the gear.

[Grauer]

The 2007 TBSC Winter Invitational was moved to the Raindate of March 23 & 24th. The weather, so far, looks like it will cooperate with our tournament for this weekend. So, plan on the Divers Check In, Late Registration and Captain’s Meeting for this Friday from 7pm to 9pm at Aquatic Obsessions. We now have over $10,000 in prizes to give away to the participants and the T-shirts and Trophies look awesome. If you have any questions regarding this tournament, please contact Capt. Bill Hardman at (727) 656-9714.

[hogsniper]

BTW Bryan, that was my nephew fishing with Delacrauz, not his son. It was good to see you and TS stop by and help out with the fire making and drinking duties. We definitely need to have another island party when the winds are under 25 knots. How was the snook fishing later on?

[The Collector]

Looks like i may get to shoot the tourney afterall......... Next week :thumps:

GMZ870-873-876-231700-
/O.ROU.KTBW.MA.F.0000.000000T0000Z-000000T0000Z/
TARPON SPRINGS TO SUWANNEE RIVER OUT 20 TO 60 NM-
ENGLEWOOD TO TARPON SPRINGS OUT 20 TO 60 NM-
BONITA BEACH TO ENGLEWOOD OUT 20 TO 60 NM-
331 AM EDT FRI MAR 23 2007

...SMALL CRAFT EXERCISE CAUTION IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM EDT THIS
MORNING...

TODAY
NORTHEAST WINDS 15 TO 20 KNOTS AND GUSTY DIMINISHING TO
AROUND 15 KNOTS DURING THE AFTERNOON. SEAS 4 TO 6 FEET SUBSIDING
TO 3 TO 5 FEET IN THE AFTERNOON.

FRIDAY NIGHT
EAST WINDS 15 TO 20 KNOTS AND GUSTY. SEAS BUILDING
TO 4 TO 6 FEET.

SATURDAY
NORTHEAST WINDS 15 TO 20 KNOTS DIMINISHING TO 15 KNOTS
DURING THE AFTERNOON. SEAS SUBSIDING TO 3 TO 5 FEET BY AFTERNOON

[johnnydinx]

Is this weekend still a "Go"? Or is there a possibility that it will be postponed again? :confused:

[Nsearch]

BONITA BEACH TO ENGLEWOOD OUT 20 TO 60 NM-
331 AM EDT FRI MAR 23 2007
...SMALL CRAFT EXERCISE CAUTION IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM EDT THIS
MORNING...

Last time I checked the tournament was Saturday, March 24th :D

Tournament is still a go Johnnydinx!!!!! :thumps:

[Petra]

woohoo! Seas looking a little calmer, eh??! 2-4 is better than 3-5!

[fishkilla]

it was blowing 15 to 20 knots against the mangroves at the little manatee river all day long. i was going to shoot the tournament from the bay but there is about 3 ft of vis in the channel.

good luck folks. i'll be snook fishing tomorrow night.

[huntinfish]

TBSC winter invitational report.

Overall it was a great day for diving, getting together with friends and slaying some fish. We all put in alot of effort to make this a great time, it's just too bad Mr. Bill Hardman disgraced his own tournament and the TBSC. I just can't help thinking if I showed up with my cooler 8 min after the deadline would I be able to say "I'm so glad I called". I don't think so! According to your own rules (which changed when it was your boats cooler that would have been disqualified and your personal fish) No fish will be allowed to be wieghed that were not in line after the 5:30 deadline. While I'm sure that most of the TBSC club members have integrety, what I saw happen was unbelievable. Mr Hardman I believe you owe an apology to all of your fellow Speros. What was the point of synchronizing our watches to yours? Good luck with your future tournaments.

Dennis Tonge

[hogsniper]

Dennis, no rules were changed for Bill or anyone on his boat. According to the weighmaster, they were late along with 2 other coolers. This tournament has no provisions for phone in weighins either. Bill had a discrepancy with his time, but the weighmaster makes the call. Thank you for shooting the tournament, we all had a great time. I think things went 99% perfect considering it is the first year. Let's not make assumptions about TBSC or the integrity of the tournament based on a weighin line cutoff dispute.

[bgbill]

TBSC winter invitational report.

Overall it was a great day for diving, getting together with friends and slaying some fish. We all put in alot of effort to make this a great time, it's just too bad Mr. Bill Hardman disgraced his own tournament and the TBSC. I just can't help thinking if I showed up with my cooler 8 min after the deadline would I be able to say "I'm so glad I called". I don't think so! According to your own rules (which changed when it was your boats cooler that would have been disqualified and your personal fish) No fish will be allowed to be wieghed that were not in line after the 5:30 deadline. While I'm sure that most of the TBSC club members have integrety, what I saw happen was unbelievable. Mr Hardman I believe you owe an apology to all of your fellow Speros.It made me question weather or not this tournmament was rigged. What was the point of synchronizing our watches to yours? Good luck with your future tournaments.

Dennis Tonge

Dennis, no rules were changed for Bill or anyone on his boat. According to the weighmaster, they were late along with 2 other coolers. This tournament has no provisions for phone in weighins either.

I know I shouldn't comment on this, but here goes....


If they were late, it is automatic DQ, according to the rules.

So how can you say the rules were not changed for him? maybe they weren't changed, but they sure weren't followed.

To quote Bill Hardman from last night at the Captains Meeting.

"If you are late, Too bad, I don't give a crap who you are"

I think the rules were very clear, and clearly they were not followed.

I am not going to get into a pissing match with you guys on this, but I do agree with Dennis on the late weigh in issue, as far as the rigging of the tournament, I do not agree with that portion of his statement.

I had heard several people make comments about how unhappy they were with the way he was allowed to weigh his fish, and then when it was mentioned to Bill that two other guys were late, Bill allowed them to weigh their fish.

I spoke with a guy from another boat on the way home tonight, and he was about 45 minutes late, because he didn't reset the time on his GPS (Luckily I did) he had some nice fish and probably a bigger bug than Scott Hookers, I told him he should have mentioned it, but he said he was late, had no excuse, and that they follow the rules, so why should he say something about it?

I have always had respect for him and his fellow team mates, but this goes to show me why I do, and merely reinforces it.

Bottom line is, Rules are Rules, and Late is Late.

I know I followed the rules, I originally was going to have Chris Hudgeons diving with me on my boat, but at the Captains meeting he had concern with the weather, so he decided not to register, according to the rules, One of the team members from my boat had to attend the Captains Meeting, so as soon as I found out, I left my house in Plant City and drove approximately 50 miles one way, to attend the meeting, because that is what the rules state, I followed the rules, why can't everyone else?

[Spearchucker]

Well, to be honest with you, I just can't get too worked up about it. The tournement was designed to be fun, I have no knowledge, nor do I care, about whatever the hell went down. I had a great time, on a relaxing day, and I now have plenty of fish for my fish fry in two weeks. :D

I do want to give props to my team, while I did not quite make the top 5 (I was close), Ritchie (Aquaman) won the whole damn thing, and Pat Bennet (the beanbag guru) came in second. :thumps: :D That makes five straight tournaments that the boat "Relentless" has taken multiple glass in. :lol: :yay:

[bgbill]

I do want to give props to my team, while I did not quite make the top 5 (I was close), Ritchie (Aquaman) won the whole damn thing, and Pat Bennet (the beanbag guru) came in second. :thumps: :D That makes five straight tournaments that the boat "Relentless" has taken multiple glass in. :lol: :yay:

Congratulations :thumps:

[KrazyTrain]

Sorry but I spear in alot of the tournaments and also hook and line in alot of kingfish tournaments and we did have an issue here. I have never heard of a "time discrepancy" and being alllowed to jump in line after the cut off time. I think it would have been more respectable if they just admitted they were late and stuck with the rules. If you have not fiqured out that we turned the clocks up a few weeks ago then you must live on Mars. We put alot of effort and time into this tournament and made sure we were there on time. Had to rush, bust our ass and drive a hour and 15 minutes through traffic just to get there. What would have happened if we got pulled over for speeding and caused us to be late? would a call in have saved us? It makes no sense to say that they did not win, what if they did.

[hogsniper]

All good points of view. Thanks to everyone who shot and came out to have a great time. Hard to believe that NOAA can get it so wrong so often. Thanks for the ride Spearchucker and congrats to Zacker and Bennett. They dove like crazy all day. Thanks to the setup crew and tournament volunteers, you guys did a great job. I think that we may have to limit our shooters to 400 next year too.

[Bucket One]

I would like to congragulate everyone that shot in the tourney. It was a lot of fun and everyone sure seemed to have to really work for the fish that they shot. The conditions were just about perfect. NOAA blew the forcast really bad. It was like 2 to 3's in the morning and layed down just about to nothing during the day only to have a sea breeze pick back up late in the day. The water clarity was really too good to hunt in. With it being just about top to bottom viz everywhere you went made for some sure spooky fish.

A huge congragulations to the Tampa Bay Spearfishing Club. :thumps: For this to be their first tournament they've put on. They did a great job. They had two weigh-in lines, food, drinks and prizes and everyone to be taken care of and to be wraped up by 7 o'clock is pretty freaking good for your first time hosting a tournament with a turn out of 75 shooters and lots of people just showing up to watch the weigh-in.

Thanks John for letting me go out and shoot some fish on your boat again. :beer: Its always fun but I don't envy you for all the fish that you've got to clean for your party coming up. :D

[Spear One]

The folks who VOLUNTEER their time to make these events happen, seldom get the credit they deserve. :thumps: You simply cannot expect everything to go "perfect", especially from a first time event like this one was. The real goal of these tournaments is to promote & support our great sport, and have a good time doing it. We are all damm lucky to have the volunteers (from all the tournaments) who make these tournaments the incredible events they are. :thumps:

Before anyone starts complaining about something that was not PERFECT at one of these open events, first ask yourself............how many hours did I volunteer to put on this event? If you answer to that question is ZERO, then your complaining should be ZERO! My advice is...........if you are not going to volunteer your time to make one of these tournaments happen, then just pay your money, shut up and shoot! Then be damm happy you even had the opportunity to participate.

[Spearchucker]

Thanks John for letting me go out and shoot some fish on your boat again. :beer: Its always fun but I don't envy you for all the fish that you've got to clean for your party coming up. :D

I think I may go ahead and buy myself a brand spanking new filet knife today! :thumps:

[Spear One]

I think I may go ahead and buy myself a brand spanking new filet knife today! :thumps:

Soungs like you will need it! Congratulations! :thumps:

[huntinfish]

Dennis, no rules were changed for Bill or anyone on his boat. According to the weighmaster, they were late along with 2 other coolers. This tournament has no provisions for phone in weighins either. Are you suggesting that the tournament was rigged even though no one on that boat won anything? Are you suggesting that the tournament was rigged when 5 of the top 7 places were shooters from a club outside of TBSC. Bill had a discrepancy with his time, but the weighmaster makes the call. Thank you for shooting the tournament, we all had a great time. I think things went 99% perfect considering it is the first year. Let's not make assumptions about TBSC or the integrity of the tournament based on a weighin line cutoff dispute.

I understand that in life it's hard to do the right thing when you have to look in the mirror and be honest with yourself. They(Bill Hardman"s wieghmaster) kicked those 2 coolers and then allowed them to be wieghed. If you and your organization wants to grow this sport and your tournament(s) I would stay away from any bending of the rules for ANYONE. Where they placed has NO bearing on weather or not they followed the rules.

[hogsniper]

I understand that in life it's hard to do the right thing when you have to look in the mirror and be honest with yourself. They(Bill Hardman"s wieghmaster) kicked those 2 coolers and then allowed them to be wieghed. If you and your organization wants to grow this sport and your tournament(s) I would stay away from any bending of the rules for ANYONE. Where they placed has NO bearing on weather or not they followed the rules.

Once again, we got it. You have made your point. Are you volunteering to police the weighin line next year? You will have my vote.

[huntinfish]

Before you start complaining about something that was not PERFECT at one of these open events, first ask yourself............how many hours did I volunteer to put on this event? If you answer to that question is ZERO, then your complaining should be ZERO! My advice is...........if you are not going to volunteer your time to make one of these tournaments happen, then just pay your money, shut up and shoot! Then be damm happy you even had the opportunity to participate.

Kevin, I was damn happy to participate. Thank you to all who made this happen.

My contribution to this tournament.
2 trips to Action Aquatics from New Port Richey. (3 hours)
50 phone calls to organize shooters (2 hours)
50 more phone calls after the weather cancellation (2 hours)
3 trips to the gas station with 5 gal cans (3 hours)
Filling tanks for tournament (2 hours)
1 trip to Ray Odor's (2 hours) (I wasn't going to count this because it fun to go there)

I could go on but whats the point. We all went thru the same thing due to our love of the sport.
The whole point is that when you have a tournament that you pay money to enter, everyone should play by the rules and most of all the one who is running it. I felt compelled to say something because I know what my fellow spero's went thru to just come shoot with me on my boat. We won't add thier time and money. So next time I'll just shut up and shoot. Thanks for the sound advice.

[bgbill]

The folks who VOLUNTEER their time to make these events happen, seldom get the credit they deserve. :thumps: You simply cannot expect everything to go "perfect", especially from a first time event like this one was. The real goal of these tournaments is to promote & support our great sport, and have a good time doing it. We are all damm lucky to have the volunteers (from all the tournaments) who make these tournaments the incredible events they are. :thumps:

Before anyone starts complaining about something that was not PERFECT at one of these open events, first ask yourself............how many hours did I volunteer to put on this event? If you answer to that question is ZERO, then your complaining should be ZERO! My advice is...........if you are not going to volunteer your time to make one of these tournaments happen, then just pay your money, shut up and shoot! Then be damm happy you even had the opportunity to participate.

Kevin,

When you enter a tournament and pay an entry fee, you expect the rules to be followed, no matter if you volunteered to help out or not.

I don't think Dennis or anyone else was complaining that the tournament wasn't perfect, just that one of the main rules were not followed because of who was late.

[Spear One]

I did not direct my comment or advice toward any one individual. My comments were intended to try and get everyone to see the "bigger picture" about these tournaments and the volunteers who put them on. If my post ruffled someones feathers (as was not my intention).......I apologize!

[SpearMax]

So, where are the results? :confused: :cowboy:

[jerry1000]

funny how all these spearfishing ppl showed up saturday to shoot fish but where the hell where you guys for the meeting this past thursday????when the rules get changed we will no why .....

[huntinfish]

Once again, we got it. You have made your point. Are you volunteering to police the weighin line next year? You will have my vote. We need someone that never makes mistakes and has lots of spare time, you would be perfect. I guess 72 out of 75 people had fun.

I'm not perfect in anyway and never claimed to be. I did have lots of fun, and I appreciate the efforts that were put forth from all the volunteers. Thanks for the personal attack, I assumed that would be coming, as for spare time I now have to go clean my boat from all the fun we had yesterday.
;)

[fizisition]

I also agree, lets keep the focus on this being a positive event. I had alot of fun and thought it went well for their first event. Thanks TBSC.

I also need to thank John for the awesome ride. Call me if you want help filleting.

[hogsniper]

funny how all these spearfishing ppl showed up saturday to shoot fish but where the hell where you guys for the meeting this past thursday????when the rules get changed we will no why .....

Jerry, I'm not sure that you want to go down that road with the folks in this thread. There are people here that have been hardcore FRA supporters for a lot longer than you have been on Spearboard. I applaud your enthusiasm, but that meeting was not one that required a show of numbers. By the way, can you post your speech from the hearing, I'm interested to hear your position. Oh yeah, just so you know, the tournament raised about $800 for the FRA, and Denny was in attendance.

[Screen Name]

I just talked to an individual who witnessed the circumstance firsthand.

He said that no cheating happened at the weighin.

My understanding is that they knew that they were late, and weighed their fish just to find out how they "would" have placed. The witness was adamant that no trophies, prizes, or placements were awarded to anyone who was late.

It's easy to see how this could be misunderstood by people. I believe in the integrity of the people involved on both sides and I hope that this misunderstanding gets resolved to the satisfaction of everyone.

It was a good tournament and I thank TBSC for putting it together.

[jerry1000]

Jerry, I'm not sure that you want to go down that road with the folks in this thread. There are people here that have been hardcore FRA supporters for a lot longer than you have been on Spearboard. I applaud your enthusiasm, but that meeting was not one that required a show of numbers. By the way, can you post your speech from the hearing, I'm interested to hear your position. Oh yeah, just so you know, the tournament raised about $800 for the FRA, and Denny was in attendance.


i did not speak as for denny summed it up,and i support what the fra is doing.and i spoke with denny saturday an asked him the same question ,where was everybody ?? i guess ill just keep my mouth shut...

[fizisition]

Jerry, I'm not sure that you want to go down that road with the folks in this thread. There are people here that have been hardcore FRA supporters for a lot longer than you have been on Spearboard. I applaud your enthusiasm, but that meeting was not one that required a show of numbers. By the way, can you post your speech from the hearing, I'm interested to hear your position. Oh yeah, just so you know, the tournament raised about $800 for the FRA, and Denny was in attendance.


What's intersting is that, in fact, the tournament did more good than 75 people showing up at the meeting would. It raised money for the FRA(Denny) to be able to attend the meetings that are 100% necessary to our goal.

[hogsniper]

John,
We missed you at the weighin, but you guys hauled in some nice fish.

[jfjf]

I just talked to an individual who witnessed the circumstance firsthand.

He said that no cheating happened at the weighin.

My understanding is that they knew that they were late, and weighed their fish just to find out how they "would" have placed. The witness was adamant that no trophies, prizes, or placements were awarded to anyone who was late.

It's easy to see how this could be misunderstood by people. I believe in the integrity of the people involved on both sides and I hope that this misunderstanding gets resolved to the satisfaction of everyone.

It was a good tournament and I thank TBSC for putting it together.


So is that true? I didn't participate in the tournament, but this little "detail" would make a huge difference to me if I had.

Also for once, I agree with Brett and disagree with Kevin... If I pay money to participate in a tournament as a competitor rather than as a volunteer, I think it is well within my rights to bitch and moan (both publically and privately) if I had a good reason to feel that someone had cheated, especially if it APPEARED that the management facilitated the questionable activity. "Shut up and drink beer, since you didn't perform volunteer work" might not sit so well with me, especially if I already drank a few beers. I think it is more than reasonable to expect that the management of any type of recreational contest such as this, makes a reasonable attempt to preclude cheating.

It sounds like a very unfortunate misunderstanding.

[blades1_99]

For our first tourney it went well to a point. As a tourney committe member I voluntered and paid to get our first tourney off the ground. I was insulted that Bill bentbroke the rules. It was a bad precedent.

John, I saw what happened because I went and got Mark to turn away people that showed up late but before Bill and Issac arrived with your fish. Since I was shooting and barely made it back (or so I thought because it seems I had an extra 8 minutes) I wanted a non-shooting judge to make the call. I wanted no reproach on me. Those people turned away were allowed to bring their fish back into line because of those actions.

I broke the speed record for Bunce's Pass to make sure we made it back in time. Not making back in time for the '06 Southern Open taught me that lesson. How much ribbing have I taken for running out of gas? One of my shooters had to piss from about 10 miles out. I wouldn't stop from him. We had 12 minutes to spare. We even gutted our fish in line.

This is about doing what was/is right. That wasn't right. We will do it better next time. Hopefully shooters here will allow us this faux pas.

[SpearMax]

Welcome to Spearboard blades1_99! Thanks for contributing to making the tournament successful! :cowboy:

[Screen Name]

John, I saw what happened because I went and got Mark to turn away people that showed up late but before Bill and Issac arrived with your fish.

The fish in question were not "my fish". I am not even involved, beyond being a participant and passing on the information that I was given by credible, experienced sources. I am sure that when they are available, they will comment on this thread.

[bgbill]

I just talked to an individual who witnessed the circumstance firsthand.

He said that no cheating happened at the weighin.

My understanding is that they knew that they were late, and weighed their fish just to find out how they "would" have placed. The witness was adamant that no trophies, prizes, or placements were awarded to anyone who was late.

It's easy to see how this could be misunderstood by people. I believe in the integrity of the people involved on both sides and I hope that this misunderstanding gets resolved to the satisfaction of everyone.

It was a good tournament and I thank TBSC for putting it together.

John,

I saw what happened first hand, I was near the back of the line when Mark made two announcements about the line being closed, and I even looked at my cell phone to verify the time, after the line was shut down some people showed up, were told they were late, and then later Bill Hardman told them they could weigh their fish.

No one until now has mentioned anything about the late guys weighing their fish, just so they would know how they placed, if that was the case, an announcement during the weigh in should have been made, but no such announcement was made.

Clearly some guys who were late had their fish weighed, just because the fish didn't place high enough for a trophy does not excuse what happened.

[hogsniper]

Ray, Bill and Issac were with Dean and John from TBSC. "Screen Name" is actually John Schmidt-FSDA President and SPUC. He shot with Scott Hooker.

[bgbill]

John, I saw what happened because I went and got Mark to turn away people that showed up late but before Bill and Issac arrived with your fish.

I am pretty certain that John Schmidt's fish were with Scott Hookers, and were clearly in line on time.

I was looking for John to pull up in his boat, because I was starting to get concerned and then Scott pulled up in his red truck, and later while in line he apologized for driving like a maniac and cutting in front of some people on the way to the weigh in.

[Spear One]

So is that true? I didn't participate in the tournament, but this little "detail" would make a huge difference to me if I had.

[Quote=jfjf] Also for once, I agree with Brett and disagree with Kevin... If I pay money to participate in a tournament as a competitor rather than as a volunteer, I think it is well within my rights to bitch and moan (both publically and privately) if I had a good reason to feel that someone had cheated, especially if it APPEARED that the management facilitated the questionable activity.

Fair enough! Yes, anyone who pays to enter these tournaments has every right to bitch and moan both publicly and privately for whatever reason they may choose. But at the end of the day, these are volunteers who put on these tournaments. Every tournament that I know of takes reasonable care to make sure blatant cheating does not occur. However, if someone decides to take advantage of these rules, in the end it falls on their conscience not the volunteers.

I have been involved with tournaments since the late 1980's, particurlarly the SPO & the SBO. I have seen many good folks who unselfishly volunteered their valuable time and money over the years to make these events special while never asking or expecting anything in return. They just did it because it needed to be done. However, even the heartiest of volunteer has a breaking point. The LAST thing a volunteer wants, expects, or needs, is someone getting in his face for something that may have gotten overlooked, someone made the wrong decision, or someone may have cheated.

For the most part, these are non profit tournaments run by non professional volunteers. Given the logistical issues involved with putting a tournament on, I think the volunteers do one hell of a job. It is completely unrealistic for anyone to expect these events to go off without a hitch. When things do happen, I think for the most part, the right decision gets made the majority of the time.

If I pay money to see a movie, I expect to see the movie. If I buy a product that comes with a warranty, I expect the company that made the product to stand behind the warranty. Why? Because these are businesses run by professionals. I think we owe our tournament volunteers a whole lot more lattitude. If we are not careful, there are not going to be any tournaments because we are not going to have any VOLUNTEERS to put them on.

[hogsniper]

Kevin, to followup with you from this morning, Chuck Schnur won the donated speargun yesterday off of his FRA raffle ticket. My ticket number was exactly 10 off of the winner. Thanks again.

[RichT]

Congratulations Bucket One for his first place finish. And congrats to Fizisition for his 2nd place finish. :toast:
How bout that... A SPUC and a Team Spearboarder in a 1-2 finish, both diving together on the same boat having fun. Just like it should be. :thumps:
Of course SPUCS finished 3,4 and 5th also. :stick: :D

I was unable to participate in this tourny due to an injury but after a bottle of pain killer I was able to at least make it to the weigh in for the festivities. :drunk:
The fish were far more plentiful than I would have guessed based on the weather forecast for that day.
It was a pretty good turnout as well, considering the forecast.

I thought the tournament went pretty well minus a hiccup or two.

As far as any controversy? Here is my take on it.
I agree that what happened should not have.
Im also sure that those involved will look back and agree that It probably wasnt the brightest idea to have your fish weighed "just to see how you would have done".
In fact... it was pretty stupid and Im sure it wont ever happen again untill looooong after everyone goes home.

During the chaos and confusion of a tournament, things can sometimes be taken or misinterpreted no matter how innocent.
Ive seen it many, many times before.
Its silly to think that anyone would purposefully try to have their fish slipped in after being disqualified.
Especially after 10-15 witnesses saw their fish disqualified along with several other coolers from other participants!
How do I know?? I was standing right there talking to several of the participants when the weighmaster came to the end of the line to tell them!

As far as I remember, those particiapnts in question picked last.

For anyone to suggest this tournament was "rigged" is ludicrous and I believe an appology is owed to all who won glass.

I hope some things were learned and TBSC can put on an even better tournament next year. :)

[bgbill]

As far as I remember, those particiapnts in question picked last.

Rich,

Prize pick was based on having your ticket called, it didn't matter if you shot in the tournament (as long as you were registered), weighed a fish or were even in line on time.

I know this as I had mine and Mikes (Mike was at his son's birthday party, some things are more important than diving) ticket, and Mikes ticket number got called, but mine did not.

[Spear One]

Kevin, to followup with you from this morning, Chuck Schnur won the donated speargun yesterday off of his FRA raffle ticket. My ticket number was exactly 10 off of the winner. Thanks again.

Congratulation Chuck, and thanks to everyone who participated in the raffle and the tournament.

[johnnydinx]

If I pay money to see a movie, I expect to see the movie. If I buy a product that comes with a warranty, I expect the company that made the product to stand behind the warranty. Why? Because these are businesses run by professionals. I think we owe our tournament volunteers a whole lot more lattitude. If we are not careful, there are not going to be any tournaments because we are not going to have any VOLUNTEERS to put them on.

Kevin, I totally disagree with you on this one. Are you saying that because spearfishing tournaments are run by volunteers that we as participants shouldd show them more "latitude" by closing one eye to established, published and agreed upon rules?

Does that then mean that because I volunteer my time as a little league football coach, that it would be acceptable to teach my players to ignore the rules of the game and simply ask for a little latitude when confronted by the parents, refs, or opposing teams just because I am a volunteer and not a "professional"? I think not.

Was I at the tournament yesterday? Yes. Was I at the back of the line during this "event"? No. Regardless if these tournaments are going to be run with a little "lattitude" why have any rules to begin with?

[johnnydinx]

I know this as I had mine and Mikes (Mike was at his son's birthday party, some things are more important than diving) ticket, and Mikes ticket number got called, but mine did not.

Bret, you must have some bad mojo working :eek: , because my ticket did not get called either! :(

[blades1_99]

John,

Thought you were someone else and that is my bad. Because I was very much aware of the great fish you guys turned in. Again..my bad on lumping you in with fish weighed after time expired.

[Screen Name]

Kevin, I totally disagree with you on this one. Are you saying that because spearfishing tournaments are run by volunteers that we as participants shouldd show them more "latitude" by closing one eye to established, published and agreed upon rules?

Does that then mean that because I volunteer my time as a little league football coach, that it would be acceptable to teach my players to ignore the rules of the game and simply ask for a little latitude when confronted by the parents, refs, or opposing teams just because I am a volunteer and not a "professional"? I think not.

Was I at the tournament yesterday? Yes. Was I at the back of the line during this "event"? No. Regardless if these tournaments are going to be run with a little "lattitude" why have any rules to begin with?

You misrepresented what he said. Volunteers that perform a function once or twice a year are more likely to make errors than professionals. Once you run a hundred tournaments or so, nobody will need to convince you of that.

Some parents get in their kid's coaches face and make their life miserable. Rarely is this deserved, and quite often the troublemaker didn't lift a finger to help.

Others recognize that this is not the coaches profession, and they are grateful that someone just stepped up to help. Some parents will even chip in and do their part, while trying to help foster a team environment.

Kevin is more of the latter.

[blades1_99]

Welcome to Spearboard blades1_99! Thanks for contributing to making the tournament successful! :cowboy:

Thanks I've been what's the expression "lurking" here for a while since being approved by the previous administration and learning lots.

We'll have a better tourney next year.

[johnnydinx]

You misrepresented what he said. Volunteers that perform a function once or twice a year are more likely to make errors than professionals. Once you run a hundred tournaments or so, nobody will need to convince you of that.

Some parents get in their kid's coaches face and make their life miserable. Rarely is this deserved, and quite often the troublemaker didn't lift a finger to help.

Others recognize that this is not the coaches profession, and they are grateful that someone just stepped up to help. Some parents will even chip in and do their part, while trying to help foster a team environment.

Kevin is more of the latter.

John, though I doubt he remembers me, I've met and spoke with Kevin on more than one occasion, all of which were nothing but positive. I know that from my experience and from I what I hear from other people, that Kevin is a stand up guy. I understand where both you and he are coming from concerning the job the volunteers have. No one really wants to do it, but everyone is there to criticize them whether a mistake was made or not.

In certain instances, I would agree with your statement concerning a volunteers performance vs. that of a professional. It only makes sense that a person who performs whatever duty on a daily basis is going to better at and more efficient than someone else who only performs that same duty once or twice a year. However, in this scenario, it doesn't matter if the person who made the call was profession or a volunteer; the rule that was allegedly broken was not only communicated at the captain's meeting, but was also printed and agreed upon by each contestant as it was part of the rules that accompanied the application.

[johnnydinx]

We'll have a better tourney next year.

The tournament was fine this year. Even though I can't shoot for shit :rolleyes: , I still enjoyed the day and the weigh-in/awards ceremony.

[hogsniper]

On a more uplifting note, I just got off the phone with Chuck and Corey Schnur, father/son members of the TBSC. If you guys remember, Corey won the junior division yesterday and his dad won the Spearfishing Specialties Speargun that Kevin Bruington donated for the FRA raffle. Chuck and Corey feel that yesterday was one of the best experiences they have had and a great day all around. They realize that it was possible due to the efforts of Denny O'Hern and the FRA. They have decided to donate $100 to the FRA for making it possible for them to have a day to remember. This is in addition to the money that TBSC raised through the raffles of the gun and the E Sea Rider Bean Bag. A special thanks to Chuck and Corey Schnur and the FRA.

[Spear One]

Kevin, I totally disagree with you on this one. Are you saying that because spearfishing tournaments are run by volunteers that we as participants shouldd show them more "latitude" by closing one eye to established, published and agreed upon rules?

Does that then mean that because I volunteer my time as a little league football coach, that it would be acceptable to teach my players to ignore the rules of the game and simply ask for a little latitude when confronted by the parents, refs, or opposing teams just because I am a volunteer and not a "professional"? I think not.

Was I at the tournament yesterday? Yes. Was I at the back of the line during this "event"? No. Regardless if these tournaments are going to be run with a little "lattitude" why have any rules to begin with?


I apparently have done a very poor job in my previous posts of getting my point across. That point being.........myself and many others have grown grown quite weary of all the pissing, moaning, complaining that occur at many tournaments. I admit that I have a very short fuse when it comes to the "calling out" of the volunteers who put these tournaments on. Maybe that is what "set me off" on this issue in the first place.

Over the past 20 years there has been plenty of controversy in the open tournaments as well as the WCC series, so these recent incidents are not without precedent. In spite of their flaws, I think these tournaments are of the utmost importance to out industry and I will continue to make whatever contributions I can to help make sure they continue for many years to come.

Do there need to be rules in these tournaments? Absolutely! Should they be applied equally to all participants? Yes! Should they be enforced? Yes! If my previous post implied otherwise, I apologize. The intent of my post was to protect the volunteers, not to suggest that we do away with rules.

Ideally, everyone shows up at the weigh line on time.

Ideally, no one brings a short fish to the scale.

Ideally, no one shoots fish prior to the tournament.

Ideally, no one shares fish with another competitor.

Ideally, no one gets his shorts in a wad and gets in the face of a volunteer because the tournament was not flawless.

Maybe I am living in fantasy land or maybe I am just a dreamer. I choose to see these tournaments for the incredible events they are, and ideally, how much better they could be. However, after all the years and all the controversy, I can't recall any good that came from all the pissing, moaning, and complaining, or how it made the tournament any better. Thanks for listening to my rant.

[RichT]

Rich,

Prize pick was based on having your ticket called, it didn't matter if you shot in the tournament (as long as you were registered), weighed a fish or were even in line on time.

I know this as I had mine and Mikes (Mike was at his son's birthday party, some things are more important than diving) ticket, and Mikes ticket number got called, but mine did not.


Bret,
Im well aware of the tournament format. My intention was to point out that those(in the controversy) guys picked last. Or...from what I remember, not at all(last).
Perhaps you could point it out that they didnt pick a prize because there were no prizes left at the end...

Im not trying to dismiss anybody actions. I think mistakes were obviously made. But, for so many people to beat up on other people like what occurs on Spearboard (and on this thread) on a regular basis makes me less and less willing to participate in this forum.



This is s-p-e-a-r-f-i-s-h-i-n-g guys!!!
You all sound like a bunch of bickering old women. :rolleyes:

Its too bad nobody is talking about the Story of Todd Maynard.
Todd barely survived a terrible motorcycle accident that nearly killed him couple years ago on his way to a Tampa Bay Spearfishing Club Meeting.
It certainly would have killed most of us...
He lost an arm. He cant see well and he will suffer permanent disability the rest of his life!
Yesterday... Todd got back in the water and shot his first fish on my good friend Chris Gardinals boat.
Hopefully... Chris will post the inspirational pictures and tell the story.

[hogsniper]

Speaking of old woman, how's the back Rich? I know there was no way you could have made it out yesterday with those nasty 1' to 2' swells pounding the boat. Besides, I don't know anyone with a boat that can accomodate a walker or a Hoveround.

[fishnshoot]

Way to go Chuck and Corey on your donation and congrats for your wins. I also had a great time with some good diving with good friends and family. Yea, there was a little hiccup and as a fellow TBSC member I felt bad for the way it came off with some late arrivals, but im sure it would have been a non issue had some of the late arrivals placed well enough for glass due to Mark the weigh master and other volunteers monitoring the line. I think it was a good tournament. I had a 1st time tournament shooter on my boat that would have liked to have shot better but was very happy by the drawing and winning a nice set of long blade fins that he needed. I'm also proud of my son Josh for his 1st place snapper. Thanks to everyone who helped make it happen. Remember it was a fun type tournament for bragging rights. Congrats to all that did well enough to brag.

[Spear One]

You misrepresented what he said. Volunteers that perform a function once or twice a year are more likely to make errors than professionals. Once you run a hundred tournaments or so, nobody will need to convince you of that.

Some parents get in their kid's coaches face and make their life miserable. Rarely is this deserved, and quite often the troublemaker didn't lift a finger to help.

Others recognize that this is not the coaches profession, and they are grateful that someone just stepped up to help. Some parents will even chip in and do their part, while trying to help foster a team environment.

Kevin is more of the latter.

Thanks John, you did a much better job of getting my point across than I did.

[Spear One]

[QUOTE=johnnydinx]John, though I doubt he remembers me, I've met and spoke with Kevin on more than one occasion, all of which were nothing but positive.

Yes, I remember you. I remember meeting you in a restaurant parking lot a few years back. My short term memory is pretty well shot, but my long term memory is hangin' in there.

[Spearchucker]

Call me if you want help filleting.

Hell, bro, if you ain't doing anything tomorrow afternoon, I plan on starting around 4:00 :thumps:

[bgbill]

Its too bad nobody is talking about the Story of Todd Maynard.
Todd barely survived a terrible motorcycle accident that nearly killed him couple years ago on his way to a Tampa Bay Spearfishing Club Meeting.
It certainly would have killed most of us...
He lost an arm. He cant see well and he will suffer permanent disability the rest of his life!
Yesterday... Todd got back in the water and shot his first fish on my good friend Chris Gardinals boat.
Hopefully... Chris will post the inspirational pictures and tell the story.

Rich,

I saw him and figured he was in an accident, that is a very inspirational story and am glad that he is still spearfishing.

Way to go Todd :thumps: ,You are welcome to dive with me any time. :thumps:

[polespear]

Well while you all were bitchin about what happened yesterday,
We were doing our part of killing sizit.
As far as the tourny we all had a good time.
But, I too, watched, first hand as bill came forward, LATE
But I guess when you run the show, you can make the changes as needed.
That's what being @ the top requires.. Good Job Bill :thumps: :thumps:
Way to step up.
Like I said earlyer I WAS Three feet from this whole conversation.
as bill showed his wrist watch (to all paying attention) Saying, see I'm not late look what time it is, I'm 30 sec. early.
volunteers Did there job, The line was closed. 3 coolers were sent off.
Not sure if they were all from the same boat.
But when the guy saw bill coming to the line he came back to see.
and sure enough he was allowed back in as well.
Rules are Rules
Dennis thanks for the great day, You know we all had a good time. :thumps:

Thanks DENNY for ALL your hard work !!!!! :thumps: :thumps:

On another note, we did 12' today. I tagged this 30" Jeremy got a 28"
& 3 more just under. I was able to get 1 more it was 26"
We did a little trolling on the way in.
w/ 6 spanish maks. Plus a very small one. :thumps:
Water was 75 viz came & went throughout the dive.
Thanks to brian for a good day as alway's.

Although this was wrong. Let's go back to doing, what we are here to do.

[polespear]

where's the Results.

[richhermes]

where's the Results.

There's still some more pissin' and moanin' to do. ;) Results should be up once that horse gets beat some more! :D

[hogsniper]

Where the hell were you yesterday Rich H.? We thought that you were handling the line cutoff duties... BTW, that picture of Urban Meyer looks like Rich Taylor...Urban may have the national championship, but Rich Taylor has the Norm Wyman Award!

[richhermes]

Where the hell were you yesterday Rich H.? We thought that you were handling the line cutoff duties... BTW, that picture of Urban Meyer looks like Rich Taylor...Urban may have the national championship, but Rich Taylor has the Norm Wyman Award!

I thought I had to work Saturday, but was mistaken. John's boat was already full, so I decided to go to Orlando to spend the Bass Pro Shop giftcards I got for my B-day.

I think the line cutoff guy needs to be armed. I nominate Bret for that position. :D

[Scott Hooker]

I'd like to say thanks to the TBSC for putting on an outstanding event! Good judgement on the 5:30 weigh-in, made much more daylight available for awards and festivities. Great prizes, and a new and unique method of dispersing them via lottery.

Regarding the supposed late weigh-in of some fish, here's what I can tell you; I was 2nd from the end of the weigh-in line. There was one more team that made it in behind me. Bill and Issac arrived late. They acknowledged they were late when they got there. Saw it, heard it myself. So far as I know, they weighed their fish just to see what they'd gotten, fully aware that their coolers were D/Qed.
For those of you who are busy thumping rule sheets and professing your holiness, let's consider a few things; This was a trophy-only tournament, with all prizes distributed by random drawing. There was no material reward for placing. Bill, Issac and team were aware that they were well out of the trophies, even had they made the deadline.
Therefore, there was no gain for them whatsoever in weighing in.
Further, and this is the obvious one, Issac and Bill are the President and VP of the club that put this event on. If they wanted these prizes, guess what? They already had them! They could've kept them! But, they gave them out to all of YOU. I guess I'm having trouble finding this rampant cheating and "bentbroke" (wtf?) rules that some of you are mentioning.

Suggest a few of you apologize to them for your posts. You know who you are.

Regards,
Scott Hooker

[bgbill]

I'd like to say thanks to the TBSC for putting on an outstanding event! Good judgement on the 5:30 weigh-in, made much more daylight available for awards and festivities. Great prizes, and a new and unique method of dispersing them via lottery.

Regarding the supposed late weigh-in of some fish, here's what I can tell you; I was 2nd from the end of the weigh-in line. There was one more team that made it in behind me. Bill and Issac arrived late. They acknowledged they were late when they got there. Saw it, heard it myself. So far as I know, they weighed their fish just to see what they'd gotten, fully aware that their coolers were D/Qed.
For those of you who are busy thumping rule sheets and professing your holiness, let's consider a few things; This was a trophy-only tournament, with all prizes distributed by random drawing. There was no material reward for placing. Bill, Issac and team were aware that they were well out of the trophies, even had they made the deadline.
Therefore, there was no gain for them whatsoever in weighing in.
Further, and this is the obvious one, Issac and Bill are the President and VP of the club that put this event on. If they wanted these prizes, guess what? They already had them! They could've kept them! But, they gave them out to all of YOU. I guess I'm having trouble finding this rampant cheating and "bentbroke" (wtf?) rules that some of you are mentioning.

Suggest a few of you apologize to them for your posts. You know who you are.

Regards,
Scott Hooker


Scott,

Are you saying it is unreasonable to expect the guys running the tournament to follow their own rules?

[Petra]

What an awesome time!! :thumps:

When our caravan left from the captain's meeting to load the boat for our early-morning trip, the wind was HOWLING and rippin!! NOAA had Saturday's forecast at 4-6 footers, subsiding to 3-5 in the afternoon. I was fully and completely expecting to monopolize the chum bucket between dives. :rolleyes:

When I nestled into bed that night I pleaded..."Please, Wind, just lay down a LITTLE BIT!?"

"Beep, beep, beep..." alarm clock goes off at 4:45 a.m. Hark?! What do I hear? Nothing! Not a single palm frond; no flags flapping the breeze. As the five of us head out into the darkness under the light of stars, I curled up in the E-Sea Rider (I love that thing!) wearing only a bikini :graucho: and my NEW tournament t-shirt and grinned at how smooth our trip was running.....

The first drop of the day was precisely at the moment the sun crested over the horizon. What an awesome sight.....divers hitting the water at first light! Our day was so much fun! Flat seas, great drops (thanks, Captain!) , fish, fish, fish, spectacular vis, a fun time with friends, all peppered with good-natured ribbing and smack talk. Does it get any better than that?!

As soon as we arrived at the dock we scrambled! Unloaded the boat, gutted and sorted the fish, loaded up the cars and trucks and drove like maniacs to the weigh-in. I didn't see any of the late-line entry stuff, but I think it's pretty much agreed at this point that it was a snafu and rules are rules and should be followed.

The weigh-in process, scoring, and trophy/prize distribution was organized and appeared to me to be seamless. Thanks so much to all the volunteers! Without you, none of this would have happened! :thumps: And even though I didn't get a glass trophy, I did win a new colored-lens mask! I saw old friends, made some new ones, and had a great time! The Club even provided free pizza for all the spearos! How cool was that!?!

I'm definitely looking forward to next year! Oh, that reminds me... Does anybody know if any other women competed? I spoke with Bill and we both think I was the only one. How about a virtual pat on the backside for that!? :beer:

[Houka Spear]

This being our first tourney and along with the Orange prize ticket gimmic the club set up, as this was a sweet deal for me as I won/brought home a 200 dollar 2 piece wet suit for my wife and lemme tell ya after a day of spearfishing and sucking down 5 tanks and then to drop that gift bomb on her....

HUBBA HUBBA HUBBA .....im not sure what hurt worse me or the 30 or so 4lb sheepies we shot....

The winds weren't to conducive for a 22ft boat out 20 miles in the morning with those rollers so we decided to hit all the bridges in pinellas county.. Vis wasn't great at times but there are grouper under all the bridges :) and even some hogs..

We had a great time and we wont be missing any of the tourneys over some of the issues witnessed..

Also the bridge openings were not a fair part of the deal IMHO , we watched the bridge open only to close again at both holes time and time again every 15 because of the sail guys, so i would bet a few got held up in some of that traffic but thats why there are docks at the ramp.. easy drop off rather then a drive in would of been nice for some...

Anyways thanks to all who volunteered and as well thanks for the pizza and wetsuit. !!!!

[Jaizzen]

That Blue Camo kills me!

Way to put it on em Zacker!

Congrats!

Jason

[hogsniper]

This being our first tourney and along with the Orange prize ticket gimmic the club set up, as this was a sweet deal for me as I won/brought home a 200 dollar 2 piece wet suit for my wife and lemme tell ya after a day of spearfishing and sucking down 5 tanks and then to drop that gift bomb on her....

HUBBA HUBBA HUBBA .....im not sure what hurt worse me or the 30 or so 4lb sheepies we shot....

The winds weren't to conducive for a 22ft boat out 20 miles in the morning with those rollers so we decided to hit all the bridges in pinellas county.. Vis wasn't great at times but there are grouper under all the bridges :) and even some hogs..

We had a great time and we wont be missing any of the tourneys over some of the issues witnessed..

Also the bridge openings were not a fair part of the deal IMHO , we watched the bridge open only to close again at both holes time and time again every 15 because of the sail guys, so i would bet a few got held up in some of that traffic but thats why there are docks at the ramp.. easy drop off rather then a drive in would of been nice for some...

Anyways thanks to all who volunteered and as well thanks for the pizza and wetsuit. !!!!

Good to hear to had fun Houka Spear. One of our club members owns 3 Hungry Howie's and we decided to feed everyone while patronizing his restaurants. It worked out great.

[huntinfish]

I would like to apologize to the tournament winners, hogsnipper, and the TBSC for my comment about rigging. You folks all worked your ass off and made huge sacrifices i"m sure and I didn't mean to take anything away from you. While there were some bad judgement calls, I'm confident that the tournament as a whole was fair. Congrats to the winners!!! Thank you for allowing me to participate in TBSC. tournament.

Sincerely,

Dennis Tonge

[hogsniper]

Thanks Dennis. Thanks for allowing us to deal with it internally from here.

[blades1_99]

Scott,

I apologize to Bill for first not calling him, (even though he isn't on this board) because I have his number, early on Sunday. I missed the "/" for the "bentbroke" key stroke. For that I apologize too.

And you're right they/we could have done anything about prizes. We discussed the extra kick for top guy and the tank for the captains meeting. That I think was a first for tourneys and that was a Bill and/or Isaac idea.

We really wanted everyone to have a chance at getting goodies off the table and be rewarded like "Hooka Spear" and one of the guys on my boat who wasn't as good a shooter as you were on Saturday. My number was never called and that is how Lady Luck rolls.

As I wrote before, next year's will be better. I have an idea for another category for next year (if anyone listens).

RB

[Salamispear]

Hello all...
I went out to the TBSC weigh in with my daughter and can tell you that she is very excited (as I am) about participating in the next local tournament. As an innocent bi-stander I can tell you that I thought the volunteers and the people that put the event on did a very nice job...also...those were some really nice fish...the Hogs were big...the AJs were big....the grouper were very nice...all in all....Nice shooting to everybody that participated!
Frank

[sportsfisherman]

I Sat Here And Read This Thread From Start To Finish And It Totally Amazes Me To Read He Said She Said Statements From A Bunch Of Adults Who Seem To Have Missed The Big Picture I Unfourtunately Was Not Able To Be In This Tournament As I Am New To This Sport And Havent Really Made Any Contacts. You Guys That Are Complaining Should Realize That A Tournament Is Just A Way For Other Spearos To Congrgate A Couple Times A Year Talk Smack Get Drunk And Basically Have A Good Time. Yeah You Spent Some Money To Enter But If You Didnt Spend Here You Would Have Spent Somewhere Else Relish The Fact That Your Able To Go Out And Spear Relish The Fact That You Have A Right To Compete In The Near Future That Right Might Be Taken Away And Then What Are You Going To Bitch About That You Dont Have A Right To Bitch Or Nothing To Bitch About Cause Your Not Allowed To Do What You Want To Bitch About. The Prizes Are Great The Titles Are Awesome But Dont Forget This Is A A Hobby And A Sport To Enjoy Not A Platform To Stomp Your Feet Cause Someone Else Got To Do Something A Little Extra Than Everybody Else.attitudes Like Can Ruin A Sp[ort And Before You Know It You Have Three People Showup And One Prize A Biggulp And A Hotdog. The Bottom Line Is If Your In This Sport To Take Something Home Thats Worth More Than What You Invested Your In This For The Wrong Reason.we Are An Elite Type Of People Strange In Our Own Way People Look At Us Like We Need Our Heads Examined But Those Same People Are The First To Ask What Its Like. I Wish I New An 1/8 Of The People That Are On Here I Wish I Had The Connections To Go To The Good Spots I Have The Gear I Have The Certs I Just Envoy The Peeps That Get To And Stand On The Shore While The Boats Leve And Return. One Day Ill Be There But Until Then I Live The Tournaments Through You Guys That Go. I Guees Thats It For My 2 Cents Wake Up And Smeel The Roses People Before There Are No Roses To Smell.

[Gamble]

I can't believe you capitalize the first letter of every word in that entire post,,, :eek:

[sportsfisherman]

theres a button on your keyboard that does that for you

[Petra]

Ha! Here I was thinking you have more patience than anyone on the PLANET to be able to cap the first letter of every word.

Rockin avatar, BTW. Is that you?

[Gamble]

I was thinking the same thing Petra. :lol:

[SpearMax]

Hey, what happened to the scores, rankings, placements, etc. we usually get from tournaments? Did I miss something? Just curious. :confused: :cowboy:

[Nsearch]

The final results are being processed into a working format and will be posted soon in addition with photographs of the event. Thank you all for your patience.

[hogsniper]

I was asked by Issac Lathrop(TBSC President) to post a statement regarding the TBSC Tournament. It is as follows:

"After reviewing the thread on this forum in regards to fish weighed in late, I spoke with numerous people who were directly and indirectly involved. It was a bad decision to allow three coolers of fish to be weighed-in after the deadline. Those who weighed the fish knew they were late, they were told so by the weighmaster, and they knew the fish wouldn’t count towards a score.
I apologize for allowing something to go on that would question the integrity of the tournament. I accept responsibility for this and it will not be allowed again.
This was our first TBSC tournament and we thank all those who attended and the large group of people who have personally called me and thanked the TBSC for taking the time and effort to support spearfishing and the FRA. We were fortunate enough to make over $700 for the FRA and give many trophies and prizes to those in the spearfishing community.
I do not post on this forum and I rarely view any of the forum’s threads; therefore, if anyone wants to discuss this issue further with me, please feel free to personally contact me and I will be glad to give you first hand knowledge of the events. My cell phone number is (727) 460-0205.
My friends who view Spearboard forums tell me that some of you wanted us to post the results. Our programmer is working on that and will post them as soon as they are ready.

Thanks for your patience and concern in this matter,

Respectfully,


Isaac Lathrop, President of the Tampa Bay Spearfishing Club"

[SpearMax]

I apologize for allowing something to go on that would question the integrity of the tournament. I accept responsibility for this and it will not be allowed again.

Respectfully,

Isaac Lathrop, President of the Tampa Bay Spearfishing Club"

Wow! That should put this matter to rest once and for all. I wish our country's politicians on both sides of the aisle would admit errors publicly and express regrets more often.

Way to go Isaac! :notworthy :cowboy:

[sportsfisherman]

I can't believe you capitalize the first letter of every word in that entire post,,, :eek:

it just goes to show peeps just arent happy unless there bitchin and will never be happy

[polespear]

I fully agree
YOU CANT' FIX STUPID!!!! :lol: :lol:

[Petra]

it just goes to show peeps just arent happy unless there bitchin and will never be happy

I'm happy! :)

[Capt.Gene]

Myself, Greg Krizman and Wade Fisher are the divers refered to with the three coolers to pull up just before,at, or just after the bell, just ahead of Bill H with his cooler.
We had left from Hudson at 3:15, plenty early except I didn't remember or allow for a draw bridge, which held us up for about 15 minutes. Within sight of the people weighing fish.
Kriz was told we were late, and he immediately returned with his cooler to the truck still parked curb side. No wineing, no bitching. If we late, we loose.
Bill H dragged his cooler in right behind me. When I turned around he was beside me. So, the three of us are ahead of the guy with the official time on his wristwatch.
The night before at the end of the Captains meeting Bill held his wrist up to mark the official tournament time for everyone to set their watches by. Everyone was to set their time to Bill's watch. Not a cell phone or an atomic clock or anything else.
In line, when Bill showed me his watch, it read 5:30 exactly. I yelled for Kriz to bring the cooler back. He was previously in line. No question. Undisputable.
So, you can believe that maybe Bill's watch, the OFFICIAL time, was not time set correctly on Friday night, or maybe the official times keeper, guardian of the weigh in line, didn't set his watch to Bill's at the end of the Captains meeting, or you could believe that Bills watch lost time overnight, or you could be a jackass and choose to believe that Bill re-set his watch so he could make the weigh in.
It's one of the above, take your pick. If it matters to you.
Anyway,we had a great day of safe diving (never deeper than 55'.) We motored away from several of our spots because there were boats within questionable distance. I burned almost two full tanks of air! I put 11 fish in the box to weigh, and the one that would have made 12 for me would have taken the grouper trophy home were I just a little quicker on the moment.
I got to visit with many old friends and maybe made some new ones.
And I too want to thank the guys who worked so hard to put this event together! It wasn't our intention to detract from anyone's enjoyment or create any adversity. It just didn't matter that much to any of us.
Anyway, Good job pulling off a March tournament Take a bow, anyone who contributed to it's success! :thumps:

[Gamble]

it just goes to show peeps just arent happy unless there bitchin and will never be happy


Dude I am not bitching or unhappy at all I thought you capitalized the first letter of each word manually and was amazed at the patients it must have taken. CHILL OUT!

[sportsfisherman]

high five to gamble my misunderstanding 72 degrees here no hard feelings i hope

[Gamble]

:toast: Where good brother :D

[bubblejunkie]

Was any of this nonsense actually brought up at the tournament?

If someone had a problem, Why wasn't it brought up then?

I gotta agree with Rich Taylor and say this is BS Spearboard is not in need of.

Really makes people look forward to the approaching tournament season. Hopefully this will be the last of the tournament nonsense.

Chris see ya next year, I pussed out at the last minute. Works been trying to kill me.

Just opinions, realize what people say about them but God Damn, back corner Whiners kill me. :D :rant:

[Spear One]

Show up, shoot em' up, be safe, & have fun.

[bgbill]

Myself, Greg Krizman and Wade Fisher are the divers refered to with the three coolers to pull up just before,at, or just after the bell, just ahead of Bill H with his cooler.
We had left from Hudson at 3:15, plenty early except I didn't remember or allow for a draw bridge, which held us up for about 15 minutes. Within sight of the people weighing fish.
Kriz was told we were late, and he immediately returned with his cooler to the truck still parked curb side. No wineing, no bitching. If we late, we loose.
Bill H dragged his cooler in right behind me. When I turned around he was beside me. So, the three of us are ahead of the guy with the official time on his wristwatch.
The night before at the end of the Captains meeting Bill held his wrist up to mark the official tournament time for everyone to set their watches by. Everyone was to set their time to Bill's watch. Not a cell phone or an atomic clock or anything else.
In line, when Bill showed me his watch, it read 5:30 exactly. I yelled for Kriz to bring the cooler back. He was previously in line. No question. Undisputable.
So, you can believe that maybe Bill's watch, the OFFICIAL time, was not time set correctly on Friday night, or maybe the official times keeper, guardian of the weigh in line, didn't set his watch to Bill's at the end of the Captains meeting, or you could believe that Bills watch lost time overnight, or you could be a jackass and choose to believe that Bill re-set his watch so he could make the weigh in.
It's one of the above, take your pick. If it matters to you.
Anyway,we had a great day of safe diving (never deeper than 55'.) We motored away from several of our spots because there were boats within questionable distance. I burned almost two full tanks of air! I put 11 fish in the box to weigh, and the one that would have made 12 for me would have taken the grouper trophy home were I just a little quicker on the moment.
I got to visit with many old friends and maybe made some new ones.
And I too want to thank the guys who worked so hard to put this event together! It wasn't our intention to detract from anyone's enjoyment or create any adversity. It just didn't matter that much to any of us.
Anyway, Good job pulling off a March tournament Take a bow, anyone who contributed to it's success! :thumps:

Gene,

I don't think anyone ever accused you guys of creating any adversity, or detracting from anyones enjoyment of the tournament, I was glad to see you guys there. :thumps:

BTW if you dove using one of my LP's with a "Cave Fill", you would have not even used 1 tank. :D