1st Annual Rocky Mountain Spearfishing Series Championships

[SpearMax]

3 states, 4 tournaments, 1 Grand Champion

CASH PRIZES

All tournaments will be 6 hours long from 9am-3pm with a shotgun start and honor stop. Registration will start at 8am the day of each tournament. Advance Registration may also be done on line by contacting any of the tournament organizers. Weigh in begins at 3:00pm. All participants will be required to check back in by 3:45pm. Any participant not checked in by 3:45pm will be disqualified.

Tournaments will be scored on a point-per-fish and a point-per-pound basis. Tournament Winner will be decided by the total number of points For All Fish Shot That Day.

The Series will also have an overall GRAND CHAMPION. This will be decided by the spearfisherman’s ability to take large fish of various species. Grand Champion competitors will receive a point-per-fish and a point-per-pound on each species of fish with a Maximum of 4 fish per species. Competitors will be allowed to weigh in their top TWO fish for each species at each tournament and accumulate points towards overall Grand Champion placement. At the end of the series, the Grand Champion and Reserve Champion will each receive a separate cash Prize.

Each tournament will have a cash payout for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places for each of the two divisions; PRO and NOVICE. Anyone is welcome to sign-up for the PRO division. However any NOVICE who has scored 100 points or more in any one tournament will be required to participate in the PRO division.

Entry Fee is $30.00 per tournament. All money received from the Entry Fee will be awarded back to the competitors in the form of cash or prizes. Twenty percent of entry fee money will be allocated to the GRAND CHAMPION pool. The remaining money will be split between the two divisions. The Pro division will receive 65% and Novice 35% to be paid out to the top three placements. First place in each division will receive 60% of that division’s funds, Second Place 30%, and Third Place receives 10% of the money for that division. This puts a bigger emphasis on moving up and competing in the PRO division.

Competition Rules:

All competitors must display a Diver Down flag as well as remain with in 75 feet of that flag while competing.

All competitors must adhere to all state fish and game laws. If a competitor breaks or is caught breaking any state fish and game laws, they will automatically be disqualified from that individual tournament.

Divers will start the competition from the same point and will be required to check back out at the end of each tournament by 3:45pm.

Each Competitor is responsible for choosing their biggest fish for each species to compete for the Grand Championship, and must present them at the beginning of their individual weigh-in. After their individual weigh-in is over, they must sign off on the weight.

EACH COMPETITOR MUST DISPOSE OF THERE FISH PROPERLY AND IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LAW.

Dates, Tournament Lakes, and Registration Areas will be:

*June 7th - Deer Creek Reservoir in Utah at the Sailboat Beach and Launch Boat ramp.

*June 28th - Glendo Reservoir in Wyoming at the Marina Boat Launch Parking Lot (this tournament will be our family friendly weekend. With a treasure hunt, underwater poker, group camping, and other activities for all members of the family)

*August 23rd - Lake McConaughy in Nebraska at Martin Bay Boat launch

*October 4th - Fish Lake in Utah at the Fish Lake Lodge Boat Ramp (for information on cabins and lodging www.fishlake.com)
We will be awarding the Grand Champion and other donated prizes at this tournament. This tournament is at High Elevation(Above 9,000 ft.) with cooler air and water temps. SO COME PREPARED FOR COOLER WEATHER.

[SpearMax]

For further information, please PM James whose screen name is scubadown16 or post your questions to this thread and he will respond. Thanks, Tony

[IRONHEAD]

Interesting, hope some photos of the fish come in.

[scubadown16]

Any questionns you can contact me at scubadown@yahoo.com or send me a pm and I'll send you my phone number. I will also be posting the Results and Rankings here on spearboard. Thank you James Hardesty

[element]

Count me in for all 4. Im glad to see they are on Saturdays. I had conflicts last year with the tournaments being on Sunday.
-Cory

[sticknrelease]

Rocky Mountain Carp Killers UNITE!! If anyone wants to do some pre-tourney scouting, let me know, i'm always up for early spring diving! :toast:

[Durango]

What fish do you guys spear besides carp?

[ANYH2O]

I hope to make all 4 meets--Thanks for taking the time to put them together.
MM

[scubadown16]

What fish do you guys spear besides carp?

Todd as far as species go. I will list species by lake that I have personally taken or know of someone personally who has taken.

Deer Creek Resv: Carp,Walleye, Small Mouth Bass,Rainbow Trout

Glendo Resv: Carp, Walleye, Both Small and Large Mouth Bass, Channel Catfish, Black and White Crappie, and Yellow Perch.

Lake McConaughy:Carp, Suckers, All kinds of Bass white/hybrid/striped/large mouth/small mouth, walleye, Bull Head catfish, Channel Catfish, Tiger Muskie, Norhern Pike, Blue gill, and Shads.

Fish Lake: Suckers, Rainbow trout, Lake Trout, Splake Trout, Brown Trout, Tiger Muskie

All these fish were taken in less then 30 feet of water. Most of the freshwater hunting is from the surface down to 30 feet. The Vis on these lakes is great as well for freshwater hunting. Vis is going to be great for these tournaments as well with some lakes having double diggit vis all the way up to 40+ feet at Fish Lake.
Here are some photos of some fish taken at all these lakes.
pic 1 walleye from Deer Creek
pic 2 walleye and crappie from Glendo
pic 3 trout from Deer Creek
pic 4 channel catfish from Glendo

[scubadown16]

pic5 Tiger muskies from Fish Lake
Pic6 Striper and Hybrid Bass from Lake McConaughy

[Durango]

Wow I have to say I am impressed, I thought all you guys caught were carp (is it edible") but those walleye and tiger muskies look impressive. Never having speared in fresh water I am very curious how fish respond to divers compared to our resident reef fish. I wish the events weren't so far I would do it just for the experience to see how you fellas hunt. I look foward to seeing pictures from he events. Scubadown 16 thanks for posting the pictures it looks like a lot more fun and the diversity of fish makes it much more seductive than I expected. Good luck and dive safe!
Todd

[SpearMax]

Here are some photos of some of the fish I have taken at all these lakes.
pic 1 walleye from Deer Creek
pic 2 walleye and crappie from Glendo
pic 3 trout from Deer Creek
pic 4 channel catfish from Glendo

Now I am really confused James...............is that you in each of these pictures? :confused:

If so, what span of years were they taken? :scratch: Just curious.

BTW.....nice fish! Definitely motivating to try fresh water! ;)

[scubadown16]

Now I am really confused James...............is that you in each of these pictures? :confused:

If so, what span of years were they taken? :scratch: Just curious.

BTW.....nice fish! Definitely motivating to try fresh water! ;)

Tony, These are pictures from the past two years at these lakes. I am the one with the Walleye catfish, and bass. The guy in the picture with the walleye and crappie is StickNRelease aka Justin Fox and the Guy with the Muskies is Christian Baker from Vail Colorado not a member of the board yet. Sorry about the confussion.

James

[SpearMax]

Just razzin ya bud! :stick: :D

Seriously, those fish look good! :thumps: Just two questions:

What sorta depths are each species found for spearing purposes?

And what kinda viz would tournament contestants expect at these lakes in general?

[scubadown16]

Tony I will put this in my thread up above as well but to answer your questions. Most of the fish will be shot between the surface and as deep as 30 to 40 feet. But on average most will be in the 10-25 foot range. Our tournament dates were choosen for dates when the visiablity would be at its best.
Deer Creek vis will be from a couple feet up to 20 feet depending on which area you hunt but most of the lake averages 8 to 12 feet.
Glendo Resv. Will be a few feet up to 25 feet. Most of the good hunting areas should be 10 foot.
Lake McConaughy is funny in that sometimes the Vis is 15 plus in most area and sometimes it is 3 foot. I would say at the time of the tournament if the weather holds good for a few days befor the tournament. You should see 6 to 12 feet in 75% of the lake.
Fish Lake: You always save the best for last.. Right. I am not kidding you are going to have 40-60 foot vis. But its a colder Higher elevation lake.

[westpalmspearo]

oh boy im in

[element]

I can also add pictures of some fish taken from Deer Creek. The more people that turn out the better the prizes right? :thumps:

Deer Creek got really low this year and I hope that the DWR or whoever is in charge of the lake levels allows for it to fill back up. So far we have had two nice snow storms and one on the way this week. I hope we get more snow and rain this winter to fill the lake back up. Here are my best walleye and carp taken from Deer Creek.

If anyone needs more info for Deer Creek or Fish Lake let me know, they are in my backyard.

[element]

A couple of underwater shots of fish lake. The viz is really nice at this lake. Its a natural lake and has some great weed beds.

I dont have much to show in the way of speared fish as I have only taken one small lake trout from the lake, but I hope to get one of those muskies.

[Brandy]

A couple of underwater shots of fish lake. The viz is really nice at this lake. Its a natural lake and has some great weed beds.

I dont have much to show in the way of speared fish as I have only taken one small lake trout from the lake, but I hope to get one of those muskies.

The fauna is cool

[normanhghntr]

nice ! it looks like ca kelp without the big white ones!! freshwater spearing no sharks im in!!!!! i was in the rockies all summer then moab and the grand canyon all i have to say is beautiful!!! i caught my first cut throught 9 miles into estes state park on fly!!!

[scubadown16]

I can also add pictures of some fish taken from Deer Creek. The more people that turn out the better the prizes right? :thumps:


Yes this is correct I hope we have some huge turn outs. Not only will the money be going back to the competitors but I am working on building a nice prize table to go along with the money. I already have several commitments from some very nice companies including Armor Bags, HammerHead Spearguns, Poseidonsub Custom spearguns and Steve Veros,20 fathoms, and High Plains Scuba Center.

We may be land locked and there there is no threat of Sharks but believe me when I say that its going to be a dog fight as I expect some of the best spearos to show up and give it there all. I look forward to meeting you all.

[hyeparis]

These are awesome fish. You guys are lucky that you have so much and so diverse fish to pick from. What are the Tiger muskies? They look like pikes to me.

[scubadown16]

Tiger Muskie are a cross bread between Muskalung or Muskie as most people know and the Northern Pike.

[sticknrelease]

If you or anyone you know is interested in sponsoring with cash or prizes, send Scubadown a p.m. Every little bit helps, and it will be nice to be able to display your logo at the events.

[LGHT]

Wow looks like a nice event and I would love to go. My first fish ever speared was a carp on a small JBJ. A buddy brought the gun with him during a jet ski trip. When it was slow and we where too tired to ski he broke out the spear. He would chum small carp from the shore. I decided to chum by the boat one day and speared a good size one that pulled me about 20 feet before it let me get back to the surface to breath. It was pretty amazing and I realized that I could really get into spearing fish and that it was a lot more fun then sitting on the boat with a pole!

If anyone is heading up from california let me know sounds like a great 4-5 day trip!!

[scubadown16]

Wow looks like a nice event and I would love to go.

If anyone is heading up from california let me know sounds like a great 4-5 day trip!!

Thanks for sharing your story. I hope that you'll make one of the events. If you really want to see some big carp and get pulled around like a kid again you should look at making the first tournament at Deer Creek in Utah the carp are huge and the vis will be excellent. Take care and I look forward to meeting you. James

[rjack]

Were those fish (esp. the tiger muskies) taken on scuba or freediving?

Nice fish!

[scubadown16]

Were those fish (esp. the tiger muskies) taken on scuba or freediving?

Nice fish!

They were taken on both. The Tiger muskie were done freediving.

[sticknrelease]

Prizes are starting to roll in. . . Princeton Tec waterproof flashlights, Gerber and Kershaw knives, wetsuits, It's going to be a pretty sweet prize table!:yay::D:thumps:

[SpearMax]

Here is the poster. Open the attached PDF file for the rules and other important info.

[IRONHEAD]

Great thread and nice pictures. Slayin em' inland style.:thumps:

[scubadown16]

I would like to make a quick Plug for all the Sponsors who have already sent me there donations and tell you all what you have to look forward to besides all the cash.

Steve Veros donated a 100.00 G.C. To Posiden Custom Spearguns
DUI Drysuits donated a large Gear Bag
High Plains Scuba Certer donated a Wet suit
Armor Bags donated an Expandable Gun Bag
Dive Rescue International donated 250.00 that was used to purchase an ETREX GPS, dive knifes, fillet knives, 4 scuba dive lights, and a head lamp.
Orca Spearguns donated a 100cm euro gun.
Justin Fox (aka sticknrelease) donated a Brand New Back pack from Viking Drysuits

I also have verbal commitments but just have not received there donations yet from
20 fathoms and Dennis Haussler
Palej
HammerHead Spearguns
Shane Breedt from FREEDIVERS Australia

This should be a great season of spearfishing with some of the best divers competting in freshwater. Thank you to all the sponsors and everyone who has helped out so far.

James Hardesty

[jstroup]

Your a rock star for putting all of this together! Prize table is looking nice!

[The Stranger]

I'm just trying to clarify, I got the Rocky Mountain tourny dates, but this is different than the Utah 2008 tournys?

[scubadown16]

Yes, The Utah tournaments by Atlantis Divers have nothing to do with The Rocky mountain tournament Series. They are two seperate things. The Rocky mountain series is a cash based tournament series. With only Four events that is all.

[AQUA ASSASSIN]

James,I thought we were putting on the tourney, not Atlantis Divers. They are holding the Utah tourneys, WE are putting on the Rocky Mountain Spearfishing Tourneys. Come on man proof read your posts.Good luck in Florida........:stupid:

[AQUA ASSASSIN]

Nice edit on the post to make me look like an ass. Thanx bus driver

[EricJ]

beep beep you know that's how james roll's

[scubadown16]

Hello all you crazy spearfishing people. I just wanted to send you an update on what we have in store for you at our 1st annual spearfishing Series Championships. Taking place in the Rocky Mountain Region starting in Early June at Deer Creek Resv in Utah.

First off I have worked hard with many sponsors to bring you a HUGE prize table. These prizes will be awarded along with CASH at each of our four tournaments. As well as for our Grand Championship part of the series. Here is a list of prizes that you can look forward to winning.
-Dennis Haussler with 20fathoms donated 110cm gun, Three pairs of fins,and some shafts of different sizes
-Steve Veros with Poseidonsub Custom spearguns donated a $100 G.C.
-Hammerhead Spearguns sent a 55cm Gun, Sweatshirt,gloves, and T-Shirt
-Armor Bags donated a gun bag
-DUI sent a large Gear bag
-Dive Rescue International donated 5 lights and 6 knives, and a GPS
-Justin Fox donated a viking drysuit backpack
-Orca Spearguns sent a 110cm gun
-Pelaj donated several knives and shirts
-High Plains Scuba donated a wetsuit
-Brian Hayden with helterskeletons.com donated his time doing our logo as well as the coolest fish print I have seen.

I wanted to also update you on the shirts and pot luck that will be at all of our tournaments. As I stated before Brian Hayden of www.helterskeletons.com designed our shirts for the series I have attached a proof copy of the design so you can see what is in store for you. These shirts will be for sale at all of our tournaments. Not sure on price as of yet because I am still trying to work with some printers to lessen the cost. We will also be doing food as I have an overwhelming response from people about doing some food at the end of each tournament. For 5 bucks you can have a hot meal and soda and bread after the tournament as your weighting in your fish, if you wish.

We have also started a new email address for the tournaments that will be used for tournament postings and updates from now on. If you have questions about the tournament please use this email to have those questions answered. rockymountainspearfishing@gmail.com

I also wanted to let you all know that I am also trying to reserve the ball room at Fishlake Lodge where our final tournament will be held for a super banquet and awards ceremony.


James Hardesty

[Shroomy]

I saw on atlantisdivers.com that the first tournament is at Yuba. Is this correct or is it still scheduled at Deer Creek?

[scubadown16]

ATTENTION ATTENTION ATTENTION There have been changes made to the up-coming series.
Hey Everyone,
I need to let you all know about some changes to the summer series of spearfishing tournaments.

* We have been forced to make a couple changes. I was not aware that DEER CREEK Reservoirs water would be dropped so low that boats may or may not be able to launch because of the re-construction to the dam. There for I have made a decision to move the tournament to a new location. On June 7th we will be kicking our season off at YUBA RESERVOIR. This lake is also known as Sevier Bridge Reservoir. The lake is located in the central part of Utah just north of I-70 and east of I-15. This new location is a large body of water with more species of fish. I have contacted the parks office at Yuba Reservoir and they told me that the vis is excellent in June. The lake is really full so you'll be able to access all 23 miles of the lake in search of large Walleye, Pike, Perch, Catfish, Several species of Bass, Crappie,and tons of Carp. I will be taking a trip over to Yuba Reservoir to look for the best place to have our awards ceremony as well as our launching point in early May. Our registration for this tournament will be in the parking lot by the boat ramp at Yuba State Park entrance on the West end of the lake.

* We have also been forced to changed the Date of our Second Tournament which is at GLENDO RESERVOIR up a week. The new date will be JUNE 21st instead of June 28th

*Because I have had such a huge interest from so many companies to help us out by making some really great donations. I have decided instead of paying out cash to BOTH the pro and the novice divisions. We will take all the funds collected and split them among the pro winners 1st through 3rd places. The novice division will be awarded the donated prizes. 1st through 3rd at all the competitions. I feel that novice divers can use the items more then the pros. How ever if I continue to build the sponsors list I may change this again to include some of the donated prises to go to the pros as well or extend the payout in the novice division to 5th place.

*I have also changed the Pot luck style BBQ to a $5.00 all you can eat BBQ. I will supply a hot meal, Soda, Bread, Plates, and Utensils at every tournament. If you want to cook up some of your catch your welcome to free of charge.

* PLEASE PRINT OUT THE ATTACHED FLYER AND PASS IT AROUND FOR ME... PUT IT UP AT YOUR LOCAL DIVE SHOPS, SPORTING GOOD STORES, AND ANYWHERE ELSE YOU THINK WOULD HELP GET AS MANY PEOPLE TO COME OUT AND PARTICIPATE IN THIS EVENT. THE MORE PEOPLE WE GET INVOLVED THE LARGER THE PRIZE MONEY WILL BE.
TOGETHER WE CAN BUILD UP THE SPORT OF SPEARFISHING IN THE ROCKY MOUNTAIN STATES

THANKS
JAMES HARDESTY

[Shroomy]

ATTENTION ATTENTION ATTENTION

*I have also changed the Pot luck style BBQ to a $5.00 all you can eat BBQ. I will supply a hot meal, Soda, Bread, Plates, and Utensils at every tournament. If you want to cook up some of your catch your welcome to free of charge.


what about the beer????

James let me know when you are heading down to Yuba, i'll meet you there or on the way and kill some carp.

[scubadown16]

Just got the proof on the shirts back from the printer and they look nice.. Here you go. By the way these shirts will be for sale over the internet... Cost will be Short sleeve white shirts L and XL are 15.00 Long sleeve Black shirts L and XL are 20.00 and Sweat Shirts are L and XL in Variouse colors while color supplies last are 30.00.

[sticknrelease]

:cowboy:I'm still working with a representative from Coors and Corona about bringing some suds and schwag to Glendo. I will let you know as soon as i do:cowboy:

[scubadown16]

Update....
Just two weeks till our first tournament... I am already getting registration money from all over.. It looks like will have a great turnout for our fist tournament. I am expecting something around 25-35 divers. The water is full at Yuba as well as Glendo. Vis is been less then expected but still very diveable. We will be having a great prize table along with a beautifull trophy that will have the winners names ingraved on... The sponsor list has continued to grow and we will be giving prizes away to the top 5 places in the Novice division. I have also been able to get a couple people to help with food and so we will be able to have a nice warm meal afterwards for just 5 bucks. Shirts are completely done and look nice. Short sleeve white are 15.00 long sleeve black are 20.00 Sweat shirts upto XL are 30.00 and XXL ones are 40.00 Let me know if you have questions... Thanks
James Hardesty

[scubadown16]

Hey Everyone,

We are about a week away from kicking off our series of tournaments in the Rocky Mountain Region. Yuba Reservoir in Utah is the 1st stop in our series of four tournaments and it looks like its going to be big event. I am already getting pre registrations mailed to me and it looks like we are going to have a size able turnout. Because of this I need to know who else is planning on attending so I can plan to have enough food for everyone. Because of the laws in Utah I am going to have to cap our event off at 50 people. If your coming please let me know so I can put your name on our list so you have a spot. I just spoke to Jeff Rasmussen the head ranger at the lake and he is excited that we are coming to take a bunch of carp out of the lake. He said that the water has been warming up and that he is seeing a bunch of carp moving up into the shallower bays and areas... We will be running our staging area out of Oasis Camp Grounds and Boat Ramp. It is located on the West side of the lake. I am planning on being at the lake from early morning of the 6th. My camp site number is no. 3 So please feel free to come by and say hello if your camping overnight of the 6th. We will be setting up our registration area at the Day Use Pavilion next to the boat ramp at Oasis at 6am on the 7th. We will be taking registrations all day however I will be personally cutting out of the registrations at 8:20am to start our briefing. Tournament will shotgun start at 9am. Bruce Boyd is taking care of cooking your hot meal if you choose to participate in that. The cost is 5 dollars. He is planning a hot spaghetti dinner with garlic bread and salad. We will be selling T-shirts and sweat shirts of our event so if your interested in purchasing them please come early to take care of that.

After the tournament is over we will be having our weight-ins at the same location as our registration. I will have two Certified scales to make the process run quickly and smooth. We will then have our awards ceremony. I have put together a great prize table. So, we will be awarding prizes to the novice division out to 5th place as well as for biggest game fish and biggest rough fish. We will be awarding a hard luck prize as well. Pro division will receive cash prizes up to 3rd place.

I have a compost recycling center that is asking for our un-wanted carp and other rough fish. So if your able to stick around and help with transporting them the 4 miles to the back side of the lake where the compost center is located that would be great and truly appreciated... All game fish that are harvested will be taken by those who harvested them. If you choose to not take them home please don't shoot them.

Here is the list of Sponsors and prizes for our Series.

20Fathoms Gun, Fins,and shafts
DUI Bag
Armor Bags Gun Bag
Poseidon Custom Guns 100.00 G.C.
Dive Rescue Int'l Knives,GPS,Lights,and Ascent alarm
High Plains Scuba Wetsuit and Mask
Pelaj Shirts and Knives
Orca Spearguns 110cm Gun
HammerHead Gloves,shirts,55cmGun,Sweatshirt
Hardcore Spearfishing Shirts
Spearfishingworld.com 100cm Gun
Helter Skeletons Artwork
Otter Box Dry Boxes
Lucky Joes Gift Certificates
Stone House Gift Certificates
Justin Fox Back Back
Myself Dry Bag
Monster Energy Drinks Energy Drinks and swag

I want to thank you all for your participation in making this such a great event and I look forward to meeting you all.

James Hardesty
Rocky Mountain Spearfishing
Po Box 272162
Ft. Collins Colorado 80527
720-422-5576

[sticknrelease]

Only 3 and a half weeks until Lake McConaughy!!! Nebraska, any spearos coming out to show us how it's done?