4th ANNUAL WAFISH OPEN December 8th

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Chris Blandi on December 10, 2012 at 6:49pm

Didn't want to start a new topic.  Since when is the rev rig legal in tournaments, more importantly NWBass ?  It's trolling, thought that's been illegal since the beginning of bass tournys.  I tryed it and I still suck at it  lol. 

Permalink Reply by Johnny Walker on December 10, 2012 at 11:03pm

Yes indeed, it was a great tournament. Wish I could have stuck around for the raffle but forgot to leave the car seats at home and wife was pissed... Jordan you the man and as usual it was such a good time!

Permalink Reply by Chad Simon on December 11, 2012 at 7:27am

Here is the rule taken from the  NWBASS website:

Tackle and Equipment: All fish must be caught in a legal and sporting manner by casting, flipping or pitching.  Intentional snagging of fish will not be allowed.  Using the electric motor only to stroll or troll is permitted as long as the angler maintains contact with his or her fishing rod.  Setting the rod down or in a pole holder while moving the boat with the electric motor is not permitted.  Only artificial lures may be used.  No live bait or prepared bait is permitted with the exception of pork rinds.  Liquid fish attractants are allowed.  Only (1) rod may be used at one time.  Other rods may be in the boat and ready for use, however, every cast and retrieve must be completed before another cast is made.  Nets are allowed and Northwest Bass encourages the use of catch & release style nets.  Underwater cameras are not restricted at this time.

 

No matter what people think or say, there is an art to rev-rigging. It's not a guaranteed way to put fish in the boat. It's simply another option to coax fish into biting. Should crankbaits be illegal in April, and jerkbaits banned in May? Nobody gave Mike Folkstad crap when he used to troll swimbaits down in California in the early to mid 90's, and put hawg after hawg in the boat! I deployed a rev-rig in the wafish tourny after going the first two hours with only one subtle bite, watching Curtis not put any fish in the boat, and watching Ron and P.J not catch anything for an hour. Guess what.......I put my first two fish in the boat in a matter of 10 minutes, in the same area we were all fishing plastics. I added one more rev-rig fish in the afternoon. Unfortunantly for me, all my fish were small, and I missed my final bite. My father, and I learned everything we know about rev-rigging from Larry Gonzky back in the 90's. This rig had taught me soo much of what I know today about the lake. I've fished it enough to tell you it's not dynamite, it's simply another weapon that can be best utilized when the plastic bite is slow!

Chris Blandi said:

Didn't want to start a new topic.  Since when is the rev rig legal in tournaments, more importantly NWBass ?  It's trolling, thought that's been illegal since the beginning of bass tournys.  I tryed it and I still suck at it  lol. 

Permalink Reply by Jordan Doucet on December 11, 2012 at 12:49pm

Thanks again to everyone who came out this year. We had 19 boats total and although the fishing was tough, there were still a few that managed some decent catches of Smallmouth and "Weird" fish:

Top Ten

1. Tony LoFranco/Wes Wezenberg 12.69lb - 4 smallmouth
2. David Griffis/ Shane Storie 8.36lbs - 3 smallmouth
3. Shawn/Nick McDaniels 6.15lbs - 2 smallmouth
4. Chris Ferry / Mark Maderos 5.89lbs - 2 smallmouth
5. David Parnicky/Brian Calvert 5.12lbs - 2 smallmouth
6. Mark Brown/ Ernest Griffin: 4.84lbs - 2 smallmouth
7. Chad Simon 4.55lbs - 3 smallmouth
8. Billy Smith 3.37lbs - 1 smallmouth
9. Stuart Squires/ Ron Langley: 3.14lbs - 1 smallmouth
10. Doug/Caleb Booth: 2.99lbs - 2 smallmouth

 

Big Bass: Shawn/Nick McDaniels: 3.84lbs

Big Weird Fish: Mark Brown/Ernest Griffin: 4.94lbs Trout

Here are the pictures:

http://s930.beta.photobucket.com/user/jman4686/story/4741

Permalink Reply by Jordan Doucet on December 11, 2012 at 1:11pm

I also wanted to give my input on why I allowed the Rev Rig this year. In years past, I have not allowed it at this tournament as many frown upon this technique as it is more "trolling" than "dragging". Now the line on these two is VERY unclear, as you'll see many people implementing the fag drag with the captain morgan foot position and hand in the pocket (myself included at times unfortunately). The rev rig is essentially the same thing, you're just going faster and you have a 3 way swivel and crankbait on the end instead of a jighead or c-rig with a plastic. I did not see this rig as any sort of advantage in this tournament, and being that the fishing has traditionally been pretty tough, if it brings a couple more fish to the weigh in than all the better for the sake of this tournament. Taking a look at the top ten above, you will only see one person (Chad Simon) that successfully employed the rev rig to my knowledge. All others used conventional cast and retrieve or "dragging" methods. This goes to show that it is simply a technique like any other that has the right place, time and proper technique involved.

With that said, I want to be clear that I am not a fan of the Rev Rig, don't use it at all and I am certainly NOT advocating making the rev rig a tournament standby. However in the case of THIS tournament, that is already pretty unconventional, I think it made sense this year to give it a shot.

For all of you that participated, I am open to thoughts and suggestions - let's hear it.       

Permalink Reply by Chris Blandi on December 12, 2012 at 6:20pm

Thanks for the clarification Chad and Jordan.  You both make excellent points.  If I make it out for some cold water fishing, I'll be sure to give it another shot.  Rev rig alabama rig, hmmm.

Permalink Reply by D.J. LaRoche on December 12, 2012 at 8:58pm

Jordan, I think it is a good thing that you allowed the Rev Rig this year.  It is fun to sometimes fish events that are a little out of the norm.  I like the Potholes Open for this reason, laid back tournament day schedule, and 6 fish limit.  It just breaks it up a little.  I also really enjoyed those Big Bass Blasts from years ago on Lake Washington.  1 fish for all the marbles.  Made things interesting.  Don't get me wrong, I like the traditional tournament rules more, but sometimes it is fun to do something a little different.  

Permalink Reply by P.J. Koshi on December 14, 2012 at 9:13am

Jordan I think incorporate the biggest weird fish into the total weight.  Weigh your best 4 Bass and your weird fish.  Or I think even better might be have a 3 Bass limit like the Freeze Your Bass and include 1 weird fish for a total weight.  I think that would get some tight weights and the competition aspect would be fun.  There were a lot of 1-3 fish bags brought in as far as bass, but everyone seemed to have a weird fish.

Permalink Reply by Chad Simon on December 14, 2012 at 9:46am

Or in your case a weird fish, and a weirder partner......I like your idea! We could even do a deal where you were allowed to weigh one of any species! Of course that would take a lot of the bass interest out of things. I like unconventional tournies! We have too much of the same product here with aba, nwbass, and all the club opens.

P.J. Koshi said:

Jordan I think incorporate the biggest weird fish into the total weight.  Weigh your best 4 Bass and your weird fish.  Or I think even better might be have a 3 Bass limit like the Freeze Your Bass and include 1 weird fish for a total weight.  I think that would get some tight weights and the competition aspect would be fun.  There were a lot of 1-3 fish bags brought in as far as bass, but everyone seemed to have a weird fish.

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