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BERKLEY/WAFISH Open Results and Feedback

First off, I want to thank everyone who attended this year. The fishing was tough with a total of 34 fish for 36 boats. Below are the results:

We are going to do everything in our power to make next year's event even bigger and better to increase participation, and show the Berkley Corporate guys that we are for real up here in the Northwest! This all starts with you all here on WAFISH as the largest group of bass fishermen here in the state. With that said, what would you guys want to see next year that you feel would make this event something you would want to attend? With the exception of better fishing of course!

Our initial thoughts are:

Moving the tournament to Lake Washington
Trying to find a date that doesn't conflict with other events or holidays(very difficult)
More incentive either monetary, products, promotions, etc...

Let me know your thoughts and we'll see what we can do to make this happen. Again, the more support and participation we can show the more we will get back in return for years to come.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Russ Baker on April 25, 2011 at 7:51pm

Putting on Lake Washington would be a start since so many events on Lake Sam Back to back to back. Lake Wa would fish so much bigger. Advertise the event much further in advance. Move the date to May would help-weather to unstable in April.

Just a few for now.

Permalink Reply by Taylor Smith on April 25, 2011 at 8:20pm

I think 50 boats were on Moses alone so a change of date or utilizing the weekend before Moses where no tournaments exist would help ya. Unfortunetely with a short fishing season we have to cram all of the tournaments in a smaller time frame than normal so it would help to find a weekend with no other tournaments or pre fishes for large tournaments like the Nixon Open. Good luck next year and good job this year!

Permalink Reply by Austin Heyer on April 25, 2011 at 8:52pm

Jordan thanks for running this tourney. It was a great event with some poor fishing but still a great day on the water.

I agree with moving it to lake washington.

Permalink Reply by Marc Marcantonio on April 25, 2011 at 10:49pm

Jordan, I hope you can figure out how to get a bunch of people to attend an event at Lake Washington. It will be a marketing challenge for sure. I know it is possible, but it will take some creative thinking. There will likley only be a handful of eastern anglers showing up; they seem to find the bass fishing too difficult to make the trip.

Of course there are plenty of west side anglers to fill the field, and the low entry fee will appeal beyond the regular tournament competitors. Again, breaking out of the typical mold will probably increase participation.

I assume the goal will be to increase brand awareness for Berkley to large numbers of people while having fun; not to determine the best bass angler in the Northwest? To do so in the Seattle area you will likely need a different hook.

Consider something like a 2 bass limit. Keep the mystery weights and have other methods of winning prizes. Competitors should all feel they always have a chance throughout the day, and can win neat things in fun ways. Encourage participation by those under the age of 18 (maybe have some prizes for certain age categories). Maybe have a wierd fish prize several times a day where contestants take a photo with their cell phone and transmit it back to the tourney headquarters for verification (then the fish can be released so it doesn't violate state derby rules). Have a float tube division, or a kayak division; or canoe division, or under 100 hp division. Have a fly fishing division and market it to the fly fishing clubs. Maybe a prize for the biggest two bass limit consisting of one largemouth and one smallmouth.

The options are unlimited, and should be expanded in a way to get maximum participation.

Maybe catch and tag a bass a couple of weeks in advance, and offer a large sum of money if it is caught (take out an insurance policy like is done for a Hole-In-One contest). Name the tagged bass Mama Pesce and give a description of her, clues as to where she hangs out, and what she likes to eat. Put "Wanted" reward posters out with her picture on them. Make it fun so that people have an excuse to sign up and participate, or at least they will look at the Wanted Posters out of curiosity and will read that Berkley is offering a Reward (which markets Berkley to everyone who merely reads the Wanted posters).

Have a barbecue (catered by Famous Dave's or maybe Dixie's) at the end to keep people around and happy while awarding the various prizes.

Make press releases in advance (early promotion is critical), and have media coverage before and during the event. Have ESPN The Outdoor Line crew or Joel Shangle to Emcee throughout the event and broadcast the fun on the radio.

Get the Seahawks and Seagals involved, maybe using their training site for the home base and barbecue which will market them and their community support.

Yea, it will be a lot of work and take a skilled crew to orchestrate the many duties and responsibilities. But it could be huge and a lot of fun, and be something different that hasn't been done.

Or, you can stick with a competitive tournament at Potholes trying to attract the best bass anglers throughout the State.

Either way, with careful scheduling and advance notice (at the beginning of the year when we all commit to our tournament schedule) I will plan to attend. I will write the magazine articles about the event to promote it for you for future events.

ciao,
Marc Marcantonio

Permalink Reply by P.J. Koshi on April 26, 2011 at 12:30am

I have been watching some youtube videos lately of the Won Bass circuit, and their draw tournament format seems cool. That might be a fun way to do a big open tournament I dunno... Have those with boats bring them and depending on how many boaters/non boaters show up have guys with smaller boats leave their boats on the trailer if necessary and draw for boaters. Then go out and fish together as a team for the day. I think it's cool not just for guys to draw boaters, but also to get a chance to fish with that boater as a team not as individuals.

Permalink Reply by Steve Hastings on April 26, 2011 at 4:33am

Just a tough year of fishing all over. Nice job to the guys that got it done.

Permalink Reply by BigBass Dez on April 26, 2011 at 9:15am

+ 1

Russ Baker said:

Putting on Lake Washington would be a start since so many events on Lake Sam Back to back to back. Lake Wa would fish so much bigger. Advertise the event much further in advance. Move the date to May would help-weather to unstable in April.

Just a few for now.

Permalink Reply by Buck Brunner on April 26, 2011 at 4:58pm

Wished I could have fished it this year, but funds non existent for now. Last year's tourney was a blast! Congrats to Tom and Gabe for the win! Good Karma paying off. (They stopped fishing last year during the Winter Sammamish tourney to jump start my dead battery when Tito and I were trying to get in last minute to weigh our fish). Very cool and much appreciated!

Had the boat out there weekend before tourney to run out some old fuel and saw the two new docks. Awesome! Feels good to see the launch fees used to improve the area. (First time to Sammamish or anywhere in the boat since last October).

Hope to maybe try for it again next year. Sammamish is close, easily accessible, and dont have to worry about barges and the rollers on Washington.

Just my opinion, but Sammamish is great. Nice little park area to hold the weigh in and easy access. And the two new super nice docks!

Permalink Reply by JD on April 26, 2011 at 9:38pm