fished my heart out for nothing

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fished my heart out for nothing

Posted May 13, 2008 by pabassman (US)

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i fished all week on week 29,form dark to dark,i caught and released 75 smallmouth in the 18 to 20.50 inch range,the week before i caught three fish that were 22-23 inch but could not get them last week,the fish i submitted should have won money but in a wierd twist they could not measure it because the tail got cut off the pic,but they had the pic of me holding the fish,in which on thier info page the picture holding the fish is how they measure ,i am very upset with this and upset that once again it is the same guys again winning,this will be my last time because i do not believe in this anymore,and it is a shame that i had to spend so much money to find this out!

(9 comments)

Bigeyes (posted May 14, 2008)

Not everyone has the money to be out on the pro circuit, as it costs thousands. I'm not sure if it has dawned on you or not but maybe you aren't the only person in the world that has a great fishing hole. I have caught 75 bass a day, in July, when they are in season. I know of two lakes within 50 miles of my house where I can catch 15 to 20 inch smallmouths consistently with an occasional 21 or 22. I haven't caught a 23 incher yet but there are other guys that claim they have caught them up to 24. Just because I can catch 50 or 100 fish a day doesn't mean I belong on the pro circuit. I do this on my home waters. I put the time in here to find the fish and find the patterns that produce the biggest and most fish in this area. And when I say time I mean up to 26 hour days. I caught over 30 muskies, with 5 over 50 inches, in 15 days last summer but I spent 14 days without catching a single fish before I finally put the program together. Two of which were over 20 hours not including the hour drive back to my house from the lakes. The pro circuit doesn't give you a month to pre-fish. Most of the time you only have a few days. Talk about spending money. Drive 1000 miles, spend a week at a motel, all your food, a $1000 to $1500 entry fee, gas in you boat and hope that you find fish big enough to place. Not quite in everyone's budget. If you ask me, it's much easier to stay home and fish the water I know. As for the same guys winning, maybe they have great fishing spots in their area. I know for a lot of northern species of fish, there is just no competing with canada. I have been up there a couple of time and the fish are just bigger. They have less fishing pressure due to less access and population. So naturally, there will be more big fish in the lakes. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure that one out. Also, the so called recognition and media attention you are searching for, will come. Like every other form of advertising it has to be paid for. there are other online tournaments out there and none of them get any media attention. Well, other than the FLW fantasy fishing. Which is advertised in the FLW magazine and on ESPN during the FLW TV program. Key word here, "advertised". Paid for. They have 50,000 people signed up and they are giving away $7.5 million this summer. Still they pay for all of their advertising. And get no media attention. Nothing is free. Even what you may consider news about this an online tournament has to be paid for. I'm sure that as soon as Bounty fishing has a big enough enrollment to afford to advertise, they will. They may actually be doing it already since they are the top billing on the search engines when you type in online fishing tournament. Just another bit of information about the web. Search engines are paid advertising like everything else. Whomever pays the most gets top billing. Welcome to the real world. Browny said it best, "rules are rules." If you didn't have the presence of mind to read and understand them, it is your own fault not Bounty Fishing's!

pabassman (posted May 14, 2008)

ok last season i seen fish that were visably dead,and fish next to the ruler that did not measure to what was put down but they still won,again trhe same 3-4 guys all year,you cant make me believe someone is that good to win week after week,and if you are why arent you on the pro circuit?,no i am not the type that has to win,all i am looking for is a fair shake and not to get taken by the same people week after week,i fully support what bounty fishing has started.but dont anyone wonder why there is no rcognition about this in fishing shows on tv or no address or phone number for their office,a operation of this size should have some type of media recognition by now dont you think?

freshwaterphi (posted May 13, 2008)
Ditto. Rules are rules, especialy when money is involved. The cut off pic is not Bounty's fault, you have no one to blame but yourself. On the bright side of things, you caught 75 very nice, hard fighting fish. Hope you didn't quit your job dreaming that you would win all the time...

FISHINMA (posted May 13, 2008)
BIG BOO HOO MR. MAGOO!

ladyfish (posted May 13, 2008)
hmmm.. let me guess your one of those little kids with the attitude that "if i can't win then i'm not playing." sounds good to me. I agree with donovan. 75 fish is nothing huh. what's it take to make you happy? I'm trying like hell to get one day off to fish and would happy with one tenth of that. boo hoo.

Donovan (posted May 13, 2008)
"fished you heart out for.......................NOTHING" .............hmmmmmm nothing??? You got to fish for and entire week from dark to dark, caught 75 smallmouth and you fished for nothing??? You are starting to sound like a spoiled, overpaid proffessional athlete. You should be fishing because you love it and any money won is a just bonus. what happened to, for the love of the sport ?

RedfishMagnet (posted May 13, 2008)

Almost everyone here as had a "mess up" when submitting a fish. It's like a right of passage. Sunglasses, non-rigid ruler, you name it. We've all experienced it. You just have to learn from it and use it as fuel to do even better next time. I've won money, my husband has won money. This is real. If you choose not to compete again, that's your choice. But be certain no one will be trying to get you to stay. As we see it, you're more competition and with you out of the picture, that leaves better chances for us. Good luck with your decision.

Leapin_trout (posted May 13, 2008)

Sorry to hear about this. http://www.bountyfishing.com/enterprise/howwevalidate That is incorrect information that you are stating. Read, I would say carefully, but you don't need too, it's clear. The picture with you holding the fish is NOT used to verified the length it is used to verify the accuracy of your ruler: ... 3 .Using the human eye and other reference points in the photo of you holding your catch, the software verifies the accuracy of your ruler. 4. Finally the length of your fish is measured and validated from the image of the fish and ruler. ...

Browny (posted May 13, 2008)
"The fish must be visible from tip to tail. Any part of the fish not visible in the picture will not count as part of the length." Seems pretty straight forward to me? I've learned the hard way on other sites that "rules are rules" and when it comes to money being handed out, you better believe you have to stick to every single one of them.


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