Weights can vary wildly between fish of the same length. Take a 31 inch walleye for example. On average its going to be around 11 pounds. That doesn't mean it might not weigh 10 or possibly even 12 pounds though. The only way to get around that would be go to a longest fish setup. The issue is all 30" fish are 30 inches. There would be way to many of the same exact length fish measured. Sure it would probably still come down to who managed to catch one bigger. But length is what I would guess determines a tie breaker in this tournament .

And with it being as wide spread of a tournament as it is. It would kind of be un realistic to have only one weigh location. This is part of the reason entry levels are so high. Id say 98% of the guy as that enter tournaments as a whole are honest.

Is there always the possibility of a bad egg? Sure is. The best ways to prevent that are the methods you listed. Lie detector witness to catch sign off etc..

 

Weights can vary wildly between fish of the same length. Take a 31 inch walleye for example. On average its going to be around 11 pounds. That doesn't mean it might not weigh 10 or possibly even 12 pounds though. The only way to get around that would be go to a longest fish setup. The issue is all 30" fish are 30 inches. There would be way to many of the same exact length fish measured. Sure it would probably still come down to who managed to catch one bigger. But length is what I would guess determines a tie breaker in this tournament .

Which is why the fish should be gutted before weigh in.
The body is the body and gut content has nothing to do with the true body weight.
Also eliminates stuffing, of any kind.
Just as easy to stuff an 8oz. sunfish into a gut as it is an 8oz. sinker.

And with it being as wide spread of a tournament as it is. It would kind of be un realistic to have only one weigh location. This is part of the reason entry levels are so high. Id say 98% of the guy as that enter tournaments as a whole are honest.

As I said...
I think the weigh stations (numbers) are fine.

Is there always the possibility of a bad egg? Sure is. The best ways to prevent that are the methods you listed. Lie detector witness to catch sign off etc..

As I pointed out, these are far from legitimate methods or practical methods.
You have to supply a witness? Really?
Also (not mentioned) psychopaths can easily pass a lie detector test and as they are 10% of the population (as per. FBI statistic analysis reports) that makes lie detectors ridiculous.
Look at the two crooks back 2 years ago, who passed that test for the other contest, which ran at the same time as the Brawl. Obviously, the test is flawed enough to have let them through and to have courts block such findings.

Just the facts as I see them.

 

I agree and I the only tournament I have ever entered was a crappie contest when I was about 14. A gentleman that fished the creek on our property entered me as his partner out of kindness. I ironically we won. I would not be surprised if there was more cheating then realized. It's all a marketing ploy anyway.

Here's my suggestion; anyone can enter for the same entry fee and all entries must be paid before you check in fish. . The winner would be decided by a drawing, but to qualify for the drawing you had to check in a certain size walleye at a participating vendor. I would suggest going with length and I'd suggest setting that length at 24". That's pretty attainable for everyone fishing Erie, but still makes it a trophy contest. If you can't catch a 24" walleye you forfeit your entry. That's pretty much what is happening now, if you can't catch at least a 28" walleye or larger then your out. That would also keep it a walleye fishing contest, but make the possible winning pool much larger. It would also remove the advantage that pro fishermen have or lakeside residents. They could still draw multiple level winners. Heck someone on a one time charter trip could win. I will most likely never enter the brawl, since I live 4 hours away and I am lucky if I make one trip a year to the lake. However, under my suggested rules, i would actually enter and book a charter just to do it. I think it would generate more participation and business.

 

I really like that.
That said...
There are people who make a living doing this, who would never enter, under such a system.
I am not sure how much you could cheat, if the fish and only the fish hit the scales (gutted) and beyond that, if you could still cheat, then how and how much could you attain in weight?
I think gutting eliminates the need for much of the rest of the rules, pertaining to the fish itself.

As to the people on the boat and where the fish came from, there is no way to prove that at all.
So why bother with it?
Is it simply to add drama?

 

It’s brawl time. Here come the yearly complaints. I’d ask for a refund if I was this miserable over a tournament.

 

I am simply stating the obvious (to me) for consideration.
I do not believe I am over stating or dramatizing anything.
In fact, I believe that (drama)is being done within the rules and regulations, as put forth.

As I said, this is a novelty and my chances of catching anything of consequences is highly unlikely, so it's not personal.
It is simply odd, to my observations.

 

I was just making conversation, nothing about the brawl is making me miserable or even give a dang. Like I said I am 4 hours away and have never even considered entering. In fact I didn't even know it was a thing until I joined one of the forums, like this one. I was simply stating a possible way of running a contest. I could actually care less.... Now in my scernario, I could take a normal fishing trip and get the chance of winning something nice on top of it. but it would mainly be for the fishing trip. As is, I will leave this topic to those involved, sorry for sticking my nose in. Anyway, we just catch Saugeye down here and all we get is some meat in the freezer, good enough for me.

 

Why do you need to have a horse in the race, in order to have an opinion?
You don't. No harm and no foul.
I appreciated your thoughts and thought they were pretty good, to be honest.
For a smaller/local tourney, I think it would be pretty cool, but for something this big and with professionals involved (with income on the line) I do not see the potential for the same money invested.

I faced a rainy day, when I anticipated exterior painting on the house trim.
I created the thread out of boredom and genuine curiosity.
Thanks for adding your 2 cents.
😎

 

Well, maybe next time read the rules before you sign up for something instead of signing up then complain about the rules afterwards.

 

And maybe read what I wrote, before replying.

My wife signed me up.
I am not complaining either and I also said that.

Slow down. Retention is key, when reading.
😏

 

This is the first time that I have ever looked at the tournament rules, having been signed up recently.

And then you complain about the rules? Good grief...

 

I am getting the feeling that some people cannot understand the written word. 😕
Maybe you didn't read the O.P., which is odd in and of itself. Seeing as how it would seem silly, to reply to any thought without understanding how it was generated. Also impossible to do so, in a cogent manner, having no idea of the context which created that thought.
Very odd.

 

There's always opportunity to cheat in any competition if the reward is deemed worth the risk. Considering I've seen teams cheat to win $8 tshirts in the Sunday night softball league, it would be naive to expect there NOT to be cheating of some sort when there's that much money on the line.

Sure, it's not catch and release...but is the expectation that all the fish weighed will be killed? Is there a limit on how many fish you can weigh in? (Hint-there always is)
Do you just kill the first 6 you catch or do you keep more than your limit until you know which ones to kill? Cull them along the way, then kill them at the weigh in? Official fish killer?

It doesn't sound like you're expecting to be competitive, but you could get lucky and bag the big fish for the tournament. In which case, all eyes will be on you and you'll be thankful that all the formalities are in place to vet your catch.

 

There's always opportunity to cheat in any competition if the reward is deemed worth the risk. Considering I've seen teams cheat to win $8 tshirts in the Sunday night softball league, it would be naive to expect there NOT to be cheating of some sort when there's that much money on the line.

Sure, it's not catch and release...but is the expectation that all the fish weighed will be killed? Is there a limit on how many fish you can weigh in? (Hint-there always is)
Do you just kill the first 6 you catch or do you keep more than your limit until you know which ones to kill? Cull them along the way, then kill them at the weigh in? Official fish killer?

It doesn't sound like you're expecting to be competitive, but you could get lucky and bag the big fish for the tournament. In which case, all eyes will be on you and you'll be thankful that all the formalities are in place to vet your catch.

In this tourney, it is only the fish being entered in the money that are being judged to the extreme and
weigh in stations are well from away the body of water.
I doubt anyone will be eager to face a machine that has a less than 100% accuracy or face burdens of proof that are impossible to prove out, such as where the fish was caught.
It is done yes, but it is imperfect to an extent that seems planned, for some reason.
I am sure that there is no intentional ill will but there are obvious flaws which could be simply eliminated IMO.

This is simply an observation of practices, which also exist in other tourneys.

 

Good Lord man,take a chill pill for Pete's sake

 

No need to worry boys.....I'm winning the brawl this year fair and square.
I'll let someone else have the slam...

 

People are really over complicating this... you catch a large walleye, you get it weighed. You win, or you don't.

 

Here's the simplest solution. Don't like it dont enter. Don't place the blame on your old lady for entering you. If you really didn't want to do it you wouldn't

 

I think that some have overlooked the points made and instead, are focusing on the laziest path to ending the discussion.
Which it was...
A discussion.

 

And it you make gutting all fish in a tournament the rule rather than weigh and releasing them then there’s the animals rights organizations that will attack from all sides stating we are killing fish simply for $.
Which happened to Bass Masters years ago and the reason they made the ruling that no dead fish could be entered at weigh in.
That has now even advanced and some of the bigger tournament organizers having an organizer member ride in all boats weighing and turning fish loose where it was caught.

 

As far as the anti crowd goes, they are basically irrelevant and only gain relevance when they are given a platform. No different than the me too and pronoun people. They are small and they are insignificant.
Also, the law stands with the fishermen.
Simple.

Who is throwing back walleye? Some perhaps, and that is fine and dandy, but in a contest, the weight of the fish is all that matters, when judged by weight. Leave the fish whole and you have given every opportunity to those who would cheat and the fish that ate the biggest shad, just before being caught.
Plus, you can add weight without using lead.

Bass Masters makes sense in as much as they are indeed a promoter of catch and release. They have plenty of instances of cheating exposed in the belly of fish, I am sure.

I guess my point is, when speaking to weigh ins, there is only one way to be 100% fair and across the board and
ignoring that method simply allows for further cheating potential.

 

I waste more money on Netflix, scratch offs....you name it.....than the entry cost of the Brawl and Slam put together. I figure I'm going to be up there multiple times during the tournament walleye fishing anyway. Might as well throw my name in the hat. From my past experiences in these two tournaments, it makes it all that much more fun and exciting when I hooked a decent fish. The rules are the rules, and i always follow them. It's a great time with my son, and hopefully this year I'll have a new Ranger or Warrior, and give my current piece of sh#t a proper viking burial at sea🤣

 

I am not disagreeing with you on that.

 

Stuffing weight into fish is only one method of cheating and is probably the hardest to get away with. Especially now. It's impossible to eliminate cheating entirely and asking for more rules to mitigate cheating will alienate more honest people than it would ever dissuade cheaters.

 

Less rules is basically what I am leaning into.
Some of the rules are simply odd, as I stated in the O.P.

 

the brawl is my favorite time of year to fish! As a past winner we’ve also gone through the polygraphs the fish checks and everything else, the gut/egg content usually decides the winners and losers but that’s the game it’s not for the “professionals” it’s a tournament for everyone that’s the fun of it… everyone in the boat needs to be entered so that people don’t just pass the fish around and call it there’s same reason there’s polygraphs the bad people that are going to cheat are going to cheat regardless 99.9% of people wouldn’t dream of cheating

 

If the guts dont count as weight. Do people with a huge belly get a handicap like in golf when they step on the scale? If so im likely below my high-school weight!

 

Good lord, surely you can find a better hobby than trolling for arguments on the internet.

 

People are trolling themselves.
I had a point of view and expressed it.
A lot of people took that view and spun it into a drama.
When someone countered a thought of mine, I countered back or admitted they had a good point.

Trolling?
Come on now.

 

Tough crowd. Everything is so black and white and worth fighting for I guess. Geez, it was just an observation made by the OP to be discussed. No one should have a differing opinion. You did ask for input though.

 

I did.

 

This thread is going nowhere……! 🤨

 

Agreed.

 

This thread is going nowhere……! 🤨

Agreed.

Probably unanimous across the board so at this point there’s really no sense in leaving it open.