Tourney with a twist

[cassidyta]

This tourney format will not work with a large group (I suggest 8 or less)nor on a large lake. But, if you only have a few folks, it is pretty fun.

The format is a heads up event. Each boat is out for 2 hours at a time. In hour one, one person is designated as the boat driver. The second individual gets to pick the technique. (Top water, cranks, flipping etc....) At the one hour mark, they switch places and the former back seater gets to choose technique. Technique is chosen first while the now front seater picks location. After the 2 hours, (we set up 3 hours for travel time) the winners then switch to a winner"s bracket and the loser matches up with someone in the loser's bracket. It is interesting to see the attempts to somewhat cutthroat others. If the back seater gets a lead in the first hour, they will often switch to open water topwater or something that is considered equally ueseless. (the big fish last time was caught in 30 foot water with a large spook at 10:00 am....go figure)
Fish are returned to the water as soon as a competetor conceeds. or the 2 hour mark is met. I have done this format with 6 boats, but it works best when you have less than 10 fishermen in the tourney. It also works for shore or float tube tourneys. The two guys in the boat/group decide who moves on in the winners bracket.

I have found that it is a fun format with just two in the boat as well. Gives a competative nature to two guys fishing. It also forces you to use techniques that you might not normally prefer.