Let’s tackle details Just 76 days until th
Comments (...)Just 76 days until the kickoff of the first-ever tournament series on the Rock River. Man, that has a nice ring to it.
I figured, with it getting so close and all, I would take some time this week to let you all know the when, where and how of each event in the series.
Our final kickoff meeting to go over rules and people’s questions will be at 6 p.m. Friday, April 13, at Long Shot Sports Bar & Grill in Rock Falls.
Our inaugural event will take place Saturday, April 14, from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. and is sponsored by Long Shot. It will launch out of the roadside boat ramp, also known as the Route 2 ramp. No trailering will be allowed at this event, meaning everyone will launch and return to that ramp.
The second event on the schedule takes us to Prophetstown State Park and is sponsored by Imprintable Memories. This event is Saturday, May 26, from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m., and no trailering is allowed.
Tournament three is Saturday, July 28, and is sponsored by Rock River Outfitters at the dam in Oregon. The event will run from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. and teams will be allowed to trailer. Boundaries are from Rockford south to the Dixon dam. Weigh-in will be at Rock River Outfitters.
Saturday, Aug. 11, will find us in Erie for the fourth tourney. This event levels the playing field a bunch. It runs from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., and the catch is that teams are allowed to use only manufactured baits to catch their fish. This tournament is sponsored by G & S Cheese Bait and is the first of its kind on the Rock River. Manufactured means produced by humans with the intent to catch catfish. Cheese baits, stick baits, dough baits...need I explain more? No trailering is allowed.
Cat fight number five will find us back at Prophetstown State Park from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 15. This event is sponsored by F & B Bait of Prophetstown. No trailering is allowed.
On Saturday, Sept. 29, from 7 p.m. to 3 p.m., we will be back doing battle on the Rock. This event is sponsored by the boys at Sterling Barber Shop and the weigh-in will be held at Lawrence Park In Sterling. Boundaries will be from the Oregon dam to the back of the Milan dam. Weigh-in will be at Lawrence Park.
Our final event of the 2012 season will be Sunday, Oct. 7. The Monster’s Ball, as we call it, will be from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. and is sponsored by Long Shot, where weigh-in will be held. The boundaries will be from the Milan dam To the Lower Rockford dam. This will be championship weekend, as we will crown a tournament winner, as well as our series winner. The event will have a $1,000 guaranteed payout.
Now that you have the dates, how about some more information?
First off, all our tournaments guarantee a $500 payout. Assuming we have 20 boats, each event will pay out $1,000 for first place – yes, I said $1,000 dollars. Whoa, come back and finish reading the article. You’ve still got months to get ready. Running out and hooking up the boat now ain’t gonna do you much good.
Teams will be allowed to have a third person, if that person is under 16 years old or over 60 years old. Six rods in the water is the maximum regardless of whether yours is a two- or three-man team.
Each team may bring 10 channel cats and five flatheads to the scales. All these fish will be alive, I repeat, alive. If you bring more fish than this, you are disqualified. Dead fish will not be weighed and a deduction of one championship point will be enforced per dead fish. It’s simple – the fish are our top priority. If you cannot keep them alive, either don’t fish our tourney or learn how.
Weigh-ins will be available from mid-day on, so if you have fish that are struggling, you may bring them in, weigh them early, release them and return to finish the day.
Our points system is pretty cool. At least I think it is. Each event’s winning team will receive 100 points. Second place gets 99 and so on down the line. Channel catfish only count for the tournament win. Flatheads will be worth one championship point apiece and each team can earn up to five – except for the largest one; he’ll be worth five bonus championship points.
There are two events you must fish to be eligible for the points championship – July 28 in Oregon and August 11 in Erie. We’ll take your best five scores to determine our champs.
There you have it. Most of it, anyway. For more information, follow us on Facebook at Monsters of the Rock Catfish Tournament Series. You can also find us in our Catfish forum at catfishacademy.com.
Now the waiting begins to find out ... who’s the monster? Go Catfish!
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