Next week, I travel to Lake Guntersville in Alabama to take part in (sorta) the B.A.S S. Elite tournament to be held there. This "Elite" series is the top level of professional bass fishing. I will be a marshal, whose job it is to accompany a pro angler on the water throughout the day and make sure he stays within the rules. While these tournaments go on rain or shine, excluding a real ugly weather day, I think it will be quite interesting to see these guys at work. I might learn a bunch. At this time of year, the catchin' should be pretty good too! Will give a report upon return if any have interest.
How'd you land that gig?
Here's how it goes.....
1. You have to be a member of B.A.S.S. Basically you get a subscription to the monthly magazine with articles related to bass fishing.
2. In the fall, there is a date when the applications for becoming a marshal are open. You select which Elite tournament(s) you wish to attend. I was put on the waiting list for 4 tournaments, and eventually was admitted to be a marshal in all 4. I have already dropped one, and may have to drop a second due to summertime conflicts.
3. Each tournament costs you a $125 fee. You also provide your own transportation and housing. This ain't no giveaway!
All the details can be found at the Bassmasters web site.
Still think it might be pretty cool. One of the tournaments I have accepted is to be held on the St. Lawrence River, fairly close to my cabin in Ontario. The other is to be held in the Upper Chesapeake Bay, which is acceptably close to where I live. Jeff, I had you in mind for the one I already had to regret. It was scheduled for late August at Lake St. Clair, just outside of Detroit. I thought that I would plan a couple of days marshaling at the tournament and then come over and see you. Unfortunately, plans with the family have forced me cancel that one. I am going to miss the smallmouth bass fishing there, and miss seeing you then, too.
This is cool Doc. I'm a member but was afraid I would get picked if I applied. :D
You'll have fun I know....takes a few pics. fishin-smiley
Sounds fun! If the angler you get paired with does well, does that mean you will be on T.V? sail_smiley
Quote from: pabst79 on March 31, 2015, 06:58:38 PM
Sounds fun! If the angler you get paired with does well, does that mean you will be on T.V? sail_smiley
It is possible to see DOC on the tube. :)
Not likley. First, you have to get picked for the last 2 days of the tournament, and thats a lottery system. They pair down the number of fisherman that continue on in the contest after 2 days and then again after the 3rd day.
Second, the cameras are rolling for those few fishermen that make the last 2 days of the tournament. So you have to be lucky enough to continue observing late into the contest.
Third, they don't give a darn about the marshals with regards to TV. It's about fish, who's catching them, and what sponsor benefits from what he's using to do so. So, even if I'm with the winner on the final day, you'll never see the marshal. Probably a good thing.
Hey Doc, when and exactly where is the tourney on the St. Lawrence? Spend a fair amount of time in the Thousand Islands.
Sidenote....one time My buddy's motel was full so I set my fifth wheel up at the motel for Marty Stone. Thought he left the tour but appears he's back at it, seemed like a real nice guy.
They don't come to Oneida Lake anymore....
They won't even talk about fishing to the locals until after a certain day, guess they can get into trouble.
Something that you enjoy,lucky you. Looking forward to a full report next week. Watch out that you don't get attacked by a bowl of grits. :D
St. Lawrence River
Waddington, NY
July 30- Aug 2
So, blowing off the pigroast AGAIN?
The end of August is entirely different than the first Saturday in August. I am not yet ready to declare myself as attending, but I am certainly not ready to to send my regrets. Working on it!!
A friend of mine has been a marshall for a couple of tourneys. He enjoyed the experience.
And you're from Marshall, TX!
When you are in a tournament that is being held on an international border are you allowed to fish both sides? May be spending a couple of weeks on the St Lawrence doing tree clearance work on the navigational lights from Cornwall to Kingston.
DonT-
I did not know the answer to your question, so I posed it to Alton Jones, a friend of mine who fishes the Elite Bassmasters tour. In a text he said that, yes, they can fish either side of the boundary. I imagine they need fishing licenses for both jurisdictions.
The St Lawrence is an amazing waterway with so much history.I am sure you will enjoy yourself,plus blasting up and down the river at outrageous speeds probably will be a little entertaining as well.We work a fair amount on the river and many of the lakes like Charleston and portions of the Rideau system.Never a bad day when your working around water. DonT
Doc, congrats on becoming the new Marshal in town. Sounds like it will be a fun experience.
Concerning the border waters, I would speculate that there is some sort of reciprical license agreement. Not sure about national border waters but, many states have reciprical license agreements. Allowing for instance a Mississippi resident to fish both the Louisiana and MS side of the Mississippi River.
Edit: Apparently there is no reciprical agreement...
http://www.dec.ny.gov/permits/6091.html
Just got back and I can tell you it was a great experience. Learned quite a bit from the anglers, who were very gracious with their knowledge. I thought sitting in a boat watching somebody else fish for 8-9 hours might be potentially tedious, boring, and frustrating. It was none of those things. Sure, there are spans of time when they are not catching 'em, but those times are filled with their thought process being verbalized. And that's what I liked best. I began to see how they think in certain situations, and that's what sets them apart from the rest of us mortal bass fishermen. They have greater experience, so they have gained better patience and persistence. By the way, they all have absolutely superb, refined methods of bait presentation, which in itself was an education. I will definitely do this again. Also, my thanks to the nice people of Guntersville Alabama for their hospitality. Great fishery in a great community.
Great to hear you had a good experience. 8)
That's great! Glad you enjoyed the time. :)
Congrats on the nice experience Doc. It had to be a fun filled time. smiley_thumbsup
A great opportunity and time well spent with professionals in the sport.
Can you say who you fished with, or watched fish?
I live along a great bass creek but I'm not a fisherman. I did cast a worm one time - just once - and caught a small mouth. I put it back and thought "that was just weird"! Anyway, Doc, can't you offer any tips or is that proprietary information?
Did you eat some BBQ?
BBQ on Wednesday night. Fish Fry on Thursday.
I fished with Dennis Tietje ( pronounced T.J.) on Thursday.
Kenneth "Boo" Woods on Friday
Bobby Lane Jr. on Saturday
I am writing an article on my experience and submitting it to Bassmasters. So you guys will probably never get a chance to read it. :D :D So Den, all of what I saw will be in that article. Once I get it finished, I can email it to you. There's nothing secret or proprietary about my experience. In addition to the fishing, the people were great.
That's all great! Congratulations!
Good report Doc, you take the bait. :) Now if you don't share with us, it didn't happen. :D
Doc,
Sounds like you swallowed the experience hook, line, and sinker (old saying).
Doc, if you want to do some flounder fishing with an amateur over in the Ocean City area this year let me know. I just picked up a new boat that hasn't gone fishing yet.
I see where the NFL has hired a woman umpire and I suggest that BASS hire a woman Marshall to be PC with the rest of the sporting world. When the guys have to pee, just ask her to turn her head. Not sure how the bucket would work. Don't laugh, it will probably happen.
Pappy - your a visionary!
Actually, we had two female marshals in this tournament, so the issue has already come up.
One of my fishermen said he had a female marshal in a past tournament who he actually knew, and he played a joke on her. As long as you are not traveling with the pro, it is possible to be paired with someone with whom you have an acquaintance. Anyway, he told her he had to go, and went to the stern of the boat. She just sat low in the seat facing forward and put her head on her knees. After he finished his business, he reached down into "clean" water and sprinkled a little onto her. As expected, she screamed. I'm surprised he didn't get very wet. :D :D
I don't know if that story is true, but I found it hilarious.
:D :D :D :D :D :D
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20176/Guntersville1.jpg)
Dennis Tietje with an 8 pound, 0 ounce largemouth
I could not help but to compare the pictures of you and Dennis. ;)
Quote from: Magicman on April 16, 2015, 09:29:10 AM
I could not help but to compare the pictures of you and Dennis. ;)
I thought it was Doc too. :)
Nice fish. The largest bucket mouth I ever caught was 5-3.
Bruce
I wish it was me!
Nah, you are a keeper. We would turn him back. ;D
Well, Bassmaster.com decided to put my account of my experience online. If any of you are interested, here's the link:
http://www.bassmaster.com/news/three-days-bassmater-marshal
Very good but I see that you are very into bass fishing!
Quote from: doctorb on April 30, 2015, 09:56:56 AM
Well, Bassmaster.com decided to put my account of my experience online. If any of you are interested, here's the link:
http://www.bassmaster.com/news/three-days-bassmater-marshal
See reply #5.......I was close. :) Proud of you Doc!
I enjoyed that read, Doc. Thanks for sharing the experience.
Hi Doc,
How do you apply for being pro fisherman.
It sounds like a dream job.
JJ
JJ -
I'm not a pro fisherman, but I know that they have to win a certain number of points in a number of B.A.S.S sponsored local and regional contests. It's complicated and requires a tremendous time commitment for the angler. Furthermore, the monetary commitment is fairly prohibitive. The entry fees are high, once you make the pro circuit, and you need sponsors to help support you throughout the process.
The instructions for application to be a Marshal in a B.A.S.S Elite tournament are on the Bassmaster web site. Just search "Marshal" and you'll see a link. You need to be a member of B.A.S.S to apply, but that's a lot different than being a pro angler.
A very nice write up. Tom would be proud of you.
Question,"Paul Elias erroneously placed a sixth fish in his livewell".
Why only 5 can be put in? Not enough room?
I think there are several reasons why the pros can only carry 5 fish in their livewells.
1. Rules about having fish in your possession vary from state to state and from different types of licences that are available. This rule give the pro tour a uniform number for fish being kept for all tournaments that keeps anglers and the tour from running afoul of the regulations in different jurisdictions.
2. The pros are penalized if they bring in a fish that is not alive. The tour has worked very, very hard to ensure the survivability of the bass brought to the weigh in. I think their live release rate is about 99%. If a pro has a dead fish in his livewell, it costs him a penalty in ounces. He cannot "cull" that dead fish for a live one. Theoretically, if a fish was alive in the livewell, but acting "stressed", an angler would be tempted to keep a sixth fish and then release the still living "stressed" one later, if that fish's health continued to decline. The five fish limit prevents this. As long as it is alive when he releases it, there is no penalty. Whether a fish is alive or not is a determination of the marshal. So the five fish limit forces the angler to release a fish that he's worried about, sometimes even before he has caught his five fish limit. Obviously, if the "stressed" fish is very large, he would keep it and hope for the best, accepting the penalty. You do not see a lot of dead fish at the weigh in. This is probably a bigger problem in the heat of the summer than in spring or fall tournaments.
3. The five fish limit does prevent crowding in the livewell, promoting successful catch and release.
Gotcha