Steelhead Tournaments?

The PSA will be having one for it's members (good cause and good time) in March.  Check out the website.  There are tickets on sale for a raffle to be drawn that day as well.  The tourney is free, but you have to be a member.  There's the One Fly in the Fall put together by a couple members of this site, and it too is free.  There's at least one ProAm in the Summer out on the big pond.  Those are the only ones I know of.  I'm sure there's more.  

ORIGINAL: loaftech

if somebody was to put one together do you think it would be popular? say a 20 dollar entry fee?

 
Elk Creek Sport (bait & tackle shop near Elk Access) used to have one in the spring.
Proceeds went to the Shriners(?)
Dan (ECS owner) took a bloody beating on the Fisherie board over it.
 
I'm not sure if much of the cries of foul were just because Dan put it on or not.
(Many here had/have a "strong dislike" for Dan)
I'm sure that was part of the reason for some, but others had problems with it being a kill tourny for money and also bringing increased pressure to the creeks.
 
...L.T.A.

Tourneys are a touchy issue.  Non-kill just for fun and not for money tourneys seem to be more popular than big money kill tourneys.  There are many different opinions about fishing competitions.  Personally, I enjoy fishing and fishing for me is not a competition.

loaftech,
     With big money and money prizes comes greed.  And greed makes people do some funny things.  For the last 4 years I have put on the One Fly Contest with the amazing help of some good friends and I can honestly say that as long as I am "sponsoring" the thing there will never be an entrance fee (so anybody can participate) and catch & release will be encouraged.  It helps keep the event a fun time, encourages adults to bring out their children,  (who by the way won two of our top prizes last year) and makes the event more of a get together and test of personal skill as opposed to a drive to make money. 
      This is just my opinion but I feel the One Fly promotes responsibility, and encourages good stewardship of the resource.  As a side note I have seen steel that weren't big enough just dumped in garbage cans after some tourneys. 

loaftech,
 
One of the major issues that differentiate steelhead fishing in NWPA and other types of tournaments is the streams vs open water fishing.  The streams are small and run through private property for the most part.  A big money tournament designed to encourage a large number of people to compete on a specific day or series of days is the last thing that this fishery needs, IMO.  As mentioned earlier by Indsquiz, when money is involved people tend to change their whole view of the sport.  While I would believe most folks are honest, the temptation of money or expensive prizes may be too much for some.  I am afraid there will be people who will bend the rules if you know what I mean and may even decide to break the law if necessary, - trespass, snag fish, etc...
 
There is also an issue of fairness.  With portions of the streams that are not accessible to the average person, those who have access to private areas may have an unfair advantage.  If a tournament was established for the general public and I would believe it should be held only on public access waters and have strict supervision by judges who will be in charge of verifying the catches at the site the fish was caught. 
 
One idea that I believe might be a good one would to hold a tournament where only a limited number of people would actually fish and the area where they were to fish was clearly established before the tournament began.  The idea would be that those chosen to fish would come from a random drawing of names the day of the tournament.  You could register in advance and pay a small fee for the opportunity to be in the pool of potential competitors.  The day of the tournament the names of the competitors would be chosen and the sections of stream they will fish be determined.  The competitors would then head out to the stream with a judge and fish for the designated period of time and their catches recorded by the judges.  At the end of the designated time everyone would meet back for the final results and the winner announced.
 
I could even see a contest where a wider number of things would be included.  For the fly fisherman you could have the same basic selection process, but give the fisherman say 30 minutes to tie the flies they will be using and limit them to say 5 flies.  That way not only do they have to catch the fish, but they have to tie the flies they will be using, which means they will have to know the water conditions, pick appropriate patterns and tie them on the spot....  No pressure there....
 
For the bait fisherman allow them to choose one or two baits to use; say one or two live or egg baits and one or two non-live bait like a jig or fly.  Again, it would be up to them to pick the most appropriate bait for the stream conditions.
 
Some might say, why would anyone want to participate in such a contest?  One, the entrance fee, which would be minimal, say 5 bucks would go to charity.  Even if you did not get a chance to compete you made a donation.  Another thing is the competition would be more likely to be fair.  All of the water fished would be public, judges would be overseeing the competition, and all contestants would be using a limited number of flies or bait.  Basically, there is a level playing field.  The differences would be in the skill of the fisherman.  Of course, there is also the fish.... We all know how they can behave .
 
One other idea might be that all those who registered would be eligible for a drawing of prizes, so again if you did not fish, you still could win something. 
 
These are just a few ramblings of possibilities, but in the long run the idea is that if a tournament is held, it should encourage good sportsmanship, have a level playing field, allow people the opportunity to win prizes and positively promote the fishery. 
 

Tournaments? This whole season felt like a tournament.
 
I have felt a huge amount of competition in finding a spot to fish.........

"I have felt a huge amount of competition in finding a spot to fish......... "
 
Really? I've made numerous trips, and had little such difficulty.

Twas just a joke.....Spoon!   lol

loaftech,
     That's exactly what the "One Fly" is.  All the prizes are either made by individuals (flies)  donated by individuals, or purchased by me and a few others.  It's prizes only.  Come see on Columbus Day weekend 2008.  We have people donate food, prizes, cooking skills, ect.  Two man teams chosen by random luck each keeps the others' score.  Seems to work out well.   The PSA Contest seems to be a good one too.