Smithville 5-1 and 5-2

Pre-fished Friday for the Corporate challenge tournament at Smithville. Targeted bass mostly Friday, figuring we could scrape together some crappie come Saturday and would need some kicker bass for a win. Did poorly only catch short buck bass on banks. Didn't look good!

Saturday morning turned into the standard Corporate Challenge day with rain and lightning early morning but ended right around launching time so that was nice! rained off an on the rest of the morning. We were afraid of the swing in weather so we hit the docks at little platte fist thing to try and pick up some fish and let the rain pass. Pulled 1 or 2 keepers off each tree at best. it was slow but we managed a to scrape together some fish. Ran up north and pulled in some very nice crappie real quick but that also stalled out. Seems like the big ones are few and far between. Ran back to marina to finish off the day 1 short of our limit and went to the weigh in thinking we were gonna get crushed. Almost everyone seemed to be able to find fish but quality keepers were the difference. One team weighted in 12 large mouth for 30 lbs! luckily they weren't in our division and by sheer dumb luck those quality fish we caught up north was enough to squeeze out my first win! I've got lots of 2nd place finishes so its nice to finally win one! all in all a fun couple days!

We didn't find any big ones on the banks, the big girls are still out a bit. should be ON by middle/end of next week if we can keep some stable weather!

Attachment 201441

Great job and congrats on the win.

Congrats on the win Justin ! Nice boat too !

I wish they had fishing in the St. Joe corporate challenge- I might participate! The team that won the N2IT tournament at Mozingo last year works in the same company as me. I had a good limit of crappie Sat. at Smithville- time to switch to bass for a change. Congrats on the win! I saw an orange shirt or two Sat. up Little Platte.

Thanks guys!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TwainGang

Congrats on the win! I saw an orange shirt or two Sat. up Little Platte.

---

That could of been us! we ran up N around 10-10:30. I've been working on my "bass skills" the last year. Mighty humbling watching the weights these guys turn in every Thursday night up on Smithville compared to my weights after a whole day of fishing!

Winner! Congrats!!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by stratosverian

Thanks guys!



That could of been us! we ran up N around 10-10:30. I've been working on my "bass skills" the last year. Mighty humbling watching the weights these guys turn in every Thursday night up on Smithville compared to my weights after a whole day of fishing!

---

I've caught a tournament limit (5) of bass several times on Smithville last year (just fun fishing). It is actually a very good bass lake in my opinion- but then again I'm used to fishing Twain, which is usually very tough.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TwainGang

I've caught a tournament limit (5) of bass several times on Smithville last year (just fun fishing). It is actually a very good bass lake in my opinion- but then again I'm used to fishing Twain, which is usually very tough.

---

So your saying I suck huh? :biggrin j/k! I can't catch keepers. You need 13-14" bass I'm your man! i can fill the boat!

I think last year might have been beginners luck for me- at least as far as Smithville goes. I might get humbled next weekend.

Way to go Kid ! Congrats to you and your partner .

Congratulations on your win!

I wish my KCCC experience had been a bit better. We didn't exactly kill them, but managed 12 crappie between the two of us. Where it went bad was the weigh-in. Neither one of us had ever fished in any tournament, let alone the Corporate Challenge. We read the rules and it said we were to fish between 6:00 - 12:30. So we did. Got to the weigh-in just past 12:40 and was told were disqualified because we didn't have our chip on the board by 12:30. I said they didn't tell us that and the rules didn't say that. He insisted that we were told, that everyone was told that. I'm 100% certain that we weren't. The guy running the thing was kind of a jerk to me to, which didn't help. I managed to keep my cool though and didn't cuss him out.

Anyway, looking at the results this morning and we would have had at least 3rd place, maybe 2nd. We'll never know. You live and learn I guess, but they could have handled it better.

Congrats, Justin. Enjoy the win. So long as they keep scheduling the Corporate Challenge fishing tournament on the same weekend as Crappie Camp, you'll automatically be spared from facing off against the REAL competition! :Rofl

Joe - I think the same thing every year!

Dart- I totally agree. the rules are junk made by people who have no idea how a "fishing tournament" should be conducted. The fact that they even allow 12 bass to be weight baffles me as well. I've tried to help them see how their wording is bad, and show them how EVERY other tournament in the world writes their rules, but so far no luck!

[QUOTE=stratosverian;2975149]The fact that they even allow 12 bass to be weight baffles me as well. I've tried to help them see how their wording is bad, and show them how EVERY other tournament in the world writes their rules, QUOTE]

They just go by the daily limit and it’s 6 bass per person so a two person team is allowed 12 bass, same as crappie, 15 each so they weigh 30. I remember it being a fairly large cluster when I fished it but they do a pretty decent job for the amount of competitors and people that enter who have never been to Smithville or maybe never even fished before.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by keeferfish

They just go by the daily limit and it’s 6 bass per person so a two person team is allowed 12 bass, same as crappie, 15 each so they weigh 30. I remember it being a fairly large cluster when I fished it but they do a pretty decent job for the amount of competitors and people that enter who have never been to Smithville or maybe never even fished before.

---

I get that those are the limits for the lake but just to make it simpler and faster at the way-ins some cut down version would be easier. Don't get me wrong for what/who runs and participates in this thing is a MIRACLE that it even functions! all the volunteers do a great job and all and all i really do enjoy participating in it! Wasn't trying to "bash" the tournament or the KCCC teams that work so hard to put all the events on!

The Burton's Thursday night tournaments draws a tough crew, no regrets in coming up short to that bunch.

Sounds like their rules totally ignort he fact that if you have six fish in your side, you will have to stop fishing, because then you are fishing for a fish that will be over your limit. That is why tournament limits are five fish-you have that 1 fish buffer to use when culling.

But most all tournaments are run by a check in time basis-otherwise you will have to wait for someone to show up who stopped fishing a far way from the weigh-in with a slow boat ride back. I often times spend the last 10 minutes of a tournament fishing close to the check-in spot, so I have plenty of time to get back from my last real fishing location. They should make things ultra-clear for these types of events that brings in people who aren't used to the typical way of tournament operating. That is one of my pet peeves though- people who cannot write rules and procedures well, much less relate them verbally to a group of people from mixed experience base.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TwainGang

Sounds like their rules totally ignort he fact that if you have six fish in your side, you will have to stop fishing, because then you are fishing for a fish that will be over your limit. That is why tournament limits are five fish-you have that 1 fish buffer to use when culling.

---

Not true, below copied from the MDC Website


Any fish you catch is included in your daily limit unless you release it unharmed immediately. You may not replace smaller fish in your possession with larger ones caught later. You need to make a keep-or-release decision as soon as the fish is caught.
There is one exception: If, from September through June, you are a participant in a bona fide catch-and-release black bass tournament (one after which all bass are released alive) that requires entrants to have a boat livewell with adequate capacity and a pump constantly adding fresh or recirculating water, the black bass you release unharmed from the livewell need not be included in your daily limit. At no time may the daily limit be exceeded.

Bill is right however the KCCC tournament does NOT allow culling. You keep it you have to weight it, and all bass are returned to the lake. That's why the group that weighed 12 bass only had 30lbs. They kept the first 12 keepers they caught regardless of weight because they were afraid of coming up short on the limit. They could of let go of them as soon as they were caught but once they were put in the livewell, according to the tournament rules that fish has to be weighed.

Ahh- Ok- Good point. Now I think I remember hearing the dividing line being as long as the 7th fish stays outside the live-well, it is not yet counted as part of the limit.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by stratosverian

I get that those are the limits for the lake but just to make it simpler and faster at the way-ins some cut down version would be easier. Don't get me wrong for what/who runs and participates in this thing is a MIRACLE that it even functions! all the volunteers do a great job and all and all i really do enjoy participating in it! Wasn't trying to "bash" the tournament or the KCCC teams that work so hard to put all the events on!

---

I enjoy participating in KCCC events as well. I even won a gold medal in darts this year!

The rules were poorly written/communicated, but my biggest issue was with the guy's attitude checking us in. I'll do it again next year if given the opportunity and at least then I will know what's up. The worst thing that happened this weekend was that I got to spend a few hours fishing for crappie in my new boat.