Western KY Crappie Club Fruit Jar Series

This is an informational gathering thread, looking for input and interests. Looking to start a fruit jar series right here in western Kentucky, with an typical season of September thru May, with the Championship in June.
Yes, this is a late start, so points and championship minimums could be changed for this season.
This will mirror Mississippi's fruit jar and the MCC tourney trail as far as rules. I would like to see 3 to 5 people elected or chosen to be on the board each season.
We could try to fish different lakes in the area, like Lake Egypt or Rend Lake, or even fish the rivers instead of the big lakes. Single pole, or two pole events, or even have event specific locations like Jonathan Creek, or Paris Landing and Big Sandy, and of course open fish anywhere events.
For a good idea of the rules, please look at the Mississippi fruit jar rules. These include minimums on points and such for the championship. Also, this can but does not have to be linked to crappie.com in anyway. If we go forward, we could ask for permission to use the sight as a communication platform, and post season standings and such.
Let me know what you think...

Brian


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Sounds good,

I would like to if my work schedule will allow it. I've wanted to fish the twin lakes tournament but it's always on my weekend to work.

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Originally Posted by callen

I would like to if my work schedule will allow it. I've wanted to fish the twin lakes tournament but it's always on my weekend to work.

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I am kind of the same way except I am only off free and clear one weekend a month. I would like to participate in more but reality is I am only likely to fish something on Kentucky/Barkley that is fish anywhere and even then it will only be a few a year when the stars align and I can get away on a Saturday.

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If you have any south I might fish a few,bigsandy area.What about twin lakes crappie club, ain't it in the same area.Might be better off supporting them than having a separate thing.The reason I say that is the west TN crappie club I was involved in it was hard to get a good turnout in the tournaments.Most people are to busy, sports and family things.

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I’d support and fish as many as I could.


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I'm In!

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Originally Posted by blueball

If you have any south I might fish a few,bigsandy area.What about twin lakes crappie club, ain't it in the same area.Might be better off supporting them than having a separate thing.The reason I say that is the west TN crappie club I was involved in it was hard to get a good turnout in the tournaments.Most people are to busy, sports and family things.

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Let me ask this, why are there so many bass clubs, associations, trails, tours, ect....


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Originally Posted by bandchaser

Let me ask this, why are there so many bass clubs, associations, trails, tours, ect....


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Bigger MONEY !!!!

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Originally Posted by CrappiePappy

Bigger MONEY !!!!

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That answer was a no brainer....

Now, still looking for a reasonable answer to a reasonable question.

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Originally Posted by bandchaser

Let me ask this, why are there so many bass clubs, associations, trails, tours, ect....


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I'm just telling you from our experience in having a crappie club for 6yrs.Its tough,nobody wants to help.Supporting one club would probably mean a higher classic payout,etc.

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I'd be up for it but my work schedule would jack me up.

Two different approaches for each tournament and the championship:
1) simple and straightforward, 100% payout at each tournament, and no extra money for the pot in the championship.

2) set aside xx% from each tournament for the championship tournament pot.

Also, thoughts on the following:
3) no membership dues, maybe have a donation bucket once or twice a season for supplies (if needed).

4) tournament entry fee, $50.00 per boat. This would include big fish pot of $10.00 per boat.

5) this needs to be an honor system, but have some tournaments with "no trailering" allowed and dedicated ramps. One for each lake, committee member at each ramp, then a centralized weigh in location like ky dam marina, or Mike miller park, ect.....

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What kinda scales and weighin stuff,that's the biggest initial cost.

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Also your gonna need dues or hold back monet if you want to have a big payout at your classic

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Originally Posted by blueball

What kinda scales and weighin stuff,that's the biggest initial cost.

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Already working on that...

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Originally Posted by bandchaser

Let me ask this, why are there so many bass clubs, associations, trails, tours, ect....


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Pappy answered correctly and here are some other easy answers to add to your list....


*Crappie fishermen are roughly 20+ years behind bass fishermen as far as exposure(advertising) and the amount of money they are willing to spend and will probably never catch up.
Bass fishermen drop $200 + on reels, $100.00 + on rods and let's not even talk about how much their rigs run. The point I'm making here is that the average bass fisherman isn't fishing out of a used fiberglass boat that is 10- 20 years old or a jon boat. The only place the average crappie fisherman will drop some major $$ on is for these new superior electronic units that are on the market to make them a lazier fisherman. The above statements are pointing to your ability to get guys to travel for a small tourney.

*I think if you ask some of your bass fishing buddies I'm sure they would tell you that their local weeknight club tourney usually consist of less than 10 boats per event. Why do they have such small turnouts?
Family, Church, Work, other hobbies.....This list is pretty much endless for a person that isn't getting paid to fish for a living.

*Let's look at this from another angle. If you surveyed the fishermen on this sight and asked them how often they had been out in the last couple of months and fished without keeping a single fish and just fished then I would bet the percentage would be well under 25%. The kiss and release mentality of a bass fisherman is replaced with a catch and fillet mentality of a crappie fisherman. I fall into this category like many others. Crappie fishermen are meat fishermen. The average crappie fisherman isn't going to spend a day catching 7/8 fish for a tourney when they could possibly catch 40 between his partner and himself.

*I think the plain writing on the wall comes down to this simple statement. The big fall shindig is this weekend with probably over I'm guessing 75-100 people attending(not real sure how many) and I bet unless things change you'll have less than 20 boats fishing in the fruit jar tourney. I will go out on a limb and say there will be way less than 20%.
This group of avid fishermen that are coming to the shindig would be a great group to survey to see why they were willing to travel to a 1-2 day event but had no desire to fish in a rather cheap entry fee tourney.

I hope you and Twin Lakes can get these tourneys rolling!
I'm afraid you better have your hiking boots on though since I think your headed up a tall mountain.

Your response is respectfully noted. But who said you couldn't keep your weigh fish, or any other fish???
You will bring your best 7 "Live" crappie that meet either the club and or the states minimum length requirements to the scales.
What crappie fisherman don't spend in reels and rods like your example, are spent in rod holders, rod racks, boat accessories, and other items.

Also, I would never question someone's dedication to their sport. Their is a lot of folks that put out structure, and that takes money, talent, and build time. Plus, it takes scouting and planning time, and fuel for all of it.
As far as exposure, the problem in our area is that the current marketing and advertising for events is very limited. Other ways to spread the word can be used that would make it possibly grow.
In the end, we will never know if it will work unless we give it a 100% effort and allow it the opportunity to make it or fail. Effort is the biggest challenge, and having a few volunteers to help guide things along the way makes it even better.

And I will have information out at the Shindig to foster support.

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My wife and I will fish some of them, not sure I wanna buy several out of state licenses though. Already buy Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Florida.

Currently, I have completed a tentative tournament schedule and I'm looking for some ideas for weigh sites on a couple of dates.
Also have compiled the official rules, and still proofing them since I used rules from the KY fruit jar, Mississippi fruit jar, and the Magnolia Crappie Club.
I have an insignia designed for the club, to possibly use for tshirt's to raise money for the club.
Membership, entry fee, big fish, tournament and championship pot structure format is configured. Need to put it to Excel for ease and tracking purposes.
And I have a format chosen for the regular season champions and the championship winners, all runner-up's, the biggest fish of the regular season, and the sportsman of the year. These will receive plaques at the championship.

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I'm interested!


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Potential weigh in sites:

Ken Lake State Park Marina or Ramp
Jonathon Creek Ramp
Wildcat Creek Ramp
Paris Landing State Park Ramp
Lake Barkley State Park Ramp
Kentucky Dam State Park Ramp

I'm interetsted

What makes this any difference than the twin lakes club? It seems like the weigh in sites are exactly the same

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Originally Posted by murraycrappie

What makes this any difference than the twin lakes club? It seems like the weigh in sites are exactly the same

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So, on just one bass website there is the following (5) bass clubs for the twin lakes area:
Lyon's Co. Bass master's
Ky Lake Bass League
Twin Lakes Guys and Gals
Paducah Bass Club
River City Bass Club

So, what makes it any different for these (5) bass clubs?
The lakes are big enough to support multiple crappie events. Do you agree or disagree???

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Originally Posted by bandchaser

So, on just one bass website there is the following (5) bass clubs for the twin lakes area:
Lyon's Co. Bass master's
Ky Lake Bass League
Twin Lakes Guys and Gals
Paducah Bass Club
River City Bass Club

So, what makes it any different for these (5) bass clubs?
The lakes are big enough to support multiple crappie events. Do you agree or disagree???

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PLUS anyone that just wants to fish.

Be looking for more information in the coming days. Had many good conversations today about this opportunity!

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Originally Posted by bandchaser

So, on just one bass website there is the following (5) bass clubs for the twin lakes area:
Lyon's Co. Bass master's
Ky Lake Bass League
Twin Lakes Guys and Gals
Paducah Bass Club
River City Bass Club

So, what makes it any different for these (5) bass clubs?
The lakes are big enough to support multiple crappie events. Do you agree or disagree???

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Until you can show me crappie tournaments that pay out 125k to the winner and are broadcast on espn and cbs then no, I can’t agree with you that crappie tournaments and bass tournaments are the same or support the same amount of people. That’s why there’s dozens of national bass tournaments and only three crappie ones, two before this last year. The tournament crappie industry pales in comparison to the bass industrry from major tournaments all the way down to local bass clubs and that fact is indisputable. The whole point of fishing tournaments is to make yourself better so if you’re gonna have weigh-ins at all the same locations I don’t understand why you’d split support between two organizations.

But saying that, when you do get these going if I can I’ll fish in them. Any opportunity to get better and learn more about our great lakes I take the opportunity!

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Originally Posted by murraycrappie

Until you can show me crappie tournaments that pay out 125k to the winner and are broadcast on espn and cbs then no, I can’t agree with you that crappie tournaments and bass tournaments are the same or support the same amount of people. That’s why there’s dozens of national bass tournaments and only three crappie ones, two before this last year. The tournament crappie industry pales in comparison to the bass industrry from major tournaments all the way down to local bass clubs and that fact is indisputable. The whole point of fishing tournaments is to make yourself better so if you’re gonna have weigh-ins at all the same locations I don’t understand why you’d split support between two organizations.

But saying that, when you do get these going if I can I’ll fish in them. Any opportunity to get better and learn more about our great lakes I take the opportunity!

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and how much longer have Bass Tournaments been going on? I'll bet when they first started to get going they didn't pay like they do now and I believe, even though I'm in no way a competitive fisherman, they will grow and the payouts will get bigger

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Originally Posted by bandchaser

So, on just one bass website there is the following (5) bass clubs for the twin lakes area:
Lyon's Co. Bass master's
Ky Lake Bass League
Twin Lakes Guys and Gals
Paducah Bass Club
River City Bass Club

So, what makes it any different for these (5) bass clubs?
The lakes are big enough to support multiple crappie events. Do you agree or disagree???

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Originally Posted by murraycrappie

What makes this any difference than the twin lakes club? It seems like the weigh in sites are exactly the same

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I need to clarify and answer your original question this way. The reply by Northforker were "suggestions for launch or weigh sites" that I had asked somewhere on page 2 of this thread. So, that is not an official list, or schedule for this potential club or series.
And, the tentative schedule that I have created is spread out evenly across the lakes area. For example, Fenton ramp is a great central location for both lakes.

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Originally Posted by murraycrappie

Until you can show me crappie tournaments that pay out 125k to the winner and are broadcast on espn and cbs then no, I can’t agree with you that crappie tournaments and bass tournaments are the same or support the same amount of people. That’s why there’s dozens of national bass tournaments and only three crappie ones, two before this last year. The tournament crappie industry pales in comparison to the bass industrry from major tournaments all the way down to local bass clubs and that fact is indisputable. The whole point of fishing tournaments is to make yourself better so if you’re gonna have weigh-ins at all the same locations I don’t understand why you’d split support between two organizations.

But saying that, when you do get these going if I can I’ll fish in them. Any opportunity to get better and learn more about our great lakes I take the opportunity!

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Please clarify where I stated, listed, or spoke about professional bass tournaments. One of your original questions was in regard to "what makes this any different that the Twin Lakes Club." So, I asked you a question in return, asking what makes it any different for 5 local bass clubs for the same general area/north end of the twin lakes? Your response went to state about professional bass tournament payouts.
The point is that everybody knows that there are local, regional, and national clubs and tours in the bass arena that visit our lakes on a very regular basis. Your rebuttal is about how (1) local crappie club, averaging less than 15 boats per monthly event for the year is going to be affected by the "potential" start of (1) local crappie club. Let's look at this again......
I found (5) bass clubs Kentucky Lake on just one bass fishing website, BassClubs5. If there can be multiple bass clubs locally for our lakes, why can't there be multiple crappie clubs?????
I have fished the Twin Lakes Club events this season, and have learned alot. We are looking forward to fishing the Classic in December to finish it up and get ready for next year. And if everything works out, there will be another club or series to participate in, learn from, make new friends, and have some fun catching crappie!!

I’m interested, I doubt that I would fish in any tourneys that were out of state.


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Originally Posted by mgrimm

I’m interested, I doubt that I would fish in any tourneys that were out of state.


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There could be a Paris Landing tournament on Ky Lake, our Ky fishing license is good for down that way...

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