Sea Buck ,I appologize as my comment was not directed at you but more towards the guys who did some complaining at the start, at the weigh in and also to an individual that called Mark to complain.I agree it was a great run tournament and I also have to say as Greg did that I thought everyone did a good job at the start of not jumping the gun and running hard under less than ideal conditions and keeping the start a safe one.

Not all the weather boats are 36 foot. The Tournament usually picks one of the
larger PRO boats with Capt that has years of fishing on the Lake and also has
the latest and best equipment for weather issues. Often in Grand Haven Willis will
consult with Dave Engle and Bill Bale before the event to get their advice.
Willis also picks a mixture of weather boats for example last weekend we used
the Maatley Crew which is a 24-25 older Slickcraft AM boat that fishes a lot of
tournaments.If I remember I think J-bird from the AM was also a weather
boat.Weather is always a hard call,The Tournament in GH has tried to
show the lake the respect it needs when dealing with safety.
thanks Bill (my personal views does not reflect the GH tournament board)

The weather boats were picked at the captains meeting and there were two Pro boats the Hunter that is 36' and Get Some which is perhaps the smallest boat in the Pros. The Ams were J-Bird a 30' and Mottly Crew a 25' and In Pursuit a 34' boat. The vote was 4 fish and 1 no fish. I believe they made the best possible call, what good would it have been to be inside the harbor with a hundred boats going the same direction as the storm, which was a very narrow line as it turned out just as we were told from Winn Wolfe and Dave Engle prior to going out. I believe the best and only choice was made in a fast and safe manner.

Capt. Willis

Ageed they all are not 36'. Maybe a random draw could be done for weather boats at the captain's meeting. Three from the AM division and three from the PRO division. If there are other boats that have the weather radar like Best Chance, then they should also be included as their tools are invaluable. This way, the results are random and an equal voice is given to each division.

I agree with you Willis that the correct call was made and that time was certainly not on the committee's side.

I'm not so sure I'd like the decision to fish or not fish to be determined by a group randomly drawn. I'd feel better with the group to be made up of a sampling of seasoned captains that can be trusted to make the decision with professionalism based on experience.

Hopefully in the future the decision will be made for each division seperately. The pros shouldn't be kept at the dock because there are smaller boats in the am division just as the ams shouldn't be sent to fish in rough seas just because the pros have larger boats that can handle the waves.

You are right Wingnut. A decision based on each division makes sense. I agree that this type of decision based on pro or am would probably make the most people happy.

How does the division that one fishes in make it any safer in nasty weather? There are 36 foot boats in both the am and pro divisions. How do you tell a 36 foot boat in the am division they can not fish but a 36' boat in the pros can?

jswinehart wrote:
How does the division that one fishes in make it any safer in nasty weather? There are 36 foot boats in both the am and pro divisions. How do you tell a 36 foot boat in the am division they can not fish but a 36' boat in the pros can?

First question: Professionals are supposed to be just that, professionals. As it is now, anyone that pays the entry fee can fish the pro side. To my understanding this won't be the case in the future and the pro side will consist entirely of seasoned captains that, as a whole, will be able to fish in nastier weather with reasonable safety. Safety is a lot more about a captain's ability than his boat size.

Second question: Because he is by definition an amateur.

consisting of seasoned captains? For the foreseeable future there will be requirements that force you to fish pro, licensed captain, etc... but no requirements that would disqualify you.

ghoutteman wrote:
consisting of seasoned captains? For the foreseeable future there will be requirements that force you to fish pro, licensed captain, etc... but no requirements that would disqualify you.

Misunderstanding on my part I guess.