Tournament Info

2013 SMSC Tournaments

The Smith Mountain Striper Club is pleased to announce our plans for a series of tournaments in 2013. We will hold five Member/Guest tournaments with reduced entry fees compared to years past, and an overlying tournament series for those members wishing to engage in a year-long competition for ultimate bragging rights. This year's tournaments will feature multiple "classes" - an Artificial-only class, an "Open" class (artificial or live bait), and a Children's' class; and we are introducing a Catch-Photo-Release (CPR) model to be used in this year’s tournaments.

Based on member feedback, we will not be having cash payouts for placing, but will compete for the fun of individual bragging rights and plaques will be awarded to the top three places in each category. Tournament fees will be $5 for members, $10 for guest and free for children under 18. A member may have one guest participate in the tournament with them as well as any number of children. Each individual may participate in only one class. A "big fish" pot will be offered as an optional component, with 100% payout to the big-fish winner of each individual tournament.

Tournament Token Card

Each tournament will be scored from total length of a 2-fish catch. Members will submit digital photos of their catches with an appropriate measuring device that shows the fish's length, along with a Tournament "Token Card" that shows the "token" for that specific tournament. Under the CPR tournament model, anglers will be able to submit fish inside the slot limit even when the slot is in effect. Anglers have the option to harvest fish within then current regulations should they desire. Two tournaments (in July & September) will be designated as "harvest tournaments" in order to collect fish for a Club fish-fry.

See the Documents section of the web-site for access to the Tournament Entry form & detailed Tournament Rules documents.

Tournament Forms can may be brought to a Club meeting or mailed to the Club's address listed below. If you are approaching the registration deadline, please contact one of the Tournament Co-Directors.

Smith Mountain Striper Club
P.O. Box 785
Hardy, Virginia, 24101

2013 Tournament Dates

March 23 - Results
May 18 - Results
July 20 - Results
Sept 14 - Results
Nov 2 - Results

Tournament Co-Directors

Mark Melius - mytoyzfishing@gmail.com - 540-597-8710
Rick Boettcher - jrboettcher@cox.net - 540-761-3549

Tournament Committee Members

Chuck Howarth, Steve Nagel, Bill Nash, Bob Rowe, Mike Ward

Tournament Series

New in 2013 is an optional Tournament Series which will overlay the individual tournaments. This will give Club members the opportunity to compete across the year-long series of tournaments for ultimate bragging rights. The Tournament Series will be open to Club members only. The Series entry fee is $30, which is in addition to the individual tournament fees. The Series fee must be paid at the time of signing up for the series, while the individual tournament fees can be paid prior to the start of each individual tournament.

Tournament Series participants will be issued an official measuring device which must be used, along with the Tournament "Token" card, in the measurement and photos of their submitted fish. The angler's two-fish total length from each individual tournament will be tallied and used to rank the anglers in the Tournament Series to determine the winners in each class. Winners of the Series will be announced at the annual Club Holiday Banquet.

Guidelines for Good Catch-Photo-Release Pictures

This year the Club will be utilizing Catch-Photo-Release (CPR) techniques for submission of fish in the tournaments. It is important to take care in getting the best possible picture which will clearly show the fish's length against the measuring device, along with the "token card" clearly displayed in the picture.

This picture shows both the fish and the measuring device (in this case a tape ruler with larger print numbers and increments) clearly placed against the bulkhead, and the token partially in the picture. Ideally, place the fish's head against the bulkhead and pinch the tail for maximum length in the picture.

This second photo shows another method of capturing the length of this fish, and may be preferable when the length of the fish and the optics of the camera result in having to have a frame of few too distant to make the measuring device clearly readable. In this photo the fish and measuring device are clearly placed against the boat's bulkhead, "zeroing" them out, and by taking the photo along the length of the fish it is easier to determine the length against the measuring device. Again, as with the example above, it would be recommended to position the fish with the head against the bulkhead and the tail pinched, immediately above the measuring device.

When taking your photos, record the measured length of the fish and bring that information, along with your photo to the weigh-in. Our tournaments are intended to be fun, and in general we want to trust our members - though we know that all fishermen are inherently liars, so we need the proof in the pictures, but the tournament committee will consider your recorded length when working to make a length determination from the pictures.

Also, while you want to get the best, clearest picture possible, please keep in mind the duration of which the fish is out of the water, and work as quickly as possible to capture the image and return the fish back to its home - after-all, our goal with CPR is to preserve our fish to catch another day!

This final example shows a fish on the measuring device to be used in the series. The fish's head is clearly against the stop and the tail is used to identify the length. Ideally the tail would be pinched, as this fish reads about 1/2" longer with the tail pinched, but without it shown in the picture, such a ruling would be left to the Tournament Committee judges. Also, make sure your Tournament Token card is clearly displayed in the picture.