FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) Summer 2008

17. Is this just a pot tournament that anyone can fish?

1. Yes.  This is not a club of any kind.  It's simply a pot tournament.  However, please read about us as well as rules and general information to gain a better understanding of the trail.

17. It says Allatoona Team Tournament, can I fish alone if I don't have partner sometimes?

1. Yes

17. Can I fish on a non bass boat (like pontoon, center console, ski boat, etc.)?

1. Yes, as long as you observe all the rules/regulations of ours and the Corps of Engineer's and as long as you have good working live well.  No fishing from the bank.

17. I keep hearing about this side-bet pot, what is it?

1. It's an optional side-bet where you put $10 in a separate pot from the normal entry fee (you can choose to do or not to do this at the sign in).  The participated team that has the highest weight wins the whole pot.  This was very popular in the last few years.  If you don't enter the side-bet pot but win the tournament, you don't win this pot.  You just win the regular tournament.

17. What are some of the highlights of this year rules and/or general info?

1. Here are some of them:

• There will be 18 Monday night tournaments (still from 7 - 11 PM) and 2 days Classic.  The classic will be at night both days.  See schedules for more details.
• There will be no "pre-pay" this year.  It's first-come first-served at the boat ramp each Monday evening.
• There will be 15 boats per flight with the exception of the first flight.  The Sponsorship Provisional allows sponsor teams to also leave on first flight.
• The lake is OFF LIMITS to fishing on each tournament day (no pre-fishing).
• This year we will be paying a monthly prize for BIGGEST sack of the month and also one for the SMALLEST sack of the month. This will be paid out on the last Monday night tourney of each month starting in April. Big sack gets a cash prize of $100.00 and smallest sack gets a cash prize of $50.00. You must be present on the last Monday night tournament of the month to win, or we will award the money to the next team with the closest weight. So you'd better not throw your dink or two back without weighing in first!
• The classic qualifiers are the top 25 AND 5 Wild Card teams.  A wild card team is the team that fishes all regular tournaments but does not make the top 25.  5 wild cards will be drawn to enter the classic.  The director teams will be in the classic automatically (still 30 teams total).

17. Why do you highlight or stress the first rule (Sportsmanship)?

1. This is a public lake shared by all.  So courtesy, sportsmanship, and safety are very important.  Corps of Engineers can shut down any tournament anytime if the tournament fishermen are trouble makers and are not good lake citizens.

17. Why do you change directors every now and then?

1. This is a pot tournament.  Directors come and go from the beginning (since around late 80s) for various reasons.  When one leaves, anyone can volunteer to be a director.  Lots of others will always volunteer to help out as best they can.  The director, however, has the final says on all matters – as it always is and as it always should be.  We all will give full support to any director as long as it's in the best interest of fishermen, local communities, and environment.

17. What's the penalty for dead fish?

1. Though we encourage all to take good care of fish and hope for no dead fish, in summer it's inevitable.  Only one dead fish is allowed with a ½ pound penalty.  If you bring 2 dead fish to the scale you will be disqualified for that event.

17. What if the dead fish is also my big fish?

1. ½ pound will be deducted from the big bass itself.  This means that the weight after the reduction will be use in the big bass competition as well (I.E. if your big-dead-fish weighs 5 lbs it will be considered a 4.5 lbs in calculation of total weight as well as big bass weight).

17. Can I keep the fish after the weigh-in?

1. NO.  All fish must be released.  Exception can be made for trophy fish.  And NO, a 12.25-inch bass is NOT a trophy fish!  Check with the director if you’d like to keep a big one.

17. So what’s with the fishermen attractant anyway (not that I want you to do away with it)?

1. Well, it was an accident but it was a hit. When we started taking pictures of the winners to put on both the hard copy of the standing and the internet just for fun and for some recognition, on one Monday tournament the winners left too early and we got no picture. So we decided to just put a picture of a pleasant looking attractant up as a place holder instead. Well, the following week everyone demanded that we kept that up. So we did. We can’t stop or take them off now due to high degrees of threats we’ve received from almost all anglers.

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