As we get ready to welcome in the new year of 2021, many of you have noticed some rule changes – specifically the new three(3) fish limit.

Maria has been fielding lots of feedback on it, and I wanted to step forward and say that I am the one who put that into the 2021 rules, and I’ll provide a few reasons for making this change. This decision is intended to take our circuit to a higher standard and bridge the gap between five and zero.

Protecting our fisheries.

With the 2020 craziness that had everyone out of work, many folks found their way to the lake with a fishing rod. With the added pressure of LOTS of additional anglers and boats, you may have noticed the fishing was or might have been more difficult. I know it seemed that way to me.

Take into account that of these new fisherman and fisher-women, all of them DO NOT practice catch and release. End result = less fish to catch, and more pressured fish at ALL of the lakes we visit.

Respecting the fish.

In Ohio, all fish growth rates are slower, as our water temps are in the 50’s or lower for five or six months of the year. The 12-inch Ohio bass that you caught could be a three to five-year old fish. That’s about the size they need to be for spawning – an absolutely necessary act of nature of renewal that continues not only their species – but OUR SPORT OF ANGLING as well.

That five pound Ohio bass could be over a decade old. A seven pound Ohio bass has most likely been around longer than your 15-year old son/daughter. Because we’re not out here for sustenance, that’s significant and worthy of human compassion.

These are living, sentient beings. They feel and react. And their environment is much more dangerous than any of us can possibly imagine. It starts when they’re about an inch long, when Papa turns and eats some of his children. That’s serious s#!t, and begins a life where they can trust no one.

However, these are also wonderful, magical creatures. They have this ability to bring fantastic people together, and we’ve been blessed and fortunate to fish with many couples who burn with the same passion that we do. All because of these incredible little green and brown fish we call bass.

Just for that reason alone, we’re striving to do the right thing with Mother Nature and our anglers.

Less Tournament Mortality

Dead fish serve no purpose other than food for us, food for other critters, or to fuel bad news. How they are caught, hooked, handled, and cared for prior to release are critical to their survival. Taking care of them is of crucial importance – because without these fish….there is no tournament.

Major League Fishing and FLW are the first two circuits to embrace a strict catch, weigh and release policy with every fish, with the utmost care taken to ensure their survival. Not only that, but they are released back into the area where they grew big enough to be caught in the first place. You’ve seen the commercials that bash the typical tournament format – hours in captivity, held in bags, stress, etc.

We don’t have the resources, marshals, or charge the fees to make this a possible solution. Additionally, some of our Better Half Tour teams simply don’t have room in their boats for a third person. And quite honestly, that format was never an objective when we started and it still isn’t. We appreciate seeing people catching and holding fish and snapping a pic of a special moment in time, and we realize that many of you feel the same. Trust us, we get it.

That being said, I believe that the immediate catch and release format is GREAT for our fish and waters. The new three-fish limit is is our Better Half Tour step towards a higher standard, and the result is taking even better care of our resources and fish and being a champion for Mother Earth.

Everyone is still on a level playing field.

It’s three fish for everyone – across the board. What’s the difference between a three fish limit and a five-fish limit?

• Two fish. Erich did the math and checked with a calculator – twice.
• 40% reduction in the number of fish released at the tournament site.
• 40% less potential delayed mortality at the release site.
• 40% fewer fish having to find their way home (studies show a certain percentage does indeed do that)
• 40% fewer fish at the scales – thereby reducing weigh-in time and reducing time spent in limited oxygen weigh-in bags.
• Higher survival rates due to three-fish bags instead of five-fish.

Future plans would feature a live release boat to further demonstrate our commitment to the great couples that fish with us and the wonderful sport of fishing. Again, this step is for the protection and longevity of our sport, and three fish per team makes the logistics of this future goal easier to plan for. Stay tuned.

Quite frankly, I’d like to see every one of our couples and teams go out during the day and catch 100 fish or more, with a few big catfish, musky or walleye thrown in! At the scales however – we just need you to bring your best three bass.

As we are doing the Total Ohio Weight for the season championship, the three fish limit may or may not come into play this season. We’ll have to see, as there is no way (or a thousand ways) that it can play out over four OH events.

I believe this step is the right thing to do to take care of our sport of fishing now and in the days and years to come. Not only for us, but for our children and grandchildren. It’s up to us to make this a positive change for the new season of 2021.

If you’d like to discuss this new rule and why it is going to be great / good / bad / horrible in 2021, you can reach me at BetterHalfTour@gmail.com .

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The Chautauqua Clash on July 11 was held and got off to a fine start, with mostly cloudy skies. We appreciate all of the teams that fished with us and look forward to seeing you all again soon. In our 9-year run, we’ve encountered an event or two where it’s rained, but this is the FIRST event that we’ve had weather become a factor at the conclusion of the tournament.

The weather took a turn towards “Holy $%!#” for about 90 minutes starting around 1:00pm. THANK YOU ALL for making it back safely. We were hanging on in a small cut ourselves, within sight of Long Point State Park for 30 minutes with a few small tree branches joining us in the boat.

That being said, we crossed several new bridges at this event, and this post is going to touch on several important points that came to light.

1) Please NOTIFY TOURNAMENT OFFICIALS if you decide to trailer your boat and leave the event prior to the 3:00p end time. It is crucial that we keep track of EVERYONE and every team, both for weigh-in purposes and also for the peace of mind of the other competitors.

This is a fishing circuit that – because we all become friends (and hang out together in many cases) – we look out for each other. To be blatantly honest, that is one of the coolest things about our anglers is seeing the camaraderie and smiles off the water that happens.

2) The Better Half Tour tournament has a FIVE FISH LIMIT. Per our tournament registration form:

> 8. A five(5) fish limit will be observed, sixth(6) fish must be culled immediately. NO culling at check-in. Teams with more than five(5) fish will be disqualified.

This rule did lead to a team being disqualified for having too many fish at weigh-in.

AT ANY TIME, you may only possess FIVE FISH in the livewell of your boat. Tournament officials may enter your boat upon request to verify five(5) or fewer fish. A sixth fish in possession will lead to immediate disqualification from that event. NO exceptions.

This will be added to Rule 8: NO culling of dead fish.

3) Tournament check-in time is 3:00p. Per our tournament registration form:

> 15. All boats must check in on time with the check-in official. Check-in official will keep the official time. Teams reporting late will receive a one-pound (1#) penalty per minute late and are disqualified after five(5) minutes. Teams not catching fish must still report to the check-in official or tournament director.

Two teams were caught in the southern end of Chautauqua Lake and unable to make it back by 3:00p, leading to disqualification. Being at the mercy of the weather ourselves for 30 minutes, I completely understand their situation and believe that they made the correct decision to put their safety first.

However, upon doing some research on contingencies for such situations… I found none. To be fair to everyone, the 3:00pm check-in time must be adhered to, regardless of weather conditions.

Folks, above all this is a friendly fishing tournament. We do not charge any exorbitant membership or entry fees, nor do we have top-heavy payouts for the top tournament finishers. The method to our madness is simply to bring you all together through the wonderful sport of fishing and to pay back awards as much as possible throughout the field.

It tears my heart out to have to disqualify anyone, but we’ve got to make decisions according to the rules specified.

Please check the weather and be aware of what to expect – especially on tournament fishing days. Get a weather app on your mobile phone and reference it throughout the day if conditions are changing. If you know the weather or wind will be a factor in your fishing location(s), plan accordingly.

By the way, this may be a nugget of knowledge for the future, but after speaking with two anglers (not a huge test group, I know), you should expect changing and potentially hazardous weather any time the wind shifts from a mainly south wind to a north wind. This is what happened at Chautauqua Lake on July 11 between about 11:30a-1:00p – the wind changed 180-degrees within that 60-90 minutes and the bad weather arrived.

The following rule amendments will be added to the registration form:

> In the event of an emergency situation, competitors should call 911 first (if necessary) and then notify tournament officials as soon as possible. Competitors are allowed to leave the boat and seek shelter in bad weather where danger may be imminent.

> Boat must remain in tournament in tournament waters during tournament days. Competitors must leave from and return to official checkpoints by boat. Towing boats on trailers during tournament hours is prohibited, except by direction of tournament officials.

4) Maria is the OFFICIAL time keeper, and the call to “Close the Scales” rests exclusively with her. She is the contact person (330-289-1001) during the day for any questions that arise, or should you need to leave the tournament early.

As we proceed into the future and more teams join us, the rules and registration form that we’ve put in place will allow everyone to compete equally and fairly, while avoiding any misunderstandings.

God Bless ALL of you, and we’ll see you at the Weekend Getaway on July 25!

See you on the water!
Erich & Maria, Tournament Directors
330-289-1001

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With the recent health news, I’m sure that you’ve been wondering what our status is with the 2020 Spring Fling and also the 2020 Chautauqua Clash in NY. We thank you for your continued trust, understanding, and patience as we work through this situation together.

Right now, we can confirm that all Ohio fishing tournament permits were cancelled through May 15. The ODNR Officer noted that it might be wise to consider the month of May, erring on the side of safety, to be ‘off limits’.

We’re anticipating a lot of changes for the better (pun intended) within the months of April & May. Please treat everyone with kindness and respect. Erich & I think of you ALL as neighbors in our fishing community.

Therefore, we’ve re-scheduled the 2020 Spring Fling to June 6, 2020. This is the earliest date we felt was possible to make it happen with the current situation and as it continues to unfold. And yes, we’d like to keep the Spring Fling as our first event this (and every) year, LOL. It’s just two weeks prior to Chautauqua Lake #1, so we’re going to hit the lakes fishing (a.k.a hit the ground running)!

Please stay tuned and we’ll bring you updates as we go!

In friendship & fishing,
Maria, Tournament Director

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