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A Schedule To Fish By
 
Bass clubs that have tight
schedules more often have tight lines. Thought and planning are
key.
By Taylor Wilson
Look at the calendar…so many weekdays, so few fishable
weekends.
t doesn’t seem fair does it? Well, it’s not, to tell the
truth, but it’s all bass club members have to work with when it
comes to the logistics of tournament planning.
ven with the calendar a clean slate, the task might seem a
bit formidable if not downright fishy when it comes to keeping
everybody in a club happy/satisfied. But hey, you gotta do
it…clubs have to have “game days”, and somebody has slate ’em.
And probably the best place to begin is at the beginning — of
the year, anyway — and toss in a club vote to keep things
democratic.
“Yes, that what we always do. We always get together in
January, and vote on the lakes and dates for the coming year,”
said Ron Crutchfield with the Federal Express Bass Association,
based out of Memphis, Tennessee.
“We try to schedule sites within a 150 mile range, and that
works best. At one time we had a committee that picked dates,
but that was too complicated. With a vote, everybody can offer
an opinion, or even a ‘that weekend is bad for me.’”
Another thing Crutchfield noted that his club does when it
comes to scheduling the new tournament year is get a calendar
and block out all the big open or charity tournaments that
member may likewise want to fish.
“So many people want to fish the ‘big annual events’ anyway,
that we make sure from the start not to conflict with those,” he
added.
Likewise, the club tries to avoid scheduling tournaments on a
lake as the same time as one of the big circuit tourneys.
Crutchfield said his club also makes sure to contact any
local officials at tournament sites in advance of all events, so
that any required user permits or ramp fees are obtained by
tournament time.
The easiest thing to overlook when scheduling, Crutchfield
warned, is possible conflicts with other tournaments held the
same day. It pays to know what other area clubs are doing so as
to avoid over-crowding.
Holiday weekends during the typical tournament season (Memorial
Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, etc.) are also wise to avoid,
or otherwise risk suffering minimal participation.
“You might also want to check for other activities that could
conflict with a bass tournament. For example, is the lake where
you are going to have your first tournament of the year hosting
a speed boat race? You have to be on the lookout for such
conflicts,” Crutchfield said.
He added that club also tries to schedule their first of the
season’s tourneys farther south. With waters typically warming
in these lakes first, even if only slightly, it can make for a
better tournament.
“Most clubs know what lakes are prime at what time of year,
and schedule their tournaments accordingly.”
Crutchfield also said a club’s tournament director has to be
able to scramble.
A necessary change can happen, and it sometimes does, so
always have a Plan B, whether you need to use it or not.
Yes, Mother Nature is bigger than everyone, and no matter how
well a tournament schedule is planned, weather can change it, or
even call the whole event to be cancelled.
Postponement or even canceling an event is always and option
— especially if conditions on the water are dangerous.
Crutchfield suggested that competitive clubs allow members to
“throw out” one tourney on their schedule.
“This allows everybody in the club an option should they
really have a conflict with a specific date, and it will not
cost them any points in the club standings.”
With various members in a club, there are, of course, going
to be varied opinions on everything, including tournament dates.
Can you keep everyone happy?
Crutchfield laughed. “If you keep 51 percent happy you are in
good shape,” he joked. “No, really most of our members have
known each other for a long time and there are seldom any
disagreements. And we have members from absolute novice to
semi-professionals.”
Wendell Riddle is a charter member of Indiana’s Boone County
Bassmasters. The club is 30 years old, so he’s seen quite a few
season schedules come and go.
“There are two major issues when we start scheduling our
tournaments,” Riddle said.
“One, when are the most members are available to fish; and
two, what’s the schedule for the bigger tournaments to be held
in our state.”
He added that if other members have a conflict, they simply let
the tournament committee know, and most often such dilemmas are
worked around if not out.
“Once the bigger tournaments in our area are slated, we start
our scheduling, usually in late February. Starting this early
allows the guys to also plan family vacations and other
tournaments that they may want to fish.”
Riddle said the club always tries to please the majority when
it comes to scheduling.
“If you don’t choose dates when the membership can fish, it
can be a major problem. In 30 years of scheduling tournaments we
have only canceled one time and that was when one of our members
parents were killed in an auto accident two days before our
tournament. I can only think of only three times we changed the
lake we were to fish. That was once for low water and the other
two were for extremely high water. We just don’t like to change
the schedule,” he said.
Riddle said a good schedule always promotes participation and
in turn makes your club stronger.
“That’s why we encourage participation in scheduling. We
always have five members on the tournament committee, but when
the schedule is made in late February there are always more
members there. The better the schedule the better the
participation.”
The better the participation, the better your club.
Today’s Club Scheduling Goes High-Tech Yes, in an age where we carry schedules around in our Palm
Pilots or even on our mobile phones, it’s understandable that
bass clubs have gone high-tech, too. Or at least clubs can if they want. A simple Google search for “tournament schedule software” or
“schedule software” will give you plenty of programs you can
load on your computer and better manage the scheduling process
of your club. You might also check for software titles related to “sports
schedule software” or “tournament schedule software”. These
Internet searches can likewise yield programs that could help
you better organize the process of scheduling. Most such programs can easily be setup, and if your club has a
website, too, scheduling information can be available around the
clock for all the members of your club and other anglers as
well.
Who’s In Charge of Scheduling? One of the great things about clubs is that members come from so
many walks of life—and in all makes and models. And let’s face…some people are born to keep things in order.
These are the folks you want forming a schedule for your club. A committee of three to five members is probably best to oversee
the process. Having a committee, rather than one person, not
only allows varied opinions, it also helps keep one individual
from becoming exhausted with the task. (It helps keep those
doing what they do best, doing what they do best.) In turn, the committee should hammer out a rough schedule/draft
gathered from suggestions of the membership. Then it should be
approved by majority vote, and things are good to go (fishing)
for another year.
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