Weigh-In Bags???

[Alex M.]

Are you required to provide your own weigh-in bag at the WON Bass team tournaments? I know they give 'em out during the Pro-Ams, but wasn't sure about teams????

Thanks

[Rob Cummings]

I've only been to one WON team tournament so far, but yes bags were provided.

[John Barron]

Weigh bags have always been provided at every WON team tournament I've been to.
jb

[Ron C]

...Nice fish yesterday!

[Alex M.]

Thanks for the info everyone.....I'll probably end up taking my own weigh-in bag, just because those "free" bags are sooo crappy and the dorsal fins always poke holes in 'em and they start springin' leaks...LOL

[Ron C]

...but your fish will be weighed in the same bag that everybody elses fish are weighed in. WON BASS uses Berkley Trilene weigh bags.

[Alex M.]

Ron....
I know they use Berkley Trilene bags...and those are the exact same ones that always get holes in 'em.......Never happened to you??? Seen it happen alot.....

[John Barron]

Do the TD a favor and at least put their bag in yours. It help's speed up the weigh in process.

All organizations need to weigh the fish in the same bags across the board no matter what bag they use. This way they aren't using a heavier bag one time and a light bag the next time. Many TD's zero out their scales using the basket and a weigh bag.
jb

[Alex M.]

What's the difference.....? Are people gonna act suspicious if I don't use their bags?? Am I understanding you correctly???

[John Barron]

The diference is the heavy black bags weigh more than the Trilene bags for instance. It wouldn't be a fair to weigh fish in a heavier black bag and someone elses in a lighter Trilene Berkley bag. That's all I'm saying.

When you get to lakes that are Spotted Bass lakes where the weights get real close, .01 of a pound can cost you positions in a multi-day tournament or a check in a team tournament. I would not fish an organization that didn't weigh all the fish in the same type of bag across the board. What's to stop people from making their bag weigh a pound or more? There are a few people left in this world that would take advantage of this not unlike some fairly recent events in San Diego or Castaic.
jb

[Alex M.]

OK...I see your point and it makes sense. I agree with you. I am definatly an advocate of good sportsmanship, and if that might be a cause for someone to blow the whistle or even accuse me of being dis-honest, then I would never use my own bag. I'm a firm believer in Karma my friend.....BTW.... What happened at Castaic????

[swimb8]

i think one is skimming across his head... you can put your fish into any bag you wish. When you get to the scales you have to transfer them into the bag they are using to way the everyone elses. If you use your own bag your making people wait behind you (as they have to transfer them) and fish are slowly croaking. they ask that you use the bags they provide to speed up the process.. good luck.

[Rob Cummings]

Thanks Ron! Boy were we glad to see someone beat us out for that 10 lb option! That was a close call and a lesson safely learned!

[Schneider Fishing]

Actually, Mike Moffit hasn't been having us use the weigh in bags when weighing the fish. Instead we put them in a plastic tub with holes in it to drain off the water and a piece of plexiglass over the top to hold them down. We use the same plastic tub for each team. Seems to work pretty good. I'm getting used to the idea and it may be working better

[John Barron]

What I was doing a couple of weeks ago just didn't work. I was so far off it was like I was at Mohave instead. And worse I didn't make any adjustments! It's not a good way to start and I heading to Havasu later this week. I'm in trouble! I won't be able to prefish Havasu so I'm going in blind. How do you spell donate?

I don't think anyone would accuse you of dishonesty on the bag thing it's just how would you ever know? I would want a fair and level playing field so when I loose I loose fairly not using a bag that weighs .03 versus a bag that weighs .12 How many times would .09 of a pound helped your position?

If you want to use your bag and some people do, that's fine, they just get dumped in the sink and put back in one of the TD's bags. It just takes a little more time that's all.

Cya on the water (hopefully)
jb

[John Barron]

using the same one each time is important. My feeling about not using a bag (nothing against Mike) is it takes a little more time.

If you use a bag and roll it, it keeps the fish from bouncing around so much. It also in my opinion causes less stress to the fish. It takes less time for the fish to settle down and get an acurate weight. Less time at the scales less stress on the fish and the anglers.
Just my opinion
jb

[Schneider Fishing]

After having done the bag thing for a number of years I think it may actually be easier with the basket. Putting the plexiglass on top of the fish settles them down pretty fast and easy, that is if the size of the plexiglass matches the bottom of the basket. Two baskets and two plexiglass pieces works pretty well. Keeping track of the bags, making sure the anglers bring the correct bag or finding a correct bag when the angler bring their own, usually supieror, bag and then trying to keep the 4 smaller fish settled while weighing the big fish that you put back into a seperate bag ......
How do they do it for BASS or FLW or EVERSTART??

[Gator]

I would like to find an affordable and easily usable system like FLW uses - the in water weigh systems. I think its much better for the fish overall. Hopefully the technology will be affordable and readily available in the near future.

[John Barron]

I would be more than happy to use that system. It's the best one out there
jb

[mark poulson]

John,
Our club has used both the plastic basket, and a designated weigh-in bag. We found the bag does settle the fish faster, and there is less chance of one flipping out during the transfer. We put the bag back on the scale and zero each time, to compensate for any water that might remain from the previous fish.
With the bag, the fish stay in the angler's bag, with water, until the actual transfer. And the transfer and weigh-in seem to go much faster.

[Ron C]

...is when an angler has dead fish, which will be floating in front of God and everybody. The end results are the same, but it just looks bad (in my humble opinion).

As for a laundry basket weigh-in, I fished an ABA tournament several years ago (not Mike M's) where they were using several laundry baskets. While these baskets certainly looked the same, I have a hard time believing that they weighed exactly the same. Fortunately, my partner and I won by enough of a margin that it didn't matter, but it certainly could have. If I'm not mistaken, I believe that they now use only one laundry basket (at least Mike M does), which would eliminate this problem.

There is absolutely no disputing that fish wrapped in a weigh bag settle down much quicker than fish laying in a laundry basket with a Plexiglas lid on them.

Alex, you are more than welcome to bring your fish to the scales at a WON BASS team tournament in whatever bag you choose (and believe me, I've seen them all), but your fish will always be weighed in the same bag that everyone else's fish are weighed in.

By the way, I sincerely appreciate your initial post on this subject as it allowed me and the others to explain why we do what we do.

[Alex M.]

Thanks for the feedback Ron.....Your name seems very familiar? Are you from the Burbank or Glendale area? I grew up in the area and your last name sounds really familiar? I'm a Castaic local(I live in LA), however I'm gonna start to fish the central coast team events @ Naci. I've been a backseater for a long time and recently got my first boat, A skeeter 200zx, and can now finally fish the circuits I want with my real fishing partner. I'm sure I'll have alot more questions for everyone on this forum....Thanks Again....

[John Barron]

*NM*

[Bill Cook]

Al- I will see you Saturday at Naci. Sign-ups will start at 4:30 in the parking lot. This should be a great tournament.
Bill Cook

[Alex M.]

Bill.....Can hardly wait...I'm excited to say the least....I WILL use your weigh-in bags...However I still plan on placing it inside my own bag because its blacked out and keeps the fish from spookin' as much and in turn stresses them out less....Hope thats cool w/ you...? BTW... Are there any off limits areas for Naci during the tourney? Parking lot of NacimientoResort...right? Keep me posted and I'll be looking forward to meeting you on Sat.....

[Alex M.]

John....
I'll put it to you like this....Nobody out here has heard of him, he's not from California originally, he's younger than I am(I'm 29 ), and he's a phenomenal stick(no rookie stuff here.....very focused/dedicated).....I'm no slouch myself either("Oh c'mon you're a tremendous slouch"--Caddyshack)...LOL....

[Bill Cook]

Black bags are fine. Off limits will be the dam, 25 yards from the ramp, 25 yards from the gas dock (I will let you know about the marina area after I see the water level) and anywhere clearly marked off limits. The main ramp parking lot.

See you there Alex.

[John Barron]

You will enjoy Bill Cook as a TD and he's one of the good guys. Naci is my home lake and I still own a home in Paso so I will be going home fairly soon. Good luck and catch em all.
jb

[mark poulson]

Let's just say that Ron C. is very well known to the Burbank P.D., and leave it at that!

[Ron C]

...I was born and raised in Burbank (Go Bulldogs!), but have lived in Saugus since 1985.

I look forward to seeing you on the water.

[mark poulson]

Do they still have that swap meet at the Saugus Speedway?
I haven't been out there since the '70s. Used to be the best.

[Rick G]

with that cool "in the water" weigh-in system they use in FLW events. Why cant the tournament org's invest in their #1 asset-the bass, and get some of those systems? Especially for the Pro-am Trails. It would be awesome to see those 25lb bags of fish swimming around in the blue water at DVL. Rick G.