AOTY Rule Clarification

In the past few years,
I have cought a few Crappie and Bass that have not been able to close their mouth naturally. I have also ran into this with late season Salmon and Kokanee. Being as the rule requires NO gap between the lips, Does this now require us to kill and repair any damage Mother Nature or a Careless angler may have created?
I think this rule may need some modification.
Not trying to stirr any C#%P, but this might be an issue worth discussing.

Completely agree with Eric.   Even with some of the dead fish it was difficult enough that I even considered bringing a needle and thread to close the mouth for the pictures.

A couple of examples:

Hey Nice Crappy Pic 

its true, I have the most trouble with big LMB, its either the gills flaring or the mouth ajar, the body is almost too football shaped to lay flat on the trough.

I dunno.  That crappie looks like it can be pushed forward and the mouth will close.

However, that koke does look like lower lip is touching upper lip and I'd likely rule that one as the mouth is shut.

However however, that chinook's mouth looks like it will shut it you push the lower jaw up.  Put you hand over its head and push the jaw up with your thumb.

If you have a fish whose mouth absolutely will not shut, state so in the comments when you post and the committee will review.  I'm guessing 99% of fish will be able to have their mouths shut.  We'll deal with the 1% in some fashion.

-Allen

Do people really eat salmon that look like that?   

i also dont see a problem with the kokanee.  thats about as shut as it can get.  i normally use my hand on top of the fish and push it against the board.  i try to measure my fish the way i would imagine a DFG warden would measure my fish.

which also means i don't bend or squeeze the tails.  i think the fish should lay flat, and the tail as square as natural.

Really.................... dont fish close their mouths naturally at sometime? Ive seen fish all over the place alive with the mouth closed at times.  If you kill a fish while taking a pic with the mouth closed you just arent doing something right. Run the head up against the backboard, hold the fish there, take the pic. Simple. If I can do it anyone can. Because Im a dumbshit anyway.
 
When the DFG wardens measure fish they pinch the tail together to get a reading there. Ive seen it many many times at the ramps. Not just the fish counters. The wardens too. Who are law.

When the DFG wardens measure fish they pinch the tail together to get a reading there. Ive seen it many many times at the ramps.

I'm sure some do, but if your fish is borderline legal, i don't think they would always give you the benefit of the doubt.  not all of my pictures have been great in the past, but i think for the tournament to be fair, everyone should try to measure their fish the exact same way, not try to squeeze and push a fish into a few extra points.

When the DFG wardens measure fish they pinch the tail together to get a reading there. Ive seen it many many times at the ramps.

I'm sure some do, but if your fish is borderline legal, i don't think they would always give you the benefit of the doubt.  not all of my pictures have been great in the past, but i think for the tournament to be fair, everyone should try to measure their fish the exact same way, not try to squeeze and push a fish into a few extra points.

For AOTY, we do explicitly state in the rules that the tails may be pinched or tilted.

-Allen

For AOTY, we do explicitly state in the rules that the tails may be pinched or tilted.

-Allen

oh well then that settles it, I guess I missed it when I read the rules the first time!

I think if the best possible effort to close the mouth was made it should be good enuff. I ran accross this issue when I tried to take pics of the wsb I caught. The dam mouth wouldn't stay closed so I pined it closed with a jig head. Yes it was a hassle but I made my best effort.

Really.................... dont fish close their mouths naturally at sometime? Ive seen fish all over the place alive with the mouth closed at times.  If you kill a fish while taking a pic with the mouth closed you just arent doing something right. Run the head up against the backboard, hold the fish there, take the pic. Simple. If I can do it anyone can. Because Im a dumbshit anyway.
 
When the DFG wardens measure fish they pinch the tail together to get a reading there. Ive seen it many many times at the ramps. Not just the fish counters. The wardens too. Who are law.

Dude, have you looked at your own fish! C'mon fess up, not trying to single you out, but seems like you have trouble like the rest of us (see below) and I rank you as pro status. There is no conspiracy here. Some of us are saying that it is hard to get a perfect shot, can a mouth ajar be exploited for a few extra points? sure, is it reasonable that sometimes the mouth just won't shut completely YES, that's why this discussion never dies! Its pretty obvious when the mouth is wide open or gills are flared that its a bad measure, but DQ'ing a fish for a mouth ajar seems extreme if it was attempted to be closed,  a point deduction seems much more reasonable in this case.

Guys.  I'm going to nip this one right in the bud.

We instituted a strict mouth shut policy this year because you all just couldn't get it right.  I can't tell you the number of bad entries that led to bad mouthing and eventually bad feelings.  So now you play by the new rules.  Mouth shut!  And in case that wasn't enough, we felt compelled to add rule #12 which states.

12.  Participant complaints should be submitted to the Committee. No bashing of other folks on public boards. Such posts will be deleted by the Admins/Mods, and a warning will be issued. A second violation of this rule will result in a disqualification of the offender from participating in AOTY.

Why do these rules appear so harsh?

Well, because having things black and white leaves no room for subjectivity.  Without subjectivity there is no wiggle room for anyone to (un)intentionally bend the rules.  Why no point deduction?  For the same reason.  There is no black and white way to determine what a fair point deduction would be.  But what is fair really?  If you submit a picture that doesn't adhere to the rules well boo on you, your fish is DQ'd.  That's your fault and no one else's.  Seems fair enough to me.

Just do it right.  It's really not that hard.

-Allen

That being said. As soon as I get it together. I'll join the AOTY RACE... MOUTH CLOSED