AOTY Rule Clarification

...Now Let's go fishing!

  Adapt,  Improvise and Overcome....   

Don, that picture NEVER gets old - love it!!! 

...Now Let's go fishing!

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Allen, I am not saying your or the committee's job is easy, but again, I have to agree with Pat, Al, and Eric - who started this thread for a particular reason. Its simply not as easy and straight forward as it seems to always get the shot with the mouth completely closed. You are hearing from the people who have been doing this for years now.  I think Jim is right "natural position" speaks best. My crappie pic on page one is in a natural position, I am not squeezing or holding it and mouth is not gaping. It probably took me 2-3 min to position that fish for the shot. To think now thats a dq'-able fish raises concern for me and obviously other competitors. A lot of conscious, AOTY driven thought, went into that shot. It does not seem like a dq-able fish based on other qualified entries that went on to place in former AOTYs.

I appreciate all the effort the committee puts into the contest so I don't like tho whine unless I can atleast offer something back for the committee to chew on. So, one suggestion I thought of last night was using the eye as a reference for the mouth open/shut issue. And this can be for future AOTYs and not 2013. but here goes, and I acknowledge this is a lot more work on the committee's end, so its only a suggestion.

-if the mouth is open wider than the diameter of the eye the fish is dq'd
-if the mouth is open wider than 1/2 the width of the eye to the diameter of the eye, then a 1 inch substraction is applied.
-if the mouth is open less than half the width of the eye then a 1/2 inch deduction is applied.

I hear ya all, lets fish and have fun, and chill out, but this also that this is a competition, a friendly one, but one that sometimes costs friendships from controversy and fallout. The reality is that competitors are trying to give sound feedback based on experience to help set rules that feel fair to all, I like these discussions, they are not easy topics to cover, you will never get a consensus, and someone will always still be unhappy in the end, but they are still woth having. Rob 

This thread and the many before are why I won't be doing AOTY this year.  AOTY is perhaps the most "unfun" element of NCKA which is really a shame as it could be very positive.  Unfortunately the big prizes seem to bring out the worst in its participants.

I'll just keep a Google spreadsheet with a macro for point totals and log and "compete" without having to worry about whether or not my picture isn't perfect or whether or not some of those participants who take this game WAY too seriously have a stick up their butt that particular day.

its rare for me to say this, but i definitely agree with polepole on this point. its a tournament that is based on who is the best fisherman, and who has caught the most fish worth the most points.  To me, the tournament is not about who is able to best position their fish in a picture the way to gain the most points.

the best way to keep consistency with points scoring is to make sure everyone measures their fish the same way. asking everyone to keep the fish's mouth closed is the easiest way to do that.

DFG doesn't allow natural open mouths when they measure nor do they make adjustments for eyeball lengths, they push the fish forward till its mouth is closed. Not sure why this is so controversial. 



FFTC......thank the AOTY committee, which, thankfully, operates separately from the moderators. 

I've preached "Closed Mouth" from DAY 1!!  i'm glad you are all finally complying

DFG doesn't allow natural open mouths when they measure nor do they make adjustments for eyeball lengths, they push the fish forward till its mouth is closed. Not sure why this is so controversial.

While I completely agree with the mouth closed rules, I think the rebuttal to your statement Art is that they are doing it on dry land (or dock) with a dead fish whereas anglers are on a kayak and trying to be careful for CnR.

DFG doesn't allow natural open mouths when they measure nor do they make adjustments for eyeball lengths, they push the fish forward till its mouth is closed. Not sure why this is so controversial.

While I completely agree with the mouth closed rules, I think the rebuttal to your statement Art is that they are doing it on dry land (or dock) with a dead fish whereas anglers are on a kayak and trying to be careful for CnR.

The rebuttal doesn't carry any weight, the rules of measurement don't change because you're on a kayak, boat, rock or spaceship.  How many of the mouth open crowd measure their fish that way when deciding if it meets a minimum size requirement?

If you wouldn't risk a fine with those measuring "techniques", why would you pull that kind of stuff with your buddies?     

"I think this rule may need some modification.
Not trying to stirr any C#%P, but this might be an issue worth discussing."

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

We are all mostly adults here,
No need to bicker ...... The question was asked and answered in a mature manner before all the critics chimed in. 
Sorry a simple question brought so much controversy.
Can we now lock this thread for the better of all.

Will do, any more comments can be directed to pole pole via pm. 

I get to respond one last time, because I CAN.  The following thought occurred to me on the drive home today.

If we had an anything goes rule (mouth open), I'm pretty sure we'd see participants stretching fishes mouths open to get maximum points.  If we had a mouth open as big as the eye rule, I'm pretty sure we'd see participants putting energy into making sure the fishes mouth was open to the extent that they get maximum points.

So since we have a mouth shut rule, why don't you participants put your energy in making sure the mouth is shut so you get maximum points (all or none).  Everyone else you're competing against has the same rules applying to them.  The playing field is even.  What is there to complain about?  Really?

When we had the mouth slightly ajar rule, we got a ton of complaints that the rule should be mouth shut.  Now that we have a mouth shut rule, we get a ton of complains.

Rule #13.  NO WHINEY BITCHES!   

-Allen