SHAWNEE BOATS, INC. TROUT TOURNAMENT
BY JOHN BERRY
The Cotter Area Chamber of Commerce is going to host the First Annual Shawnee Boats, Inc. Trout Tournament. The main sponsor is Shawnee boats. We used to have a trout tournament in Cotter several years ago that was sponsored by another boat manufacturer and was limited to anglers fishing from their boats. This tournament is open to all anglers and the participants can fish from any boat. The rules do require that you fish from a boat.
The tournament will be held on March 26, 2011 from 7:00 AM to 2:00 PM with the weigh in at the Ramp in Cotter’s Big Spring Park. The entry fee is $100.00 per each two person team. The entry fee includes two meal tickets per boat for the cookout after the tournament and one entry in the Shawnee boat drawing. The field is limited to the first 125 paid entries.
The catch will be limited to four trout per boat, only two of which can be browns. The fish for both anglers will be combined for a single catch. The prize fund will be prorated according to total number of entries. Based on 100 entries the payout would be $1,000.00 for first place, $800.00 for second place, $600.00 for third place,$400.00 for fourth place, $300.00 for fifth place and $100.00 for sixth through tenth place. There is also a big fish pot where participants can pay an entry fee of $25.00. The payout for 100 entries would be $2,500.00 and the biggest trout caught would take it all.
Then there is going to be a special boat drawing. This is for a new 2011 Shawnee Deluxe boat with a trailer and seats. This has a retail value of $6,900.00. The boat is donated by Shawnee Boats, Inc. and a motor is available at cost. This drawing is limited to tournament entrants only (one ticket per team) and you must be present to win. Theoretically you could participate in the tournament, not catch a single fish and then walk away with a new boat.
In addition, there will be a cookout immediately after the tournament. Each entry will receive two meal tickets. You can buy additional meal tickets, if your non fishing spouse or friend wants to join you. I have not heard what the meal consists of but I have attended a large number of cookouts hosted by the Cotter Area Chamber of Commerce (I am a current member and Past President) and all of them were outstanding.
I must say that, when I first heard about the tournament, I had some major concerns. The thought of a hundred plus boats floating down the White River pulling out the four largest trout they can lay their hands on truly frightened me. As a result, I discussed the situation with one of the tournament organizers. He assured me that this would be a Catch and Release tournament. Dead fish would not count for the team’s total. At the end of the tournament all of the weighed fish would be released.
This is typical for most bass tournaments. Though the immortal fly fishing guru, Lee Wulff, coined the phrase Catch and Release, its practical use was really popularized by bass tournaments. Early bass tournament organizers quickly realized that the local anglers did not appreciate their participants cleaning their lake out of every big fish there. These organizers went to Catch and Release as a survival strategy. The participants willingly went along with the changes and added aeration systems to the live wells in their bass boats to increase the survival rates for their catches. The locals saw the big bass returned to their lakes unharmed and did not mind bass tournaments nearly as much.
In addition, I learned that the Shawnee Boats trout tournament organizers had worked with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission to ensure that the tournament did not adversely affect our White River fishery. The fishing will be limited from just below the Catch and Release Section below Bull Shoals Dam to the line just above the Catch and Release section at Rim Shoals. Tournament entrants are strictly prohibited from fishing in Catch and Release areas.
Though entrants can access the river from designated four ramps, Cotter, Wildcat, White Hole and the State Park, all fish to be weighed in must be returned to the Cotter weigh-in by water. Trailering of the catch is strictly prohibited. This would just be too hard on the fish and could severely harm them.
The tournament rules require that safe boating rules and regulations and all Arkansas Game and Fish Commission trout regulations must be strictly adhered to. All legal methods are allowed. This means that fly fishers will have a level playing field since they will be allowed to use any length fly rod. Bass tournaments usually limit rod length to those less than eight feet long. In addition, the tournament is open to all makes of boats, therefore drift boats will be allowed.
Tournament rules and entry forms are available at the Cotter Area Chamber of Commerce website,
http://www.cotterarkansas.com. Entry forms must be completed and post marked by March 1, 2011. Please do not send cash. Send a check or money order only to the Cotter Area Chamber of Commerce, P. O. Box 489, Cotter, AR 72626. Questions should be directed to (870) 321-1243.
If you decide to participate in this tourney, please be safe out there and good luck!
