# Thursday Trail - Oconee, Sinclair, and Jackson



## CRBass (Jul 2, 2009)

We had a lot of requests for a weekday trail, so we made it happen.  If everything goes well, we will keep it going next year and may even expand.  Let me know what you think.


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## bigbass07 (Jul 2, 2009)

i will be there on the 16th. so how will it work if there is only one man is it 50.00 or 100.00 per boat. if its 50.00 for one man in the boat by himself  it may cause a problem with the teams that pay 100.00


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## CRBass (Jul 2, 2009)

It is 50.00 for a Single Angler, 100.00 for a Two Angler team.  I did it this way to level the playing field for the amount of anglers that will be fishing this alone.  It makes the teams put up twice the entry to have twice the number of lines in the water.  This was the only way to allow teams to fish and still be fair to the single anglers.  The only other choice was to allow co-anglers (non draw) to compete against the guys in the front of the boats (like a club tournament).  I am just not down with that.


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## CRBass (Jul 2, 2009)

This is our pilot season for this series.  So input is welcome.


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## bigbass07 (Jul 3, 2009)

thats cool with me . your only negative feed back is that there gonna say that he put up 50 to win 1000 and they put up 100 to win 1000 . i like it cause i have a chance to win as much as they do for half the money


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## CRBass (Jul 3, 2009)

That is what will happen, but the teams that fish should realize it is the only way we could make it fair for single anglers.


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## Hunter Haven (Jul 3, 2009)

I more than likely won't be able to attend any of these, but I don't see it working as it is. The one man $50.00 entry versus a 2 man $100.00 will not ever draw you a good crowd. It simply just doesn't work. Think about all other tx.'s. None of them are setup like this for that very reason.... 

Every entry fee must and needs to be the same in order for it to work and draw the crowds that come back to you. Think about it this way... Let's even use your summer weekend tx. let's say your next tx. is Saturday on ?Oconee, ?Sinclair, ?Jackson, whereever, and you have an angler show up to register before blastoff. let's just say his partner suddenly couldn't make it for unknown reasons.... you still have to charge the one angler the same entry fee as all other anglers to make it fair and allow the system to work........ you can't and don't tell that angler, well I know your partner was supposed to be here, so I will let you compete for all paid places if you only give me half the entry fee...????

Clay, not trying to stir the pot, but in order to draw a good Thursday crowd with tx. hours from daylight to 1 pm(which by the way already will limit your boat numbers drastically), you will definatly have to keep the entrie fees the same for all "boats" present just as any other organized tx. schedule will do.... just food for thought. I also personally do not think you will draw very many boats no matter if you do indeed make the entry fee the same per boat on any given thursday with tx. hours of daylight till 1pm tx....???? No way the demand in this day and time could possibly be there in order to draw a heavy crowd...

Goodluck with your trail. I think you have a payout structure designed that will attract fisherman in the long run, but gaining the exposure and getting them on board will be the hardest ppart of it. Keep it fair, stick it out, get the fishermen aware and comitted, run a honest and fair tx. everywhere you go and it will work, but it takes time to build a trail and it will not come easy....


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## CRBass (Jul 3, 2009)

Haven, 

    Thanks for the input.  However, there are quite a few tournaments that are set up with entry fees like, they just are not on major bodies of water.  Many of the small water trails are set up just this way.  
     I am putting on this trail by the request of many of the older anglers, retired anglers, and anglers that don't llike to fish weekends.  This was not meant to draw 100 boats.  This was meant for the anglers who by choice or by schedule can not fish weekends.  There are about 25 anglers that I know of right now that have requested a day trail through the week.  They had first approached someone else about organizing this, but they were not interested.  I am lucky enough to work from home with my wife running our two businesses and have the time to put something together for these anglers.  I asked a lot of people about hours and they did not want to fish past 1pm.  I may adjust times with different seasons next year. 
     The reason for the split entry really boils down to most of these anglers wanting to fish alone with a reasonable entry fee.  However, I did not want to make it where a team could not fish together.  So, it came down to co-angler vs anglers or a split entry fee.  I have fished under this format before, and it works quite well.  
    I will say that this is a pilot season and we will see how it goes.


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## Hunter Haven (Jul 3, 2009)

HT3 Outdoors said:


> "The reason for the split entry really boils down to most of these anglers wanting to fish alone with a reasonable entry fee".
> 
> Are you are implying other one man (since there are so many other one man trails) entry fees are not reasonable... hmmm



If this is a question you are asking me, I'm not sure I understand you.... to me your question makes no sense at all


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## Hunter Haven (Jul 3, 2009)

CRBass said:


> Haven,
> 
> Thanks for the input.  However, there are quite a few tournaments that are set up with entry fees like, they just are not on major bodies of water.  Many of the small water trails are set up just this way.
> I am putting on this trail by the request of many of the older anglers, retired anglers, and anglers that don't llike to fish weekends.  This was not meant to draw 100 boats.  This was meant for the anglers who by choice or by schedule can not fish weekends.  There are about 25 angler that I know of right now that have requested a day trail through the week to the week.  They had first approached someone else about organizing this, but they were not interested.  I am lucky enough to work from home with my wife running our two businesses and have the time to put something together for these anglers.  I asked a lot of people about hours and they did not want to fish past 1pm.  I may adjust times with different seasons next year.
> ...



I wish you the best Clay.... goodluck and hopefully I will see you at some of your other tx.s down the road


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## mike c (Jul 3, 2009)

great idea clay i fish alot during the week when theres not as much boat traffic and there usually moving water i will be there for these.


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## livewire328 (Jul 5, 2009)

*Thursday tourney...*

I think it is a good concept Clay.  And yes it will work, the entry fee is fair and the ones who don't want to pay 100 when some oneelse only pays 50 then they dont have to fish the tourney.  I'll be at some of them, thanks for putting on a weekday tourney.


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## firefighterfree (Jul 5, 2009)

CRBass said:


> So, it came down to co-angler vs anglers or a split entry fee.  I have fished under this format before, and it works quite well.
> I will say that this is a pilot season and we will see how it goes.



So Clay is this a one on one style tournament the guy in the front of the competes against the guy in back basically every man/woman for theirself.


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## Laugh44 (Jul 6, 2009)

I'll be at most of the tourneys. I fish alone and don't want to pay a lot for a tourney. I like the idea. I hope it works as I'll be there to try to win everyone elses cash (whether they pay $50 or $100, it doesn't matter. It all spends the same).


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## youngers (Jul 6, 2009)

thursday is my off day most of the time,  Ill fish as many as possible


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## CRBass (Jul 9, 2009)

What other areas would you like a format like this in?


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## Laugh44 (Jul 9, 2009)

guntersville and west point


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## Eugene Stinson (Jul 10, 2009)

Hunter Haven said:


> I more than likely won't be able to attend any of these, but I don't see it working as it is. The one man $50.00 entry versus a 2 man $100.00 will not ever draw you a good crowd. It simply just doesn't work. Think about all other tx.'s. None of them are setup like this for that very reason....
> 
> Every entry fee must and needs to be the same in order for it to work and draw the crowds that come back to you. Think about it this way... Let's even use your summer weekend tx. let's say your next tx. is Saturday on ?Oconee, ?Sinclair, ?Jackson, whereever, and you have an angler show up to register before blastoff. let's just say his partner suddenly couldn't make it for unknown reasons.... you still have to charge the one angler the same entry fee as all other anglers to make it fair and allow the system to work........ you can't and don't tell that angler, well I know your partner was supposed to be here, so I will let you compete for all paid places if you only give me half the entry fee...????
> 
> ...



I think I have a solution that would make it fair. Keep the enrty fees that same for one or two person teams. But only allow one angler to fish at a time for the 2 man teams. That way the number of lines in the water at any given time will be the same ONE.


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## Hunter Haven (Jul 10, 2009)

I have not and will not bash this post Clay. I wish you the best of luck as stated earlier, but now I do wanna comment on the sarcasm below.....




Eugene Stinson said:


> I think I have a solution that would make it fair. Keep the enrty fees that same for one or two person teams. But only allow one angler to fish at a time for the 2 man teams. That way the number of lines in the water at any given time will be the same ONE.



Dang. That is it! I wonder why we couldn't think of that... but see now you have an extra man in the boat that can retie your lines, net your fish, cull out your fish, fetch you a water, fix you a sandwich, etc. etc. and all during this time you can just keep on fishing... you know, your on "marshall"...


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## CRBass (Jul 10, 2009)

Haven, Thats funny.  

Hey Pat, where did you get the idea for that chart.  Seems I have seen that before?.....Geez.


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## bigbass07 (Jul 10, 2009)

please guys lets just let it go. i promise there are alot of people that will not fish no trail out there when there is a bunch of bashing or what ever you call it. one thing about showing the payout is people get to looking at the sponsors you have then they start looking at the $$$ you take in, then they say dang someone is getting rich. i know personally not too many people will ever get rich on t-ment trails. there is alot of work in t-ments specially when you get over 25 boats or more so you need to make something plus all the expenses. the guys that fished with me knew exactly what i made, for instance $160.00 entry .1) 10.00 went into my pocket. 2)10.00 went to big fish. 3) 10.00 to AOY 4)10.00 to classic pot 5) to the places to be paid 1 in 5. i supplied a chart on the morning of the t-ment and it had the number of boats all the way to 250 and it showed how many places to be paid and how much each place would get.
this way a team could blast off knowing how much they stood to win. they knew what i made and what went where. if i had 50 boats then i went home with 500.00 in my pocket. most of my expenses was paid thru sponsor on the brochure( polygraphs, gas,help,food,lodging should i need it)the only complaint i ever had out of 100 t-ments or more and 8 years was on boat #'s during a sunday pot t-ment, this was due to the fact i had 2 locations to sign up and i was not contacted by my 2nd location on boat #1 . i fixed it quick i blasted them off 2 at a time.
I AM NOT,  REPEAT NOT saying i know everything about t-ments but i have a great REP with t-ment anglers, and have been approached by some major league trails about running there t-ments. point is i like to fish them more than i like to run them. i am simply trying to help yall build your trails bigger.try and manage your coments and help one another out whenever possilbe.


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## bigbass07 (Jul 10, 2009)

HT3 Outdoors said:


> I have not said one thing negative in a post about C and R so please don't say "you guys"... and I have helped C and R, look at their bochure I took time to ride in a boat and take the shot of Clay running in his boat that he used for his brochure...  At the request of Clay I also booked my fall dates around his.  Now I have done nothing nor posted anything negative about him or his trail.  If you will go back up this thread you will see that.  So please narrow the scope of your suggestion to the one who said something about HT3, because I said nothing about C and R....Thanks...



sorry if it seemed that way didnt mean anything by it and was not pointing a finger, just seems like every time i look at the post there is something new done popped up against someone or something. i truley want to see both of your trails do great and i will support them as i can. 

i guess the fact is there are too many trails/t-ments out there and not enough anglers, this weekend alone just at oconee and sinclair there are 7 t-ments in 2 days and none of them will draw over 10 boats each, dew to the fact there are only about 30 teams/anglers for these 2 lakes that are serious about fishin in the heat and all that pleasure boat traffic. bad thing is they all pay out good if they get the boats to show. once again i wish all of the trails the best of luck and i will try to support all when i can.


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## bigbass07 (Jul 10, 2009)

pat i agree 100000% on that, there are some guys out there that just want to fish and win money no matter what trail it is, i myself am one of those, however i do want to futher my fishing career to the fullest, and i did think your trail was as professionally setup as any of the big ones out there that i have fished. that was not to put down any other trails cause some draw 150 boats payback less,and run them out of there daliy driver(nothing wrong with that either) anglers want the right lake at the right time of the year and a big turn out (i do oconee feb, march, may, june, every weekend) i could just quit my job and fish and still make as much money.LOL. keep up the great work both all the trails and thanks for giving the anglers something to fish.


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## Laugh44 (Jul 10, 2009)

Clay...looks like your post got hi-jacked! I'll see you next thursday at Oconee.


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## Eugene Stinson (Jul 27, 2009)

Eugene Stinson said:


> I think I have a solution that would make it fair. Keep the enrty fees that same for one or two person teams. But only allow one angler to fish at a time for the 2 man teams. That way the number of lines in the water at any given time will be the same ONE.



The comments made were only to be F U N N Y. That is what the smilies are for in the beginning and end of the thread. I don't bash any thread on the forum, I love this forum.  I just joke around alot in my life and also on the forum.  I don't get serious till I fire up my Big Johnson.


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## shoalbass (Jul 27, 2009)

Eugene Stinson said:


> The comments made were only to be F U N N Y. That is what the smilies are for in the beginning and end of the thread. I don't bash any thread on the forum, I love this forum.  I just joke around alot in my life and also on the forum.  I don't get serious till I fire up my Big Johnson.



And then others get to poke a "little" fun


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## Marks500 (Jul 27, 2009)

I Like this Format. I should be able to make some of the Jackson and Oconee Tournaments.


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## Eugene Stinson (Jul 28, 2009)

Looks like I am in now.  See everybody at the ramp. Can't think of any better way to donate some money. But to other people that love the sport as much as I.


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## Marks500 (Aug 3, 2009)

Do we register on the website? I tried to make a Profile and it would not let me? let me know.


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## CRBass (Aug 3, 2009)

a few people have had issues  registering online.  It will work for most, but not all.  My web host says it is a caching issue with ISPs.  Be sure to refresh the page and try.  If that doesn't work, email me all of your info using the "Contact Us" tab, and I will get it built for you quickly.


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## CRBass (Aug 3, 2009)

We had 21 boats on Sinclair on 7/30.  Thanks for everyone that made it out.  The results will be up on the site today.  Congratulations to Kip Carter with the winning bag of 13.75.


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## Marks500 (Aug 3, 2009)

CRBass said:


> a few people have had issues  registering online.  It will work for most, but not all.  My web host says it is a caching issue with ISPs.  Be sure to refresh the page and try.  If that doesn't work, email me all of your info using the "Contact Us" tab, and I will get it built for you quickly.




Thanks, I sent you my info through the website.


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## Marks500 (Aug 11, 2009)

So Clay whats it looking like for this Thursday? Many Boats Registered?


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## CRBass (Aug 11, 2009)

We have a few that have registered, but most will register at the ramp.  It is looking to be a good number of people like at Sinclair.  I personally know of five new guys that have not fished with us yet, so it should be a good crowd.  Look forward to seeing everyone there.


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## BassHawg1 (Aug 12, 2009)

Looks like theres going to be a good turnout for Jackson.  Talk with several that said they were going to be there. I know I will.


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## mike c (Aug 12, 2009)

will be there tomorrow


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## Marks500 (Aug 12, 2009)

Sounds good, Sounds like some of the serious fisherman are coming out tomorrow. At least we wont have tons of boat traffic, thats the main reason I am gonna try and fish some of these.


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## HARLEY (Aug 12, 2009)

ill be there


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## BassHawg1 (Aug 12, 2009)

No boat traffic is a plus.  They might even let some water out so we could have current


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## Marks500 (Aug 12, 2009)

BassHawg1 said:


> No boat traffic is a plus.  They might even let some water out so we could have current



Come on man... we wont be that lucky....


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## BassHawg1 (Aug 12, 2009)

Anythings possible


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## Marks500 (Aug 13, 2009)

That was my first time out to one of your Tournaments Clay. It like it, Run Very well. I like how when we are done you get things done quickly so we can get out of there.

Also in the Live well tank at the weigh in station. Did you put Ice in the water or something? That water seemed really cold in that tank.


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## bigbass07 (Aug 13, 2009)

who and what won


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## CRBass (Aug 13, 2009)

Marks500 said:


> That was my first time out to one of your Tournaments Clay. It like it, Run Very well. I like how when we are done you get things done quickly so we can get out of there.
> 
> Also in the Live well tank at the weigh in station. Did you put Ice in the water or something? That water seemed really cold in that tank.



Mark, 

I really appreciate that.  We hope to see you at some others soon.  The water in the tank from Bobby's well that was drilled a couple miles deep, but I do ice my tank at other lakes if they don't have well water available.  The colder the water, the more oxygen it can hold.  I do what I can to take care of fish whereever we go.  We only lost one fish today.  I was able to fizz three others that would not have made it otherwise.  We had a couple that were blown up like balloons. 


As for who won:  Benjie Cleary and David Uselton won with 5 fish weighing 10.40.  Big fish was 4.90 today.  We had three others weighed in over 4lbs.  We paid seven places today and it took 7.15 to get a check.  21 boats competed.  Results we will up on www.candroutdoors.com tomorrow.


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## basstrkr (Aug 15, 2009)

*Thursdays*

I have for years wanted a "weekday trail" I hope you success and will try to participate.  Your entry fee structure is fine with me, if one can beat two then let it be. You could however split the difference, one man pays $75.


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## Laugh44 (Aug 15, 2009)

then 2 men pay $150 ??? More $$$ in the pot, but I like it the way it is.


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## Marks500 (Aug 15, 2009)

Yeah I like the way it is.. I think it is pretty fair with 50.00 per person. When you fish alone its hard to eat the whole entry Fee as it is.


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## HARLEY (Aug 16, 2009)

clay.. thanks for a great tournament on jackson. It was my first one i have fished in your thursday trail and i hope to fish many more of them


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## CRBass (Aug 16, 2009)

HARLEY said:


> clay.. thanks for a great tournament on jackson. It was my first one i have fished in your thursday trail and i hope to fish many more of them



Very welcome.  Thank you for making it out.  Looking forward to seeing you again.


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## HARLEY (Aug 16, 2009)

if i can win money every time ill be there.. but you know how that goes. we took 3rd and big fish at jackson


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## CRBass (Aug 20, 2009)

Any guys going to make it out to Oconee on the 27th?


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## Marks500 (Aug 20, 2009)

If I dont have to work I am sure I will be able to make it.


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## HARLEY (Aug 20, 2009)

yes clay i will be there on the 27.. how many are you expecting


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## BassHawg1 (Aug 20, 2009)

I'm planning on being there hope it's a good turn out.


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## CRBass (Aug 20, 2009)

We should be over 20 again.  Heck, we may even break 30 boats.  Looking forward to seeing everyone there.


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## HARLEY (Aug 21, 2009)

its gonna be at the public ramp not the marina? right


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## bigbass07 (Aug 21, 2009)

what time is weigh in.


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## CRBass (Aug 21, 2009)

We will be at Sugar Creek Marina.  I will be set up @ 4am in front of the store the morning of the tournament.  We will be fishing from safelight until 1pm. Hope to see you there.


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## CRBass (Aug 26, 2009)

We have had quite a few people inquire that have not fished our Thursday Trail.  Tomorrow is going to be a blast.


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## mike c (Aug 26, 2009)

i will be there in the morning


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