Arkabutla Kicks Off Our New Season

Transcription

1 Issue 2 Nov 1, 2011 Arkabutla Kicks Off Our New Season Arkabutla Winners Our new season is off and running, and the new team of Ray Williams + Partner caught some elephants as advertised at Arkabutla. Ray and Rod Womack mutually agreed to split this year and fish with their wives, as I hear it. Ray s wife had unexpected gall bladder surgery and that knocked her out of this first tournament. Mickey Ferguson and Ray Williams pounded the big crappie at Arkabutla. The Preacher said that Ray did all the catching and he did all the praying. Great strategy results speak for themselves. Good job, men, with lbs. So, Ray called in a pinch hitter in the form of his preacher, Mickey Ferguson. I believe the Preacher brought an angel with him who showed Ray where to fish. What ever the cause was, the result was very emphatic. What a huge catch of Arkabutla elephants. Being the last team to weigh in made the end result even more dramatic. Until the last team, the eventual winners, weighed, it looked like Don Terry and Bernard Williams had this one locked up with lbs. Afterwards, Bernard could be heard crying about it not being fair having to fish against God and Angels and Righteousness. He also complained about having to turn more than 20 two-pound fish loose. Teams could have no more than 7 fish in the boat on T-Day, and, supposedly, Bernard and Don had a big day catching lots huge fish long-lining jigs and road runners. I know that the fish bit really good for some teams and for most of us the bite was really slow. I personally watched Monty Blount catch fish after fish. It got so embarrassing that Tommy and I had to just leave the area. Long-liners and Brad Chappell and Bo Hudson told us the same thing. We had to get away from Ray & the Preacher. We couldn t get a bite. They had some magic that we didn t have. Yep, it was the Preacher PJ As Good As It Gets Wow!!! Did you see the new faces in the crowd at the first weigh-in for the 2011 Season? New club Secretary/Treasurer Tonya Robertson provided me with a spreadsheet showing the results from Arkabutla s tourney...i couldn t help but notice the following stats. 1 We had 39 Teams. That s more than we had at Arkabutla last year. 2 We had 14 new fishing members + 3 new guests. That s 17 people who have never fished with MCC before. We hope all of you will come on back for more exciting tournament fishing action. 3 We had 11 new teams. Folks, that s a big number, especially when you consider the veteran teams from last year who weren t there. 4 Of those 11 new teams, 7 teams are brand new teams teams that have never fished with MCC. The other new teams result from some team restructuring or returning members. 5 There are 9 teams out there that qualified for last season s post-season (that is, that are historically really strong MCC Teams), that I fully expect to see back this season that didn t come to Butla. Then there are another 7 teams that fished more than one tournament with us last season, but didn't qualify for the post-season that I hope will join us this year, too...i ve been doing this a long time, people, and I am more excited about the strength of our numbers than I have been in a long time. The key is to encourage everyone to continue to have fun fishing our events...interesting question came from new member, Tommie Roper, when I told him we averaged between 35 and 45 teams per tournament. Roper asked, Would you like to have a hundred? No was my answer. As I explained to Roper, This is an all-volunteer club. We have no paid employees. All of us who serve as Officers and Directors do so as a labor of love (no really, I said that). I suppose that if I was trying to make a living organizing fishing tournaments my answer would have been different. But, no, I don t want a hundred teams. That s just way too much work... ButThe point for me at least is that I ve seen our numbers grow and decline and grow again. 39 teams on Opening Day is a good number.. When we attract new members, we not only get you, but we also get all you bring to the MCC table. From the get-go we encourage new members to help out. See pages 2 & 3, reference rookie Ron Nobles...Great examples of how new members can contribute are Ray Williams & Rodger Womack, who in their second year, last year, brought in thousands of dollars in sponsorship money and both got elected to the Board. They cook for us at our get-togethers all the time, and are real assets to the club in so many ways. After their rookie season, they came to me and said, Okay, we kinda see how this club thing works. We need members, sponsors, leaders, worker bees and a new scoreboard..you got it, men. Thanks for being/doing/bringing all of the above. Glad to have all our new members. Jump on in here with both feet. PJ

2 Page Issue 2 Nov 1, 2011 Alright...One down. Hey, this is As Good As It Gets! Gee whiz...what a great time we had at Arkabutla. Congratulations to Ray Williams and Mickey Ferguson on a monster catch!! Thank you to all the teams who participated, and a special thank you to the volunteers who helped with the weighin chores and the scoreboard. Are you as excited as Tonya and I are about this new season? What a great tournament schedule the MCC Board approved!!! I look forward to every tournament, and I m betting you are, too. Nov. 12, Registration 5:00 to 5:45 AM Chotard Landing Resort, Lake Chotard, Hwy 465, north of Eagle Lake. Start fishing time: 6:30 AM Stop fishing: 2:00 PM Fishable Waters include Lake Chotard & Lake Albermarle. Tennessee Lake can be fished only if the Vicksburg river gage is above 21 feet on day of tournament. Do not enter or exit to or from the Mississippi River. The Mississippi River is offlimits to all competitors. I want to briefly tell you about a couple of new rules the Board approved the other night. One new rule allows for a 3rd fishing partner on board on T-Day, provided that 3rd fisherman is under the age of 16. Hey, that s a great rule for lots of Dads and Grand Dads. These youngsters can fish without paying a membership fee ($50), and their parents or guardians must sign the liability release form. Also, be aware of the state laws regarding PFDs for minors. And, we passed what the Board called the George Walker Rule. George, you know we love you, and your sug gestion was a great one the whole Board thought so. The new rule allows teams to pay for all the entry fees for the year and not have to report at registration during the regular season. A couple of things one, this new rule pertains to the regular season only. We are trying to reduce the rush during the early morning hours for every team, whether you pay ahead of time or not. Keep in mind that this applies only if a team is paying for all regular tournaments. No, you teams who want to pay for only 6 tournaments to qualify, barely, for the post-season will still need to come to the early morning registrations. Chotard is next, and I hope Ms. Mississippi is good to us!! Don t miss the fish fry Thursday nite at David Thornton s place and the Friday nite Get- Together to be held at Chotard Landing Resort. Rookie member Ron Nobles is bringing some homemade, genuine Louisiana Gumbo on Friday. These socials usually get going around 4:30 or so. This may be the very best tournament of the year! I hope y all smack em!! Any questions? Call Terry Weigh-In: Chotard Landing Resort. Weigh In Tickets must be turned in before 3:00 PM. Pre-fishermen, David Thornton invites all to his house located on the banks of beautiful Eagle Lake at 305 Sea Island Dr for an MCC fish-fry Thursday PM. David says, Bring what you want to drink. I ll provide the rest. Don t miss this special treat, folks. Get there before sunset. What a beautiful view from David s balcony or back yard (I d charge admission if it was me), and the hushpuppies are out of sight, too! If possible, leave your boat elsewhere limited parking when boats are involved. Chotard Landing Resort Registration & Weigh-In David Thornton s Place Fish Fry, Thursday PM

3 Page Issue 2 Nov 1, 2011 Nov 12 Chotard Lake Terry Stewart and Tonya Robertson were last season s Chotard winners. Weighing over 12 pounds in January. V-P Shelton Culpepper tells me they re bigger than ever and there are more of them than ever. Seems the record floods helped the crappie fishery at this ancient Mississippi River-connected oxbow. You can expect the November crappie at Chotard/Albermarle to be feeding up for the winter. They ll hit anything that swims by, Paul, even yore ol crankbaits, promises Shelton I can tell you that I never tire of fishing Chotard. The Johnsons, Mark and Jerry, are wonderful hosts. They really like us really. Because we appreciate the Johnson s hospitality so much, the Board has scheduled 2 Chotard tournaments this season. Where you gonna be November 12th? Chotard Adventure.. Official Tournament Headquarters for Chotard I don t care who you are or where you ve fished before, if you ve never made the Chotard Adventure, you ve been missing out. And, after going over there for over 20 years, to me Adventure is still a very good descriptor. We look forward to our Chotard Trips every season. The fishing can be outstanding yes, As Good As It Gets. I can guarantee you one thing. You will have a lot of fun especially if you make our Thursday and Friday Get-Togethers. Thursday, we ll be at David Thornton s. Friday, Jerry Johnson, owner of Chotard Landing Resort and our host, has invited us to his place for a campfire get-together. MCC Rookie Member, Ron Nobles, from Louisiana, is bringing lots of gumbo. We ll have a couple of grills going to add a few squirrels or ducks just in case we need them. Fall fishing means the fishing at Chotard is fast and furious. They hit everything that swims by, according to Chotard expert MCC V-P Shelton Culpepper. Personal experience tells me that November on Chotard can be unmatched. Come early. Take a day or two off from work. This is absolutely as good as it gets. We ll see you there. Freddie Weeks Johnny Weatherford

4 11/12 Tournament Season Regular Tournaments Oct 22 Arkabutla Nov 12 Chotard Dec 10 Barnett Jan 14 Chotard/Eagle Feb 11 Washington Mar 17 Grenada Apr 14 Sardis May 5 Enid Jun 2 Wolf Minimum participation level for Post- Season qualification is to enter 6 tournament and earn at least 80 points. You get 10 points for entering and 1 point per pound of weighed in fish. Post Season Schedule to be announced. Okay, let s get the Splash for Cash party started! To kick off the season we re offering some early incentives. We ll have a special drawing for 2 $100 bills at the 3rd Regular Tournament Barnett. To be entered in this special cash drawing, you must have turned in your $125 book of raffle tickets & money before the end of the Barnett weigh-in. Every team planning to play in our exciting, high dollar post-season must have sold a minimum of one book ($125 worth) of Splash for Cash tickets per fisherman. Youth fishermen (under age 16) are exempt. Every nickel of this money goes into the post season payout package. So, it s money that we re all competing for. When the MCC leadership Board set this up, their intent was to facilitate a way in which every team could contribute to the post season pots. Splash for Cash has been a great club fund raiser for several years. It s lots of fun, and last year s winner, MCCer Ken Middleton will tell you it s well worth it. The Grand Prize is a $1000 Academy Sports Gift Card. How in the world do you beat that deal? MCC Governing Board President, Paul Johnson Vice President, Shelton Culpepper Sec\Treasurer, Tonya Robertson Tournament Director, Terry Stewart Weighmaster, David Thornton Imm Past President, Brad Taylor Director 2012 John Harrison Director 2012 Ken Middleton Director 2012 Bo Hudson Director 2013 Hugh Krutz Director 2013 Bernard Williams Director 2013 Ray Williams Director 2014 Tommy Moss Director 2014 Eli Rowell Director 2014 Rod Womack Magnolia Crappie Club Shirts & Caps R-O-Y Tommy O Keefe, looks cool in his new official club shirt. Tommy says, These shirts are great. Come get you some! To order shirts call Shelton Culpepper at $12 Short $25 Long $30

5 Page Issue 2 Nov 1, /12 MCC Membership Application (2 partners) SS #: Name: Address: City: St: Zip: Home Phone: Cell phone: Work Phone: address: SS #: Name: Address: City: St: Zip: Home Phone: Cell phone: Work Phone: address: $50 per year $50 per year Membership fees waived for partners under age 16. Please make check(s) payable to Magnolia Crappie Club. Mail to MCC, P.O. Box 12892, Jackson, MS Paul Johnson, President ~ Terry Stewart, Tournament Director ~ , Tonya Robertson, Sec/Treas.

6 Page Issue 2 N ov 1, Arkabutla ~ Top Teams In The Running 6th C Rowell / E Rowell lbs 7th Lowrie / Reasons lbs 8th Nobles / Pender lbs 9th Harris / Tackett lbs 10th M. Blount lbs 11th R. Norwood lbs 12th Womack / Womack lbs 12th Holmes / Morgan lbs 14th Bouchillion/Lowrey lbs 15th Moak / Moak lbs Big Fish 1st Cannon/Gray 2nd Terry/Williams Mickey Ferguson and MCC veteran Ray Williams showed out at Arkabutla. Ray and Mickey pounded the big ones all day long off a main point, out in the middle of the lake. Their lbs is the new Arkabutla record, besting last year s mark of lbs. Let me tell you, 15 pounds in October on 7 crappie is outstanding lbs 2.63 lbs Other Butla Stats 39 boats A Great turnout for our first tournament of the Season.. 35 teams weighed 199 fish Total weight lbs Avg size 1.71 lbs That s outstanding!! Best tournament at Butla, ever. Most teams, heaviest weights. Bernard Williams and Don Terry caught and threw back dozens of 2 lb slabs on TDay. They weighed lbs MCC Rookie Members, Warren Cotton and Kirk Lewis played their Arkabutla cards right weighing lbs, also tie for 3rd. Ray Clary and George Walker weighed in lbs to tie for 3rd place. Great job, men. George, you can sleep in at Chotard. Hugh Krutz & Steve Stevenson show their tournament strength with lbs. Congrats, guys. Y all dun good. Split # 1 Big Mama 2.67 lbs Cannon/Gray $ lbs Terry/Williams $ lbs Driscoll $ lbs Norwood $ lbs Ray Williams $19 As Good As It Gets

7 Overall Points Race Team # Arka Chot Barn Chot II Wash Gren Sard Enid Wolf Total 22-Oct 12-Nov 10-Dec 14-Jan 11-Feb 17-Mar 14-Apr 5-May 2-Jun 1 Ray Williams / Guest Terry / Williams Clary / Walker Cotton / Lewis Krutz / Stevenson Rowell / Rowell Lowrie / Reasons Nobles / Pender Harris / Tackett Monty Blount Roy Norwood Womack / Womack Holmes / Morgan Bouchillion / Lowrey Moak / Moak Johnson / Moss Weatherford / Weeks Hersom / Tindle O'keefe / Vance Harrison / Taylor Robertson / Stewart Cannon / Gray Wade / Wade A.E. Smith / Les Smith Jimmy Smith / Ricky Smith Culpepper / Thornton Horton / Horton C Johnson / Tallant Painter / Guest Driscoll / Guest Blackwell / Blackwell Chappell / Hudson Ratcliff / Ratcliff Criswell / Criswell Roper / Roper Riley / Ward Finkley / Barnes / Mullins Chaney Starnes

8 Magnolia Crappie Club Regular Tournament Rules Season Annual membership dues are $50 per person, and are due on August 1. Children under age of 16 are exempt from this fee. Registration times will be announced, and registration will be held on the morning of each regular tournament. The Tournament Entry Fee is $90 per boat for each regular tournament held. New rule Teams may pay entry fees for the entire season at the beginning of the season and will be considered automatically registered at each tournament. There is no need for these pre-paid teams to come to registration. Fishing start times will be announced for each tournament, and all tournament fishing times end at 2:00 PM. You must be in the weigh-in line by 3:00 PM. Teams may be on their first fishing spot early, but they may not drop hooks into the water until the Official Announced Start Time. Tournament Entries may fish with up to six poles per boat with no more than 2 hook sets per pole unless local lake rules lower the number of poles allowed. New rule Teams are allowed to bring a 3rd fisherman provided that 3rd person is under the age of 16. No more than three people are allowed in tournament boats at any point during the tournament hours except for emergencies, assistance with boat troubles, or assignment of a tournament observer. Cell phones, radios and any other form of electronic communication may not be used to get fishing information. Electronic communication is allowed in the case of boat trouble, emergencies or personal, non-fishing related phone calls. Guest Rule. Teams may invite guests to fish in our regular tournaments. The three person per boat limit applies. At least one of the fishing partners must be a member of MCC. Annual membership dues will be waived for a guests first tournament. Should guests wish to come back and fish in later tournaments the annual membership dues of $50 will be assessed and guests will then become a member of MCC. There is no limit to the number of guests a team can use during the regular season. No guest may fish the State Championship event unless special exemption is granted by the MCC Board. Teams must declare who the regular partners are before the end of the regular tournament season. Weigh-in Rules. Weigh-ins will begin at 3:00 PM. At least one team member must be in the immediate weigh-in area with no more than 7 crappie caught by the tournament team on tournament day in a bucket before 3:00 PM. Teams that have not turned in weigh-in tickets before 3:00 PM will be declared late and receive 10 points only for entering. Fish judged by the Tournament Director to be under 10 inches (12 inches on some COE Lakes) will be thrown out and may not be replaced by another fish. Fish must be kept as healthy as possible. There is no penalty for dead fish, but any fish that is questionable can be taken out by the Tournament Director or Weigh-master. In the event they can not agree, the President will break the tie. The remaining fish will be weighed. Presenting more than 7 crappie to the weigh-in crew will cause the team to be weighed last. Teams should have no form of ice in the container when the container is handed to the weigh-in crew. If ice is present when presented to the weigh-in crew, that team will be weighed last after they have removed all forms of ice from the container. Fish will be weighed only one time. Disqualified teams will receive 10 points for entering. Teams may weigh as many Big Fish as they like. Payouts will be based on the club's Regular Tournament Payout Schedule. Overall Points Rules. Overall points will be kept for the year, and the Top Ten teams will be recognized at the Awards Banquet. Teams will receive 10 points for each regular tournament entered. Fish will be weighed to the nearest 1/100 th of a pound, and points will be assigned to the team's points total at the rate of one point per pound. Big Fish Rules. Every boat is entered in the big fish pot upon registration. This is not optional and is part ($10 per team) of the entry fee. Two Big Fish prizes will be made at each regular tournament. 1 st place is 60%, 2 nd place is 40% of the day's Big Fish Pot. One team may win both Big Fish prizes. Post-Season Payout Rules. To qualify for any of the Post-Season Activities and Payouts, teams must enter or retroactively pay the tournament entry fee for all but three (3) held tournaments, have a total of eighty (80) points or more at the end of the regular season, and each member of the team must sell at least one (1) book of raffle tickets (1 book = 25 tickets). Tournaments that were scheduled but not held do not count for or against a team. Teams may retroactively pay tournament entry fees for any missed regular season tournaments until the close of registration at the last regular tournament. There will be 3 Post-Season Payout pots. (1) Big Mama Pots. The regular season will be divided into two splits. The first split includes the first 5 held regular tournaments. The second split includes the remaining held regular tournaments. Teams may win more than one Big Mama prize per split. The pot will be built at the rate of $5 per boat per regular tournament. The pots for the two season splits may vary depending on the number of boats entered in each split. Five Big Mama prizes per split will be awarded. 1 30%, 2 25%, 3 20%, 4 15%, 5 10%. Additionally a $250 Biggest Big Mama prize will be awarded for the heaviest fish caught during the regular season. (2) Overall Points Payout. $1 per point per team will be awarded to every team that meets the post season qualifications. (3) Championship Payout. This event will be two (2) one-day tournaments + the team with the heaviest 2-day total weight will be declared State Champions and receive an additional $500 prize. Exact dates and lake site(s) will be announced later. Championship rules will be issued. In the event of inclement weather on tournament day, those members of the Governing Board present will meet and may cancel the tournament. Entry fees for canceled tournaments that are not rescheduled will be returned. Canceled tournaments do not count toward qualification for Post- Season activities or payouts. The Tournament Director is in charge of all activities on tournament day. At his discretion, teams may be subject to polygraphs, boat checks, and official observers. In the event a protest is lodged, the Tournament Director will listen to the initial complaint and may decide to take the protest to the Protest Committee as provided in the Club's By-Laws. Protests must be filed with the Tournament Director on the day of the tournament. All Protest Committee and Tournament Director decisions are final. There is no appeals process.

9 Mississippi Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Co. Southern Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Co. Southern Farm Bureau Life Insurance Co., Jackson, MS

10 Thank you Taylor Made Labels for being a Special Level sponsor of MCC this year. You re way too good to us, and we appreciate it!

11 Regular Tournament Payouts Magnolia Crappie Club Sorry, but I published the wrong spreadsheet in Issue I. This one is correct. PJ Teams st $400 $435 $435 $435 $435 $435 $435 $435 $435 $450 $465 2nd $190 $200 $220 $230 $240 $250 $260 $270 $280 $290 $300 3rd $150 $155 $160 $165 $170 $175 $180 $185 $190 $195 $200 4th $125 $130 $135 $140 $145 $150 $155 $160 $165 $170 $175 5th $100 $105 $110 $115 $120 $125 $130 $135 $140 $145 $150 6th $105 $105 $105 $110 $110 $115 $120 $125 $130 $135 $140 7th $100 $100 $100 $105 $105 $105 $105 $110 $115 $120 $125 8th $95 $95 $95 $100 $100 $100 $100 $100 $105 $110 $115 9th $90 $90 $90 $90 $95 $95 $95 $95 $100 $105 $110 10th $85 $85 $85 $85 $90 $90 $90 $90 $95 $100 $105 11th $80 $80 $80 $85 $85 $85 $90 $95 $100 12th $75 $80 $80 $80 $85 $90 $95 13th $75 $75 $80 $85 $90 14th $80 $80 $85 15th $80 Loser Prize $50 $50 $50 $50 $50 $50 $50 $50 $50 $50 $50 Total payout $1,490 $1,550 $1,665 $1,705 $1,815 $1,855 $1,960 $1,995 $2,140 $2,220 $2,385 Entry fees $1,520 $1,600 $1,680 $1,760 $1,840 $1,920 $2,000 $2,080 $2,160 $2,240 $2,320 Teams st $475 $490 $505 $515 $525 $535 $545 $565 $575 $585 $600 2nd $305 $315 $325 $335 $345 $355 $365 $375 $385 $395 $405 3rd $200 $205 $215 $220 $225 $230 $235 $240 $245 $250 $255 4th $175 $180 $185 $190 $200 $205 $210 $215 $220 $225 $230 5th $155 $160 $165 $170 $175 $180 $185 $190 $195 $200 $205 6th $145 $150 $155 $160 $165 $170 $175 $180 $185 $190 $195 7th $130 $135 $140 $145 $150 $155 $160 $165 $170 $175 $180 8th $120 $125 $130 $135 $140 $145 $150 $155 $160 $165 $170 9th $115 $120 $120 $125 $130 $135 $140 $145 $150 $155 $160 10th $110 $110 $110 $115 $120 $125 $130 $135 $140 $145 $150 11th $100 $105 $105 $110 $115 $120 $120 $125 $130 $135 $140 12th $95 $100 $100 $105 $110 $110 $115 $120 $125 $130 $135 13th $90 $90 $90 $95 $100 $105 $110 $110 $115 $120 $125 14th $85 $85 $90 $90 $95 $100 $100 $100 $105 $105 $105 15th $80 $80 $80 $80 $85 $85 $90 $90 $90 $95 $95 Loser Prize $50 $50 $50 $50 $50 $50 $50 $50 $50 $50 $50 Total Payout $2,430 $2,500 $2,565 $2,640 $2,730 $2,805 $2,880 $2,960 $3,040 $3,120 $3,200 Entry fees $2,400 $2,480 $2,560 $2,640 $2,720 $2,800 $2,880 $2,960 $3,040 $3,120 $3,200 Teams st $610 $620 $630 $640 $650 $660 $680 $690 $700 $710 $720 2nd $415 $425 $435 $445 $455 $465 $475 $485 $495 $505 $515 3rd $260 $265 $270 $275 $280 $285 $290 $295 $300 $310 $315 4th $235 $240 $245 $250 $255 $260 $275 $280 $285 $290 $295 5th $210 $215 $220 $225 $230 $235 $240 $245 $250 $255 $260 6th $200 $205 $210 $215 $220 $225 $230 $235 $240 $245 $250 7th $185 $190 $195 $200 $205 $210 $215 $220 $225 $230 $235 8th $175 $180 $185 $190 $195 $200 $205 $210 $215 $220 $225 9th $170 $175 $180 $185 $190 $195 $200 $205 $210 $215 $220 10th $160 $165 $170 $175 $180 $185 $190 $195 $200 $205 $210 11th $145 $150 $155 $160 $165 $170 $170 $175 $180 $185 $190 12th $135 $140 $145 $150 $155 $160 $160 $165 $170 $175 $180 13th $125 $130 $140 $145 $150 $150 $150 $155 $155 $160 $165 14th $110 $115 $115 $120 $125 $130 $130 $135 $140 $140 $145 15th $95 $95 $95 $95 $95 $100 $100 $100 $105 $105 $105 Loser Prize $50 $50 $50 $50 $50 $50 $50 $50 $50 $50 $50 Total Payout $3,280 $3,360 $3,440 $3,520 $3,600 $3,680 $3,760 $3,840 $3,920 $4,000 $4,080 Entry fees $3,280 $3,360 $3,440 $3,520 $3,600 $3,680 $3,760 $3,840 $3,920 $4,000 $4,080

12 Magnolia Crappie Club 1015 Halton Ct. Brandon, MS New Season ~ Old Friends As Good As It Gets Did you hear the one about the Game Warden and the Preacher?