Article by Capt. Mark Sampson
On August 8th, boats will depart Ocean City’s Inlet to compete on Day 1 of the 43rd Annual White Marlin Open and then, for the next five days, hundreds of fishing teams take their shot at fame and fortune as they fish in hot pursuit of a big fat fish they can bring to the tournament scales. No less than Sunfest or the 4th of July fireworks, the WMO has become an Ocean City tradition, not only for the competitors, but also the many thousands of spectators who visit the Inlet each day to watch the parade of boats coming from or going to sea, or those who show up at Harbor Island each evening to watch the drama of the weigh-ins. The WMO is indeed a really BIG show!
Of course, the WMO is just one of many tournaments that occur in Ocean City each year. In fact, these days it’s hard to find a full week on the calendar that doesn’t have some kind of tournament happening. From bluefish to blue marlin, just about every fish in our local waters winds up having a bounty on it’s head at some time during the season, and although every tournament is very different from the others in size, rules and targeted species, there are certain similarities that all of them share, including a handful of protocols every participant should follow, both on the water and on the docks, if they wish to participate in the event and possibly wind up in the winners circle.
It’s important for participants to keep in mind that every tournament is run by a relatively small band of tournament directors, and whether the directors actually “own” the tournament or are running it on behalf of a club or organization, the directors have an incredible amount of work to do, and details to take care of, in order to pull-off a successful event. From all the promotions, to dealing with sponsors, t-shirt designs, press interviews, hiring a staff, arranging for a tent or banquet hall, necessary licenses and insurances, liquor sales, banquet menus and supplies, prizes, fishery regulations, trophy purchases and engraving, coordination and cooperation with the host marina, developing and publishing the tournament rules, website management, and so much more. The “to-do” list prior to a tournament is absolutely mind blowing, and the bigger the tournament the bigger the list! You can bet that anyone running a successful tournament started working on it many, many months prior to the first fishing day, and unless they’ve actually run one themselves, I don’t imagine anyone can possibly appreciate what it takes to make a tournament work.
Most anglers don’t run tournaments - they fish in them. And every tournament angler has (or at least should have) a strategy for how they are going to win the event. Such strategies usually involve precise details about where they are going to fish, what type of bait and tackle they’ll use, what tournament categories they’ll target, what days they’ll fish and anything else they can think of that will help them put a winning fish in their boat. After investing large entry fees to compete for what can sometimes be incredibly large cash payouts, fishing teams can end up with a lot on their own plate (and minds) when they go into a tournament. Competitors should not lose track of the fact that when they enter a tournament, it’s no longer “fishing as usual” as there will be important rules and procedures to follow. Most will know what they need to do while they’re out on the water. The following are a few issues some might have to deal with back at the dock:
Protests
Most tournament rules will spell out the proper procedure for filing a protest. Protests usually come about when one team believes that another team has either broken the rules or is being given an unfair advantage in some way. Tournament directors want to know if someone broke the rules so they can address the accusation one way or the other, but it’s important that those filing the complaint do so as directed by the rules, not just as an anonymous person whispering in one of the directors ears, “Hey, so-in-so told me that the boat Pork Chop started fishing half an hour early.” Disqualifying a team for a rule infraction is serious stuff that no director wants to get involved with, but they will if there is proof, not just second hand dock-talk. Some events have “protest fees” just to help ensure that only serious protest are filed.
Polygraph Testing
It’s an unfortunate flaw in human nature that some folks will do anything for money, and big tournament payouts can provide enough incentive for some individuals to stray from the rules. In an effort to keep those who might be tempted on the straight and narrow, and help ease the concerns of honest competitors, it’s not uncommon for tournaments to require that winning team members submit to polygraph testing. Those who are asked to be tested should not feel threatened or insulted since no one is suggesting that they cheated. It’s just a tool that tournament directors have to help all competitors (winners and losers) feel secure that all the prize money went out to those who truly deserved it. Those who fished by the rules have nothing to worry about, but those who didn’t, well…
Read the Rules!
Rules, rules, rules! Every tournament has rules, otherwise it wouldn’t be a tournament, it would just be another day of fishing. When I was a tournament director, I was surprised every year by how many of our competitors didn’t read the printed rules we gave out to every registered team, and there were times when we had to disqualify a team’s catch because they broke a rule they didn’t even know existed.
Most tournaments’ rules are posted ahead of time on their websites allowing anglers ample time to review them before they even enter the race. Sometimes, anglers won’t agree with certain rules, and if they feel strongly enough about it, then they don’t have to enter the event. Prior to the first fishing day, anglers usually have the opportunity to ask for clarifications about rules at the captain’s meeting, but they should not waste everyone’s time by not studying the rules first and then asking questions that are already answered in print. Tournament directors scrutinize there rules closely. They don’t necessarily “want” to have a lot of rules, but in order to cover all bases, sometimes they have to write a rule to keep everything fair for everyone and minimize the chance for cheating.
Exception to the Rules
As a tournament unfolds, not everything on every boat is going to run smooth as silk - boats will break down, tackle will malfunction, anglers and crewmembers will make mistakes. As a result, there will be times when rules will inadvertently or unknowingly be broken, and it’s not uncommon for a team to request that the tournament directors cut them some slack in a rule infraction. Maybe they forgot to declare a lay-day, or someone accidentally touched a rod that someone was fighting a fish on. Whatever they did, it didn’t provide an unfair advantage in making their catch, but even if a tournament director agrees that no harm was done, making an exception to a written rule can spell disaster to a tournament because if you do it for one you’ve got to do it for all and you might as well throw that rule out altogether along with the credibility of the tournament. It’s the responsibility of every team to make every effort to know and follow the rules.
Complaints & Compliments
Tournament directors want to know what you both like and dislike about their event. Unless you’re a total “Butt-Head”, they probably hope you’ll enjoy fishing their tournament so much that you’ll want to come back and fish it again next year. The only way they will know the strengths and weaknesses of their event is if you tell them. If there is something you really like about the event, take a moment and let someone running the show know about it. I guarantee they’ll not only appreciate your comment but also remember it when planning future tournaments. Likewise, if there is something you don’t like about a tournament, in a respectful way, pass that along as well. Your complaint might be a very easy fix for the tournament directors, or at the very least, you will give them the opportunity to explain why they did what they did.
Capt. Mark Sampson is an outdoor writer and captain of the charter boat, “Fish Finder”, docked at the Ocean City Fishing Center.
