As many of you know, there were a few obstacles to overcome last Saturday in regards to the distribution of weigh in bags. Obviously, there were a lot more fish caught and the demand for bags went up considerably. This also affected the flow of traffic considerably. With your help, we can alleviate a lot of problems we saw last Sunday at the upcoming April 13th tourney. Here are a few things you really need to emphasize with your team and your captains to help things run much smoother in the parking lot and in the distribution of weigh bags:
1. Every team must use our black weigh bags. No personal bags are to be used. No exceptions.
2. There are only 40 bags. Bags are limited for fish care reasons. We don’t want 100 people standing at the tanks with fish in their bags. It’s better for us to be waiting in line for a bag than it is for the fish to be waiting in that bag to be weighed.
3. Fish are always better off in your live wells with pumps running rather than in a stagnant weigh bag. According to officials at the Texas State Fish Hatchery, fish will deplete the available oxygen in a bag in just 7 to 9 minutes!!! On Sunday, we had several teams “transporting” the fish down the hill in their own bags, only to find themselves waiting for an “official” bag to move their fish into. This is a very serious fish care issue we must resolve immediately. This never needs to happen. A lot of those teams doing this were afraid they were going to be late. Please reiterate to your kids and captains that fish don’t have to weighed in at a certain time. If the team is “checked in” (card returned)by 3pm, they are GOOD!!
To help us next time please instruct your captains and anglers to do the following on Sunday April 13th.
Once in the parking lot and traffic starts to back up (This usually happens when the middle aisle becomes full), have one angler walk down the RIGHT SIDE (away from traffic flow) of the lot (if looking toward pavilion) with their boat card. Have them check in (card in hand) and get in line to get a weigh bag. Remember, as long as the team is in the parking lot line by 3 pm, they are OK!! We will have someone out there with official time to document late arrivals. 3:01 is considered one minute late, after 3:15, no fish will be weighed. Once a weigh bag is attained, fish may then be removed from live wells when vehicle is PARKED. Please do not attempt to bag your fish while in the traffic line or moving in the traffic line!!
Livewells ON
Check IN (yellow card)
Get Bag
Park
Remove Fish
Weigh
