Weekly 50/50 Derby

[profisher]

I'm considering starting weekly 50/50 derbies for both Victoria and Sooke. Winner takes 50% of the pot, the rest is donated at 25% to the hosting venue (ie. Esquimalt Anglers) and the other 25% to The Juan De Fuca Salmon Restoration Society. Fishing would be on Saturday and Sunday each weekend. Say dawn to 1pm each day. Tickets on sale all week and available on Saturday and Sunday mornings at the venue till 9am and must be purchased before you launch. Cost $100 per boat, no limit to how many persons on board. The Victoria 50/50 would have its own boundaries and weigh station and Sooke its own. We wouldn't run on weekends that already have derbies being held to avoid a conflict.
The idea here is a simple to run and fun derby that will directly support local salmon enforcement efforts. No frills just a ticket, a chance to win and support for great causes. Weekly pot sizes and winners could be posted here each week. What do you guys think? Your response will influence my decision.

 

[scott craven]

You might get a better response if the ante was more reasonable?
I don't know too many guys who would buy a $100 ticket every weekend.
However if it was $25 you would surely get some interest.
20 boats x $25= $500
still pretty good bucks for the winner and the charity

 

[profisher]

My thought with the $100 entry is that if 3 or 4 guys fish...its only $25-$33 bucks each or per rod. Very similar to most derbies. If I'm going to take this on (with the Juan De Fuca Salmon Restoration Society) it has to be worth the time and effort every week. Otherwise there are a lot easier ways to raise a couple hundred bucks. Given a $500 total pot = $250 for the winner and $125 each for say Esq Anglers and JDFSRS. I wouldn't be prepared to do all the work required to run this properly each week for that kind of return.

 

[scott craven]

12k a year to the charity's doesn't sound not so bad in my books ?

 

[chris73]

I am not sure profisher. Canadians are a gambling bunch for sure but this might just be too much and too often. Some will certainly try it at first a couple times or so but I would suspect most will get tired of it and interest will slowly die to a level that you will not find it worth your time anymore.

You might be better off organizing a big one day event for SFBC and friends - like a BBQ with beer and girls - and then hit everyone up for donations. Since most here often enough signal their willingness to donate for worthy causes I am sure you could get just as much $ together than with the trickle income from your 50/50 derby idea over the entire year. Just my 2 cents.

 

[profisher]

Sounds like a lot of money but....think about how many hours it takes to run around and make tickets available, gather the entry info, man the weigh station, find people to commit to staffing the scale every week, finalize and post the weekly results etc etc. Every week!!! I would rather plan and hold a single night event (auction or similar) and make the 12k in a single evening....a lot less work and commitment of the volunteers time. Maybe this won't work and the reason I'm asking here first.

 

[Reel Knotty]

Interesting idea, but maybe a broader scope might be in order. Why not, Island wide, have a host and charitable cause organise the event and then send out invites or announcements. That way, given we can fish this island 12 months a year have many derbys. All we have to do is show up!

 

[juandesooka]

I posted to this last night, but it disappeared...doh!

Personally I wouldn't likely pay $100, but I'm not much of a gambler. Those on charters might -- already paying pretty good bucks, and likely 3 or 4 of them, so cost is spread.

Something to consider though, if you did an ongoing thing like this, you would probably have to pursue the proper gaming license charity paperwork. You could fly under the radar on a one-time thing maybe, but with it ongoing would be too easy for the authorities to catch up with you. But maybe you have that in place already for JDFSRS.

Island wide is a neat idea ... every Saturday, people from Tofino, Nanaimo, and south Island competing for who has the hot spot. You could do the entries online, with paypal/credit card -- before dawn on the Saturday. Problem would be to figure out logistics...how to get fish properly weighed in? And the biggie, once the $$ gets bigger, how to control cheating? Once you're talking a few thousand dollars, some folks would do a lot of bad stuff to get that kind of money. Not to be a wet blanket, but that's the sad reality ... so need some clever systems to overcome it. (same problem even if just south island....any time there's more than one weigh in)

 

[wolf]

Sort of like the ol Export A derby to me....

Wolf

 

[sammyslabber]

Salmon Fishing Derby, Halibut derby great idea boys kill all the big fish in the name of sports fishing .U sound like the states with they're Bassmasters crap bet on fishing the only loser is the fish!

 

[profisher]

Ok guys lets put the brakes on a bit. Island wide sounds great but that would be a full time paid position for someone to run it. Thought about it more this afternoon. What about a 3 level entry..$100, $50 or $25 bucks per team. Lets say as an example...15 boats signed up at $100, 15 signed up at $50 and 20 boats signed on at $25. Total pot for the 50 boats is $2,750.00. So charity takes $1,375.00. Now if a $100 team wins they get the other $1,375 and that is it, one winner. However, if a $25 team wins they get 25% of $1,375 or $343.75. That leaves $1,031.25. Now lets say the 2nd largest fish is caught by a $50 team...they get 50% of that, or $515.62. Now the 3rd place team is a $100 team, they get 100% of the balance or $515.62. The more i think about this format the more I like it over the original. Makes for more winning possibilities and should allow more people to participate more often. What do you think?

 

[profisher]

Sammy this level of derby isn't going to greatly increase the numbers of boats on the water over what would already be there. Big fish aren't thrown back now and until the rules say you must they are going to be killed regardless. All we are doing here is trying to raise money for local salmon projects and getting it from the people who are users of the resource.... and where it should come from in the first place.

 

[Duffer]

I love the idea of a Island Wide derby the logistics might be a little difficult but it could be done. Official weigh In stations Id be willing to help you out up here in Comox Valley.

 

[Lipripper]

I love the idea of a Island Wide derby the logistics might be a little difficult but it could be done. Official weigh In stations Id be willing to help you out up here in Comox Valley.

I think that would be key. Remember the Diawa and Export A derbies? This has been done before

 

[Reel Knotty]

Sorry, I wasn't clear in my last post. What I meant by island wide was for example a Sooke derby with benefits going out just like desired in original post. Then the next derby at French creek with benefits to qualicum hatchery. Organized by local area host. And next week,new venue, host and benefactor. Make sense??? I don't expect we'd see weekly derbies, but if we spread the benefits to various hatcheries ect around the island, our kids just might reap the benefits down the road.

 

[profisher]

Don't forget this is a 50/50 proposition in what ever format. And I don't really envision it running as a derby, more like a lottery where you go pick up a ticket to have a chance to win in the event you get the right fish. Some guys will treat it like a derby and try to win, others would just grab a ticket in case they get lucky with a lunker.

 

[Lipripper]

But what if there was a trust or something benefiting the mom an pop hatcheries... or some bucks for the the SFAB? It could be Island wide and it has been done before. Takes some organization and probably some help from ....say fishing stores as official weigh in stations.
I can think of places in Victoria, Sooke, Alberni, Naniamo, CR.... that might jump on board?

 

[profisher]

There are lots of issues with Island wide. Winter...forget it. Other than Vict-Sooke and maybe CR and Naniamo not enough boats fishing to make it worthwhile. Maybe for Island wide six times, once a month during the summer (May - Oct) with one of the 6 being a halibut event. Still a lot more work to organize than at a local only level.

 

[Bassblaster]

The Island wide derby has some merit, but you'd need to add CR and the north island if it's going to truly be an island wide event. The logistics of doing this would be quite the task as you'd need a NON-participating /unbiased judge at every weigh station just to start making it a fair contest. Also, I have to agree with juandesooka on the gaming licence and cheating issues.

If you're looking to donate money to a worthy fishing cause it might be better to put on a spread like the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation does. Dinner at X bucks a plate, drinks, silent auctions through donations etc. Maybe a dance after. You could do this a couple times a year without emptying too many wallets, donate the proceeds to the fishing charity and get SFBC members from across the island and mainland to attend. Tickets could be promoted through the site (I assume the moderators wouldn't have a problem with this particular type of event being advertised here as it helps the cause), and pulling an overnighter could go over with the wives as well. Extra tickets sold as well. Maybe host it in different places each time too to mix it up.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[Charter Tofino]

Great idea profisher. I also agree at least for the start the island wide idea might be overkill.Over the year even if its local that could really donate alot of money to the resource.