Tournament Dilema

[Steve Helscher]

The officers or our club, (I am the VP) cancelled our tournament on the Mississippi this Sunday because of high water and the ramps being submerged. In order to get the boat on the ramp, the tow vehicle was up to the frame in water. The current made it very difficult to load and unload.



We are not second guessing our decision, I am just curious to hear your reactions to this. There were a few guys that were very upset. Anyone have a similiar situation to relate?



Thanks for any replies.

 

[Wendell Little]

In the interest of safety, you gotta do what ya gotta do! How about rescheduling?

 

[Anotherdink Scott Chambers]

great call as far as I am concerned, safety first, we delay for fog alot, and arrange a back up always. If the ohio is high the pres or vp calls everyone a day or 2 out and we hold on a local lake that isnt as effected by high water.

 

[Staci Matheis]

I am well familiar with the Mississippi. I've fished it many, many times over many, many years.



When at normal levels, the pooled sections of the river are absolutely beautiful but can still be quite dangerous..... Submerged wing dikes..... Floating trees..... Mud shallows....



When it gets more than a couple of feet over normal pool, you're taking your life into your own hands to go out there.



I don't know what level it's at here in St. Louis or up where you are right now (I've recently gotten a new computer and my link to the Corps of Engineers web page is on the old one) but I would guess something like 10 feet over normal pool..... Only someone with a death wish would go out.

 

[Greg Meyer]

I have lived on and with the Mississippi River my whole life... (Staci keeps reminding that that is now a very, very long time! LOL) And, the advice Staci gave you is absolutely right... What is a peaceful idyllic river at normal pool is a "killer" when at flood conditions...

 

[Max Neathamer2]

Have a secondary body of water near by set up for just such occasions for each Tounament. my .02



Max <><

 

[Al Greco]

In our club the VP makes the call on whether or not it is safe or not. When it's not safe we have a back up lake that is used to fish the tournament instead. All of this is in our bylaws so there isn't any issues with members getting pissed when they spent time pre-fishing a certain body of water and come tournament day cannot fish the lake. We've had to do this twice and never regretted it. Better to be safe than sorry.

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Safety first. I would never want someone getting injured on my consience, ever!!



TOXIC

 

[Greg Meyer]

Hey Tox...; thinking about what you said, " I would never want someone getting injured on my consience, ever!!"... Unless I meant for them to be... Then I would hate for it not to happen... But, then if I do it is never an accident...

 

[Carlos Hathcock III]

Greg,

Remind me to NOT piss you off, ok HAHAHAHAHAHAH



Carlos

 

[Staci Matheis]

Carlos.....



Take my word for it, Greg does not piss off easily. He is exctremely calm and cool headed! However, as we both know from his background, he knows what to do when the situation calls for action.



He makes a Great Friend!

Get to know him if you ever get the chance!



me!

 

[Michael Snow]

You should do as the Texans do.... dam up every tiny little trickling creek to make a reservoir. HIGH water is rarely an issue. Now, 15' low, that's a whole other ball of wax -- reserved for West Texas usually.

 

[Staci Matheis]

Mike, you used to live in St. Louis.....

Have you ever fished the pooled sections of the Mississippi?

 

[Steve Helscher]

The meeting was not too bad this afternoon. the one guy who was the most upset blew off his steam. we went on with the meeting and he was helpful in our discussions about rescheduling the missed tournament and our upcoming open tournament. We are going to explore the possibility of having a backup for this type of problem rears its ugly head again. Thanks for the comments, they were really helpful.

 

[Casey Campbell]

Ok, I'll bite, possibly to my own detriment, but Greg et. all's comments need a little explanation...

 

[Staci Matheis]

Septik -



Greg has a very heavy law enforcement/military background. Today, he's just another computer geek who likes the laziness of walleye fishing. He gets kidded about it regularly by those of us who know him!







Firebird -



You mean to tell me that someone actually had objections to cancelling a tournament on the Mississippi this weekend?

 

[Texas Transplant]

How many 'lakes' are there in Texas, that are natural?



Answer : 1



Caddo Lake



If 'we' hadn't put in damns, there would be no other lakes; not much electricty, and certainly not enough water.



However, back in the early 90's (when I lived in DFW), all of the North Texas lakes were closed to boat traffic. That's what 23" of rain in several weeks will do for you. Most of the time, you had trouble finding the parking lot at the ramps, much less the ramps.



Tex

 

[Michael Snow]

We just try to steal Caddo from LA anyway. My point was we don't have any "real" rivers down here (at least not around DFW), and that most of our lakes are low rather than overfilled. If we'd quit watering our lawns, we wouldn't have such a water issue. Of course, if we'd all quit bathing, we wouldn't have near the water issue either -- nor the number of pregnancies