# Xtreme Redfish REALLY SCARED...



## rojogrande (Jul 31, 2008)

Really on canceling...

Qossible Decision to maybe trailer? that's weak... 

A:

a) Buy a bigger boat
b) grow a sack
c) donate your money and sleep in til wind lays
d) fish in the harbor at nearest launch

Q: No secret, Wind Blows on the gulf Coast. Canceling is gay?

a) T
b) F

Defining a tournament angler / team / boat is: going against not so perfect weather conditions, tides, equipment, etc... Disappointed in this series...


----------



## LPKENNER (Apr 26, 2006)

Well said!!!


----------



## KINGDOG (Mar 28, 2011)

*XRT*

Difficult decision to make. I was looking forward to fishing, however, I did pre-fish it today, launching from Top Water. It was not so bad going out, but coming back crossing the bay was as bad as I have ever seen. running a Majek Extreme with a 250 it was still a challenge. I'm sure The last thing Benny wanted to do was call it off, but sometimes you gotta make the tough choices. See you in August.

P.S. The Top Water launch area was ridiculous, tons of debris in the water including large pieces of wood, one about 4 foot long 1/2 submerged with cleat still in it ( prop killer). They need to clean that up before I will launch from there again.


----------



## bubbas kenner (Sep 4, 2010)

Good info guys thanks for info keep it coming its a 2cool thing to warn people of these things.


----------



## mp406 (Apr 25, 2008)

*XRT*

I don't understand canceling myself, the wind calls for 10 to 20 Sat. And the wind has been 20 plus for a few months. Why wait till last minute to cancel? I pre fished thur and fri for this tourney and it cost me two vacation days from work. maybe the entries were not there, but canceling because of wind is BS. I think Benny runs a good tourney, but with all the **** from last year this can't help this series. I can understand canceling for severe weather, but I fished a tourney out of topwater a few weeks ago in 20 to 30 winds and ran across east bay and back. It was not easy but it is tourney fishing.
My 2cents!


----------



## rojogrande (Jul 31, 2008)

*Side note...*

...I fished a tourney out of Port A a couples years back that a norththern blew 40 at least (at the launch) Tournament not cancelled but the boys with the nuts and right boat, won, period... That is tournament fishing. Guess I'll trade my rig in for a kayak... Can a kayak tourney get cancelled for wind?!?!


----------



## Red Line (Jun 9, 2009)

It is called common sense.......wake up a little earlier and trailer the boat if that will keep you out of the wind. Be safe, life is too short for us to take unnecessary risk. I pre-fished for a tourney in May out of Top Water on a Friday, Sat. morning as will pulled into the bay around Eagle Point the wind was howling. We hit a few four to five footers, we turned around and went back to the boat ramp. We trailered our boat to a protected area and placed in the top ten for that tourney. PLAY IT SAFE


----------



## Profish00 (May 21, 2004)

Location, lol


----------



## rojogrande (Jul 31, 2008)

Common sense is not to change the format when you sign up to fish for 10k day before tournament...If you sign up, fish it, and if your boat can't handle it, tough $hit, you donated your money. I have donated plenty and I didn't ***** because the tides weren't perfect or the moon wasn't lined up just right or blah blah...

I'm all for safety don't get me wrong but this is just JV

P.S. if I'd known this woulda possibly been a trailering tourney my prefishing $$$ and time would have been spent waaaaay different because of conditions All week....as would most of the teams in this event



Red Line said:


> It is called common sense.......wake up a little earlier and trailer the boat if that will keep you out of the wind. Be safe, life is too short for us to take unnecessary risk. I pre-fished for a tourney in May out of Top Water on a Friday, Sat. morning as will pulled into the bay around Eagle Point the wind was howling. We hit a few four to five footers, we turned around and went back to the boat ramp. We trailered our boat to a protected area and placed in the top ten for that tourney. PLAY IT SAFE


----------



## Epik Metal Buildings & Concrete (Sep 2, 2010)

I am out here now in east trinity on the shoreline my seadoo made it just fine, thanks jet ski Brian


Live crawfish on a treble hook is working deem reds


----------



## Capt. Juarez (Jun 20, 2008)

*this is a though one*

The decision to cancel a tourney is a hard one to make. Thoughts like your reputation , your tournaments reputation, what is the participation gonna be, safety factors, anglers constantly calling wanting to cancel some call not wanting to cancel, the list goes on and on. I know a bunch of guys are ****** about the decision and a bunch are happy that they made the call a the same time. I was pretty stoked when I heard we might be able to trailer thinking how much of an asssss whipping that was gonna save us but then started thinking of all the scooter and flats boat that was gonna give a huge possible advantage too. Either way the decision cancel or fish was gonna to be the right and the wrong one to make.. Gotta love Galveston Bay............. My 1.5 cents

Capt Brent Juarez
GTTS


----------



## Texxan1 (Dec 31, 2004)

Out of the choices He had to make, he made the correct one. I was ready to fish, no matter the conditions but I have the right boat for it but many people do not.

Its a matter of safety and he made a decision. The end

See you guys in august!!!!!!!!!

Capt Thomas


----------



## Flash1 (Jul 10, 2009)

I have never fished an XRT event but have fished many other tournaments. My thoughts on the wind issue is let the guys trailer. Well they did that.... now cancel?? Dont understand that at all. Deal with the wind and go fish. Not blowing THAT bad compared to what it has been. Afterall.. isnt this a big boy tourney where dealing with Mother Nature and overcoming what she throws at you gets you a check? This will hurt XRT events in the future... I hope not but I believe it will.


----------



## MsAddicted (Jan 25, 2005)

Flash1 said:


> I have never fished an XRT event but have fished many other tournaments. My thoughts on the wind issue is let the guys trailer. Well they did that.... now cancel?? Dont understand that at all. Deal with the wind and go fish. Not blowing THAT bad compared to what it has been. Afterall.. isnt this a big boy tourney where dealing with Mother Nature and overcoming what she throws at you gets you a check? This will hurt XRT events in the future... I hope not but I believe it will.


No, they didnt let us trailer. The three options were a) hold the tournament and deal with the liability (and deal with the complaints) b) Let people trailer and launch where they wanted (and deal with the complaints) or c) postpone (and deal with the complaints).

Benny threw some options out at some of the tournament participants during the day friday to see what the reaction would be. By far the overwhelming negative reaction was to allowing people to trailer where the wanted to. The liability of holding it was too much so really, the only option was postponement.

Its a no win decision but it was the best one.


----------



## Splash (Oct 22, 2004)

Lingerie on the Bay in Matagorda today. I am sure they all took off at start time this morning. Just saying.


----------



## juanpescado (Dec 22, 2006)

Splash said:


> Lingerie on the Bay in Matagorda today. I am sure they all took off at start time this morning. Just saying.


Yep, the LADIES did....


----------



## Bocephus (May 30, 2008)

Now that's too funny....Go Girls !!!


----------



## Benny (May 21, 2004)

I made the decision to postpone the tournament based soley on the safety of the participants. We took a hard look at the current and projected wind forecast, as well as the advisories that were in place for Galveston. We knew we could get the boats out of the harbor this morning, but were concerned with what the afternoon conditions would be. If you have ever been in or out of Topwater in 25-30kt winds, it's not only very rough, it can be very dangerous. 

I can appreciate why the few teams that were upset over my decision. It was not an easy decision, but I will always stand behind a decision like this based on safety. 

We did kick around an idea of allowing our teams to trailer their boats, but after speaking to many anglers and discussion with the XRT staff, we decided it would not be right to change the rules, especially if the change could potentially benefit someone. That left us with going ahead with the tournament, which we likely would have if we were at a different venue. The Madagorda harbor for instance offers the anglers a lot more options with regard to safe water, or postponing. I opted for the latter with the anglers safety of utmost importance. 

After seeing the 28mph gusts at Eagle Point today, I am happy with the decision. BTW, we were not the only tournament in the area that elected not to fish today. 

Call it what you want, disagree with it, but I would make the same decision again given the circumstances and venue.


----------



## KINGDOG (Mar 28, 2011)

Benny, I saw your face yesterday at Top Water and it was obvious this was a difficult decision and you were no doubt more disappointed than most. Thanks for the work you and your staff did. I know I will be back in August for my and my partners 10 grand.

Eric


----------



## Epik Metal Buildings & Concrete (Sep 2, 2010)

I got a ticket for doing 79 in a 65 today. If I were fishing outta the "big" boat in the tourney this would not have happened. I am all upset now

Oh yeah thanks jet ski Brian.


----------



## justinn (Apr 8, 2011)

rojogrande said:


> ...I fished a tourney out of Port A a couples years back that a norththern blew 40 at least (at the launch) Tournament not cancelled but the boys with the nuts and right boat, won, period... That is tournament fishing. Guess I'll trade my rig in for a kayak... Can a kayak tourney get cancelled for wind?!?!


No, no they dont lol. we ended up having one with 54 mph gust in may. It was terrible and probably should have been canceled but we went out and did it anyway lol. This was spi though


----------



## troutomatic1488 (Jun 18, 2006)

Why not have a captains meeting and have a vote instead of talking to a few and making a decision for all.


----------



## rojogrande (Jul 31, 2008)

TROUTOMATIC said:


> Why not have a captains meeting and have a vote instead of talking to a few and making a decision for all.


Even if you did that you still had guys prefishing, spending the time and money in very similar conditions all week, ready to go. IMO, unless it's a no brainer for ALL (not just the smaller boats) participants the tournament should have taken place. I have never tried signing up for a marlin tournament (out of the bay boat) praying for calms seas and then ***** and moan when there is 2-3'....


----------



## j wadd (Sep 21, 2009)

great call benny.... let them say what they want it was the right decision.. having a tourney series myself along with capt juarez, the last thing we would want to happen is for that one guy to get hurt during the tourney with horrible conditions and possibily sue the tourney series or the director.. theres always that one that will try to do it and there for we would not have no more series or xrt... they can say go buy a bigger boat to run across the bays and blah blah blah,, but whats the adzvantage of it if you cant fish open water with it blowing 40.. i am all for the safety of the anglers and you mabe a great call... for all you guys down south that say you fish when its blowing 30 all the time then obviously you dont fish galveston bay much let know run across the middle of it.. its a little diffrent when you have a ship channe running right down the middle of your bay.....


----------



## Navi (Jun 2, 2009)

Craigred said:


> I got a ticket for doing 79 in a 65 today. If I were fishing outta the "big" boat in the tourney this would not have happened. I am all upset now
> 
> Oh yeah thanks jet ski Brian.


mmmk


----------



## whos your daddy (Jun 2, 2004)

We have been running offshore tournaments for the past 7 years. We have been lucky and only had to re-schedule one event until this year. This year is odd and I hope it gets better. Had to re-schedule 2 offshore tournaments so far this year because of the weather. Let one person get hurt or killed in your event because of allowing a tournament to continue in adverse weather conditions and your event gets a bad reputation forever, not including the regret your tournament committee will have. These descisons to fish or not fish is hard. Folks make plans early, rent houses, take time off from work , etc. But satefy is and should be priority one. We were in Matagorda all weekend and yes we did watch the weigh in for the LOTB tourney. I spoke to several of the ladies and they said the conditions where horrible and windy. Did they catch fish? , Yes. Glad nobody got hurt. Offshore Tournaments are different from Inshore Tourtnaments I know. Our tournaments cant continue with a windy forecast, some bay tourneys can. Benny, your going to get good comments and bad comments, but I feel your sided with safety on your descision. With those bay boats that can go 70 + mph, it only takes one bad wave to cause disaster.


----------



## Epik Metal Buildings & Concrete (Sep 2, 2010)

Navi said:


> mmmk


A rabbit? Jetski Brian doesnt have a rabbit?

Thanks jetski Brian


----------



## jerry109999 (Oct 14, 2005)

Welcome to the world to tournament redfishing, I personally think a decision to cancel was the correct call. I would have been happy to trailer my rig to a better position to launch and fish but no big deal that it was called off. 

NOW, WHEN WAS THE DECISION MADE TO CANCEL AND WHY DIDN'T SOMEBODY CALL THE CAPTAINS AND LET THEM KNOW THAT IT WAS A NO GO INSTEAD OF LETTING EVERYBODY GET THERE AND THEN FIND OUT.

Each event you fill out a card that gives contact phone and also email. You pay online and payment information requests phone and email information. Why develop this information pool and not use it when it could actually help the captains. Due to Houston traffic it took me 3 hours to get to Top Water, left at 3:30 and got there just before 7:00 to find out its a no go. I don't think that decision was made when I pulled up so at some point a decision was made and the decision makers decided to also not tell you till you get there, THANKS.


----------



## freesp00l (Jul 10, 2007)

jerry109999 said:


> NOW, WHEN WAS THE DECISION MADE TO CANCEL AND WHY DIDN'T SOMEBODY CALL THE CAPTAINS AND LET THEM KNOW THAT IT WAS A NO GO INSTEAD OF LETTING EVERYBODY GET THERE AND THEN FIND OUT.


I believe the decision was not made until the director made it to Topwater to judge the water conditions personally. I did not even know till I was about 5 minutes away. We even had people travel in from TN to help with the event. This was a hard decision, but it was made for the safety of the anglers. Benny was nice enough to provide food and drinks to all those who drove out for the captains meeting.


----------



## KillerShrimp (Jan 12, 2005)

Im confused with all the talk about the series being sued for someone being hurt or god forbid being killed. Dont you have to sign a waiver to compete in these tournments? You


----------



## Haute Pursuit (Jun 26, 2006)

KillerShrimp said:


> Im confused with all the talk about the series being sued for someone being hurt or god forbid being killed. Dont you have to sign a waiver to compete in these tournments? You


A waiver won't keep people from suing you. You may prevail with it but you will foot the cost of defending yourself.


----------



## KillerShrimp (Jan 12, 2005)

Well heck only part of my question came out. HP I understand what your saying here but your gonna run a risk of being suied anyway this day in society. Yes the chances of someone getting hurt goes up with more factors, I had asked about a rule being put into effect that would stop this issue, like no fishing with a wind over 25mph. Im sure the tournament director is looking at it now after this issue.


----------



## Haute Pursuit (Jun 26, 2006)

KillerShrimp said:


> Well heck only part of my question came out. HP I understand what your saying here but your gonna run a risk of being suied anyway this day in society. Yes the chances of someone getting hurt goes up with more factors, I had asked about a rule being put into effect that would stop this issue, like no fishing with a wind over 25mph. Im sure the tournament director is looking at it now after this issue.


Well if I was tournament director I would want to minimize my exposure if I could. Waivers are not worth their weight in water IMO. I know Benny and trust his/their judgement on this.


----------



## KINGDOG (Mar 28, 2011)

My understanding is Coast Guard responded to several distress calls yesterday. Even the best can't beat mother nature all the time


----------



## Epik Metal Buildings & Concrete (Sep 2, 2010)

Jetski Brian can

Thanks jet ski Brian


----------



## whos your daddy (Jun 2, 2004)

KillerShrimp said:


> Well heck only part of my question came out. HP I understand what your saying here but your gonna run a risk of being suied anyway this day in society. Yes the chances of someone getting hurt goes up with more factors, I had asked about a rule being put into effect that would stop this issue, like no fishing with a wind over 25mph. Im sure the tournament director is looking at it now after this issue.


We have this in all of our offshore tournaments and its a good idea. It states that seas over 5 ft is grounds for cancellation. Good to put something like that in the rules.


----------



## rojogrande (Jul 31, 2008)

KINGDOG said:


> My understanding is Coast Guard responded to several distress calls yesterday. Even the best can't beat mother nature all the time


coast guard should have been there when you took that pic in your avatar


----------



## txflats (Aug 12, 2004)

Isn't having boats running 70-80 plus mph from the same harbor just as much a liability as rough conditions.


----------



## gater (May 25, 2004)

*Tournament*

Other than fishing being bad I don't see the reason for cancelling. We have a fished in much worse conditions including running out of Kemah with the wind blowing SE at 25+.

I fish a local ladies tournament Saturday and it was tough but have fished in much worse conditions. It was gusting to 23 mph Saturday morning to me thats not conditions to cancell a tournament but its Benny's call and if I were fishing it I would go along with what he decided.

Gater


----------



## KINGDOG (Mar 28, 2011)

rojogrande said:


> coast guard should have been there when you took that pic in your avatar


25 foot Majek.... Seemed like the right thing to do at the time. Coast Guard took the picture!


----------



## JimD (May 25, 2004)

This is about as consistent of a windy spring that I have seen and a lot of Galveston bay system is getting blown apart by these non stop winds. Lot of people are not used to fishing them and need to be careful and pick your area to launch and fish. 

For those who have not fished Baffin or ULM/LLM , this type of wind is what you see down there in South Texas on a consistent basis day in and day out during the spring.


----------



## txfishon (Jul 17, 2006)

*XRT*

My partner and I pre-fished Wednesday to Friday ... It was WINDY every day ... Did I ever feel like we put our self in a unsafe situation ?? NO due to the fact we fish out of a nice hull that handles the water well ... But we never crossed the middle of Galveston bay ... If we had done that we would have been safe because we know how to drive the boat in that type of situation.... Dropping the hammer and doing 60 + in 4 foot SLOP is not being safe !! IMO ... The word you can launch were ever you want was BAD news for us, we based our fishing on the area we had to fish out of ... When the word of cancelled came it upset us because we took time off of work, spent money, worked hard at finding fish, (and we did) so it was a downer... Bad idea to cancel ? NO ... Bad idea to hold a event from Top Water in the first place ? YES ... To many other venues would offer better options to fish that bay system IMO !! 

We will continue to fish the XRT events ... this is not a deal breaker !! BUT IT DID SUCK :hairout:


Freddy

<')))>{


----------



## Mike77015 (Dec 27, 2007)

SW at 25 is fishable almost everywhere in the LM. It is not advisable anywhere on Galveston Bay.


----------



## Mike77015 (Dec 27, 2007)

txfishon said:


> My partner and I pre-fished Wednesday to Friday ... It was WINDY every day ... Did I ever feel like we put our self in a unsafe situation ?? NO due to the fact we fish out of a nice hull that handles the water well ... But we never crossed the middle of Galveston bay ... If we had done that we would have been safe because we know how to drive the boat in that type of situation.... Dropping the hammer and doing 60 + in 4 foot SLOP is not being safe !! IMO ... The word you can launch were ever you want was BAD news for us, we based our fishing on the area we had to fish out of ... When the word of cancelled came it upset us because we took time off of work, spent money, worked hard at finding fish, (and we did) so it was a downer... Bad idea to cancel ? NO ... Bad idea to hold a event from Top Water in the first place ? YES ... To many other venues would offer better options to fish that bay system IMO !!
> 
> We will continue to fish the XRT events ... this is not a deal breaker !! BUT IT DID SUCK :hairout:
> 
> ...


What other spot could have held the tournament for Galveston?


----------



## Pescados Locos Tony (Feb 6, 2007)

Benny made the right call...let me propose this situation to you.

Word was getting around by early Sat. that we may be able to launch where ever we wanted, or a 2-3 more protected launch spots. I don't know of many people who had not heard this by the time of the Capts. meeting Sat. 

Just the fact that benny considered moving the launch location has put him in a hard spot...basically it sets in stone the fact that he MAY have thought the conditions were not ideal, and could possibly be dangerous.

Now, Benny is hearing people whine about the launch possibly being moved or opened, im sure alot of these folks threatened to never fish the XRT again, or take their deposit and leave.

SO, Benny risks losing reputation, and possibly entries if he does move the launch.

BUT, he has already expressed to some that he has thought the conditions may be to rough to be considered safe. IF he were to recant, and continue on with the tournament planned, and someone were to get hurt.....I cannot imagine the lawsuits that would follow, im sure something along the lines of,

"So, Mr. Landrum.....you KNEW the conditions MAY be to rough....and you decided to to put my clients husband in harms way because....PEOPLE WERE WHINING....why didnt you just cancel the tournament and allow the entrants to fish at a later date??"

Would be said.

We were going to fish either way, launches moved or not....


----------



## TexasJ (Jun 19, 2006)

I shelled out some extra cash to fish out of a bigger boat for the tourny. I even launched my boat right before the Captains Meeting at Top Water to judge my ability to run in the chop. Having jumped through a few extra loops to put myself into a position to fish in the wind, I was dissapointed it was cancelled. But safety/liability rules and I understand the decision.

Thanks, Benny, for the food and drinks. It was a nice consolation.


----------



## Swamp Root (May 12, 2009)

How many confirmed (paid) entries were there when the cancelation occured? 

This sucks for all, maybe have the next one at Stingaree?? Well protected, and central location!


----------



## txfishon (Jul 17, 2006)

*Other venues*



Mike77015 said:


> What other spot could have held the tournament for Galveston?


Galveston yacht club .. Tiki island.. Stingaree .. All those places could have held a event that large ... Top Water is very exposed is all I'm saying !! 

Freddy


----------



## justinsfa (Mar 28, 2009)

txflats said:


> Isn't having boats running 70-80 plus mph from the same harbor just as much a liability as rough conditions.


No joke... Would it have been cancelled if it was 105 degrees out there with no wind??? What about the safety due to heat related injuries.... What if it was a low tide and not all the boats could run easily???

I have no part in any tournament what so ever, but I have been keeping up with this thread and I am baffled.

I thought the weather was part of the whole scheme of things.... The ones who adjust to ALL conditions prevail.

If your boat/captain cant handle a 25mph wind, make arrangments for a better suited boat or fish from the ramp. Take off your panties and put on a life jacket....


----------



## Spec-Rig.006 (Nov 2, 2007)

Cash award + validation of self esteem/image through fishing = this thread.


----------



## Wadefishin (May 19, 2010)

This does not suprise me. Maybe they should have just let them fish another two hours longer.


----------



## redman35 (Jul 1, 2008)

I do not fish the XRT, but i understand with this day in age and everyone that is sue happy to take the chance on someone sueing him and even if they didn't win the case the cost of the lawyers and time off of work to attend he would have still lost a lot of money. I am sure it is better for him to hear all of you cry and whine about it being cancelled.


----------



## justinsfa (Mar 28, 2009)

How does one go about suing a tournament? Just wondering how it would hold up in a civil court....

Its a voluntary event. 

If the event took the blame for a capsized vessel at this event, then they would have to take the blame for all damage to any vessel at any of their events. Same goes for injuries.... No one holds a gun to these guys' heads and says, Hey, you have to fish today.... or Hey, you have to buy a shallow water scooter.....


----------



## Swamp Root (May 12, 2009)

justinsfa said:


> How does one go about suing a tournament? Just wondering how it would hold up in a civil court....
> 
> Its a voluntary event.
> 
> If the event took the blame for a capsized vessel, then they would have to take the blame for all damage to any vessel at any of their events. Same goes for injuries....


x2 Justin, I'm wondering the same! Personally I think all the talk of lawsuits is BS!! No one can make me fish a tournament, but ME!! If I'm willing to put mine and my partners life on the line for a little $$, then its on me as the captain... not the tourney!!


----------



## KINGDOG (Mar 28, 2011)

*Rescue near San Leon*

San Leon man, son rescued

By John DeLapp
Correspondent
Published June 20, 2011
A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter crew rescued a pair of men about one mile north of Eagle Point.

About 10 a.m. Sunday, the helicopter was on patrol over Galveston Bay when the crew spotted an overturned 18-foot boat, a Coast Guard press release said.


----------



## KINGDOG (Mar 28, 2011)

From what (the Rasmussens) told the crew, it was really windy and the offshore conditions were not very good,” she said. “They said they went over three or four waves and then the bow hit in the water (and the boat overturned.) They said it happened pretty quickly


----------



## Mike77015 (Dec 27, 2007)

justinsfa said:


> How does one go about suing a tournament? Just wondering how it would hold up in a civil court....
> 
> Its a voluntary event.
> 
> If the event took the blame for a capsized vessel at this event, then they would have to take the blame for all damage to any vessel at any of their events. Same goes for injuries.... No one holds a gun to these guys' heads and says, Hey, you have to fish today.... or Hey, you have to buy a shallow water scooter.....


I guess the same could be said about coffee. Mcdonalds did'nt force Stella Liebeck to buy her hot coffee, but when she spilled it on herself they sure had to pay $2.86 MM for it.


----------



## justinsfa (Mar 28, 2009)

Ya, but McDonalds didn't quit selling coffee though did they??? A simple waiver should have handled all of this (i saw mention of one in a previous post, but cant remember what the post said about it). 

Although,this talk of lawsuits is digression... I understand about the guys wanting everybody to be safe, but come on.... it wasnt a hurricane out there.... ive seen bass tournaments that have been held in much worse conditions.


----------



## Red Line (Jun 9, 2009)

Check this out.....Benny, IMO you did the right thing.

http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2011/06/father_son_rescued_from_galves.html


----------



## Rhettfish (Nov 5, 2007)

In my opinion it was definitely the wrong decision to cancel. It would have been maybe slightly more justified had the wind been from any easterly direction, but it was due south. Which made the water conditions infront of topwater fairly easily to run through, not to mention all you had to do was get to the mose's lake shoreline and with a due south it is mostly protected all the way to the dike. After the dike it is good to go either direction. Now if you were going to Trinity you were $crewed, but oh well, I know the winning stringers came from there the weekend before.....that's why we were so ready to fish in the wind in this one......I'm pretty sure the cup or FLW wouldn't have cancelled for 25mph winds


----------



## Blake Tyler (Mar 21, 2009)

Mike77015 said:


> I guess the same could be said about coffee. Mcdonalds did'nt force Stella Liebeck to buy her hot coffee, but when she spilled it on herself they sure had to pay $2.86 MM for it.


They were serving the coffee at a tempature that was hotter than what it should have been, and the warning lable on the cup was neither large enough nor sufficient.


----------



## gonefishing2 (Apr 28, 2011)

Its just a fishing tournament, not worth any significant risk. Benny is a great guy and a fisherman, so he knows what is right and wrong when it comes to these sorts of decisions. Stand by him 100%. 
AS for the complaining, well sometimes people think they are on fish, or the weather suits them or doesnt, like the guy who caught 30+ 6-9 lbers while prefishing(which if he did Im not sure what he was thinking, I mean he couldnt stop after 5 or even 10 6-9 lbers... bright idea). etc. If your truly good at fishing, you will find them again. 

Now is when you hear everyone was on 10lbers until the tourney was cancelled. In which maybe a dozen fish over 9 are weighed in each year in all the tournaments. I have seen maybe 3, 18lb stringer in all the years in probably over 100 poly graphing tournaments.

I guess my point is is quit crying about it. Who knows, Benny may have done you a huge favor, financial or even physical. I would call him and thank him.


----------



## RedXCross (Aug 7, 2005)

Yep, I read that in the fishing report, seems like a nice YOUNG lad, but fishing Saturday and during the week pre fishing is TWO different worlds. Man could I write a book on this.. I just smiled big when I read it. Nice young man and his dad had a wonderful trip. But I can't tell you how many times it blew up in my face on SATURDAY! 



gonefishing2 said:


> Its just a fishing tournament, not worth any significant risk. Benny is a great guy and a fisherman, so he knows what is right and wrong when it comes to these sorts of decisions. Stand by him 100%.
> AS for the complaining, well sometimes people think they are on fish, or the weather suits them or doesnt, like the guy who caught 30+ 6-9 lbers while prefishing(which if he did Im not sure what he was thinking, I mean he couldnt stop after 5 or even 10 6-9 lbers... bright idea). etc. If your truly good at fishing, you will find them again.
> 
> Now is when you hear everyone was on 10lbers until the tourney was cancelled. In which maybe a dozen fish over 9 are weighed in each year in all the tournaments. I have seen maybe 3, 18lb stringer in all the years in probably over 100 poly graphing tournaments.
> ...


----------



## BSweeny (Jul 18, 2006)

TRS just picked up a couple more teams...


----------



## txflats (Aug 12, 2004)

How come trailering to other ramps is not allowed like trout tourneys? No disadvantage to anyone unlike leaving from same ramp!


----------



## Coastline Marine (Jan 27, 2008)

Trailering to other boat ramps is fine but not when you find out the night before the tournament....Everyone in the field i assume had been following the weather all week so they had made adjustments to their game plans.....I for instance let my brother take my tower boat down to POC for Slam and Jam bc I knew I wasn't going to run that boat on saturday. My partner burned a day of vacation for the tourney and we fished 3 days during the week....This is just one example of time and money that was spent by all the teams preparing for the event....As far as I know the weather forecast didn't change from about monday on so why would the decision be made the day of the captains meeting....It sure opens up the rumor mill for things like maybe their weren't enough entrants or the guys in the small boats got in the tournament directors ear.

I don't have a problem with changing where we launch or even canceling the tournament but to do it an hour before the captains meeting is horrible.

15-20mph out of the South with POSSIBLE gust up to 30 is nothing out of the normal for a tournament esp one out of galveston....Leaving early in the morning would be no problem at all and if the wind kicked up in the afternoon well you have to cut your day a little short and limp back in, again nothing out of the norm. And to top it all off the wind was due south much better than SE.

I'm all about safety etc. but to do it the night before the tournament is terrible on so many levels

Cole


----------



## CaptDocHoliday (Feb 3, 2011)

Chuck Norris would have put in at Topwater, fished Trinity Bay, and weighed an 18# stringer....all in a kayak. Just sayin.


----------



## ANYBDYHERE (Mar 16, 2007)

gonefishing2 said:


> Its just a fishing tournament, not worth any significant risk. Benny is a great guy and a fisherman, so he knows what is right and wrong when it comes to these sorts of decisions. Stand by him 100%.
> AS for the complaining, well sometimes people think they are on fish, or the weather suits them or doesnt, like the guy who caught 30+ 6-9 lbers while prefishing(which if he did Im not sure what he was thinking, I mean he couldnt stop after 5 or even 10 6-9 lbers... bright idea). etc. If your truly good at fishing, you will find them again.
> 
> Now is when you hear everyone was on 10lbers until the tourney was cancelled. In which maybe a dozen fish over 9 are weighed in each year in all the tournaments. I have seen maybe 3, 18lb stringer in all the years in probably over 100 poly graphing tournaments.
> ...


Best statement so far on this whole thread.......


----------



## Big Worm (Jul 25, 2007)

I concur...I think there is something more to it than the wind or weather. And the fact that its announced a hour before the capt meeting aint right.


----------



## TexSpec (Jun 28, 2006)

Big Worm said:


> I concur...I think there is something more to it than the wind or weather. And the fact that its announced a hour before the capt meeting aint right.


No Doubt! If it was truly due to the wind then they are a bunch of mamby pambies. If it's to rough for your chicken **** flats boat then you should have bought a bigger one. Never heard of such a thing as it's too windy for a fishing tournament. Short of something tropical. The one earlier this year out of Port Neches had higher winds than that. If homeboy is worried about getting sued over the wind he may want to cover his *** with the guys who took off days of work, spent money prefishing, made arrangements to stay and drove all the way down there. They are the ones who should be sueing.


----------



## gonefishing2 (Apr 28, 2011)

I don't have a problem with changing where we launch or even canceling the tournament but to do it an hour before the captains meeting is horrible.

15-20mph out of the South with POSSIBLE gust up to 30 is nothing out of the normal for a tournament esp one out of galveston....Leaving early in the morning would be no problem at all and if the wind kicked up in the afternoon well you have to cut your day a little short and limp back in, again nothing out of the norm. And to top it all off the wind was due south much better than SE.

I'm all about safety etc. but to do it the night before the tournament is terrible on so many levels

Cole 
__________________



YEAH, the weather around here always follows the forecast to the letter. If it says 25knots, then you can bet your savings it will be exactly right 5 days out. Brilliance! I tell you!! I mean if Benny cancelled on Tuesday and the weather layed down on Saturday, you know the crying would be even worse. 
What makes this worse is the butthurt attitude some of you display.... Agree or disagree with the decision....


----------



## Coastline Marine (Jan 27, 2008)

So how about this. on Tuesday.." hey guys the forecast is calling for up to 25mph winds and we at XRT are not comfortable with sending our anglers out of top water in those conditions, so we are going to allow you to trailer your boats and come back to top water for the weigh in. Sorry for the changes looking foreward to seeing everyone Saturday"

GRS had 74 entries the week before with the same rules

Cole


----------



## Swamp Root (May 12, 2009)

You can definately tell who the supporters are and who took off work to bust their arses prefishing!! I don't hear anyone crying, just calling it as they see it! 

You always have to worry about wind here in SE Texas, so might as well pick a venue that works with you, not against! Thats why the Port Neches event went so well!


----------



## Benny (May 21, 2004)

The Galveston Tournament has been rescheduled to August 27th out of Harborwalk Marina. 

As I said before the postponement was due to several factors; largely due to the re-issuance of the small craft advisory and wind advisory and due to the particular venue we were using with respect to the above. Could I have made the call the day before?? Sure, but why. I wanted the tournament to happen more than anyone and we were getting the most accurate forecasted weather information as we could. There really is no great time to make a postponement call, you can't call it too early and you can't call it too late, in fact the information that we were getting was that one model showed the high pressure ridge off shore possibly breaking down which would have reduced the on shore flow, in which case the tourney would have been on. Unfortunately it didn't. If we were in another venue like Harborwalk, the tourney may have happened, but I will never launch boats into potentially unsafe water, which is why we will never have a tournament in Port Lavaca, it like Topwater lends itself to being dangerous in high winds. 

To Brett, Cole, Rhett and the others that were visibly upset on Friday and appear to still be upset over it, I get it. I understand and appreciate why you wanted to continue, I did too, and while you may know how to navigate that area safely with those conditions, I can tell you that many others can't. I have to make the call with the best interest of the whole field in mind. I knew that I would take an *** beating on the internet as a result of my decision and I'm okay with that. I also probably lost more money and time as a result of not having the tournament than any team. This isn't my job, it's something that I do for fun. I have to take time off of work just like everyone else to prepare and run these events. 

The folks who are questioning that there was some sort of ulterior motive for postponing the event like low entries or whatever. You obviously don't know me. We had more entries to this event than we had in Sabine and had to turn away many more at the door. It was definitely a good field, and I expect it will be a good field in August as well. 

That being said, if someone decides not to fish with us because of the reschedule, that's their option and I'm okay with that too. There are times we have to make difficult decisions and this was one of those times, and again, I stand behind my decision.

If anyone would like to discuss my decision, I am more than happy to talk to you about it. My cell number is below. 

Thanks,
Benny Landrum
XRT Director
832-928-9064 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 832-928-9064 end_of_the_skype_highlighting


----------



## midickey (May 2, 2009)

Benny, what you don't have the powers of the Lord to lay the wind???? As a sponsor of the tournament, we too took time off work and were out finacially. Your decision was the right one and as you know you can't be everything to everybody. We appreciate the gesture of drink and grub and we think you will survive this. Melinda and I had a great time going to the Island and enjoying some down time. You gotta Grind to be Fine!!!!!


----------



## fishnfool (Jul 23, 2004)

I didn't and don't like it one bit, but it is Benny's tournament and his decision. No reason to compain about it now, just don't fish XRT anymore if you don't like it.

Real shame too as I've really been looking forward to fishing my home waters without making long runs.

The funny thing is we were hoping it would blow harder to mess some of those big Galveston stringers up - never even thought about it getting cancelled - I guess you really gotta be careful what you wish for...


----------



## Mike77015 (Dec 27, 2007)

BSweeny said:


> TRS just picked up a couple more teams...


So I guess you are moving to Corpus. TRS has absolutely nothing to do with Galveston and they never will.


----------



## gonefishing2 (Apr 28, 2011)

have fun winning $500 for 3rd place in the TRS out of 70 boats. The GRS pays better than the TRS with half the entry fee.


----------



## Mike77015 (Dec 27, 2007)

For those of you that are complaining about the decision of Benny deciding not to hold this event, where were you when the Redfish Cup canceled day two of their tournament out of Kemah. The exact same thing happened with them. I was in the tournament and the winds were forecast 25 mph.


----------



## BSweeny (Jul 18, 2006)

Actually I do live in Corpus....


----------



## Coastline Marine (Jan 27, 2008)

Benny,

While I still don't agree with the timing of the decision, you made a good point that I honestly didn't think about...I just assumed that everyone in the field would be just fine navagating out of top water with a due south wind. Maybe I was being naive in thinking that way....Yesterday I was still pretty hot about all the plans that I had changed and time that was wasted but I'm going to give everyone the benefit of the doubt bc I'm sure it was a hard decision with no right answer....

I appreciate you taking your time to put on a tournament that we can enjoy, but I hope you understand some of our frustrations and hopefully we can all learn from this past weekend.

Cole


----------



## txfishon (Jul 17, 2006)

*Crow*



Coastline Marine said:


> Benny,
> 
> While I still don't agree with the timing of the decision, you made a good point that I honestly didn't think about...I just assumed that everyone in the field would be just fine navagating out of top water with a due south wind. Maybe I was being naive in thinking that way....Yesterday I was still pretty hot about all the plans that I had changed and time that was wasted but I'm going to give everyone the benefit of the doubt bc I'm sure it was a hard decision with no right answer....
> 
> ...


Cole, "crow" is a hard thing to swallow hwell: ... I agree with what you say above... I was hot as well, with time away from work, all the pre planning and so on ...After the fact, reading all the comments, it was the RIGHT decision for this event ... My only suggestion is choose a venue that gives better options ..IE: (Port Neches) and now for August Harbor walk !! ... Benny it was a great gesture of food and drink THANK YOU !! 

Now lets go forward and fish the remaining events !! 

<')))>{ 
Team Ancelets Marina 

Freddy


----------



## railbird (Jan 2, 2009)

I will make plans to fish the galveston xrt in august. I never intended to fish any event up there because of possible conditions effecting my rig. I want to support tournament series that is willing to make hard decisions to protect the safety of the field. I fished the trs PORT_A last year when corpus christi bay had 5'rs and boats were nearly destroyed because the tournament officials didn't want to have the inconvienience of holding the tournament on sunday. Lives were risked and about 1/2 the boats didn't make it back to the launch. I wish organizers of the events would be more safety oriented than they have in the past. I still for the life of me can't understand why anyone would hold an event in port lavaca without allowing competitors to trailor to POC/Matagorda.

chuck


----------



## Texxan1 (Dec 31, 2004)

Hey Chuck, 

You aint allowed in galveston brother!!!!!!!!!!!

we have a height limit lol


----------

