THE FIRST ANNUAL FISHING FOR HISTORY/ORCA HISTORICAL FISHING CONTEST

THE FIRST ANNUAL FISHING FOR HISTORY/ORCA HISTORICAL FISHING CONTEST

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Welcome to the 1st Annual Fishing for History/ORCA Historical Fishing Contest! We love vintage fishing tackle, so we have decided to encourage the use of old fishing rods, reels, and lures through an open fishing contest (all kinds of game fish eligible). Hopefully, the more people who use old tackle the more people will appreciate it and help us in our continuing mission to preserve it. As there a number of different styles of fishing, we have decided to offer a number of vintage divisions. The divisions, and a tentative list of rules, are as follows:

DIVISIONS:

BAITCASTING CATEGORY: A rod, reel and lure manufactured before 1945.

-- Rod: Steel, wood, or bamboo.
-- Reel: Any reel introduced before 1945 (it can be manufactured after 1945 only if its general design was not changed in any specific way).
-- Line: Braided silk or nylon only (no monofilament).
-- Lures: Wood, metal, or plastic lures manufactured BEFORE 1945.

SPINNING CATEGORY: A rod, reel and lure manufactured before 1960.

-- Rod: Steel, Bamboo, or Fiberglass made BEFORE 1960.
-- Reel: Pre-1960 spinning reels ONLY.
-- Line: Monofilament lines (no modern composite lines).
-- Lures: Any lures manufactured before 1960.

SPINCASTING CATEGORY: A rod, reel and lure manufactured before 1960.

-- Rod: Steel, Bamboo, or Fiberglass made BEFORE 1960.
-- Reel: Pre-1960 spincasting reels ONLY.
-- Line: Monofilament lines (no modern composite lines).
-- Lures: Any lures manufactured before 1960.

BAMBOO FLY FISHING CATEGORY: A rod, reel and fly manufactured before 1940.

-- Rod: Bamboo fly rod made BEFORE 1940.
-- Reel: Fly reel made BEFORE 1940.
-- Line: Silk or Nylon Fly line manufactured BEFORE 1960
-- Flies: Vintage fly or fly rod lure manufactured before 1940.

FIBERGLASS FLY FISHING CATEGORY: A rod, reel and fly manufactured before 1940.

-- Rod: Fiberglass fly rod made BEFORE 1965.
-- Reel: Fly reel made BEFORE 1965.
-- Line: Silk or Nylon Fly line manufactured BEFORE 1965
-- Flies: Vintage fly or fly rod lure manufactured before 1965.

SALTWATER SURFCASTING/TROLLING CATEGORY: A rod, reel and fly manufactured before 1930.

-- Rod: Steel, wood or bamboo rod made before 1930
-- Reel: Reel manufactured before 1930.
-- Line: Braided silk or nylon only (no monofilament).
-- Lures: Lure manufactured before 1930 (live bait acceptable in this category).

SALTWATER SPINNING CATEGORY: A rod, reel and fly manufactured before 1960.

-- Rod: Steel, Bamboo, or Fiberglass made BEFORE 1960.
-- Reel: Pre-1960 spinning reels ONLY.
-- Line: Monofilament lines (no modern composite lines).
-- Lures: Any lures manufactured before 1960.

SUBMISSIONS:

All submissions must be made to whitefishpress@yahoo.com and should include all the relevant information (place, time of day, tackle used, and length of fish). Submissions must be verified by a photograph which should include the rod, reel, and lure used. We will operate on the honor system, and as Wild Bill Sonnett says, "if you plan to cheat you must be both desperate and dishonest -- take up golf."

The winner will be decided in each category by percentage of length of the current World Record. For example, a 16 inch smallmouth would be 59.25 percent the size of the 27 inch world record, so the score would be 59.25. A 30 inch northern pike would be 50 percent the length of the 60 inch world record, and would thus score a 50.0.

The person with the highest number (percentage) for their game fish in each division will be declared the winner.

The person with the highest number overall in all seven divisions will be the Grand Prize Winner for the year.

Current leaders will be posted on a weekly basis.

SPECIAL PRIZES:

In addition to prizes in the seven categories, there will be three additional categories that can come from all divisions:

Longest Bass

Longest Pike

Longest Trout

OTHER RULES:

This is a catch-and-release tournament. All entries will be expected to be released. All fisherman must adhere to the gamefish laws of their particular state or province. This is an international tournament open to all people. There is no entry fee. You can enter as often as you would like, and in as many categories as you wish, but the number of prizes you can win is limited to two.

DATES:

The tournament will run from January 1st, 2012 through November 15th, 2012.

PRIZES:

Modest prizes will be made to the winners of each division, the special prizes, and the Grand Prize Winner. A list of prizes will emerge over the course of the following months.

Any problems will be adjudicated by the tournament's Jury Panel. Their decisions are final.

Questions/Comments can be directed to Tournament Director Dr. Todd Larson at whitefishpress AT yahoo DOT com.

-- Dr. Todd