Angler of the Year 2016 - Kickoff and questions

NWKA Angler of the Year 2016 Kickoff

Sponsored by

Kayak Shed

Next Adventure

Kokatat

Cabela's

NEMRods Custom Rods

Stillwater Fly Shop

YakAttack

Hoo-rag Bandanas

Lancer Jigs

RAM Mounts

Lucid Fishing

Gig Harbor Fly Shop

Stealth Rod Holders

Gin Optic

Pro-Cure Bait Scents

Big Hammer Swimbaits

Huh? (What is Angler of the Year?)
AOTY is a regional, year-long kayak fishing competition in which participants earn points per inch for target species of fish caught. The top 10 species for each angler count towards your total. To submit a catch a photo must be taken of the fish on a measuring device. For full rules and restrictions, please see the AOTY home page: http://aoty.northwestkayakanglers.com/

At the end of the day, AOTY relies on contestants’ decency and honor. Contestants found to be knowingly cheating will be disqualified from the tournament without refund and may be mocked publicly on the forum.

Take my money! (How do I sign up?)
Step 1: To sign up for AOTY, go to the NWKA home page (http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/), scroll down a bit, and on the left side there is a box titled AOTY 2016 - you can figure it out from there. Payment is by PayPal only. The fee for 2016 is $25.

Step 2: If this is your first time signing up, go the AOTY homepage (http://aoty.northwestkayakanglers.com/) and in the upper right side of the page, click "Sign Up". If you have signed up before, do the same thing but click Log In.

Who’s on the payroll? (Where does my money go?)
All tournament proceeds go to 501(c)(3) nonprofit Heroes On the Water (http://heroesonthewater.org/). From their website:

Heroes on the Water helps our Nation’s warriors and veterans from all branches of the United States military unwind using the therapeutic qualities of fishing from kayaks. What looks like a day trip of paddling and fishing is in fact something much deeper and long-lasting.

I encourage everyone to learn more about HOW and contribute your time to HOW-related events.

What’s new? (Are there any changes for 2016?)
The only rule change for 2016 is that we are allowing sails to be used. All other craft restriction still apply, so please familiarize yourself with the competition rules. (Rules will be updated shortly for the addition of sails.)

We now (or should I say, again) have a Facebook page where we can communicate about the event: https://www.facebook.com/nwkaaoty/  The NWKA forums are still HQ for the tournament, but if you're like me you check FB all the time, so this should be useful.

We are adding several more judges from Washington which should help speed up the approval process for Washington entries. There’s no commitment at this time regarding how fast we will get approvals done but I can say that with the extra help in Oregon in 2015 no entries sat for more than a week or two at most.

Just in general I'm hoping to increase the communication about the event, and communication with participants regarding entries as needed. I'm hoping to increase participation and keep the stoke strong.

I want stuff! (What are the prizes?)
I am working with sponsors to line up prizes right now. As I am new to this and did not start until mid-December the process is ongoing. I will update this post with more information as time goes on.

We have quite a few sponsors on board now - you can see their logos above and on the leaderboard.

My goal is to have a prize pool that covers the top 10 spots, and hopefully in addition to that a few side-challenges as well. Side-challenges have been announced and you can see them on the AOTY pages. Anyone signed up for AOTY 2016 will be eligible for all side challenges as well.

What about… (I have more questions!)
Great! Ask them below and we’ll figure it out together.

I presume it's OK to enter a second larger fish of a species should one come along later in the year.   Or is this a one-entry-per-species competition?

Don't forget about the Facebook page! It would be cool to see recent catches posted up on the page, as well as current leader board standings.

I presume it's OK to enter a second larger fish of a species should one come along later in the year.   Or is this a one-entry-per-species competition?

Yes! As many as you want. No problem with continuing to "upgrade" throughout the the year.

Thanks for all the hard work, Lauren!

Thanks for all YOUR hard work, Noah. Great to see HOW benefitting.

Nice work for a very worthy cause, guys.  This will be my first year entering AOTY so expect some stout competition.  At least, in my dreams...

Thanks to all who are helping to put this together for 2016.

Thanks for all YOUR hard work, Noah. Great to see HOW benefitting.

Agree! Noah has been really helpful especially answering questions for me. The other admins (RevJCP, Lee, bsteves) have been too.

Don't forget about the Facebook page! It would be cool to see recent catches posted up on the page, as well as current leader board standings.

Great point! Added that to the original post.

I'm happy to announce that Cabela's will be sponsoring AOTY this year. I don't have exactly what prizes they will be donating at this time, but they are on board.

http://www.cabelas.com/

I'm happy to announce that Cabela's will be sponsoring AOTY this year. I don't have exactly what prizes they will be donating at this time, but they are on board.

http://www.cabelas.com/

Outstanding

I'm happy to announce that Cabela's will be sponsoring AOTY this year. I don't have exactly what prizes they will be donating at this time, but they are on board.

http://www.cabelas.com/

Excellent.  That's a big one.  Nice job!

Do you have enough warm bodies to have a roster yet?

I recall last year there was a request for members to send a note to the organizers with their screen name when they paid so it would be easier for them to match the payment to the proper member.  Is that still the case? 

Also, if you are lurking and on the fence about joining, do it!  I found it to be an amazing way to learn about new fisheries and species.  Most of the fish I entered last year were the very first time I had caught that species ... And that was very rewarding. 

Prizes are fun too

I'm happy to announce that Cabela's will be sponsoring AOTY this year. I don't have exactly what prizes they will be donating at this time, but they are on board.

http://www.cabelas.com/

Excellent.  That's a big one.  Nice job!

The captain knows how to fish 

I'm in     Should be fun to try for some new kayak fish species.