What does AOTY mean to you?

What He said,(Snopro) Spot on. And also I'm not as concerned about getting every little bit of the measurement's on the board, To keep it fun I'm not going to stress over winning or loosing.I do stress about not enough time to fish, but I did that Before I signed up.I love to fish,and if I'm not catching I still enjoy the ride.and the Exercise, Best 40 dollar gym membership ever..many time's I've loaded up gone fishing only to find I didn't even remember my camera.no worries

Well said guys. Mark, Ron, y'allz a bunch a badasses!

BTW B never gets enough kudos for all the work he does on this. Thanks B for making this all happen! I owe you a sixer.

Since 2012 was my first year in the yak fishing, I feel that entering the AOTY is a great way for me to get motivated to go after more species, learn about the waters around me, and be involved in a friendly competition all at the same time.  I am looking forward to making the donation and getting started!!!  Is it Jan 1 yet?

How take away the need to rank us as 1,2,3.... best fishermen or women? Put anyone who gets more than 1300 points into a hat and draw names for the prizes.  If you want to try and break the 2k mark that is your personal goal, but you won't have a greater chance of winning than the regular Joe that can fish 3 times per month on a trip that begins and ends by firing up the old truck in the driveway.

My point being: We are all good fishermen/fisherwomen, some just appear better on the AOTY scale because we have more time to fish or can fish in more productive environments.

In the meantime, just keep fishing!  Here's some fish-porn for y'all, a cutty limit from Tuesday, smoked trout for dinner yummy.

I don't think there's anything I can add that hasn't already been said - you guys have pretty well covered it.  Targeting new species I wouldn't have other wise, supporting the site, pushing myself... an excuse I can use to get out on the water... 

Well said guys. Mark, Ron, y'allz a bunch a badasses!

BTW B never gets enough kudos for all the work he does on this. Thanks B for making this all happen! I owe you a sixer.

Yeah, that.  Thanks for all the hard work, B!!

... some just appear better on the AOTY scale because we have more time to fish or can fish in more productive environments.

You're entitled to your own opinion about what AOTY means to you (that's what this thread is about, after all) but...

How take away the need to rank us as 1,2,3.... best fishermen or women? Put anyone who gets more than 1300 points into a hat and draw names for the prizes.  If you want to try and break the 2k mark that is your personal goal, but you won't have a greater chance of winning than the regular Joe that can fish 3 times per month on a trip that begins and ends by firing up the old truck in the driveway.

BTW, we do have a thread going regarding rule changes to AOTY 2013.  Feel free to add to the discussion on that thread.

My point being: We are all good fishermen/fisherwomen, some just appear better on the AOTY scale because we have more time to fish or can fish in more productive environments.

Ummmm, yeah.....  I'm lucky if I get 1 day a week to fish.  Full time single dad with >40hr a week primary job and a side job to boot.  Do I really have that much more time or money than anyone else here?  As I recall, Rawkfish won it in spite of being a full time student and working thru wedding planning etc.  Zee won in spite of doubletiming a huge project at a new job while growing his family.  See my original post on this topic.

-Spot-

Didn't mean to suggest a hard rule change, so I didn't post on the Official Thread. I've learned enuf about the members and the AOTY in my past 4 months to know better.  Just expressing what it means to me --- or in my case, how I see the whole thing a bit different. And as a result take myself out of the cycle.  I know I'm an outlier in the whole equation. Just sweeping up, I'll be out of the way here soon  .

My point being: We are all good fishermen/fisherwomen, some just appear better on the AOTY scale because we have more time to fish or can fish in more productive environments.

Ummmm, yeah.....  I'm lucky if I get 1 day a week to fish.  Full time single dad with >40hr a week primary job and a side job to boot.  Do I really have that much more time or money than anyone else here?  As I recall, Rawkfish won it in spite of being a full time student and working thru wedding planning etc.  Zee won in spite of doubletiming a huge project at a new job while growing his family.  See my original post on this topic.

-Spot-

Bill hasn't won it yet but has been on a hellish schedule at work and stacking points regardless. Respect! With that, we could continue the precedent that those with less time on their hands are on top.

How about we turn AOTY into a fishing log?   Not that anyone would bother, and honesty among fishermen in these maters is a bit lacking, but if we could get contestants to record the time spent on the water and everything they catch we could do some interesting calculations.   Overall points per hour fishing.   AOTY leaderboard points per hour fishing.   Etc...   

Obviously, this isn't a serious suggestion.

How about we turn AOTY into a fishing log?   Not that anyone would bother, and honesty among fishermen in these maters is a bit lacking, but if we could get contestants to record the time spent on the water and everything they catch we could do some interesting calculations.   Overall points per hour fishing.   AOTY leaderboard points per hour fishing.   Etc...   

Obviously, this isn't a serious suggestion.

Phew! I am glad that wasn't serious because I would be on the bottom every year if we had to put in hours per "legal" fish.  I only caught 2 salmon this year I could legally keep.  One was a sockeye (no points) and the rest were all wild.  Oh, and I also have the handicap of sucking as a fisherman. 

Oh, and I also have the handicap of sucking as a fisherman. 

Uh huh.....right......