2015 AOTY now open for registration

Okay, after much conversation and delay I've finally opened up the 2015 AOTY for registration.  There are a few changes in the AOTY this year, particularly regarding the cost of entry, prizes, and where the profits go.

The price has dropped from $40 to $25.   Hopefully a few more people will sign up.

It's getting harder to get sponsors for AOTY, particularly to get a kayak manufacturers to pony the grand prize.  While a new kayak is always appreciated,  we've dropped the promise of a grand prize kayak. The thinking here is, that winning AOTY is more about the bragging rights of being the Angler of the Year than the kayak.   Think about it, how many AOTY winners have posted awesome reviews about the new kayak they won?   Most AOTY winners already have the kayak they like and they go on to sell the prize for a small profit.

So... if you win AOTY in 2015 you get a plaque of some sort (we have to work that part out) and the right to call yourself the 2015 angler of the year.

On top of that, I'll be putting together a few other categories people can win during he course of the year.  The winner of each will have the right to post their title in their signature.   

For example...
The  "2015 Salty Dog" will be the person with the highest combined AOTY score for just their rockfish, greenling, cabezon, lingcod, halibut, flounder, and surf perch.

We'll do something similar with a catchy name for top freshwater angler and another for top anadromous fish angler.

I'm also thinking about seasonal, species specific, short term mini-tournaments.   For example we might do an AOTY style bass fishing tournament for the month of June and another in the fall for salmon.


As for all the profits  are destined for Heroes on the Water (50% to the Portland Chapter and 50% to the NorthWest Chapter).

If we do end up with prizes donated to the AOTY we will first follow the sponsors wishes.  In other words, if a rod company wants to give a rod to the angler with the largest salmon, we'll do that.  However, any undesignated sponsored prizes will be raffled off.

The prize raffle (if needed) will run the following way...
10 raffle entries for signing up for AOTY
1 raffle additional entry for each fish you entered in 2015


Finally, if you register before the end of January you will be credited with having entered the AOTY January 1st and you can enter any fish you've caught since the beginning of the year.

Let me know if you have any questions.


Brian

You're probably wondering about new species, point changes and other rule changes.  Things are identical with regard to species and points.   However, we will be dropping the closed mouth rule completely.   The measurement should be the longest straight line you can measure on your fish.  Don't abuse this.   You're still not allowed to mutilate your fish.   One proposed suggestion was to stretch out the guts well past the tail and measure from there.  Privately the AOTY committee will laugh among themselves, then publicly ridicule your attempt, and then finally we will DQ your fish for this sort of thing.

I've added an AOTY username on the AOTY 2015 pay pal form.  Please enter your username you use on AOTY here. This will make it much easier for me to match payments to users.

Thanks for your work on this Brian (and crew). I appreciate it.

I think it's kind of a bummer about the sponsors and prizes, but I guess evolution is necessary.

Will there be some kind of official announcement about the 2014 results? Are there any prizes to be had from the 2014 games?

Thanks again for getting this up and running.

Awesome!  Definitely will sign up.

My one comment is we don''t have cabezon and surfperch here in Alaska so I'm not sure about that combined point deal.  Maybe your best 3,4, or 5 fish from the salt.

Doesn't matter much to me I guess.  Like ya said, it's more for the bragging rights. 

Woohoo!!  In it to win it this year!

It's not that we won't have prizes in 2015.   Rather, I don't think we can promise the level of prizes we've had in the past, particularly the big kayak prize.   Now if someone donates a kayak to be given to the AOTY winner, I will honor the request of the sponsor.

As for the 2014 prizes. I really don't know where we stand on that as I wasn't handling the financial details in 2014.

The results are finalized for 2014 and can be found here..

Overall Leader Board for 2014
http://aoty.northwestkayakanglers.com/leaderboard/list2014results

WA Leader Board for 2014
http://aoty.northwestkayakanglers.com/leaderboard/WAlist2014results

OR Leader Board for 2014
http://aoty.northwestkayakanglers.com/leaderboard/ORlist2014results

Youth Leader Board 2014
http://aoty.northwestkayakanglers.com/leaderboard/YDlist2014results

Top 3 fish of each species in 2014
http://aoty.northwestkayakanglers.com/speciesleaders/list2014results

My one comment is we don''t have cabezon and surfperch here in Alaska so I'm not sure about that combined point deal.  Maybe your best 3,4, or 5 fish from the salt.

Rudy,

I see what you're getting at and I'll take that into consideration.  These little side tournaments are still in the planning stages.   I'm hoping to also have some side tournaments where the smallest fish will get you the most points.

Each side tournament will have it's own leader board and the "rules" will be posted on those pages as I get them worked out.

Brian

Thanks for the work in setting this up, Brian! Love the changes too.

Just signed up.  Not that I'll win anything but at least I know I'm making a donation to HOW. 

Thanks guys!

Edit:  If we are going to have a bunch of different things going on for AOTY this year, should there be a sub forum just for AOTY 2015 so that we can keep things together?

"Keep things together"  What does that mean?

As in, not spread out.

Ohhh. I'm got it. Multiple challenge threads under one... I'm a little slow today.

I'm all paid up and my first fish is pending. 

I'm all paid up! Submitted my first fish for 2015.

May the odds be in your favor!

I'm all paid up and my first fish is pending. 

Fish rejected  IS that really the best picture you got?