Angler of the Year 2016 - Kickoff and questions

Finally posted a fish to AOTY yesterday.   The AOTY rules put Crappie under Panfish, but both are listed in the submission pick list.   So I picked the more specific "Crappie."

Let me know if I need to move it to "Panfish" to be counted.

Yeah, sorry about that.  We split the yellow perch out of panfish this year and were playing around with the idea of doing the same with crappie, but we didn't.  I went ahead and reclassified your crappie as a panfish and now you show up on the AOTY leader board with some points. 

Brian

How do I find out why a fish was not scored for AOTY? 
I recently posted two fish (different species), only one fish was "verified"and posted with points, the other is "pending".  Just curious?

Hi Barb. The committee is discussing the other fish. It falls into a bit of a gray area and we're waiting for a few other members to weigh in before making a decision. Sorry for the delay.

I registered and paid up on Monday. Looking forward to getting some fish on the board!!

I registered and paid up on Monday. Looking forward to getting some fish on the board!!

Sweet! I love hearing about new people signing up!

How awesome is it that we have two women in the top 10 right now?! Way to represent, ladies!

Any reason why there's no ability to comment on catches?? I am sure it saves some trouble and squabbles over points and mouth pinching, but it would also be sort of fun... Just curious as I am sure there's reasoning behind it.

It's a home-built system by one of the NWKA admins, so it's only as complicated as it needs to be... feel free to comment here (link to entry) or make a topic as you see fit.

That makes perfect sense! Just figured I would ask. Having built a number of websites and working in IT I can totally appreciate it for what it is already.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

Any reason why there's no ability to comment on catches?? I am sure it saves some trouble and squabbles over points and mouth pinching, but it would also be sort of fun... Just curious as I am sure there's reasoning behind it.

Yeah, I  guess I could have built in a comment section.  However, I did recently set the AOTY site up to automatically post validated catches to the NWKAAOTY Facebook page 

https://www.facebook.com/nwkaaoty

Feel free to like that page and comment on/squabble about catches there. 

Brian

Any reason why there's no ability to comment on catches?? I am sure it saves some trouble and squabbles over points and mouth pinching, but it would also be sort of fun... Just curious as I am sure there's reasoning behind it.

Yeah, I  guess I could have built in a comment section.  However, I did recently set the AOTY site up to automatically post validated catches to the NWKAAOTY Facebook page 

https://www.facebook.com/nwkaaoty

Feel free to like that page and comment on/squabble about catches there. 

Brian

I did see that - and hardly anyone comments so I guess it really is unnecessarym, which is just fine 

I'm really stoked that NWKA forum member and all-around good guy "bwon" (aka "B") has decided to support AOTY by donating a sweet Daiwa Ballistic bass rod (711HFB)! He handed the rod off to me and it's a single-piece heavy action flippin' rod, and I can't help but wonder if it wouldn't make a really fun nearshore rockfish rod... I promise not to use it, but it's going to be hard. I guess I'll just have to win it 

B is in the process of putting the finishing touches on his local (Portland) business: Gin Thai Brasserie. He will sell high-end sunglasses, Daiwa, Shimano, and G-Loomis, and it's also a Thai restaurant - how cool is that? Come for the fishing gear, stay for the food.

https://www.facebook.com/GinOptic/

Check out the pictures below and follow B's Facebook page. I'm looking forward to dropping by the shop once it is open and saying hi and getting some food and checking out the inventory.

Gin Thai Brasserie
3176 NW 185th
Portland, OR 97229

A Fishing store and a restaurant?!? That is great.

And now I'll formally welcome Pro-Cure Bait Scents to the fold - they sent a box of a few popular flavors for prizes. Many of us already use and enjoy their products. I was skeptical years ago... I am not anymore! It has made a noticeable difference both for smallmouth and rockfish/lingcod for me.

https://www.pro-cure.com/

They are frequent supporters of HOW events and other kayak fishing tournaments, and I'm really happy to have them on board - thanks Pro-Cure!

Well my effort on finding sponsors is drawing to a close (don't get me wrong, happy to accept more if anyone knows someone who is willing to help), but I'm really happy to announce Big Hammer Swimbaits as a sponsor this year!

I personally use Big Hammer baits on triangle heads in the ocean and in fact it is in my top 3 go-to lures for rockfish and lingcod. There are plenty of other swimbaits on the market but something about these just catches fish.

Around these parts we typically think of them just as saltwater plastics but they can work great for freshwater fish too. I'm adding Big Hammer baits to my smallmouth arsenal this year and I know a few of the heavy hitters in the PacNW use them for largemouth as well. Check 'em out!

http://www.swimbait.com/