Oregon Kayak Bass Fishing Club - Join Today!

Aaron, if you get the time post up the logistics of numbers per area, even by county, and we might be able to coordinate and have 2-3 meetings in different locations on conference call.  Tillamook county for me.

Can you explain what the point of membership is? Does that get you into the tournaments, or is it to have some say in how things are run, or what?

Guys,

The attached photo shows where our members are located.  Some of the outlying guys have already told me they would not be able to come to a meeting but would want to compete in events even if they had to travel. If it is decided that a few groups could get together and then conference in, I am ok with that, but I do think that it would cause some difficulty with discussions.  If you cannot attend a meeting, then it does not mean that you do not have any vote on topics. I just wanted to get a group of people together that can debate on topics related to the tournaments. I have already written up a rules guideline and a starting point for the way the tournament trail will shape up.  Locations have not been listed, decided or otherwise.  That will take input from every member to get a good list of tournaments together.

Captain Redbeard - At this time the membership gets you onto a mailing list for discussion, news, etc. For example, I sent out an email this morning to all the members to determine a time and location for the first meeting. It is a way for me to gauge how many people want to compete and have an opinion on how this club is operated. I will be the "President" of this club for lack of a better term, but I want to be sure that this tournament trail is what the members want.  I don't want to push my views and opinions of how we should do things if the overwhelming majority of members would rather see it go a different direction. I am not affiliated with any other tournament trail in the nation, so we can make it whatever we want. I want these tournaments to be a success and have something going that is fun for everyone. That is why I am asking for contact information and to get a meeting together. I hope this helps explain things a little better. Please feel free to ask any other questions that you have.  Thanks!

Aaron
Oregon Kayak Bass Fishing

Cool, thanks for the reply. The reason I ask is for me personally I probably have enough going on with other meetings, etc. but I would love to fish in your competitions. Will the competitive side be only for people who sign up with the club or will it be open to others?

Good question. That is one of the main topics that I want to discuss at the first meeting. I want to ask out how guys feel about having a membership fee. As a club it makes sense to have a membership fee to use for AOY, Classic events, etc. I think as we grow it will be essential to have one to cover costs of trophies, prizes etc. but I don't think it is a necessity for when we start out. I know this response doesn't answer your question exactly but I don't have a straight answer at this time. Thanks!

Aaron
Oregon Kayak Bass Fishing

While I'm willing to make the drive to Salem from Portland if need be, most of this can be answered by email votes.  I would keep this really simple at the beginning, maybe find some decent bass water along the Willamette between Portland and Salem, schedule a small tourney. Give people a chance to fish together, maybe have a small bbq/meeting afterwards, just a little meet and greet.  See how that goes, what people think, then take it from there.  Just my .01C. 
John

cdat - That is basically what I am trying to do, but I don't think that emailing 30 people is a very effective way of deciding anything. The meeting will be kept short and to the point, and will allow us to get a lot of topics discussed in a group setting.  After that, I will take care of the rest. We should be able to have our first tournament either late March or early April.

Aaron
Oregon Kayak Bass Fishing

While I'm willing to make the drive to Salem from Portland if need be, most of this can be answered by email votes.  I would keep this really simple at the beginning, maybe find some decent bass water along the Willamette between Portland and Salem, schedule a small tourney. Give people a chance to fish together, maybe have a small bbq/meeting afterwards, just a little meet and greet.  See how that goes, what people think, then take it from there.  Just my .01C. 
John

Very good idea! Maybe a spring social get together to get the ball rolling with decisions and a pot luck. Could even do a small $5 pot and payout depending on mount of people? It would be cool to get sponsors on board with this too so less out of pocket from us members? I do think we could decide a lot on the forums with the vote system. Im excited to see this get going. Could turn out very good.

IMHO. If we're to do any discussion/voting on the NWKA forum I suggest we do it on a members only thread so the general public can't get involved but group e-mail works fine for me. Just my $0.02

IMHO. If we're to do any discussion/voting on the NWKA forum I suggest we do it on a members only thread so the general public can't get involved but group e-mail works fine for me. Just my $0.02

Unless there is a public poll option so we can see who voted and how, it shouldn't be done on the forum.

Yes, you are right a social event is a great idea. I also agree that we should be working together with vendors.  Fortunately, I have already written a draft of the club rules and guidelines, and I already have sponsors interested in being involved with the tournament trail. The main point of the meeting in Salem is to get everyone on the same page.  We will not have a discussion on the NWKA forums, because half of the club members aren't on NWKA. It's totally fine if you cannot make the drive to get to the meeting, but for this tournament series to get big sponsorships, draw in large numbers of competitors, and offer up big cash prizes (which are all goals I think we can agree on), then it is going to require structure, planning, and dedication by its members. This is not a club meant just for finding people to fish with, it is the beginning of a tournament trail that is for anglers to compete against one another, learn from each other, and have fun doing so.

I have heard back from many of the members already telling me when works best for them. I will be sending an email out to everyone once the date has been set.  I look forward to meeting you!

Aaron
Oregon Kayak Bass Fishing

Please, correct me if I'm wrong on this but.... From what I've seen so far, it appears that your only interest for being on NWKA is to promote a club that isn't a part of NWKA.

Rawkfish- This is how this all went down. I started working on this tournament trail, then I went in to Next Adventure paddle center to look around and met CJ there. I told him about what I was doing and he was excited. I originally launched the tournament trail via Facebook, with a lot of positive response. After the original launch, CJ and Brian Steves (an admin on this forum) reached out to me and asked me to post the topic on this website/forum, so I joined and did. Now that I am here, I will be here to stay. I thought this site was only for salmon, steelhead, and rockfish, not LM and SM bass.

So yes, I joined NWKA to promote my tournament series. But I will not be only here to promote it, I think I have insights and advice that can contribute to the forums. You are the second person to ask this question, I hope I have made everything clear with this post. Thanks!

Aaron
Oregon Kayak Bass Fishing

Yes, I recall you mentioning earlier in the thread that you had talked to CJ and bsteves, both of whom I chat with frequently. I'm not a moderator so I'm not here to tell you what you can and can't say. I'm simply looking at what you're selling from the viewpoint of a long-standing member of this community and laying out my thoughts. What we normally like to see is someone doing the opposite of what you're describing. As in, becoming a contributing member of the community first, then promoting yourself or your endeavors second. Otherwise it comes off with the appearance of someone simply looking for free advertisement space, see what I mean? So forgive me if I've come across as unwelcome.

Rawkfish - I appreciate the insight and I do understand that what I am doing here is probably considered on this forum to be out of the norm.  Let me be clear though, I am not making any money, nor is anyone else, off of this tournament series at this time.  I am just working as hard as I can to get in touch with as many people to spread the word. The only reason that I am spreading the word to this site is because I know that there are people that would like to compete against one another in a tournament series on this site. I have been shown that by the amount of people who have responded to my post via email. I am doing this for the growth and progression of the sport that we all love and enjoy.  If this is something that the moderators, or forum members find inappropriate or distasteful I will certainly remove the post from NWKA, and continue on my path to bringing this tournament series to fruition. If I were trying to get free advertisement for personal gain, you would see prices and links to stores.  I am not doing that whatsoever.  If you all would prefer that I do not discuss this topic in these forums, please speak up and I will gladly remove it, I am not here to disrupt this forum with topics that do not interest its members.