Official 2012 AOTY Thread

I got the cutthroat prize on lockdown... I hope.

I got the cutthroat prize on lockdown... I hope.

That was a monster!

I figured you guys might be wondering why I dropped from 2nd to 9th place in AOTY. Please please learn from one of the two mistakes I made in AOTY this year. UNDERSTAND all your state regulations as well as the AOTY rules like the back of your hand if you participate. I recently fished a lake near Eugene for Large Mouth Bass and caught a nice 20.5". What I didn't realize at the time is the fish was NOT retainable, but legal to catch and release. I would have never actually retained it because it was a FAT beautiful fish, but non the less this doesn't apply to AOTY rules. Like one of the moderators said when he informed me yesterday, "Your fish was just too big for retention" even though you can catch and release the large ones at this lake. I figured some of you guys might have been wondering what happened. Please always know all your local regulations for every piece of water and the AOTY "retention" rule.
Jammer

I figured you guys might be wondering why I dropped from 2nd to 9th place in AOTY. Please please learn from one of the two mistakes I made in AOTY this year. UNDERSTAND all your state regulations as well as the AOTY rules like the back of your hand if you participate. I recently fished a lake near Eugene for Large Mouth Bass and caught a nice 20.5". What I didn't realize at the time is the fish was NOT retainable, but legal to catch and release. I would have never actually retained it because it was a FAT beautiful fish, but non the less this doesn't apply to AOTY rules. Like one of the moderators said when he informed me yesterday, "Your fish was just too big for retention" even though you can catch and release the large ones at this lake. I figured some of you guys might have been wondering what happened. Please always know all your local regulations for every piece of water and the AOTY "retention" rule.
Jammer

Tough break buddy! Go get a monster surf perch!

I figured you guys might be wondering why I dropped from 2nd to 9th place in AOTY. Please please learn from one of the two mistakes I made in AOTY this year. UNDERSTAND all your state regulations as well as the AOTY rules like the back of your hand if you participate. I recently fished a lake near Eugene for Large Mouth Bass and caught a nice 20.5". What I didn't realize at the time is the fish was NOT retainable, but legal to catch and release. I would have never actually retained it because it was a FAT beautiful fish, but non the less this doesn't apply to AOTY rules. Like one of the moderators said when he informed me yesterday, "Your fish was just too big for retention" even though you can catch and release the large ones at this lake. I figured some of you guys might have been wondering what happened. Please always know all your local regulations for every piece of water and the AOTY "retention" rule.
Jammer

Sorry to here that.  It is good to know for next year.  I had planned on making the trip, but now I won't waste the gas money.

I figured you guys might be wondering why I dropped from 2nd to 9th place in AOTY. Please please learn from one of the two mistakes I made in AOTY this year. UNDERSTAND all your state regulations as well as the AOTY rules like the back of your hand if you participate. I recently fished a lake near Eugene for Large Mouth Bass and caught a nice 20.5". What I didn't realize at the time is the fish was NOT retainable, but legal to catch and release. I would have never actually retained it because it was a FAT beautiful fish, but non the less this doesn't apply to AOTY rules. Like one of the moderators said when he informed me yesterday, "Your fish was just too big for retention" even though you can catch and release the large ones at this lake. I figured some of you guys might have been wondering what happened. Please always know all your local regulations for every piece of water and the AOTY "retention" rule.
Jammer

That suck's.   You have to go get another fish or maybe not your behind me.
What lake were you fishin down here?

It's crazy how ""that last stupid Perch"" that took 6 days to catch in Washington, gains you only the 131 points, but 5 days in Alaska can bank over 1000 points. Freakin crazy!

It is really interesting that you were upset by someone following the rules but were unable to do the same yourself......

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.....and Rawkfish rolls in last night with the biggest Surf Perch in AOTY history. Well played my friend. 15" is freakin huge! I'm impressed with how hard these little guys fight.

.....and Rawkfish rolls in last night with the biggest Surf Perch in AOTY history. Well played my friend. 15" is freakin huge! I'm impressed with how hard these little guys fight.

That thing surprised the bejeezus out of me!  Yes, they fight like panfish - three times their size.

Jammer,  I'm  glad to see you bounced back on AOTY with that surfperch. One my least favorite things that I've ever done related to kayak fishing was informing you that your bass didn't count.

Everyone should follow Jammer's advice about knowing both the AOTY rules and the state regs.    Hopefully, next year it won't be as critical and December decisions by the AOTY committee  ( like the one that resulted in the DQ'd bass)  won't be a surprise.  To that end I've recently instituted a new catch approval process.   

Every fish you enter will be entered as "pending".  These pending fish are only visible to you and the AOTY moderators and don't count towards your score until they are "verified" by us.  Currently I get an email shortly after each fish is entered.   Once we get a fish entry notices we judge it and flag it as either "verified" or "rejected".  Any fish that gets verified will then add to your score.

You can keep track of your fish catch status by looking at your "My Fish" list. 

http://aoty.northwestkayakanglers.com/catches

If your fish is rejected we will add the reasons for our rejection to the notes field of your catch.  If you disagree with judgement we will bring the topic up to the entire AOTY committee for a final judgement.

Generally we'll (I'll) try and get to verifying catches as soon as I get the notice.  If for some reason you don't see your catch is still pending after a day or so please feel free to PM me a reminder. 

-Know your AOTY rules.   If you have questions ask.

-Know your local regulations, particularly pertaining to potential retainment of you catch and whether the water body you are fishing is public or not.   Retainment issues include season, hatchery vs wild, and size limits.

-Take good photos.   At the very least you need one photo with the entire fish on a measuring board where we can determine the measurement from the photo.    If it's hard to see the exact measurement in the whole fish photo, take a close up of the measurement end.  You can upload up to three photos, so use them wisely.  If the fish you caught needs to be hatchery clipped to retain, take a photo of the fin clip.   If your cutthroat trout looks a bit like a rainbow trout from the overall photo, take a closeup of a feature that helps to ID it.   You get the idea..

Brian

Just hours left and it looks like my 15th place finish may be secure.   Not bad for a first year kayak fisherman who started at the end of May... if I do say so myself.

Looking forward to next year!

Well I must say that I had a great time competing.   I was sure that one of you 1100's would of knocked me out of 14th place considering my last entry was the 5th of Aug.    

Nice work by all and a huge congrats to those who brought home the prizes!   

Congrads to everyone that put it out there in 2012!

You are all solid fishermen in my book and I am glad we are in the same tribe. I learned a lot from everyone this past year and look forward to meeting more of you in 2013.

Happy New Year to all!

Congrads to everyone that put it out there in 2012!

You are all solid fishermen in my book and I am glad we are in the same tribe. I learned a lot from everyone this past year and look forward to meeting more of you in 2013.

Happy New Year to all!

Hell of a great late season run! That smallie is PIG! This may be the first ever Washington 1st and 2nd.

Looking forward to a great 2013.

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Congrats Fungunnin for 1st place! You put up some impressive fish. Well deserved sir.
Yaktrap and Jammer, same to both of you. It's been fun watching you guys rack up your points.
2013 is going to be my first year in AOTY, and you have all set the bar nice and high for me.


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