8 replies to this topic

[Stroover]

Hey! Has anyone on here ever participated in the smelt tourneys they used to have in Renforth? I'm wondering what were the rules, how hard were they to inforce (how to prevent cheating), and what it was like, and if you know why they stopped having them? I'm thinking about maybe hosting a friendly one at the Cameron Rd. site this winter.

[ipop]

i`ve done the renforth smelt tourney a number of times. they cancelled it last year due to poor ice conditions. they normally ran it as a biggest smelt, smallest smelt and i think sometimes there was also a biggest other fish (hake). they sometimes ran the smallest smelt for kids only. you also got a hot chocolate and a hot dog for attending. the tourney fee was included with the shack registration/membership fee and i think you coud also get tickets on site even if you didn`t have a shack, and a 50/50 draw most times. anyone who was with some one there with a registered shack was qualified for the tourney, so fairly lose registration of fishers. it was mostly a family fun day, i don`t think they did much to prevent cheating, in fact actualy competing was secondary for most people. i had the winning smelt once but never entered it since i didn`t think a 9" smelt was even a contender...lol! ohps!

i don`t know if they are planning one this year or not.

a simple way to cut down or eleminate cheating would be to use the latest tourney techniquic of doing hourly or bi hourly weight in`s. that way any inelidgable fish wouldn`t count for more than one part of the tourney, and hopefully inspire no cheating. in this case all fish entered per weigh in would be kept for the anglers by the judges untill the end of the tourney. to control the weigh in, you have to be in the line up or weighed in the fish all ready when the hour whistle goes - no more entries until the next weigh in after that. holding back a fish until another weigh in is allowed but i would apply a "no solid frozen fish" rule to reduce the odds of anyone even appearing to cheat.

or you could just go with the biggest and smallest smelt of the day and just keep an eye open for any cheating. the smallest smelt was probabley the funest part of the tourney, both for adults and kids, with lots of fun teasing going on.

if you have a tourney they will come...lol, i`m in Flyakfisher.

[Stroover]

Sounds good, John! By the way, did they have prizes for the Renforth tourneys?

[ipop]

they did have prizes, i think they split up the entry fee and kept 25% for expences like the hot chocolate and a portapotty or something like that but i`m not sure. it might be in an old post somewhere. anybody else know?
ps: i`m about to go fishing right now!

[Monty]

Hey guys is this Renforth place ....... down buy Rothesay?

[ipop]

yup, that`s the spot, at the renforth wharf, there were still a few shacks there on thursday and lots of ice, but the river is opening and the open stretch is getting nearer.

[bucbug]

Monty
Just a 'me to' kind of post, but Renforth has my favourite ice fishing village in New Brunswick. The smelt fishing was good the times I was there. They have have Porto-potty's, a dumpster good parking just off the highway and I believe for a small fee keep an eye on your ice hut.

[Jim VE9WH]

Only 2 shacks at Renforth on Sunday

[Stroover]

Yeah, all the shacks came off before we could organize a tourney. A sign of the times, I guess. Sorry all.