Western Outdoor News So. California Trout Opener 2010

[VineAssist]

Today was the 2nd annual Westren Outdoor News Southern California Trout Opener held here at beautiful Irvine Lake. With the lake nearly at full capacity it could accomidate the large amount of tournament entries both companies hoped would show up and show up they did. Over 700+ tournament anglers from all over the state came to the lake to ply the waters for trophy trout and tagged trout. Before the tournament over 200 trout where tagged by W.O.N, Irvine Lake staff, and Calavares Trout Farms for this contest. With prizes ranging from sponsers swag to $5,000 this tournament had some serious prizes!
http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv39/jrg26p/banner.jpg
Probably my favorite thing about this tournament is that there is lot of diffrent divison's that way there are a ton of winners. Those divisons where as follows: Adult male, Adult female, juniour male, and junior female. The prizes for each of the previous mentioned was a beautiful trophy.
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From the get go I could tell the fishing was red hot for a lot of the people who came out to the lake today. The line at the scales was long and had tons of people with full stringers.
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A lot of fimilar faces where in line too. Here is the infamous dou that trolls at mach 30! So at 10mph a Rapala should dive to 35ft according to this card Lt. Maverick.
http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv39/jrg26p/P1010773.jpg
The tag team of Big Daddy-Huggybear makes there way to the scales.
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The tournament director Bill Egan hard at work weighing fish.
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Elaine Dickernoff with her tagged fish that would eventually put her near the top of the Ladies division.
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Allsiun Fuchs walked away happy with a full stringer and placing in the juniour female division.
http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv39/jrg26p/Allison.jpg
Rusty Vogl of Hunigton Beach managed this Brown Trout weighing in at 1.65 while fishing a Kastmaster in the flats.
http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv39/jrg26p/P1010767.jpg
Adrian Baccera with his 4.0 Rainbow that would also put him in the top 5 of the Adult Male division.
http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv39/jrg26p/P1010788-1.jpg
However, it would take a truly giant fish to take the big trophy home. John Gobert of Carson found that giant fish! John's giant rainbow weighed in at 12.03 and ate natural corn powerbait!
http://i667.photobucket.com/albums/vv39/jrg26p/Gobert.jpg

Now for the raffle and what a raffle it was! Look at the amount of people at this raffle!
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Here are the big Sports Chalet winners. Thank you Cindy Neagle and your staff for everything!
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Emio Leveniea with his brand new kayak!
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Mr. Toida with his prize pack worth over $1000 in Sports Chalet goods.
The Junior Female divison winners!
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Sorry I did not get photos of the other groups due to a camera malfunction.

Here are the winners and in each divison.

Adult Male
John Gobert 12.03
David Huynh 5.53
Tim Blackster 4.21
Adrian Baccera 3.67

Adult Female
Catherine Gobert 3.71
Frances Moore 3.42
Elaine Dickernoff 3.24
Linda Elmun 3.08

Jr Male
James Moore 3.09
David Estrada 2.88
Reggie Walter Jr 2.72
Marcos Ingles 2.67
Austin Harvey 2.63

Jr Female
Raquel Alcala 2.65
Marcey Cambell 2.61
Kaela Braneny 2.60
Melinda Camell 2.48
Allsion Fuchs 2.39

I would like to thank you all of the staff of W.O.N for putting on such a great tournament. I would also like to thank all of the sponsers of this event. Finally I would like to thank all of the anglers that participated and camped out for this event. I can harldy wait to see the spread that W.O.N. puts out for this event. Look for that supplement here shortly! Cant wait til next year on this event!
Jimmy

[the killa]

Who won the boat?

[MAVERICK27]

Haha..Jimmy that post was hellarious! Love it! Great event and absolutely beautiful weather and fishing. I could have not asked for a better day...except maybe winning something...but that's not what it was about. One of the best run tourneys I have been too. The best highlight...being able to launch in the flats and avoid the boat ramp COMPLETELY!!!! I never even had to see the boat ramp shoreline the entire day!

[afisherman13]

last years W.O.N trout opener was by far more organized and there were far better prizes for the winners...thats just my opinion. They need to give Bill a call and find out how it should be done. Over all fishing was great!!

[Rooster]

That was the best time i have had all year. Great fishing, quality trout and hard fighting never say die trout. Loved the idea of spreading out the tagged trout. Awesome event, Props to Irvine lake staff for opening up the other ramp. I would always launch there if it was open.
Mr Carson, ya truely have a great staff in place. They always make me feel welcomed and are very friendly and to me that says alot.
Hope 2 cya soon Jimmy

[hooks]

Awesome!
Can I have my lake back now?
Hate,hate hate the crowds(bah, humbug)
Just kidding (kinda')
I'll be back Monday morning to lite crowds and lots of hungry trout.
Tight lines....

[Mondo21]

Everything was wonderful! Not only the prizes, by the way, I did win a pair of sunglasses, one of the Team57 Members says was worth over $100.00:OMG!:. Of course someone by the name of Hitts0n,couldn't wait to get his hands on them:Wink: The weather was perrrfect. The prizes were GRAND. The 2 Coolers was worth over 1 Thousand Dollars,given away by Sports Chalet,WOW! Also S.C. gave away a Canoe for 2 people. The Boat was very nice that WON gave away, and other nice asst. prizes. There's only one thing that they didn't do....There was no mention of the people who caught the TAG FISH??? There was TWO People to my knowledge. What happened to their prizes,Jimmy?
:Big Grin:

[Sue]

What a great day it was! It was lovely seeing my name up there on the leader board, until literally at the last minute Linda slipped in and pipped me to 5th place! Still, it was really great to see everyone again and I had an awesome time!

[TroutOnly]

Wheres the tag fish winners ,wasnt there supposed to be a crap load of tag fish, and what happened to 2quickmotorworks the only blue tag fish to be caught,the reports i got werent so cheerfull,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[Mondo21]

Wheres the tag fish winners ,wasnt there supposed to be a crap load of tag fish, and what happened to 2quickmotorworks the only blue tag fish to be caught,the reports i got werent so cheerfull,,,,,,,,,,,,,

BeBop asked the Guy from the Event,what did the"Blue Tag Fish" meant? He said very "BIG MONEY!:EyePop: There were talk about envelopes... I thought they would let the people who caught the tag fish,select an envelope??? But there was no mention of tag fish at the event, I was there before it started until the end and NOTHING!:Shocked: 2 Quik had to chase the Announcer down and asked about his prize for the tag fish?!
He waited about 15 to 20 minutes before the someone came back and handed him a sheet of paper that said he won a $500.00 Shopping Spree to an online store, I guess,I had never heard of the store.
Cindy
P.S. what happened to the $10,000.00 prize???!!! Or did we all read wrong?

[Prowler_Tuber]

It seemed too shady the guy seemed like they were just going to pack up and roll out. They had no mention of the $$$ tagged fish. On top of that how were the masses to know if the $5000.00 fish was even there they showed no one the other unopened envelopes, even on deal or no deal they show you where the prize was. Ok here's strike two on every ad they had there was suppose to be 10,000 lbs of trout planted ok that will get a lot of people to join but there was actually only 7,000 planted and even if it was a simple mistake a retraction should have been printed since it is a publication, it seemed like one of those used car ads that have the 1 car for sale but it is not on the lot just a ploy to get people there. These are just some of the questions that came up if I'm wrong let me know. Overall I had a blast but it could have been a little better.

[Mondo21]

It seemed too shady the guy seemed like they were just going to pack up and roll out. They had no mention of the $$$ tagged fish. On top of that how were the masses to know if the $5000.00 fish was even there they showed no one the other unopened envelopes, even on deal or no deal they show you where the prize was. Ok here's strike two on every ad they had there was suppose to be 10,000 lbs of trout planted ok that will get a lot of people to join but there was actually only 7,000 planted and even if it was a simple mistake a retraction should have been printed since it is a publication, it seemed like one of those used car ads that have the 1 car for sale but it is not on the lot just a ploy to get people there. These are just some of the questions that came up if I'm wrong let me know. Overall I had a blast but it could have been a little better.

Envelope,what Envelope ! I didn't see one. 2 Quik came back with a sheet of paper,with a shopping spree of $500.00 I heard there was a lady named Linda, I think that was her name. She also caught a tagged fish, nothing was mention about hers prize either. Maybe 2Quik will say something on this Thread to clear things up,he is probably more frustrated than us. Cindy:Big Grin:

[Big Daddy]

Envelope,what Envelope ! I didn't see one. 2 Quik came back with a sheet of paper,with a shopping spree of $500.00 I heard there was a lady named Linda, I think that was her name. She also caught a tagged fish, nothing was mention about hers prize either. Maybe 2Quik will say something on this Thread to clear things up,he is probably more frustrated than us. Cindy:Big Grin:

My first and my Last WON tournament. They definatly handled things very shaky, and as far as I am concerned they can cancel the rest of my subscription that I have with them. I will never read there paper again. They were less than straight forward with the tagged fish. When they dismissed everyone and Omar had go track them down about the results of his $10,000.00 fish. They disapeared and came back with a paper for a $500.00 internet shopping spree without even letting him see the envelopes or pick one but instead just give him what they wanted him to have seems kind of fishy to me. I think the biggest prize was the $10,000.00 tagged fish, and not to even mention it during the whole raffle is absolutly WRONG unless there was another agenda. I thought all tagged prizes would be raffeld off if they were not caught, so why wern't the other 9 blue tagged fish raffeled off. I think everyone was screwed not just Omar. Omar handled it with total dignity but I know he knows he was duped and if everything was on the up and up why wouldn't they have let the winner open the envelope in front of everyone. They have been doing this for a long time they know better. What a shame.

Big Daddy

[Hitts0n]

My first and my Last WON tournament. They definatly handled things very shaky, and as far as I am concerned they can cancel the rest of my subscription that I have with them. I will never read there paper again. They were less than straight forward with the tagged fish. When they dismissed everyone and Omar had go track them down about the results of his $10,000.00 fish. They disapeared and came back with a paper for a $500.00 internet shopping spree without even letting him see the envelopes or pick one but instead just give him what they wanted him to have seems kind of fishy to me. I think the biggest prize was the $10,000.00 tagged fish, and not to even mention it during the whole raffle is absolutly WRONG unless there was another agenda. I thought all tagged prizes would be raffeld off if they were not caught, so why wern't the other 9 blue tagged fish raffeled off. I think everyone was screwed not just Omar. Omar handled it with total dignity but I know he knows he was duped and if everything was on the up and up why wouldn't they have let the winner open the envelope in front of everyone. They have been doing this for a long time they know better. What a shame.

Big Daddy


Man even though I left,im NEVER fishing the WON event ever again.Im glad yall already said what I was thinking.....

[Mondo21]

They were hoping no one would catch the "Big Money" fish. Was there ever any big money to give away?! If I was Omar, I would seriously seek legal advice. Cindy:Confused:

[Big Daddy]

Man even though I left,im NEVER fishing the WON event ever again.Im glad yall already said what I was thinking.....
Hitts sorry you didn't stay but you would have been disgusted with the out come but I could have used your help tearing the stage up LOL

They were hoping no one would catch the "Big Money" fish. Was there ever any big money to give away?! If I was Omar, I would seriously seek legal advice. Cindy:Confused:
Cindy your probably right I think I would at least contact the attorney general about the way they handeled it but for me I will just stay away and never give them another dollar of mine.

[Prowler_Tuber]

I have to say so it's understood that the Vine staff was awesome as always i felt bad for the cafe guys they were moving back there good job guys

[DEADROOTS]

It was nice to meet you all! That sucks for what they did to 2quick, Congratulations anyway man! 10 tagged fish and you got 1 of them, what luck! This crew had three people that walked away with prizes and I even got a 1 year subscription to Western Outdoors! Even though I didn't get any trout I still had a fun time getting to meet you all and I'm glad the striper tacos went over well with everyone!

[2quikmotorwerks]

First off i just wanna say i was having a great time at the event. Fishing was kinda slow but constant,hanging out with my friends at the lake i love is alway a good thing but what pissed me off was the fact that i was the only one to catch a blue tag fish,when i went to weigh it in the dude didnt believe me intil he seen the fish once he seen the fish he wanted to keep the fish for a while which i had no problem with, the guy instructed me not to leave but to make sure i stayed around got my phone number and all, like i said not a problem, so i wait around for another hour listend to the band and whatnot then they start announcing the winners of each class of the tourney, raffles and such again cool not a problem but then everything is done and they're startin to rap up the event and they still havent mentioned me i started to get a lil mad. I actually had to damn near chase the guy down and stand in front of him so that hopefully he'd remember that he had forgotten about me, so he see's me and tells me he forgot, how in the hell do you forget the only guy who caught a blue taged fish out of the whole damn tourny anyways he says he needs to talk it over with somebody and that he'll get back to me, he verified where i was gonna be and then he left . Well right around that time trolly had went to where they were at and said that he seen then going thru the envolopes checking them really well and that i should go stand over there and watch them but i didnt i figured it was an honest event and that i shouldnt have to. So another 10 mins go by and the guy comes back with what supposedly came out of the envolope which was a 500.00 gift certificate to some online lure warehouse that sells mostly bass lures. Now i dont want people thinking that im ungrateful or anything however the whole thing was done wrong, i should have been the one to open the envolope not them after all im the one who caught the fish for all i know my correct envolope could have been the 5 or 10,000 dollars if it were truly a matter of the tag number corresponding to the envelope number then as soon as i turned the fish in the envolope should have been handed to me not searched thru then open to give me the lessor prize, total bs then they tried to cover it up talking about some insurance bs blah blah blah if that were the case then how come at the lake isabella event were the contestent that had tagged fish allowed to pick and open their envolope's. Like i said the whole thing ended up being a bunch of bs from the beginning to the end, i feel that i was ripped off, and i wanna say in no way is this directed to IRVINE LAKE they had nothing to do with this and i also know this will probly rub some people the wrong way but i really dgaf.

[bluehunter]

Dang Omar. I feel ya on that one. That is ill right there. And not in a good way either.

[IncredibleHuck]

Dang Omar. I feel ya on that one. That is ill right there. And not in a good way either.

Ditto! Makes me glad I didn't attend the event myself. Omar you have every right to be mad at WON.

[Troutman65]

Omar, I am sorry to hear about what happened to you in the Tourney. Something don't sound right and I am not sure how they could fix such a screw up after the fact . You were the only one to catch a blue taged trout of the day . How do the people running the event just forget about you & your taged entry trout?

[Hitts0n]

Cold game man.I wonder if WON even knows about this? I bet they dont.I bet if you called them they would take care of u.

[TroutOnly]

Those from the won that ran the event and were present at the event along with the board members of irvine lake who were also there should be ashamed of there selves,and they know who there are,and so do we,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[Prowler_Tuber]

My first and my Last WON tournament. They definatly handled things very shaky, and as far as I am concerned they can cancel the rest of my subscription that I have with them. I will never read there paper again. They were less than straight forward with the tagged fish. When they dismissed everyone and Omar had go track them down about the results of his $10,000.00 fish. They disapeared and came back with a paper for a $500.00 internet shopping spree without even letting him see the envelopes or pick one but instead just give him what they wanted him to have seems kind of fishy to me. I think the biggest prize was the $10,000.00 tagged fish, and not to even mention it during the whole raffle is absolutly WRONG unless there was another agenda. I thought all tagged prizes would be raffeld off if they were not caught, so why wern't the other 9 blue tagged fish raffeled off. I think everyone was screwed not just Omar. Omar handled it with total dignity but I know he knows he was duped and if everything was on the up and up why wouldn't they have let the winner open the envelope in front of everyone. They have been doing this for a long time they know better. What a shame.

Big Daddy

They need to say someting, I know WON has read these post, let see if they have the balls to answer our questions? Im curious to see how they are going to react? Its unacceptable! Eeryone who has the copy of WON with the tourney on it save the paper because its evidence of a scam. Correct me if I am wrong but a blue tagged fish is still a tagged fish right and if so why did they not give all the "tagged" prizes away like the ad said then. Here is who to call to voice concerns to, call WON event coordinator Sally Urena at (949) 366-0030, ext. 38, or Tournament Director Billy Egan at ext 40.

[Big Daddy]

Those from the won that ran the event and were present at the event along with the board members of irvine lake who were also there should be ashamed of there selves,and they know who there are,and so do we,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Your right TO when I questioned them (Bill Egan/WON and Steve Carson/Irvine Lake) about this. Steve Carson came over to me and said that I was right and that next year they would let the winner of the blue tag open the envelope in front of everyone, but next year is to late as far as I am concerned. I think Mr. Carson which seams to be a very smart guy should have had better judgement than to be a part of those that opened up the envelope or (envelopes) where Omar and none of us could see it. They never even revealed if there was a $5,000.00 envelope. This really dosen't look very good in my book and I hope they will do the right thing. I woud Hope that the Yum manufacturer also did not have anything to do with this as for my Yum Products that I have I am going to send all 5 or six jars that I have back to them with a little letter letting them know how they had handeled this situation, and that I will not be ever trying there products in the future and if this is the way the people that they have entrusted there products with operate. I think everyone should call Yum and let them know how this really looks.

Big Daddy

[Troutman65]

They need to say someting, I know WON has read these post, let see if they have the balls to answer our questions? Im curious to see how they are going to react? Its unacceptable! Eeryone who has the copy of WON with the tourney on it save the paper because its evidence of a scam. Correct me if I am wrong but a blue tagged fish is still a tagged fish right and if so why did they not give all the "tagged" prizes away like the ad said then. Here is who to call to voice concerns to, call WON event coordinator Sally Urena at (949) 366-0030, ext. 38, or Tournament Director Billy Egan at ext 40.


So let me see if I understand this right . All the prizes were not giving away ? They had envelopes left over at the end of the event and they were not raffled off ?

[Big Daddy]

So let me see if I understand this right . All the prizes were not giving away ? They had envelopes left over at the end of the event and they were not raffled off ?

Troutman 65 the way I see it if they gave Omar the BOOBY prize there is still 9 more envelopes out there thats why I think everyone was hoodwinked or should I say screwed.

[Troutman65]

Troutman 65 the way I see it if they gave Omar the BOOBY prize there is still 9 more envelopes out there thats why I think everyone was hoodwinked or should I say screwed.


WOW . Very Shocking to say the least

[Frenchy]

WOW am i glad i wasnt there sounds like a bunch of bs TIME TO INVESTIGATE

[afisherman13]

I think this year it was a scam for everyone who paid 45.00 to enter the tourney. We should all demand our money back, they did not give out all the prizes as advertised!!

[Hitts0n]

And we wonder why people cheat at fishing........

[El Capo]

WOW am i glad i wasnt there sounds like a bunch of bs TIME TO INVESTIGATE

X2 does not sound good.

[dixoncider]

I just so happen to be looking for a new boat. I contacted Millers landing asking about a 14' they have. I had no idea but the guy there said that 14' boat is "just like the one we gave away at Lake Irvine this weekend" who got the boat?

[tbob]

Hi Trout fishermen

I heard about this message board thread yesterday evening and I was unable to respond. I didn't have an account on the Fishingnetwork.net. My account was just activated this morning, so here I am. BTW, this is a great message board.

First of all as many people at the beginning of this thread mentioned it was a great event :LOL:. It was obvious throughout the day that everyone, from the fishermen, to the Irvine Lake staff and our sponsors, was having fun and everyone seemed to be in great spirits . The weather was fantastic and the fishing was typical of Irvine Lake, and good to great. All day long, everyone I met seemed to be having a great time. We had a blast putting on the event and hanging out with all of the Irvine Lake fishermen. The sponsors were likewise very impressed with the enthusiasm of the crowd and the size of this event, and my best guess is they will all want to be involved next year.

This was Billy Egan's first event as our new WON event director and he did an outstanding job in organizing and running the event. It's a big task and he's only been onboard with us for awhile, but he added a lot of nice improvements in spending some extra money and effort to hire that great band, bring in the Hooter Girls, get more sponsor support, etc. He is a smart, young and enthusiastic guy, and he learned a lot from this first WON event. He works well with our sponsors and the rest of the WON staff, and the events under his direction will only get better and better in the future.

With regards to the blue tagged trout and envelopes there is I believe there is a misunderstanding by some who are posting here as to how it works. When you see a tagged fish contest for a large dollar amount, truck, boat etc. it is often done through an insurance company and policy. There is in fact only one insurance company that I know of that does this sort of thing, so most of the large insured prizes that are given away at events follow fairly similar rules and procedures. We obviously want to give away the money at our events as the money comes from an insurance company and we have already paid the policy. We have given away many of these large insured prizes including a few just recently ( $10,000 for a bass at the Delta this February and $50,000 for a tuna in Cabo San Lucas last November).

But, the rules and procedures that must be followed are very specific, and were followed exactly in this instance. The only thing we should have done better was to do in on the stage so that everyone else could see what was going on, but this is only for the entertainmmnt value and does not change the result. We had an armada of witnesses to the envelopes being opened.

As I already mentioned we wanted for the $10,000.00 to be given away, so Billy was being very careful in following the directions and having witnesses, etc.. The results would have been the same, and to accuse anyone of larceny really just misses the point, as we would love nothing more than to have a insurance policy cashed.

WON and our sponsors gave away a boat and motor, a trip to Alaska, kayaks, tons of fishing tackle, high quality sunglasses, tackle boxes full of gear, and arranged for all that you saw there. The attendance was up significantly due to all the hard work, effort and support that went into the promotion by a lot of people at WON, Irvine Lake, our sponsors and the fishermen. In talking with the fishermen all day long it was clear that most everyone was having a great time, so it was disheartening to hear of the chatter on this message board. But we will talk to the people involved and do our best to make sure they understand things, and do our best to make amends.

Thanks again for all of your support at the IRVINE LAKE TROUT OPENER. We had literally hundreds of people thanking us all day, and very few gripes. Everyone we met seemed to have a smile of their face. It was for us a great day at the Vine and the people we met there were all great. We'll see you again there next year, or hopefully even before then at one of our other upcoming events such at the Stripper derby at lake Havasu, or the Troutfest at Big Bear Lake.

Sincerely,

Bob Twilegar
President, Western Outdoors Publications


They need to say someting, I know WON has read these post, let see if they have the balls to answer our questions? Im curious to see how they are going to react? Its unacceptable! Eeryone who has the copy of WON with the tourney on it save the paper because its evidence of a scam. Correct me if I am wrong but a blue tagged fish is still a tagged fish right and if so why did they not give all the "tagged" prizes away like the ad said then. Here is who to call to voice concerns to, call WON event coordinator Sally Urena at (949) 366-0030, ext. 38, or Tournament Director Billy Egan at ext 40.


They need to say someting, I know WON has read these post, let see if they have the balls to answer our questions? Im curious to see how they are going to react? Its unacceptable! Eeryone who has the copy of WON with the tourney on it save the paper because its evidence of a scam. Correct me if I am wrong but a blue tagged fish is still a tagged fish right and if so why did they not give all the "tagged" prizes away like the ad said then. Here is who to call to voice concerns to, call WON event coordinator Sally Urena at (949) 366-0030, ext. 38, or Tournament Director Billy Egan at ext 40.

[Señor.Chilax]

Hi Trout fishermen

I heard about this message board thread yesterday evening and I was unable to respond. I didn't have an account on the Fishingnetwork.net. My account was just activated this morning, so here I am. BTW, this is a great message board.

First of all as many people at the beginning of this thread mentioned it was a great event :LOL:. It was obvious throughout the day that everyone, from the fishermen, to the Irvine Lake staff and our sponsors, was having fun and everyone seemed to be in great spirits . The weather was fantastic and the fishing was typical of Irvine Lake, and good to great. All day long, everyone I met seemed to be having a great time. We had a blast putting on the event and hanging out with all of the Irvine Lake fishermen. The sponsors were likewise very impressed with the enthusiasm of the crowd and the size of this event, and my best guess is they will all want to be involved next year.

This was Billy Egan's first event as our new WON event director and he did an outstanding job in organizing and running the event. It's a big task and he's only been onboard with us for awhile, but he added a lot of nice improvements in spending some extra money and effort to hire that great band, bring in the Hooter Girls, get more sponsor support, etc. He is a smart, young and enthusiastic guy, and he learned a lot from this first WON event. He works well with our sponsors and the rest of the WON staff, and the events under his direction will only get better and better in the future.

With regards to the blue tagged trout and envelopes there is I believe there is a misunderstanding by some who are posting here as to how it works. When you see a tagged fish contest for a large dollar amount, truck, boat etc. it is often done through an insurance company and policy. There is in fact only one insurance company that I know of that does this sort of thing, so most of the large insured prizes that are given away at events follow fairly similar rules and procedures. We obviously want to give away the money at our events as the money comes from an insurance company and we have already paid the policy. We have given away many of these large insured prizes including a few just recently ( $10,000 for a bass at the Delta this February and $50,000 for a tuna in Cabo San Lucas last November).

But, the rules and procedures that must be followed are very specific, and were followed exactly in this instance. The only thing we should have done better was to do in on the stage so that everyone else could see what was going on, but this is only for the entertainmmnt value and does not change the result. We had an armada of witnesses to the envelopes being opened.

As I already mentioned we wanted for the $10,000.00 to be given away, so Billy was being very careful in following the directions and having witnesses, etc.. The results would have been the same, and to accuse anyone of larceny really just misses the point, as we would love nothing more than to have a insurance policy cashed.

WON and our sponsors gave away a boat and motor, a trip to Alaska, kayaks, tons of fishing tackle, high quality sunglasses, tackle boxes full of gear, and arranged for all that you saw there. The attendance was up significantly due to all the hard work, effort and support that went into the promotion by a lot of people at WON, Irvine Lake, our sponsors and the fishermen. In talking with the fishermen all day long it was clear that most everyone was having a great time, so it was disheartening to hear of the chatter on this message board. But we will talk to the people involved and do our best to make sure they understand things, and do our best to make amends.

Thanks again for all of your support at the IRVINE LAKE TROUT OPENER. We had literally hundreds of people thanking us all day, and very few gripes. Everyone we met seemed to have a smile of their face. It was for us a great day at the Vine and the people we met there were all great. We'll see you again there next year, or hopefully even before then at one of our other upcoming events such at the Stripper derby at lake Havasu, or the Troutfest at Big Bear Lake.

Sincerely,

Bob Twilegar
President, Western Outdoors Publications

:ROFL:
This whole thing sounds like BS!

[Steve Carson]

Your right TO when I questioned them (Bill Egan/WON and Steve Carson/Irvine Lake) about this. Steve Carson came over to me and said that I was right and that next year they would let the winner of the blue tag open the envelope in front of everyone, but next year is to late as far as I am concerned. I think Mr. Carson which seams to be a very smart guy should have had better judgement than to be a part of those that opened up the envelope or (envelopes) where Omar and none of us could see it. They never even revealed if there was a $5,000.00 envelope. This really dosen't look very good in my book and I hope they will do the right thing. I woud Hope that the Yum manufacturer also did not have anything to do with this as for my Yum Products that I have I am going to send all 5 or six jars that I have back to them with a little letter letting them know how they had handeled this situation, and that I will not be ever trying there products in the future and if this is the way the people that they have entrusted there products with operate. I think everyone should call Yum and let them know how this really looks.

Big Daddy


Let me clarify exactly what I said, I did not say that the angler should open the envelope.
I did say that next year, the envelope opening ceremony should indeed be on stage, but I was very clear that the envelope can ONLY be opened by the Tournament Director [Bill Egan].
Bill Egan very carefully re-read the [4 pages] of isntructions regarding how the envelope is to be opened, and that the other envelopes can NOT be opened, or no payoff of any kind can be made.
Besdies myself, numerous other people were around us when we opened the envelope, and afterwards I made the offer for Omar [and everyone] to come view the tag, the numbered envlopes, the instructions, and the Insurance Policy.
The blue tagged fish was #192, and only envelope #192 can be opened, there is no other choice to be made.
As Mr. Twilegar wrote, the Insurance Policy has already been paid for whether somebody wins or not, WON loves to give out the money.
Any time you see a big-money tagged fish contest [or even a hole in one contest etc.], it is almost always done with an insurance policy.

[TaperSteve]

What about the part where you advertised that all prizes not caught would be raffled off? It seems to me that is 50% of the complaint here. As others have said only 1 of those 11 blue tagged fish was caught so what happened to the other 10? The other part of the complaint was that things werent done on stage in front of everyone. I mean come on now thats what everyone came out to see. Who wins the boat and who wins the big bucks. Didnt they make an announcement after they raffled of the boat to stick around that they would have an annoucement if the $10,000 fish was caught. I was walking away so I didnt fully hear what they were saying. It seems to me if you were the only one to catch a big money trout (one of the 11 blue ones) they woulda wanted to atleast make an announcement about it or like everyone thought they would do, do it on the stage in front of everyone. It just all seems so shady. The whole ceremony seemed unorganized.

When they made the announcement for the casting contest I just happened to be sitting on the hay bails and people started lining up behind me. The guy from Okuma walks over and say's, "Oh S***, we're not ready my partners not here yet". So he asks if I want to help for a few mins and he hands me a whole case of YUM DB. I said OK, I would have been glad to help for free. He starts telling me what to do, then he see's his partner walking up. He stopped mid sentence, grabbed the case of DB outta my hand and say's, "I don't need your help anymore". No thanx anyways or anything like that.

With that being said the Vine is my favorite lake to fish. I consider it my home lake, the place where I do most of my fishing. I dont think this in anyway should reflect on Irvine. Irvine wasnt in charge of running this event. All the tourneys ran by the Vine like all the Masters qualifiers and such, always run much smoother than the bigger ones ran by W0N, Sports Chalet, etc.... I look foward to hanging out this Friday for the Kiddie Pole challenge, see you all there!

TaperSteve

[Matt44]

Im glad i stayed away from the crowds! they stocked corona heavy this past weekend! it went off there with big fish showing thur fri and sat! sucks to hear such an awesome zine putting on ****** event!

[Big Daddy]

What about the part where you advertised that all prizes not caught would be raffled off? It seems to me that is 50% of the complaint here. As others have said only 1 of those 11 blue tagged fish was caught so what happened to the other 10? The other part of the complaint was that things werent done on stage in front of everyone. I mean come on now thats what everyone came out to see. Who wins the boat and who wins the big bucks. Didnt they make an announcement after they raffled of the boat to stick around that they would have an annoucement if the $10,000 fish was caught. I was walking away so I didnt fully hear what they were saying. It seems to me if you were the only one to catch a big money trout (one of the 11 blue ones) they woulda wanted to atleast make an announcement about it or like everyone thought they would do, do it on the stage in front of everyone. It just all seems so shady. The whole ceremony seemed unorganized.

When they made the announcement for the casting contest I just happened to be sitting on the hay bails and people started lining up behind me. The guy from Okuma walks over and say's, "Oh S***, we're not ready my partners not here yet". So he asks if I want to help for a few mins and he hands me a whole case of YUM DB. I said OK, I would have been glad to help for free. He starts telling me what to do, then he see's his partner walking up. He stopped mid sentence, grabbed the case of DB outta my hand and say's, "I don't need your help anymore". No thanx anyways or anything like that.

With that being said the Vine is my favorite lake to fish. I consider it my home lake, the place where I do most of my fishing. I dont think this in anyway should reflect on Irvine. Irvine wasnt in charge of running this event. All the tourneys ran by the Vine like all the Masters qualifiers and such, always run much smoother than the bigger ones ran by W0N, Sports Chalet, etc.... I look foward to hanging out this Friday for the Kiddie Pole challenge, see you all there!

TaperSteve

Nicely said Taper Steve and your so right

[MAVERICK27]

Bottom line...if you upset Cindy, Mark and Omar..SOMEONE seriously went wrong. They are probably three of the nicest and easiest going people I know. As far as what "other" tagged fish tourneys do.......We caught a tagged fish at the Isabella tourney in 2009. We drove straight to the headquarters and everything stopped in the room because it had the potential to be a $20,000 fish. They grabbed a big ziploc bag that was hung from a wire. The number range was printed on the outside. They opened and handed me the completely SEALED plastic envelope with my tag number on it. I opened it right then and there in front of photographers and event coordinators. It ended up only being a $100 fish. I was still totally happy! I went again this year and they had over $200,000 in cash fish. They did it the very same way again. All I have to say is handle it with Omar and learn fom this year's GROSS mistakes. Also address the fact that the remainder of the tagged prizes were not raffled as advertised.

OR, just hire me and I'll get it done!!!!!! It's not rocket science. Hell even if you did future events with the help and coordination of a member...we could all make awesome events with the coordination from a contestant's perspective and what the fishermen want.

I'm not trying to be a jerk, but I tend to get a little protective of my FAMILY!!!!!! It is what it is!

P.S. I give credit to the speedy response from the WON President of Publication. That does show good character

[TroutOnly]

WELL SPOKEN MAVERICK,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,t/o,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[Big Daddy]

Bottom line...if you upset Cindy, Mark and Omar..SOMEONE seriously went wrong. They are probably three of the nicest and easiest going people I know. As far as what "other" tagged fish tourneys do.......We caught a tagged fish at the Isabella tourney in 2009. We drove straight to the headquarters and everything stopped in the room because it had the potential to be a $20,000 fish. They grabbed a big ziploc bag that was hung from a wire. The number range was printed on the outside. They opened and handed me the completely SEALED plastic envelope with my tag number on it. I opened it right then and there in front of photographers and event coordinators. It ended up only being a $100 fish. I was still totally happy! I went again this year and they had over $200,000 in cash fish. They did it the very same way again. All I have to say is handle it with Omar and learn fom this year's GROSS mistakes. Also address the fact that the remainder of the tagged prizes were not raffled as advertised.

OR, just hire me and I'll get it done!!!!!! It's not rocket science. Hell even if you did future events with the help and coordination of a member...we could all make awesome events with the coordination from a contestant's perspective and what the fishermen want.

I'm not trying to be a jerk, but I tend to get a little protective of my FAMILY!!!!!! It is what it is!

P.S. I give credit to the speedy response from the WON President of Publication. That does show good character

Maverick For "PRESIDENT" or at the least "Event Coordinator" in charge of Blue tagged fish.

[fishincrave]

well said Mavrick27

[pineapple express]

WON should of hired Dana to run the tourney, Team 57's President.
Dana know's how run an event & do it right...!!!

I read the response from WON, Mr Twilegar... How come no mention about the additional envelopes
to be raffled. As advertised, you must provide. hhhmmm, how to cover up that BIG mistake ???
WON having known to put on great events, why not have someone with experience helping Mr Egan
run his first event ? or was there ?
One reason to fish these tournaments besides having a great time fishing, hanging with friends &
family is knowing anyone has a shot at winning prizes. Also sorry for Omar to not have reconition
of having his glory moment, the only person to catch a tagged fish. It sounds like everyone had a
great time up until the award ceremony & raffle of the remainding envelopes that never was.
The awards ceremony & raffle is part of the tourney. I'M I RIGHT GUYS ???


After reading how this event was handled, Im glad I had to work that day otherwise I would have
been disgusted in person.

[Bill Hutcheson]

I can put and end to all this controversy immediately.

My name is Bill Hutcheson and I was the former tournament director for WON - having run the Striper Derby, Big Bear TroutfesT, and last year's So Cal Trout Opener successfully with many happy anglers.

I have done many of these insurance policy promotions and have given away two $30,000 Ford Trucks with tagged fish promotions through SCA promotions in Dallas, Texas. I am intimately familiar with these contracts and one of the caveats of these contracts is that THEY MUST BE PUBLICLY POSTED for the contestants to see. The reason for this is so that no one can claim they have a big prize without the ability to back it up.

If WON is truly interested in coming clean, you the anglers should ask them to post a scanned copy of said policy that was purchased for the Irvine Lake Promotion. This would eliminate any doubts that you the anglers have and if WON is indeed telling the truth about the promotion, they would galdy post a copy of the policy to clear thier good name.

Bill Hutcheson
MAY TROUT MADNESS DIRECTOR
(760) 304-4411

[2quikmotorwerks]

I can put and end to all this controversy immediately.

My name is Bill Hutcheson and I was the former tournament director for WON - having run the Striper Derby, Big Bear TroutfesT, and last year's So Cal Trout Opener successfully with many happy anglers.

I have done many of these insurance policy promotions and have given away two $30,000 Ford Trucks with tagged fish promotions through SCA promotions in Dallas, Texas. I am intimately familiar with these contracts and one of the caveats of these contracts is that THEY MUST BE PUBLICLY POSTED for the contestants to see. The reason for this is so that no one can claim they have a big prize without the ability to back it up.

If WON is truly interested in coming clean, you the anglers should ask them to post a scanned copy of said policy that was purchased for the Irvine Lake Promotion. This would eliminate any doubts that you the anglers have and if WON is indeed telling the truth about the promotion, they would galdy post a copy of the policy to clear thier good name.

Bill Hutcheson
MAY TROUT MADNESS DIRECTOR
(760) 304-4411Good idea bill i would like to see this insurance policy they speak of, and if its supposed to be posted and it wasnt then that presents a problem all in itself.

[Mondo21]

So let me see if I understand this right . All the prizes were not giving away ? They had envelopes left over at the end of the event and they were not raffled off ?

Understand this Patrick, The WON Event was a "TAG FISH EVENT"!
but... they did no presentation in front of the crowd. They said oh, we forgot!!!
To my understanding...they opened all the envelopes up and gave Omar a "JACkED-UP PRIZE" There was probaby no money prize at all. Just told us that to get us there. That's it in a Nut Shell!
P.S. As someone pointed out..WON said there would be 10,000.00 lbs. of fish would be stock. Then it was posted that only 7000.00 was put in, ooops! Cindy

[Mondo21]

I'm glad you finally spoke up lil brother(Omar). My computer was down all day,until now. I couldn't wait to see if you had posted something. Well said. I get upset, because right is right and wrong is wrong. :Neutral:

Big Daddy, haha! You Da Man! I would like you in my corner always.:Razz:

Maverick, thanks for the kind words. I am quite, uh?! yeah,until now!:Big Grin:

Cindy:Wink:

[MAVERICK27]

Thanks all. Everyone knows/or should know that I have never been one to get involved in drama on the boards, but this was pretty important.

I would JUMP at the opportunity to get with a major sponsor like WON, in conjunction with Dana's and Lake Irvine's blessing to throw an event.

I would start a thread FULL of ideas from YOU the participants on what you would like to see as well as what pitfalls to stay away from. We can learn alot from any/all past tourney experiences we all have here. Also, to go after new sponsors that otherwise may not have xposure in the fishing world. How would prizes from ...say Best Buy, Under Armor, etc....or what about sponsors that provide what we would LOVE to win. Such as, Bass Pro gift cards, quality rods/reels and tackle. You don't need to go after fishing companies that only want to donate thier new bottom line gear as prizes.

Anyway, sorry if this is a thread-jack of any sorts. I'm just getting fired up about doing things in a "think outside the box" mentality that I have.

By the way, does that President job you guys nominated me for pay well? I AM between careers right now :) haha

[Mondo21]

Thanks all. Everyone knows/or should know that I have never been one to get involved in drama on the boards, but this was pretty important.

I would JUMP at the opportunity to get with a major sponsor like WON, in conjunction with Dana's and Lake Irvine's blessing to throw an event.

I would start a thread FULL of ideas from YOU the participants on what you would like to see as well as what pitfalls to stay away from. We can learn alot from any/all past tourney experiences we all have here. Also, to go after new sponsors that otherwise may not have xposure in the fishing world. How would prizes from ...say Best Buy, Under Armor, etc....or what about sponsors that provide what we would LOVE to win. Such as, Bass Pro gift cards, quality rods/reels and tackle. You don't need to go after fishing companies that only want to donate thier new bottom line gear as prizes.

Anyway, sorry if this is a thread-jack of any sorts. I'm just getting fired up about doing things in a "think outside the box" mentality that I have.

By the way, does that President job you guys nominated me for pay well? I AM between careers right now :) haha

Go Maverick! Cindy:Applause:

[Bebop]

wow I just read all the threads and I have to say this. WON tournament last year was 100 times better than this year. They had prizes all over the place and alot of people recieved some great prizes. Included myself. They said this was going to end around 6 or 6:30 but ended about one hour or better earlier. I two am very dissapointed in this tournament and I paid early. No ofence to Irvine but I am not going to next years event. Omar I truly would of loved to see you win the big $$$$, but they put the wool over your head. Just because they had an Alaskan trip and one extra boat to give away does not constitute a great tournament when the little prizzes were greatly shorted.

[MAVERICK27]

Too bad the position isn't up for vote, eh Cindy? :)

[Prowler_Tuber]

"The attendance was up significantly due to all the hard work, effort and support that went into the promotion by a lot of people at WON" bunch of crap it was up because you advertised 10,000 pounds of fish and 7,000 were planted how do you miss 3,000 pounds of fish!!!! That's a 30% mistake so does that mean you'll refund 30% of our fees since we never got our advertised 10,000 hummm I'm thinking your insurance "policy" doesn't cover that. I'm obviously pissed I have to hear political crap answers everyday so your response is just a prepaired statement which means nothing, becausewhen it comes down to it you need to hire a new ad agency because this makes your publication look weak and foolish!

[Mondo21]

The President,Former President,Vice President,Treasurer,or Secretary should have remembered this was a "TAGGED FISH EVENT!!!" I myself would have said"HEY BOSS MAN" what about the people who caught the Tagged Fish?! Everything should have been done in front of the hundreds of people out there. Ms. Elaine Dickernoff, and Omar had tagged fish. What was Elaine's prize?
All we hear is BlahBlahBlah about the technological aspect.
No one from the WON Event, higher ups, has said we are sorry,
"WE SCREWED UP!!!" We will do better next year. From now on,everything will take place in front of all you Guys.
Weather we get an apology or not,we will have to think long and hard if we want to attend this event next year.
Cindy:Confused:

[pie 13]

i place top five male all they gave was cheesie trophy and okuma rod & reel $39.99 combo wow.

[Poxy Boggards]

Sorry to hear about that Omar. Sounds like there was some funny business going on for sure.

I clearly remember reading that prizes that were not awarded to people who caught tagged fish would be raffled off.

Also a $500 dolllar gift card does not seem like a big money prize when they are giving away kayaks, $1000 dollar prize packs, boats... you name it.

They should really post up what all of the prizes were for the tagged fish, and give some explanation of why those prizes were not raffled off.

Why would a $500 gift card be a part of an insurance policy? Seems fishy to me... No pun intended...

[Sierra_Smitty]

I am SOOOOOO glad we don't have derbies like this. Anyone heard the acronym K.I.S.S.?

[TroutOnly]

KICKING-ICE-SEIRRA-SMITTY,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,lol,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,

[blackberg]

I dont know what happend, but many contests/raffles/etc have insurance policies that cover the cost of the prizes of items won, if the prizes are not guaranteed to be won during the contest. If someone does win the insurance pays, not the sponsor.
-bb

[cappo]

They should rename this event to Shoulda WON

[TroutOnly]

Better than the dvl you have got to be kidding ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,oh thats my opinon,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and i dont fish there trout derbys anymore after being cheated out my first palce finish by one of the main assisants , i used to fish just
so see so many of my friends but not much anymore,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[TaperSteve]

Just my opinion the Vine is the only lake in our area maybe even all of CA that puts on as many events a year both fishing related and not. Im still a noob for sure but I never have trouble finding fish at the Vine on even the worst of days. Im sure there are people there every week when they dump a truck load of fish in the lake. As Steve Carson said the LMB, wipers, crappie, s*** many species they dont normally stock are biting like crazy right now. I caught my 1st wiper trolling at the W0N event. If W0N offered us our money back to make up for the mistakes they made (which will never happen) i'd argue that the Vine def still deserves their $22 share of it. I cant wait for the Kiddie Pole Challenge this weekend. Its gonna be a great event put on by people who know what their doing and just want to have a good time fishing with friends and family. See you all there Friday!

TaperSteve

[MAVERICK27]

All I can say is WOW! STILL, even though the thread is getting jacked by times of old.....nobody has addressed the REAL issues. Hmmmmmm. I think this thread is just heating up. In any tournament, contest, raffle etc....I just want "what is said, to be done and what is done, to be fair". Hey, that can be my campaign slogan for Presidetn of Events :) What do you think?

[Frenchy]

im just pullin up a chair at watching this thread hahaahhaahah i love it buts its so true shady business but what you gunna do about it its over and done w...........how long til thread lock HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM

[TaperSteve]

Yeah I was sure this thread will end up getting locked specially with past allegations being made that dont directly relate to this thread. W0N made their statement. Most our questions/concerns have gone unanswered, and I dont expect W0N to reply any further, well I DO expect them to answer all our questions but I DONT expect they will.

[thedeadone]

omar should be allowed to pick his own envelope.this should take place soon-his 500 dollar shopping spree voided.after he chooses all envelopes should be opened to allow viewing of content---that would make sure all was on the up and up.shame on you irvine lake

[fishinone]

Is the post, linked to below, a threat to ban people for their opinions or did I misinterpret it?

http://fishingnetwork.net/forum4/showthread.php?45521-To-All-FNN-members-from-Irvine-Lakes-CEO

[IncredibleHuck]

Guys I think you should concentrate more on WON then with Irvine Lake.

[Swank909]

Is the post, linked to below, a threat to ban people for their opinions or did I misinterpret it?

http://fishingnetwork.net/forum4/showthread.php?45521-To-All-FNN-members-from-Irvine-Lakes-CEO

What I understood was that it was more of a threat towards shutting down fishing at Irvine. That it would be more profitable to shut the lake down to fishing and open it for other recreational purposes? Bullcrap. If the lake was more profitable as a water resoirvour or as a dog park you would have done it years ago. You're running a business, Irvine lake is not a non profit organization, you're in it to make money.

[lurk 182]

Is the post, linked to below, a threat to ban people for their opinions or did I misinterpret it?

http://fishingnetwork.net/forum4/showthread.php?45521-To-All-FNN-members-from-Irvine-Lakes-CEO

that's the way i read it. i can't believe people even pay to go out there now. guess i feel bad for the Longfin but they'll be ok. pretty much an F-U to fisherman, "we could just close it to fishing cause we're all about water storage anyway." thanks Steve.

[Hitts0n]

I would JUMP at the opportunity to get with a major sponsor like WON, in conjunction with Dana's and Lake Irvine's blessing to throw an event.



Naw let Dana do his thing they way he does it,THE RIGHT AND HONEST WAY! Anything and everything Dana says he's gonna do,he does it.If he says he's giving away t-shirts,he does it in front of everyone.If he says,I will choose this years legends at this time and date,he does it,if he says he's giving away 10 free passes,he does it! I almost bought WON'S papers for the year.Nope on that,and never will.Anytime someone brings that paper around me im going to move away and im going to tell that person I dont want to hear about them.Fisherman57 is the KING of special events! And im sure he will keep it that way !!:Cool:

[Fishbones]

Guys I think you should concentrate more on WON then with Irvine Lake.

X2 i feel the same way and dont see Irvine responsable for the problem,

they have unfortunatly been included in this, people need to support Irvine not attack them...

[Swank909]

X2 i feel the same way and dont see Irvine responsable for the problem,

they have unfortunatly been included in this, people need to support Irvine not attack them...

I agree, although the letter from the President was more of an attack on the fisherman.

[Fisherman57]

Naw let Dana do his thing they way he does it,THE RIGHT AND HONEST WAY! Anything and everything Dana says he's gonna do,he does it.If he says he's giving away t-shirts,he does it in front of everyone.If he says,I will choose this years legends at this time and date,he does it,if he says he's giving away 10 free passes,he does it! I almost bought WON'S papers for the year.Nope on that,and never will.Anytime someone brings that paper around me im going to move away and im going to tell that person I dont want to hear about them.Fisherman57 is the KING of special events! And im sure he will keep it that way !!:Cool:





The events Ive done over the years have been to help promote FNN & TEAM 57 and our sponsors.... When I came aboard here, I liked what I saw and wanted to give back in a BIG way......

I started doing events quite a few years back and I've had fun at each and every one of them. It's the members & sponsors that have made TEAM 57 events great. Not me.

I've invested $1000's of my own dollars, and Ive done it because I wanted to....... no one asked me to or forced me to.

I normally do not include "derbys" at TEAM 57 events as I dont like pitting members against one another and who knows if there will be a good bite or not. I can't even predict the weather let alone the bite...... LOL!

Now obviously, I know that a good fishing derby is fun for everyone involved and I respect those who choose to hold them in an honest way. I like to see our members WIN! I just prefer to leave the "serious" derbys to the others. Ill stick to what I do.

Those of you who have been to a Team 57 event KNOW that at the majority of raffles I've had, ALMOST EVERYONE wins some little something. No, it's not expensive gear, but Id rather send home 100 winners than just ONE.

In fact, Ive had raffles where at the end I ask everyone to hold up their hand who didnt win, and usually thats only a few and I then tell THOSE people to come up and get a FREE Team 57 t-shirt...... its the best I can do.

I can't afford to do it everytime, but when I can, I do.

When you guys buy a shirt from me, it goes back into the events..... prizes, food, live bands, etc...... anything I can find to make it better for the members.

I HATE contacting sponsors for any donations, and in fact, most of them contact ME to be part of these events and contribute GREAT prizes...... if it wasnt for our generous sponsors, I couldnt do all I do. I am forever grateful to them for their participation. Guys like Trout Only who has given away guide trips at ALL the Legends events, help keep TEAM 57 events fun! Thanks Bob!

Anyway, as a way to say thanks again for all the support........ Im going to give away 18 full size rod & reel combos at the Kiddie Pole event....... THATS RIGHT....... 18

No need to buy anything from me, just hit me up for a raffle ticket AFTER the event starts and we'll give em away later when Irvine Lake hands out the trophies to tommorow nights winners!...... and no, they won't be real expensive combos....... like I said, Id rather send home lots of winners, rather than just one.....

And dont forget to check in early and be one of the first 20 and get a FREE Team 57 beanie!

Thanks everyone!


Dana

[Swank909]

Now I'll have to buy a shirt! <3 Dana

[Ray Lopez]

Naw let Dana do his thing they way he does it,THE RIGHT AND HONEST WAY! Anything and everything Dana says he's gonna do,he does it.If he says he's giving away t-shirts,he does it in front of everyone.If he says,I will choose this years legends at this time and date,he does it,if he says he's giving away 10 free passes,he does it! I almost bought WON'S papers for the year.Nope on that,and never will.Anytime someone brings that paper around me im going to move away and im going to tell that person I dont want to hear about them.Fisherman57 is the KING of special events! And im sure he will keep it that way !!:Cool:

lol just like the "free boat rental" that i won for SARL report of the week that i never recieved??

i must of got lost in the shuffle like Omar did with the WON event!!!!!!!

[Troutman65]

lol just like the "free boat rental" that i won for SARL report of the week that i never recieved??

i must of got lost in the shuffle like Omar did with the WON event!!!!!!!


Ray, Did you let Dana know that you have not revieved your " Free boat rental " ?

[Fisherman57]

lol just like the "free boat rental" that i won for SARL report of the week that i never recieved??

i must of got lost in the shuffle like Omar did with the WON event!!!!!!!


Really Ray?......

Funny that Ive heard nothing about this from you until now? 2 months later?

TEAM 57 / FNN / SARL will be glad to send you another one via REGISTERED MAIL signature required.
Send me your full name & address again before Sunday and Ill see that it's mailed out no later than Monday.

Did the PM feature get "lost in your shuffle" too?
Im easy to contact and easy to get ahold of........

Simple huh?



57

[Fishbones]

Really Ray?......

Funny that Ive heard nothing about this until now. 2 Months later.

SARL will be glad to send you another one via REGISTERED MAIL signature required.
Send me your full name & address again before Sunday and Ill see that it's mailed out no later than Monday.

Did the PM feature get "lost in your shuffle" too?".
Im easy to contact and easy to get ahold of..........

Simple huh?

Dana, every day my respect grows for you and your position on this site and how you handle it all.

FNN is proud of you for what you do for the site, i applaude you and want to say thank you from all of us.

Not many people can run such great events and manage all matters that need to be handled like you do

in the manner you handle them, very professional and with lots or respect and that is priceless.

Keep up the great work and thank you again.

Alex....."fishbones"

[Fisherman57]

Dana, every day my respect grows for you and your position on this site and how you handle it all.

FNN is proud of you for what you do for the site, i applaude you and want to say thank you from all of us.

Not many people can run such great events and manage all matters that need to be handled like you do

in the manner you handle them, very professional and with lots or respect and that is priceless.

Keep up the great work and thank you again.

Alex....."fishbones"


Thanks man, I appreciate the kind words.

[MAVERICK27]

Amen, thanks Dana for all you do. If nothing else, this thread just shows how consistant and awesome your events are!!! Keep on truckin and i'll see you at the kiddie Pole event!!! Also, let me know if you need any other raffle prizes and i'll see what I can drum up.

[sansou]

lol just like the "free boat rental" that i won for SARL report of the week that i never recieved??

i must of got lost in the shuffle like Omar did with the WON event!!!!!!!

Pathetic. I hope you realize that that there is a log keeping track of the passes from both the lake operators and FNN. The very fact that you try to create more drama on a thread that has nothing to do with your silly freebie boat rental speaks volumes abot your character (or lack thereof).

Understand Dana has gone out of his way to cajole the lake operators in to participating in these programs, which only benefit the members. The inherent problem are schisters like yourself who make it hard for us to continue programs like this.

Have another boat rental pass, choke on it. We know what the truth is. :Wink:

Enough said. Back to the WON drama for those that still feel the need to continue it.

[MAVERICK27]

Hi Rich!! :)

[Fishbones]

hi rich!! :)

lol..........

[BigBass777]

Wow! This incident will surely be an learning tool and eye opener for next year. You can't please everyone especially when an insurance policy is involved. It's still not a good reason to hide it from everyone who paid to enter the tourney. The person who catches the fish with a tag it has every right to pick out the corresponding envelope.

Trout tourneys run over the years at other lakes were done in a good manner. When you signed up for the tourney all the rules were stated so everyone was on the same page as to what goes on. If you caught a qualifying fish in the tourney, then you would take out the corresponding envelope. Money talks and so will what happened in this event. It's pathetic to hear it ended up like this in front of hundreds of anglers.

[tbob]

Wow! This incident will surely be an learning tool and eye opener for next year. You can't please everyone especially when an insurance policy is involved. It's still not a good reason to hide it from everyone who paid to enter the tourney. The person who catches the fish with a tag it has every right to pick out the corresponding envelope.

Trout tourneys run over the years at other lakes were done in a good manner. When you signed up for the tourney all the rules were stated so everyone was on the same page as to what goes on. If you caught a qualifying fish in the tourney, then you would take out the corresponding envelope. Money talks and so will what happened in this event. It's pathetic to hear it ended up like this in front of hundreds of anglers.

Just to be clear. The insurance rules that are in affect this year do not allow for anyone with an insurance policy to have you pick an envelope. If you catch the fish with the blue tag with the right number ( there are ten blue tagged fish released with ten different numbers ) you win the grand prize or cash amount that is insured. There were ten blue tags and ten envelopes with different numbers, and if the fish with the right number was caught you won the money. The insurance company is the only one that knows which envelope and which number is the winner, as they package everything and send it to the person running the event. The also send instructions ( 4 pages ) which tell you how to tag and release the ten fish being tagged. We had them put lessor prizes in the other 9 envelopes they sent to us, one of which was the $500 gift certificate which was won. We are not allowed to open any of the envelopes if a fish isn't caught, until after the event was concluded.

There were though also 200 white tagged trout released with numbers that coresponded to other prizes. Many of these were also caught, and those that weren't the prizes were awarded in the raffles. So more than 200 prize items were awarded in some manner. In addition a boat and motor, a kayak, another float fishing boat, a $4,000 Alaska trip, two $1,000 coolers full of gear and other great prizes and trophies were awarded. All of this was done for a relatively small entry fee into the event, with kids being $10 less. It will be even bigger next year, and we will have taken many of your suggestions for better prizes for the winners, etc and will work them into the program. But we did give away some fantastic large prizes, so it's really where you put the emphassis and not what we have away that is being criticized. If you ask the peope who won the large prizes they would tell you just the opposite.

We at WON feel very strongly that this was a great event this year and that almost everyone had a great time. Unfortunately we fell short in how we handled the one blue tag award that was caught, but it didn't change the results at all. You do not get to pick your envelope and the other envelopes can't be opened. We will do everything we can do handle it better next year and at future events, but some of the accusations being made have little do do with the facts, and we did have hundred of happy winners that day. To imply that there was some sort of mass unrest or that the entire crowd did not have a great time is really off the mark in my opinion.

We have though heard your input though and we will hear more today at the meeting, and hopefully the result is an even better event next year. We will also today try clear up any confusion with those directly involved. I think the still sealed envelopes may also be opened by Bill Egan. Obviously we would like to see that there is a $5,000/$10,000 cash certificate in one of them too.

And i do apologize to anyone and everyone who felt slighted of offended. This is not our intent or why we do these sorts of tournaments, and we will do our best to make it up to you in the future and earn your business. We have heard some of your input and we will be incorporating it into the way we handle future events.

Thanks for all your input, and especially to all of you who actually fished the Lake Irvine Trout Opener. Hopefully we will see you there next year or at one of our other events sometime soon. In the very near future we will release on WONEWS.com all of the prizes gieven away at the tournament, as well as even more photos from the tournament. There will also be a special section in next weeks paper.

Bob Twilegar
President, Western Outdoor News

[2quikmotorwerks]

Just to be clear. The insurance rules that are in affect this year do not allow for anyone with an insurance policy to have you pick an envelope. If you catch the fish with the blue tag with the right number ( there are ten blue tagged fish released with ten different numbers ) you win the grand prize or cash amount that is insured. There were ten blue tags and ten envelopes with different numbers, and if the fish with the right number was caught you won the money. The insurance company is the only one that knows which envelope and which number is the winner, as they package everything and send it to the person running the event. The also send instructions ( 4 pages ) which tell you how to tag and release the ten fish being tagged. We had them put lessor prizes in the other 9 envelopes they sent to us, one of which was the $500 gift certificate which was won. We are not allowed to open any of the envelopes if a fish isn't caught, until after the event was concluded.

There were though also 200 white tagged trout released with numbers that coresponded to other prizes. Many of these were also caught, and those that weren't the prizes were awarded in the raffles. So more than 200 prize items were awarded in some manner. In addition a boat and motor, a kayak, another float fishing boat, a $4,000 Alaska trip, two $1,000 coolers full of gear and other great prizes and trophies were awarded. All of this was done for a relatively small entry fee into the event, with kids being $10 less. It will be even bigger next year, and we will have taken many of your suggestions for better prizes for the winners, etc and will work them into the program. But we did give away some fantastic large prizes, so it's really where you put the emphassis and not what we have away that is being criticized. If you ask the peope who won the large prizes they would tell you just the opposite.

We at WON feel very strongly that this was a great event this year and that almost everyone had a great time. Unfortunately we fell short in how we handled the one blue tag award that was caught, but it didn't change the results at all. You do not get to pick your envelope and the other envelopes can't be opened. We will do everything we can do handle it better next year and at future events, but some of the accusations being made have little do do with the facts, and we did have hundred of happy winners that day. To imply that there was some sort of mass unrest or that the entire crowd did not have a great time is really off the mark in my opinion.

We have though heard your input though and we will hear more today at the meeting, and hopefully the result is an even better event next year. We will also today try clear up any confusion with those directly involved. I think the still sealed envelopes may also be opened by Bill Egan. Obviously we would like to see that there is a $5,000/$10,000 cash certificate in one of them too.

And i do apologize to anyone and everyone who felt slighted of offended. This is not our intent or why we do these sorts of tournaments, and we will do our best to make it up to you in the future and earn your business. We have heard some of your input and we will be incorporating it into the way we handle future events.

Thanks for all your input, and especially to all of you who actually fished the Lake Irvine Trout Opener. Hopefully we will see you there next year or at one of our other events sometime soon. In the very near future we will release on WONEWS.com all of the prizes gieven away at the tournament, as well as even more photos from the tournament. There will also be a special section in next weeks paper.

Bob Twilegar
President, Western Outdoor News

Don't get me wrong people had a good time shoot I had a good time intill the weigh in that when it all changed. As far as next year goes or any future advents from now on are not gonna go as good as you think due to what just happened this last tourney. U have to remember you don't have hutchison running things anymore you guys have egan which is a greenhorn and as of rightnow he's left a bad taste in a few peoples mouth. Another thing don't bother opening the so called remaining 9 envolopes today as that proves nothing as those could have easily been alterd by now, that's something that should have been done at the moment this started not a week later. Also I still wanna see such insurance policy beign that it was supposed to be posted the day of the event, I'm done talking about this now. I've gotten some legal advice and I might just take this to cilvil court

[See Chris Fish]

I have been to many WON events. I met Bill Egan and am impressed with his knowledge and character. The only thing wrong at the tourney was the tagged fish prize. I know that each tagged fish is for a specific envelope. The angler who caught the fish doesn't get to "choose" one. In my humble opinion, it was an honest mistake.
I believe the confusion was that all 10 tagged fish were for $5000. Not the case. If you caught the $5000 fish and used YUM, then you got $10000.
I will be in any WON event. You didn't lose me.
I do have one suggestion. As you're handing out the prizes, do more give aways. What I mean is more anglers get prizes, not a few that get alot of swag. You had over 600 anglers and only a few got prizes. For instance, give away the rod and reel combo to a single person, not the rod and reel and lures and tackle bag, etc. Give those to others.
More prizes to more contestant= more happy contestants!!!

Oh and call MY ticket # for the boat!!!!

[Sierra_Smitty]

I've gotten some legal advice and I might just take this to cilvil court

Dude....really? Like really? I get being annoyed at how this went down but really? Whatever happened to cooler heads will prevail?

This is now officially ridiculous on both sides of the coin.

[2quikmotorwerks]

Dude....really? Like really? I get being annoyed at how this went down but really? Whatever happened to cooler heads will prevail?

This is now officially ridiculous on both sides of the coin.

Ofcourse its ridiculous to you for the simple fact what happened didn't happen to you its always easier for people to say stuff when it doesn't pertain to them,let the shoe be on the other foot then talk

[Captain Castaic]

Wow man this thread is crazy long! It would make a great script for a movie, seriously.
Too bad for those affected. Seems like alot of people on both sides are upset.
Can't we all just get along?

[Sierra_Smitty]

Ofcourse its ridiculous to you for the simple fact what happened didn't happen to you its always easier for people to say stuff when it doesn't pertain to them,let the shoe be on the other foot then talk

I just find it rediculous that someone would get fired up enough to waste their own time trying to litigate something like this. Take it out of their arse with negative publicity if you so chose (you all are clearly doing a great job of that so far) but taking them to court? Good luck with that.

P.S. I've been screwed over plenty in my life, but I've never found sour grapes appetizing.

[2quikmotorwerks]

I just find it rediculous that someone would get fired up enough to waste their own time trying to litigate something like this. Take it out of their arse with negative publicity if you so chose (you all are clearly doing a great job of that so far) but taking them to court? Good luck with that.

P.S. I've been screwed over plenty in my life, but I've never found sour grapes appetizing.

Hey you get sour grapes you make wine out of it

[tbob]

I have been to many WON events. I met Bill Egan and am impressed with his knowledge and character. The only thing wrong at the tourney was the tagged fish prize. I know that each tagged fish is for a specific envelope. The angler who caught the fish doesn't get to "choose" one. In my humble opinion, it was an honest mistake.
I believe the confusion was that all 10 tagged fish were for $5000. Not the case. If you caught the $5000 fish and used YUM, then you got $10000.
I will be in any WON event. You didn't lose me.
I do have one suggestion. As you're handing out the prizes, do more give aways. What I mean is more anglers get prizes, not a few that get alot of swag. You had over 600 anglers and only a few got prizes. For instance, give away the rod and reel combo to a single person, not the rod and reel and lures and tackle bag, etc. Give those to others.
More prizes to more contestant= more happy contestants!!!

Oh and call MY ticket # for the boat!!!!

We advertised the event for many months and we never said anything other than there was one tagged fish for $5,000/$10,000 . You seem to be miss the point that much of the emphasis of this tournament is not on a tagged fish that likley be caught, but on all the large raffle prizes that will be awarded, such as the boat and motor, kayak, Alaska trip, etc. etc And there were 200+ prizes given away in our raffles. We could have spread it around differently, which is what I mentioned before, but my sense was that people actually were anxious for us to get to the larger prizes at a certain point.

The only reason there were ten envelopes is that the insurance policy makes you put out nine other blue tagged fish for every one insured fish released, and they give you ten tags and ten envelopes. One hold the policy and the others have nothing or what you tell them to put in them. This is done for obvious reasons if you think it through, as if only one blue tagged fish was released everyone would know that specific tag was worth a large sum of money and it invites cheating by people involved in the release or awards porcess. If you simply grab that tag whilek releasing it you basically would have $10,000 in your hands.

These rules are not specific to WON or Irvine lake, and apply to hundreds of events across the country and beyond. We had a $50,000 winner of an insured fish last November at our Los Cabos Tuna Jackpot. We had another $10,000 big fish winner at a WONBASS tournament at the Delta in February,

There was only one insured, tagged trout swiomming around Irvine Lake for Irvine Trout Opener event, which is exactly as we advertised. There was nobody coming to the event that should have been under the impression that we had bought ten $10,000 policies. And we gave away in other prizes considerable more than we did the year peior. Again that listing will appear soon on WONEWS.com and in WON.

The other blue tags, including the $500 shopping spree one that was caught is a bonus prize that one of our sponsors through into the pot. If we had purchased another insured fish it would mean buying anothner policy and releasing 9 more fish with or without prizes attached to them. Again, this is just the way tagged fish programs work at the moment, adn it's not our call.

The whole idea is if you catch the fish with the blue tag with the right number on it you win, and there is no drawiing. The odds are th4e same as before. That $10,000 fish was simply not caught on the day of the event, which is usually how these things go. That is why we have all the other large and small prizes, and all of these were awarded.

[2quikmotorwerks]

We advertised the event for many months and we never said anything other than there was one tagged fish for $5,000/$10,000 . You seem to be miss the point that much of the emphasis of this tournament is not on a tagged fish that likley be caught, but on all the large raffle prizes that will be awarded, such as the boat and motor, kayak, Alaska trip, etc. etc And there were 200+ prizes given away in our raffles. We could have spread it around differently, which is what I mentioned before, but my sense was that people actually were anxious for us to get to the larger prizes at a certain point.

The only reason there were ten envelopes is that the insurance policy makes you put out nine other blue tagged fish for every one insured fish released, and they give you ten tags and ten envelopes. One hold the policy and the others have nothing or what you tell them to put in them. This is done for obvious reasons if you think it through, as if only one blue tagged fish was released everyone would know that specific tag was worth a large sum of money and it invites cheating by people involved in the release or awards porcess. If you simply grab that tag whilek releasing it you basically would have $10,000 in your hands.

These rules are not specific to WON or Irvine lake, and apply to hundreds of events across the country and beyond. We had a $50,000 winner of an insured fish last November at our Los Cabos Tuna Jackpot. We had another $10,000 big fish winner at a WONBASS tournament at the Delta in February,

There was only one insured, tagged trout swiomming around Irvine Lake for Irvine Trout Opener event, which is exactly as we advertised. There was nobody coming to the event that should have been under the impression that we had bought ten $10,000 policies. And we gave away in other prizes considerable more than we did the year peior. Again that listing will appear soon on WONEWS.com and in WON.

The other blue tags, including the $500 shopping spree one that was caught is a bonus prize that one of our sponsors through into the pot. If we had purchased another insured fish it would mean buying anothner policy and releasing 9 more fish with or without prizes attached to them. Again, this is just the way tagged fish programs work at the moment, adn it's not our call.

The whole idea is if you catch the fish with the blue tag with the right number on it you win, and there is no drawiing. The odds are th4e same as before. That $10,000 fish was simply not caught on the day of the event, which is usually how these things go. That is why we have all the other large and small prizes, and all of these were awarded.

You seem to miss the point u keep talking about insurance policies(which by the way was supposed to be posted)instead of just mearly saying sorry we messed up,it won't happen again etc etc. I'm not trippin on the prize,if things woulda happen differntly there wouldn't be an issue however all you keep doing is tryin to save ur *** because u know u guys screwed up

[Cangler]

You seem to miss the point u keep talking about insurance policies(which by the way was supposed to be posted)instead of just mearly saying sorry we messed up,it won't happen again etc etc. I'm not trippin on the prize,if things woulda happen differntly there wouldn't be an issue however all you keep doing is tryin to save ur *** because u know u guys screwed up


Dude , i know you're bitter and twisted , but your not the first person to be done out by a bait and switch ...
From what i've read WON and Irvine have at least made an effort to explain everything , all be it , after the event.

[seal]

You seem to miss the point u keep talking about insurance policies(which by the way was supposed to be posted)instead of just mearly saying sorry we messed up,it won't happen again etc etc. I'm not trippin on the prize,if things woulda happen differntly there wouldn't be an issue however all you keep doing is tryin to save ur *** because u know u guys screwed up

And reduntant posting stating the same thing over and over from your perspective is only leading to more drama that has already potentially had an impact on the future of fishing at Irvine Lake. Yes you are not attacking Irvine but at this point this whole thing needs to be held in a more private forum rather than on this website. Everybody has made a point and everybody has heard those points. Time to move on or do what you believe you need to do, no matter how misguided some may think it is. I do feel for your frustration and I'm sure had I been in the same situation I would feel some of the anger and concernyou have felt.

I think that all that can be said has been said, once again time to move on.

[2quikmotorwerks]

Dude , i know you're bitter and twisted , but your not the first person to be done out by a bait and switch ...
From what i've read WON and Irvine have at least made an effort to explain everything , all be it , after the event.exactly from what u read pls unless you were there don't try to speak on what happen

[the killa]

I'm glad this DRAMA has nothing to do with me!!!!! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! :Dancing Banana:

[BigBass777]

Just to be clear. The insurance rules that are in affect this year do not allow for anyone with an insurance policy to have you pick an envelope. If you catch the fish with the blue tag with the right number ( there are ten blue tagged fish released with ten different numbers ) you win the grand prize or cash amount that is insured. There were ten blue tags and ten envelopes with different numbers, and if the fish with the right number was caught you won the money. The insurance company is the only one that knows which envelope and which number is the winner, as they package everything and send it to the person running the event. The also send instructions ( 4 pages ) which tell you how to tag and release the ten fish being tagged. We had them put lessor prizes in the other 9 envelopes they sent to us, one of which was the $500 gift certificate which was won. We are not allowed to open any of the envelopes if a fish isn't caught, until after the event was concluded.


Bob, In contrast I know what ya mean. At least it's 10 envelopes out of 10 (I'll explain below) compared to other trout tourneys I've been to in the past. It's great the WON tourney had many smiling faces and a good turnout. It's just sad to see you guys get the wrath of everything. We all are human, we make mistakes, and change is what makes us better.

Turners Outdoorsman was the place to register when SARL held the $100,000 trout tourney some years back. I went to a few of these tourneys. They had a grand prize worth $100,000 but $50,000 went back to the insurance company. The catch was.... only 10 fish were tagged and you would have to pick the correct envelop out of 100. Yes 90 blank envelopes!! Yikes! Sounds utterly impossible to win. Not only that but each tagged fish was 13lbs or bigger. I was fishing around a few guys who caught them. With the event being so popular, these fish would easily break you off with line tangles etc. Plus you must be present at the drawing to win anything. So if you had to work during the announced drawing time on the flier (and couldn't get the time off work) you were screwed.

So this WON event sounds a lot easier to win the cash prizes if all 10 tagged fish were caught. Having 10 envelopes out of 10 is more realistic than having 10 out of 100. I would like to fish Irvine Lake this season, FNN events and tourneys of this magnitude but can't afford to do so. The fishing has been good and off the hook. If present and I didn't win anything then ooohh well.

[Señor.Chilax]

I'm glad this DRAMA has nothing to do with me!!!!! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! :Dancing Banana:

Believe me, your time will come. Don't get too excited. HAHAHA!

[Señor.Chilax]

And dont forget to check in early and be one of the first 20 and get a FREE Team 57 beanie!

Thanks everyone!


Dana

That's for the first 20 that signed up and just show up, right? Or for the first 20 to show up? Cause if thats the case, im not getting a beanie tonight, ill probably be getting there around 4.30pm. :Sad:

[tbob]

Don't get me wrong people had a good time shoot I had a good time intill the weigh in that when it all changed. As far as next year goes or any future advents from now on are not gonna go as good as you think due to what just happened this last tourney. U have to remember you don't have hutchison running things anymore you guys have egan which is a greenhorn and as of rightnow he's left a bad taste in a few peoples mouth. Another thing don't bother opening the so called remaining 9 envolopes today as that proves nothing as those could have easily been alterd by now, that's something that should have been done at the moment this started not a week later. Also I still wanna see such insurance policy beign that it was supposed to be posted the day of the event, I'm done talking about this now. I've gotten some legal advice and I might just take this to cilvil court


One thing I would like to mention in closing down this thread on my end, is that the insurance carrier agent, Max, has told us that he has never asked that these policies be displayed at our our events, or at anyone else's events, or is it their desire that we do so. He also went on to tell us that it has not been their company's policy in the past to ask anyone to display these insurance policy's at the events or anywhere else, and that he would strongly prefer that the policies not be displayed.

It appears that the former WON employee who said otherwise on this thread is simply mistaken. He was also mistaken in saying we had 10 tagged fish as we had 210. I also sort of assume he knew that WON was not involved in any sort of fraud with regard to the fish tag and insurance, but he sort of dangled that out there too. I really can't think of anything he said that was accurate.

[Prowler_Tuber]

Much respect to te WON and Irvine lake higher ups and staff for the meeting. That was a very classy move much cool points earned! Thank You.

PT

[MAVERICK27]

I was very happy with the results as well. I still feel bad for Omar, but I see all sides and appreciate the lenghts that everyone went to in an attempt to put it all behind and move on. Bill Egan was a stand up guy and fell on the sword "so to speak". Its all good in my eyes. I showed up to the meeting to support my beloved Lake Irvine and its Staff against the "other" hostile thread jacker.....who never showed to the meeting....oddly enough. Now.....CLOSE THIS THREAD AND LETS FISH!!!!!! :)

[Thisfool]

I was very happy with the results as well. I still feel bad for Omar, but I see all sides and appreciate the lenghts that everyone went to in an attempt to put it all behind and move on. Bill Egan was a stand up guy and fell on the sword "so to speak". Its all good in my eyes. I showed up to the meeting to support my beloved Lake Irvine and its Staff against the "other" hostile thread jacker.....who never showed to the meeting....oddly enough. Now.....CLOSE THIS THREAD AND LETS FISH!!!!!! :)

thanks for going mav I know you represented us FNNers they way we should be represented and I know how much you love and respect Irvine lake so i know you were one of the best people who could of went to that meeting

Also thank you to wingnut and Dana

ps

hope to see you out there tomorrow mav

[TroutOnly]

HEY 2QUIK I KNOW HOW YOU FEEL BEING CHEATED,I GOT CHEATED OUT A 1ST PLACE FINISH AND THE BIG CASH PRIZE A FEW YEARS AGO AT THE VINE,ONLY THING WAS THERE WAS TWO EVENTS THAT DAY AT LEAST I GOT MY PRIZES AND AWARDS AT THE SECOND EVENT, IT HELPED ME FORGET ABOUT BEING CHEATED OUT OF THE FIRST, AND IT WAS BAD FOR ME BECAUSE I HAVE A LONG MEMORY ,THATS WHY I GOT REILED ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU ,ITS HARD ENOUGH TO WIN ,THEN TO GET SCAMMED THATS HARD TO SWALLOW ,BUT LET IT GO BROTHER YOUVE GOT LUCK AND IT WILL COME BACK AGAIN IT DID FOR ME I GOT TO WIN OTHER EVENTS AND ENJOY THE WINNINGS AND PROPS,,,,,,,,,,,,,bob,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

[GeordyBass]

I'm glad this DRAMA has nothing to do with me!!!!! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! :Dancing Banana:

Yeah! You took the words(reply) out of my keyboard! :LOL:

I only fished vine 2x....

I like the bays and stripey a lil more.:Cool:

[seal]

HEY 2QUIK I KNOW HOW YOU FEEL BEING CHEATED,I GOT CHEATED OUT A 1ST PLACE FINISH AND THE BIG CASH PRIZE A FEW YEARS AGO AT THE VINE,ONLY THING WAS THERE WAS TWO EVENTS THAT DAY AT LEAST I GOT MY PRIZES AND AWARDS AT THE SECOND EVENT, IT HELPED ME FORGET ABOUT BEING CHEATED OUT OF THE FIRST, AND IT WAS BAD FOR ME BECAUSE I HAVE A LONG MEMORY ,THATS WHY I GOT REILED ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU ,ITS HARD ENOUGH TO WIN ,THEN TO GET SCAMMED THATS HARD TO SWALLOW ,BUT LET IT GO BROTHER YOUVE GOT LUCK AND IT WILL COME BACK AGAIN IT DID FOR ME I GOT TO WIN OTHER EVENTS AND ENJOY THE WINNINGS AND PROPS,,,,,,,,,,,,,bob,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

From what I have read (I did not attend) there are areas that could and should have been handled better, but that does not mean cheating occurred. I have attended many WON tournaments in the past and have no complaints other than I didn't win. In fact some of my best memories are from attending the Double Haul tourneys up at Crowley and I can say they were always run as well as could be expected. You used the words "scammed" and "cheated" I think both of these words are a little over the top. Please don't take offense sir I just believe the rhetoric should be toned down.

[BigBass777]

I went to the meeting today as well. The staff on all sides feels very bad for what happened. They are truely sorry for the incident. The print on the flier (that everyone had seen) with 10,000lbs of trout to be stocked was a typo error. The original flier was correct when it said 7,000lbs.

For those who will fish this weekend at Irvine Lake: If you catch a trout with a blue tag in it, you will receive $50.00 cash. Just see an Irvine lake staff member when you bring it in.

Omar: Bill Egan will work with you on your gift card. He will offer you $500.00 worth of trout gear to your liking. Just give him a call. The envelope that was opened was #192 and it matched the tag on the trout. No other envelope was opened as the rest were sealed and not even close to being tampered with. They opened the 9 other envelopes and one did have the $5,000 prize in it. The envelope material used for the prizes is what USPS/FEDEX uses for shipping packages in. It helps to have a pair of scissors to open them.

At today's meeting, a cost list of each sponsored item was handed out. Remember the costs associated with the event doesn't include the paid employees on all sides. We have the easy part of just fishing the tourney. The hardest part was getting everything together and organized. The total of all prizes donated in this tourney was valued at $35,396.00. Now that's a lot of money!! Every bit of thank you's goes out to each staff member involved and the tackle/company sponsors. They put in the time to get the items together for this event. It's very easy to overlook this kind of team effort.

[CatchthatTrout]

I was very happy with the results as well. I still feel bad for Omar, but I see all sides and appreciate the lenghts that everyone went to in an attempt to put it all behind and move on. Bill Egan was a stand up guy and fell on the sword "so to speak". Its all good in my eyes. I showed up to the meeting to support my beloved Lake Irvine and its Staff against the "other" hostile thread jacker.....who never showed to the meeting....oddly enough. Now.....CLOSE THIS THREAD AND LETS FISH!!!!!! :)

I second these words by Chris, as I also attended the meeting.
Thank you Bob, Irvine staff and WON staff for attending and being respectful and understanding to our concerns.
As a long time member on FNN, I must say "same" on some of you that posted here with fork tounge and then you don't show up in person to this meeting that was called for by you.
I was also disappointed to hear the WON Director tell us that a generious offer was made to help defuse this issue, but it WASN'T mentioned at all here in the thread.
Happy Fishing.

[Hitts0n]

hey seal where you there ,i was scammed and cheated, and ived fished more derbys and tourneys than youve gone fishing, you totally missed the point of what i was saying to 2-quik, why dont you think i wasnt there trying to catch a trout at a pay lake ,to me its like shooting fish in a barrel,and im not bashing people who fish there if its close and convinent to them than more power to them , i have so many freinds who fish there its sick , maybe you outta go fishing, i will tommorow and the next six days in a row,,,,,,,,,peace 2-quik maybe i;ll see you down there,,,,ok maverick im done ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,later,,,,,,,,,,,,,

bob shut tfu !! Lmaoooooooooooooooooooooo!!

[Fisherman57]

Thanks to Dave & Jerry from the SWD for the invitation to attend the meeting Friday afternoon. It was my pleasure. Thanks to Daniela, Jimmy and Melanie for being there as well and representing the entire Irvine Lake staff.

Thanks to Bill Egan & the rest of the WON staff for taking time out of their day to attend also. Class act.

I attended for one reason only, to THANK everyone, as I know how much hard work you all put into these events and I want you all to know that I'm very appreciative.

Hope to see you all again soon!