Nd aim 2017 ??

[Captain Ahab]

Not at all and no one has suggested this.. Although you seem to really take offense that someone has a problem with not having all the tourneys on the Missouri River chain. How about something like Missouri River, Ashtabula, Sak, Devils, and Championship either Devils or SaK

And some type of boundaries on Sak would be reasonable i believe. Just my thought though.

That is what I was alluding to. If they want more easterners, they can't run 75% of the events on the MO chain.

 

[RustyTackleBox]

I don't disagree with boundaries... the thing with boundaries it gives the officials an easier time making sure people are not cheating also... and if I was upgrading my boat to just go faster I would be getting a yar craft not a ranger

 

[johnr]

I do not know what other states are doing but I know in ND they are suggesting 4 qualifying events with each team picking their three best. Not sure why they pick because it's obvious if you fish all 4 you will be picking your best three.

I also am not sure if you have to qualify by points or if just fishing a total of 3 qualifiers gets you in. Last year, if you fished the needed qualifiers you were in for the state championship.

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I ask with a question again. Why do you want the 350 over the 150?

Cause it is twice as fast and worth 3 times the amount. But will it catch me more fish?

 

[Hornhunter]

That is what I was alluding to. If they want more easterners, they can't run 75% of the events on the MO chain.

would u fish it if half the events were on the eastern side of the state or are u just complaining?

 

[johnr]

I would fish it if I was just a little neater. My old 07 ProV with the optipop 225 isn't enough anymore, or maybe it's to much, I can't quite figure it out. But I do know if I was able to wiggle my nose and have any boat I wanted it would be the fastest, baddest assed boat any of you effrs have ever seen.....haha

 

[ndskeeter]

The reason you won't see an event on a body of water like Ashtabula is because AIM focuses on larger bodies of water which are more conducive to holding a tournament....they also try to stick to known big time walleye waters which equals Sakakawea and Devils Lake. The Fort Stevenson event is pretty much in the center of the state so I don't see what all the crying is about. I didn't whine about fishing on Devils and if there were 2 events there I would have been more than happy to fish both of them. It really comes down to you either want a chance at a state championship and then the national championship or you want to continue with the traditional tournaments throughout the state. Next year I'm focusing on AIM and then i'll probably hit the VHC and Gov Cup in addition. I love tournament fishing but I love the AIM format most of all and I fish a lot of tournaments. I like that you can run wherever you want and in my opinion if someone wants to make a long run and sacrifice fishing time then let them....it doesn't always equal better fish or a win. Yes it did for the AIM championship but it isn't always that way.

 

[sweeney]

so where did everyone run to during the AIM championship

 

[Captain Ahab]

would u fish it if half the events were on the eastern side of the state or are u just complaining?

Not complaining. The thread was alluding to the fact they did not have much eastern participation. Just an observation. I would love to fish it if I had enough time to put in the pre-fish effort.

 

[Ericb]

If they want more easterners

I think you have the answer!

 

[Captain Ahab]

I fished the AIM and I will fish it again and again, I am from Mandan, Its on the Missouri River and saw Bismarck-Mandan guys be the Majority at all of the Tournaments. I also fished Devils Lake and I didn't see the support that I thought I would from the FM Walleye club constituents. I expected that the forums would light up and say I didn't fish the tournament because I am already in too many.....I didn't fish the tournaments because I don't think that the tournament schedule is fair. Plain and Simple this is the ONLY Circuit that has had faith in ND in the past couple years either get in them or the Series will go away. The 3 out of 4 tournaments is the way it has to be to have bigger fields and bigger payouts. Their will be 4 qualifiers and 1 state championship, BUT based on the participation from the East side what would make anyone think that they should cater to having 6-10 guys fish and everyone else travel. I would fish in the Road ditch if there is money involved. Denny Fox would appreciate any email on how to get the East side guys to play he has got lots of input from the Central and West. I plan on fishing all four and the Championship next year, and the National Championship. Get on board Guys its the way of the Future, Lets embrace it and Have fun.

I was referring to this post.

 

[pluckem]

I fished the AIM and I will fish it again and again, I am from Mandan, Its on the Missouri River and saw Bismarck-Mandan guys be the Majority at all of the Tournaments. I also fished Devils Lake and I didn't see the support that I thought I would from the FM Walleye club constituents.

First I am in the Bis/Man area, so I am looking at this objectively, not for any personal benefit. I did not fish the AIM this year, however I definitely like what they are doing and would like to fish it in the future.

I also think more advertising and word of mouth will help the series grow, as is, for next season.

To use the series format to your benefit and gain participation from the east side of the state, having 4/5 events on the MO River system will not help the cause. You want teams to be invested into the series not just individual events. You will get more people to traveling and fish the events they otherwise wouldn't have due to them being committed to the series.

I also understand the problem of not having a definite second lake out east that would get people excited about fishing. Having two qualifiers on DL doesn't seem like a good option. Stump lake or Ashtabula could be an option.

Also, the DL tourney had the most participation out of all the events this year. So getting those easterner's involved isn't a bad thing.

Picking the hottest lakes and bites in the state isn't a bad strategy either. (MO river, Oahe, Sak, DL).

Maybe a compromise (and an experiment) for next year should be to do
1.) MO River in Bismarck
2.) Oahe at Beaver Bay
3.) Ft Stevenson or Van Hook on Sak
4.) Devils Lake

Then the State Ship @ Devils Lake

Advertise the heck out of it come January and February.

This might be enough incentive to see the participation from the east guys who call DL their home lake to commit to the series.

 

[RustyTackleBox]

If the AIM events line up with my work schedule next year my plan is to do all of them, gov cup and vhc... so I guess ndskeeter and I will see a lot of each other and TBH I kind of hope they have a couple events in devils lake because I don't get out there much and would like to fish it more, living 20 min from Garrison makes fishing the east end too convenient at times.

 

[Vollmer]

Just stick to the top waters.
MO
DL
Sak
DL
Championship on Sak

That's my vote.

 

[Casey D]

The reason you won't see an event on a body of water like Ashtabula is because AIM focuses on larger bodies of water which are more conducive to holding a tournament....they also try to stick to known big time walleye waters which equals Sakakawea and Devils Lake. The Fort Stevenson event is pretty much in the center of the state so I don't see what all the crying is about. I didn't whine about fishing on Devils and if there were 2 events there I would have been more than happy to fish both of them. It really comes down to you either want a chance at a state championship and then the national championship or you want to continue with the traditional tournaments throughout the state. Next year I'm focusing on AIM and then i'll probably hit the VHC and Gov Cup in addition. I love tournament fishing but I love the AIM format most of all and I fish a lot of tournaments. I like that you can run wherever you want and in my opinion if someone wants to make a long run and sacrifice fishing time then let them....it doesn't always equal better fish or a win. Yes it did for the AIM championship but it isn't always that way.

I dont think anyone is whining!! This is a great thread about a great tournament circuit that i was trying to get people to chime in on what would help it grow. And about Ashtabula not being conductive to hold a walleye tournament then maybe you need to go fish the lake once. The winning weight for there walleye tournament rivals the DWC and GOV cup lots of years and if you opened it to no boundries and could go north the weights would probably be even larger than either of them. Im just saying if you want 80 teams i think there needs to be compromise some on locations and traveling. Asking the people that fished it this year what they want does not help get input on what the people want that didnt fish it and why they didnt or what it would take to get them to fish.

 

[ndskeeter]

I think you started to see more participation towards the end of the season because of the word of mouth traveling among fishermen. Next year I'm betting you see 70-80 teams per event

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Well we fished the casino tournament together. We sat at the same table for the rules meeting and our partners knew each other.

 

[lipripper24]

I know Jesse and Denny will be looking at these types of threads and taking note I just wanted them to see context of why the support was were the support was. Like i said before I'll fish a road ditch on I-94 if its the AIM format. Ask your friends if they are planning on it and next year the Advertising will be better remember this year they had conflicting dates with other tournaments and had to move the AIM events to be in compliance with the ND Game and Fish requirements.

 

[powerman]

I believe we will see alot better participation next year. It was a great ran tournament and really enjoy the format.

As far as the guys from the eastern part of the state, would it be closer for you to fish the Minnesota division? I think the schedule they had this year was great. With this format they can showcase these fisheries with good weights with very minimal effect on the resource.

 

[pluckem]

As far as the guys from the eastern part of the state, would it be closer for you to fish the Minnesota division?

The winner of the DL tournament this year fishes the MWC over in Sota.

If you look at the MN AIM events and distance to Fargo
Big Stone - 2 hrs
Ottertail - 1.3 hrs
Leech Lake - 2.4 hrs
Pools 3&4 Mississippi R - 4.4 hrs
Lake of the wood - 4 hrs

ND AIM Events and distance to Fargo
Bismarck - 3 hrs
Garrison - 4 hrs
Devils Lake - 2.5 hrs
New Town - 5 hrs
Oahe - 4 hrs

Looking at those distances I think it will always be an uphill battle trying to draw from the Fargo area. Unless maybe you throw Devils on the series for two events.

 

[Twitch]

Maybe the easterners would be better served if they just had 1 on Devils Lake and the other four on the red river between Fargo and grand forks :;:stirthepot#$%^&>:;:

 

[MikeMT]

There are several aspects of the Aim tournament format that I like.

First is the live release,if the fish was reasonably cooperative,we could measure,take photos in a minute, then back into the water and all of our fish went down immediately. Did all of our fish survive? I hope,they did!

Second is the "catch and measure" as many as you can format.There is no limit on how many fish are caught to arrive at your best 5.

Third has to be the no-cull format. No agonizing over,"keep or throw back". Cheating is less prevalent,I realize that a person could put a fish in their livewell and re-measure it again hour\s later and take chance on beating a very sophisticated comparison program.If they need to win that bad then have at it!

Fourth is the one day(Sunday) tournament,it is great! I fished Garrison after the DL Chamber tournament and Devils Lake after the Montana Gov Cup.I was fortunate my partner could pre-fish for those two and it worked out fine.

I personally appreciate the options that AIM and the other North Dakota tournaments offer me.Choosing which tournaments to do can be tough,however, I have the luxury of choices. My question is,which is better Satellite TV or rabbit ears?

On the "bigger is better" issue,I really enjoy my Nitro\300 Verado set up,it is fun to go fast and feels more secure in big waves.Do I believe getting there quick is an advantage? Absolutely! Just as important is fishing as long as possible,at the last three tournaments our big fish came late in the afternoon,so we fished to the deadline then hauled ash.

Boundarys are most important for safety reasons,we should be more concerned about fellow anglers returning home than where everyone fishes at.Though I also believe patrol boats monitoring us is a good idea.

Participating in the AIM circuit has greatly expanded my knowledge through observing and conversing with the other competitors,we compared notes and techniques and complained about the big ones that fell off,it has been awesome!

Thanks for the opportunity!

Mike Gibbs