Fishing tournament

A fishing tournament, or derby, is an organised competition among anglers. Fishing tournaments typically take place as a series of competitive events around or on a clearly defined body of water with specific rules applying to each event. They can take place on or along the edge of oceans, lakes, rivers, including ice covered bodies of water.

tatistics

There are nearly 40 million anglers in the US, outnumbering the number of Americans who play golf (24.4 million) and tennis (10.4 million) combined. There are an estimated 30,000 to 50,000 fishing derbies and tournaments in the US annually. It is important to note that not all states require fishing events to be registered so it proves difficult to estimate exact numbers.

Technology

Traditionally, fishing tournaments take place on a confined body of water where a group of participants pursue a common goal and the fishing tournament results are kept within the host community. Technology, mainly the internet, has started a new trend giving fishing tournaments a world wide presence. The internet has enabled fishing tournaments to take place in multiple bodies of water spanning multiple states and even countries. Now anglers who live hundreds of miles apart can participate in the same fishing tournament in pursuit of the same prize while fishing different bodies of water.

Not only are new fishing tournaments being conducted online but now event officials, whose fishing tournaments have been annual events for passed decades, are placing their fishing tournaments online as well. Harnessing the power of the internet, existing fishing tournaments are able to post their results online in real-time plus send out automated cell phone text messages providing participants, friends and family with real time knowledge of tournament leader boards. This advancement has proven very effective in lowering the fish kill in many tournaments as participants no longer have to kill their fish for weigh-in if they already know it won’t be a top contender.

Famous tournaments

* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/6757377.stm Torneo Hemingway]

References

* [http://www.asafishing.org/asa/ Sportfishing in America - American Sportfishing Association]
* [http://www.fishtactics.com/ Online Fishing Tactics]

External links

* [http://fishingderbyonline.com/ FishingDerbyOnline]
* [http://www.asafishing.org/asa/ American Sporfishing Association]
* [http://www.fws.gov/ US Fish and Wildlife Services]
* [http://www.bountyfishing.com/ BountyFishing: online fishing tournaments]