Houdini is New Weighmaster for the Cup
"Seventeen point three pounds??!!" "In Alabama?!" Must have been Houdini. No other way to account for it. Embarrassment - on a National level! And It Happened At The Redfish Nation Championship!!!! The Championship! The Super Bowl of the Redfish Nation Series. Over the years there have been a multitude of mishaps and slips by the Cup tournament producers and directors but this year has produced some new highlights. It seems that attention and direction are given to Cup events only when absolutely necessary and for the most part it seems that the Cup is shunted to the rear while other, more pressing, issues and events are taking place. Communication is, in a word, dismal. Direction is nonexistent. Management is by crisis only. The list is long. It is because of this inattention that events like the one at Gulf Shores will occur…again. It is disappointing that this kind of ineptitude occurs from those that are entrusted to run our tournaments with integrity, honesty, and some semblance of reliability. When I wrote the last blog about weights, I had no idea of how timely it would be or of the foolishness that had taken place in Gulf Shores, Alabama. 22" fish weighing 6 ½ pounds!! Two 26" fish limit of 17 pounds!!! My partner and I caught a seventeen pound bag on day two of the FLW tournament in Lafitte two weeks ago and those were 26 15/16 inch, fat, Louisiana pond fish!!! They were Louisiana hogs! So I will say this. If someone, anyone, can show me two 26" pinched tail Alabama redfish that weigh OVER SEVENTEEN POUNDS I will never write another blog as long as I live and retire from fishing today!! This is worse than moronic. And the worst part of it is that these Professional Weighmasters and Professional Tournament Producers DID NOT HAVE A CLUE that these weights were absolutely impossible!!! They stood about smiling and nodding and looking pleasantly in charge as one of the most visible and embarrassing events in the history of the Cup took place. Good Grief!! People who have never caught a redfish are calling to ask if this was possible! A muskie fisherman called. A muskie fisherman!!! Our fans and families follow the tour and know the weights of tournament redfish. The public knows but our Tournament Directors Do Not!! What the heck is that!!! Once again, in the national public eye, we look like a circus buggy with three wheels. And, the lame apologies and confessions of, "Well yeah, we screwed up. But we've got great things planned", are getting redundant. Even an old dog won't come back after enough abuse. Why does this happen? Why isn't someone in charge who knows what to do and how to do it? Why must we be relegated to the back seat on a bus with no driver? Any explanation? Any response at all? Anything? ………Houdini takes the stage.
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