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New User
Posts: 1
| To MWC Anglers:
I am not going to argue the point of whether the fishing conditions on the Illinois River for the MWC’S Spring Valley Tournament was safe or not. Personally I felt the conditions were safe if the individual boaters proceeded with caution. But I can certainly understand if others felt uncomfortable about their safety with the conditions of the river and all the floating and submerged debris.
Rather I would like to discuss the decision making process of whether to launch or not. Whether to have a one day or two day tournament. And finally where the launch will be held. I will relate what I know, and have learned, about this process through discussions with people “in the know” including Mike Hurless. I may not be totally accurate in the telling of how the decisions were made and encourage those “in the know” to fill in any gaps or correct any inaccuracies. My hope is that if we understand this process we all can feel more comfortable with the decision that was made and possibly refine the process if need be.
First of all none of us anglers were surprised by the rising waters on the Illinois River. It was a topic of conversation between us all week. I have been told the same conversations were being held in the MWC trailer and alternative plans were being laid out. But who took part in these conversations? I know the Anglers Advisory Panel (AAP) was involved. I know Mike Hurless of the Spring Valley Walleye Club was involved. I know the Army Corp of Engineers and Illinois Department of Conservation was consulted for their expertise. I think some of the MWC Sponsors were involved.
I know Kristine and Mike took under advisement each of these groups in their decision making process of whether to hold the tournament or cancel it. My strong intuition tells me that the majority of these groups affirmed to her that the conditions would be safe if the boaters proceeded with caution. I think my assumption can be up held by the manner in which we were talked to at the rules meeting by most of these groups.
Once the decision was made on to launch I believe the next step would be to decide on whether to have a one day or two day tournament. Obviously we know the outcome to this decision. But why not have a two day tournament if you are having a one day one? Probably because the river was predicted to rise 2 more feet on Sunday. This would only bring down more debris, make the current even stronger, and make the river even more unfishable. But the deciding factor, I’m guessing, on having a one day tournament came down to the prediction that Barto Landing would be underwater by Sunday. Thus the only alternative launch site would be DePue. If we launched from there it would mean driving through an extra 15 miles of debris to fish at the dam as most of us did. That doesn’t make much sense to me if the objective is to hold a safe tournament.
I’m of the belief the decision not to launch at DePue was made for our safety and not because the MWC stage could not be set up in time as some have suggested. We have all seen what the Spring Valley Walleye Club can accomplish in a short amount of time.
Again, this is how I read the decision making process through discussions with some people and by making some educated assumptions. My hopes are that others will forward their knowledge of the situation so we can feel comfortable with the decision making process and that safety was a concern when making the decision. And possibly we need to refine this process so there is less confusion in the future.
However, I do feel that Kristine has been unjustly criticized at times when some of the posts become personal attacks on her character. There were a lot more people involved in the decision making process than most of us knew. But like a true leader she has taken the burden of responsibility on herself, is reading these posts, and is assimilating them in order to make future decisions.
With Best Regards,
Frank Pilney (#920)
(These are my own personal observations and is not an official NPAA statement)
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Location: Rhinelander | Thank you, sir, for your considerate and well spoken commentary. We are doing our best to make sure no one is allowed to get too 'personal' with their feelings and comments, and our moderation team has removed or edited a number of less than friendly comments from all sides of the debate. When emotion is running high, it usually takes a few days for the issue to boil down to the fact of the matter as individual positions are clarified.
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| Thank You Steve |
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Member
Posts: 1188
Location: Chicago IL. | Ahh Frank ,the heck with this tourney talk. Your hard work showed on those kids faces on saturday. We had a great turnout and it was because of you. I think we got some kids/parents ready to fish,and thats what it`s all about. Man that girl was excited when she won that bike huh. Looking foward to the next one.
PS. It was not too bad,only got 2 hooks in my thumb and a rod tip in my eye.HEHEHE |
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