Joined: Wed Feb 13 2008, 07:03PM
Location: Webster City Ia.
Posts: 457
Just wondering every ones feelings on start times for the tournaments. As the DNR of Iowa has changed it's rules and All tournaments must end by 1:00pm. What time do we start? A lot of teams like the safe light start. And some like to fish for 8 hrs. Darrin and I have talked some on this subject. And with the no wake lakes we have no trouble with a 5:00am start to get 8hrs. of time in. The problem would be the open lakes.Where we would send out 5 boats at a time to be safe running on the water. First out would equate to first back in. What are your ideas? Lets here it.
Director-Hawgz Bass Series
Pure Fishing:)Field Staff Blue WaterLED.com StayN'Charge.com Reaction Wraps.com
I'm just saying that the June, July and August tournaments are the only ones that must end at 1:00. Other months you could end them later and get 8 hours in without having to start at 5:00am. If you start at safe light you will not start at the same time anyway.
I personally would be more worried about cruising around on the motor restricted lakes in the dark with all the wood in them than a lake like Okoboji but I'd risk it. I'd say the earlier the better.
Joined: Fri Feb 01 2008, 07:02AM
Location: Cedar Rapids, Ia
Posts: 138
I did a little research on sunrise times Here I always wondered why places like the weather channel would give you the time of sunrise but yet you could easily be fishing a 1/2 hr before that. What I found on the above site was quite interesting. There are 3 different twilight times recorded.
Civil Twilight Civil twilight is defined when the sun is 6 degrees below the horizon. This is the limit at which twilight illumination is sufficient, under good weather conditions, for terrestrial objects to be clearly distinguished; at the beginning of morning civil twilight, or end of evening civil twilight, the horizon is clearly defined and the brightest stars are visible under good atmospheric conditions in the absence of moonlight or other illumination. In the morning before the beginning of civil twilight and in the evening after the end of civil twilight, artificial illumination is normally required to carry on ordinary outdoor activities.
Nautical Twilight Nautical twilight is defined when the sun is 12 degrees below the horizon. At the beginning or end of nautical twilight, under good atmospheric conditions and in the absence of other illumination, general outlines of ground objects may be distinguishable, but detailed outdoor operations are not possible, and the horizon is indistinct.
Astronomical Twilight Astronomical twilight is defined when the sun is 18 degrees below the horizon. Before the beginning of astronomical twilight in the morning and after the end of astronomical twilight in the evening the sun does not contribute to sky illumination; for a considerable interval after the beginning of morning twilight and before the end of evening twilight, sky illumination is so faint that it is practically imperceptible.
Out of the three I wold think that Nautical twilight would be what we are looking for for getting on the lake.
I don't have a problem starting at 5:00 for "most" of the tournaments, but as you can see the some of the tournaments Nautical sunrise is not until 6:00 am, meaning it would be basically pitch dark for about an hour if we started at 5:00, and that is with clear skies. I could see two distinct start and end times depending on the time of year.
Here are both the nautical and "regular" sunrise times. With possible tournament times.
April 19th Nautical Twilight 5:59 Sunrise 6:28 Tournament Time 6:00 - 2:00
May 4th Nautical Twilight 5:37 Sunrise 6:07 Tournament Times 6:00 - 2:00
May 31st Nautical Twilight 5:10 Sunrise 5:43 Tournament Times 5:00 - 1:00
June 14th Nautical Twilight 5:05 Sunrise 5:39 Tournament Times 5:00 - 1:00
June 28th Nautical Twilight 5:08 Sunrise 5:42 Tournament Times 5:00 - 1:00
July 19th Nautical Twilight 5:24 Sunrise 5:57 Tournament Times 5:00 - 1:00
July 27th Nautical Twilight 5:32 Sunrise 6:04 Tournament Times 5:00 - 1:00
August 10th Nautical 5:47 Sunrise 6:18 Tournament Times 6:00 - 1:00
August 30th Nautical Twilight 6:09 Sunrise 6:38 Tournament Times 6:00 - 1:00
September 6th Nautical Twilight 6:17 Sunrise 6:45 Tournament Times 6:00 - 2:00
The above is just something to think about, lets here your opinions.
Joined: Tue Feb 05 2008, 08:24PM
Location: Marshalltown
Posts: 28
I am all for fishing an 8 hour tournament, but if we had to fish a couple of 7 or 7 1/2 hour tournaments to avoid starting them in the pitch dark, that would be okay with me. A lot of these lakes we are fishing have a lot of standing timber, I would hate to see someone's boat get damaged or worse yet, have someone get thrown in the lake just to try to fish that extra half hour or so. But I do agree with Darrin, a lot of times you can see fairly well before the "official" sunrise.
Joined: Fri Feb 01 2008, 07:02AM
Location: Cedar Rapids, Ia
Posts: 138
With the above mentioned tournament times there would be eight 8 hour tournaments and two 7 hour tournaments. The two 7 hour tournaments would be in August when it's usually HOT
Joined: Mon Feb 25 2008, 06:51PM
Location: West Des Moines, IA
Posts: 12
I think that anyway that we can get the 8 hours in safely,would be the best option. If that meant that some touraments would have to start later, it's better than not being able to see.
Derek Wilkins--rad fishing scented plastics
