Posted by Warren Turner on May 31, 2005 at 06:12:51:
In Reply to: How Much Does An Ice Cube Weigh? posted by Mike Barnett on May 30, 2005 at 15:14:27:
First, I agree that the Lions event was a big success for all that participated. Only 46-boats participated at an entry fee of $100/boat for the tournament itself and that resulted in only $4600 in total entry fees collected. As pointed out, the tournament payout was $5000 just in 1st and 2nd place yet there was several more places paid including 32 opportunities to get an additional $100 from some exact fish weights. Jim Murphry and Danny Parsons won one of these extra $100. Yet, we were still able to raise over $10,000 for the good benefit thanks to the hard work of Gregg Turner and the rest of the Lion's organization and to those striped bass fishing teams supporting this great cause.
Concerning the weight of a cube of ice, I agree that the weigh in was very close. But I must add that the NSBA was the emcee and weigh-master of this event for the 3rd year in a row. I made every effort to ensure a correct weigh in and required all teams to shake out the ice from their fish's mouth. I specifically remember both the winners and the 2nd place team shaking out ice per my instructions on the scale. I will also point out that the polygraph examiner informed the tournament director that both the first and second place teams admited to intentionally putting ice in their fish's mouth to stop them from thrashing in the ice chest. They did this to help ensure the fish did not lose any extra weight while in the ice chest. Also, each team told the examiner that when instructed to do so on stage, they made every effort to remove the ice before placing them on the scale.
I know David Barnett and I am confident that he was not trying to discredit the Lion's organization, the NSBA, or me in his post, but I just wanted to point out to those that read this string of posts and who were not there present at the weigh in that we (Lion's Organization and the NSBA, took the correct action.
It is important to a tournament team that their fish keep their weight as long as possible. A fish thrashing around in an ice chest will lose weight espcially if it is full of milt or ripe eggs. Filling the mouth with ice is one way to accomplish this. Another way is to fill 1/3 of the chest with water and the 2/3's with ice. The extremely cold water will slow them down fast. However, they will still get ice in their mouths on their own. One final note on the close weigh in and keeping their weight, if either team had used live fish, it would not have been that close either. Live fish retain thei rweight better and longer than dead fish do. So, as you can see here, there are things that a team can do to increase their chance of winning without doing anything wrong. All three of the things listed above are legal and will work.
Hope this helps others in their tournaments,
Warren Turner
President, NSBA