All Anglers

I must say that today is a bad day to be a Tournament Director and I wish that we had the powers to be to control Mother Nature. Unfortunately we do not and I have had to make a decision based on the information that is given to me and make one that benefits the majority of our anglers. We are going to have the first tournament of the 2014 season tomorrow at Smith Mtn. Lake. I know that there are some of our friends that will not make it due to road conditions in your area. I would not expect you to come if you felt that the conditions were not right to make the trip. I hope that you will use good judgment in that matter. Once the storm system moved through the sun has come out and warmed up nicely so to our friends further east it is on the way. Everything to the west has melted off and it did not take very long for that to happen. I do want to let you know that we will do everything that we can to accommodate your needs, just let us know and we will work with you. A couple of things that I want you to know:

1.       I will keep registration open after we launch tomorrow morning in the event you are running behind due to your travel. (Some people planned to come up today but could not get here) I will launch the field at 8:00 A.M. and then get you in as fast as we can.

2.       Parkway Marina is ready for us and they have advised me that all roads are cleared of any snow and people have been putting in all day today. Parkway will also have Coffee and Biscuits tomorrow morning.

3.       I am looking at the idea of hosting a Wildcard Tournament at Smith Mtn as a NON-POINTS tournament but count it as a qualifier so the anglers that are not able to make it tomorrow will still have a chance to get their qualifier in toward the Classic. I would like to entertain some thoughts on this. Possibly a Sunday so it does not interfere with tournament schedules that are already in place.

4.       Anyone that does not check in tomorrow morning with me I will remove you from the tournament field so we can move your entry fee to another tournament.

5.       All weather reports say that you may be shoveling snow today and battling sun burn tomorrow, we have many anglers at the lake already and for those reasons I have decided to go ahead with the tournament.

To all of our friends to the east if you do not make it up tomorrow we will miss seeing you and make the right decision about tomorrow’s tournament wherever you are. I will make sure that you get what you need and assist you the best I can. The sun has come out and it is headed your way…

Chris