Sioux Narrows team gets tough break

Having his team’s first day weight disqualified, felt like being slapped in the face and stabbed in the back, said Joe Prichett.
Prichett and his partner Hiram Archibald, both of Sioux Narrows, had their 16.08 pound bag disqualified in the first day of the 10th-annual Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship because they were late in arriving to the check-in at the Government Dock on Sand Bay last Thursday.
“It’s almost like a slap in the face to have our first day’s weight scratched because we were a minute and thirty seconds late,” said Prichett. “There should be some kind of punishment but not a whole day’s weight.”
“It’s like stabbing someone in the back as far as I’m concerned. I mean I love this tournament but this one really hurts. I’ve been in this town a week pre-fishing, spending money in this town and I’ve been down here for six straight years and now I’ve got to fight to make the cut,” added the man who is nicknamed “the gentle giant.”
As outlined in the four-page tournament rules booklet given to all anglers before the tournament began, Rule #8 (a) reads: Contestants who are late crossing the finish line at the end of the day for whatever reason, including breakdown, will be disqualified for the day.
Rule 17 (a) also states: Competitors are personally responsible for knowing all Tournament rules. . ..
“The fact that they were late? I don’t think that’s our problem, I think that’s their problem,” said Doug Cain, a director of the FFCBC since its inception.
“They know the rules when they come in, and motor problems is a fact of tournament fishing. When you leave yourself that slow, you risk that. That’s a risk you take when you cut it that close.
“A lot of thought went into the creation of that rule. And nothing is carved in stone and we may readdress it, but at this point they knew the rules when they signed up.”
Prichett and Archibald’s motor broke down a mile from the check in and were able to transfer their fish to another competitor’s boat, which is allowed, but only after it went to the station to check in, and by the time they came back and went back to the station, they were already late.
Transferring fish is allowed only in the case of mechanical failure or emergencies as stated by Rule #16 (c): In the event of mechanical breakdown the fish from the disabled boat may be transferred to another competitor’s boat provided they are accompanied by a member of the disabled team and they are kept in a separate live well.
But “late is late” said Tom Fry, who is a long-time director of the FFCBC and was the speaker at the rules meeting for the anglers held the night before the tournament began.
“As a director I can see their point to some degree. I understand that the rule is harsh,” said Fry. “But late is late. No exceptions.”
An exception wasn’t even given last year to the ambassador of the tournament in Al Lindner when he came in late on the last day and had his weight disqualified. Lindner accepted the decision and never filed a protest.
“I had nothing to question. It is what it is and I just laughed when it happened. You have to have rules. Rules are rules and you’ve got to live by them,” said Lindner.
“But that has nothing to do with what Hiram and Joe are facing. That’s a total different situation. I wouldn’t want to make the call and I would hate to not see them here,” he added.
Lindner, because of his stature in the tournament, is guaranteed a spot for any year, and said that if Prichett and Archibald didn’t make the cut (the top 90 teams), they should be given a special invitation for next year’s FFCBC.
But they won’t need an invitation because, even though their first day’s weight didn’t count, they still had a great tournament and placed 76th place (29.68 pounds) in the 138-team field.
But Archibald would still like to see a change in the policy regarding the penalty for being late.
“We fish around six tournaments a year here in Canada, and in all the tournaments, the rule is that they’ll give you five minutes of leeway. And if you’re late by a minute, you lose a quarter-pound for every minute up to five minutes, and then you’re disqualified for your day’s weight,” Archibald said.
Under Archibald’s suggested policy, his team would’ve placed sixth place with a total weight of 45.26 pounds after penalties.
The policy regarding the late rule was changed to what it is now after a one year try-out in 2002 as a different variation of the rule was seen. That rule was along the same format that Archibald suggested and was installed to align the FFCBC rules with those of Kenora Bass International (KBI).
“The original change was made because at that time we were looking at trying to align our rules with the KBI. And we had a couple of issues that year where a couple of boats didn’t show up, and it’s a matter of trying to get all the boats back so that our people can get away from the docks, and it was a safety issue,” said Fry.
The fisherman’s advisory committee (made up of eight competing anglers that represent all the competitors) looked at how the rule affected the tournament and unanimously decided to change the rule to what it is now.
“We won’t make a big deal about this. We know the rules and we didn’t abide by the rules. We’re not going to cry. If we were crying about it we probably wouldn’t have fished the rest of the tournament.
“We love this tournament and we love this lake. These guys do a great job and we’re not going to try to tarnish the tournament for this,” said Archibald.