Tournament Info – Trout Fishing Tournament

WHEN
September 14, 2024

WHERE
The tournament will begin at the Chuck Gipp Decorah Fish Hatchery, 2321 Siewers Spring Rd, Decorah, IA 52101. The Fish Hatchery is ideally located along Trout Run in the Driftless, and minutes from many of the best coldwater trout streams in Northeast Iowa.

ENTRY FEE
$200 per team ($100 per person). An entry fee includes an anglers tournament registration, dinner, drink tickets, goodie bag, and more!

THE CONTEST
This two-person team tournament is a virtual style of “Catch, Picture, Release” using the Online platform Fish Donkey App. The one full-day tournament will begin at the Chuck Gipp Decorah Fish Hatchery on the morning of Saturday, September 14th. From here, a shotgun free for all start will kick off the tournament and give anglers 8 hours (8AM-4PM) to strategically explore any of Northeast Iowa’s publicly- accessible fishable streams and rivers. This format will provide anglers with the flexibility to fish from a variety of waterways, or catch all of their trout from a single body of water. County trout fishing guides with detailed stream maps and descriptions are available upon request. The target fish for this event will be rainbow, brown, and brook trout.

Trout only.
Each fish must be 8” or above to quality.
All anglers must attend our rules meeting that begins at 7AM on the day of the tournament.
Anglers may use fly fishing or spin casting equipment. No live bait or powerbait.
Points based – 1 point per inch of fish (or 0.25 points per ¼ inch of fish). If the tail fin touches or crosses a graduation line on the “trough” fish measuring board the official length of the fish for scoring purposes must be lengthened to the next one quarter of an inch line of the “trough” fish measuring board. Ex: 9 ¾” Fish will count as a 10” Trout.
Plus 50 bonus points for all species of Trout caught (brook, brown, rainbow).
Each fish is required to be measured using the official FishDonkey Trough Fish Ruler issued by tournament staff. A clear time stamped photograph (using the Online platform Fish Donkey App) of each unique Trout against the official ruler is required to qualify your fish.
All fish must be wet while being measured and photographed and returned to the river in good health immediately. Fish must be documented and released alive.
A current IA State fishing license is required to participate in the tournament and must be presented at check-in.
Only trout caught and recorded (using the Online platform Fish Donkey App) prior to the 4pm deadline will be eligible for prizes.

This tournament rewards winnings in the form of gifts. The winnings will be distributed after the event during the awards ceremony portion of dinner at the Chuck Gipp Decorah Fish Hatchery that begins at 5:30PM. This year we have over $3,500 worth of non-cash prizes. Prizes will be awarded to the three teams with the Grand Total in Inches of Trout (1 point per inch of fish). Tournament judges will verify the total length of all Trout caught (stringer limit of 50 Brook, Brown or Rainbow Trout). Please note that the FishDonkey app will automatically cull the smallest fish from your stringer for any Trout entered after your 50th fish. A non-cash Door Prize will also be given for the Largest Trout measured by length (Yes, size does matter). The following is the list of non-cash Prizes for 2024:

Teams with the Grand Total in Inches of Trout will win 1st, 2nd & 3rd place: (prizes awarded to each team member) 1st Place | Orvis Helios Fly Rod 2nd Place | Orvis Mirage LT III Fly Reel 3rd Place | Fly Box w/ Locally Tied Flies

Biggest Trout will win a special Largest Trout prize: 1st Place for Biggest Trout | Rod & Rivet Gift Card