Competition Tactics 3

[Alain Barthelemy]

I was also wondering about beat assignments, fairness and randomization.  I have read that for international competition, FIPS-Mouche comes in with some black box computer, but I think it is easy to figure out.  This assumes there are no problems with logistics, transport, weather, plenty of volunteers and so on.

This analysis is hard-coded for the NE Regional comp only in that it assumes 28 competitors, 4 rivers, 4 sessions, 2 sessions/day, no rest rivers or beats, four 7-angler groups and so on.  I started thinking about this last night, and was mostly curious about how anglers are assigned beats.

My premise is that there is an unfair advantage or disadvantage to being assigned a beat near the ends of the competition water.  Since fish move, especially with changes in water flow, I believe this might be the only fair way.  Fish would also move based on up or downstream non-comp angler pressure if there is any.  In high water, I think that an upstream beat would be beneficial, assuming that the fish are wild and well-distributed and that each beat contains the same mix of lies and holding water (I know this is impossible).

I have not been to a comp, but I assume that at the Competitor's meeting right before the event starts, each competitor draws a random number from a hat.  The number that he draws has already been assigned to a fixed published matrix like I have here.  The angler's index is the only thing he/she needs to know.

Here is the main assignment matrix:


and the required sub-grouping to randomize beat locations:


This assumes there are seven beats assigned to each river in linear order along the riverbank, A, B, ... G.  You will notice that the letters in the second array are in random order.  This is done to prevent a competitor from always having the first, last or middle beat; the angler has to move around in the competition waters.

The river beats should still be assigned this way:


but the competitors have to go where the matrix tells them.  Each controller should have a copy of the matrix in their possession, and understand how it works.

For example, say that Joe Angler draws competitor number 11.  The top chart says that he must fish Spring Creek on SAT AM.  The second chart shows that he is in the "Gamma" group and for Spring Creek, he must fish Beat G.

Is this how you run a comp?

[Dejon Hamann]

That's basically how we draw beat assignments at most competitions.  All though I'll have to take a look at your specific schematics when I find my spectacles to see if there's any refinements we could follow.

Nice depiction and graphs though.  I was staring at that first one... I swear you can see "Jerry" after a few minutes.  Or a spaceship, I'm not sure.

[Alain Barthelemy]

Dejon,

I just sent the original Excel spreadsheet to your hotmail account.  I enclosed both Excel 2003 and 2007 versions.  This way you can view it in any size you like.  Thanks.

Alain

[Lance Egan]

Alain,

I assure you that there can be crap beats just about anywhere in any venue.  Also, there can be great beats anywhere.  One man's garbage is another man's treasure

I understand your position, but over-thinking a river controlled by mother nature is a poor use of time.  I'd say 90% of the time the beats that most anglers think are the best beats, don't produce as many fish as originally thought.  I know I've won sessions on beats that I thought looked terrible and lost sessions on great water.  Go figure.

[Alain Barthelemy]

Lance,

Thanks for the feedback.  Please clarify, so you don't think in general there is an advantage to having a beat close to the edges of the comp water?  Do you understand my point?  I'm just curious as to the beat assignment system, it is an interesting topic, and an example of a scheduling problem (I coordinated a girl's soccer league for a long time and this is how we tried to make our tournaments fair; some fields were always flooded and muddy).

Believe me, I don't doubt for a second that great competitors like you would out fish anyone (like me) on a beat of any quality!  I am pretty sure we could also swap gear and it wouldn't matter much either!

Thanks.

Alain

[Lance Egan]

Alain,

I didn't mean to discount your analytical thinking.  It has merit, but in this instance I don't believe we can control enough of the variables to change the outcome unless we are stocking fish into beats.  (I hope it never comes to that) 

To answer your question, no I don't think there is an advantage to a beat near the edges of comp water.  Inevitably we randomly draw some good, some bad and some mediocre beats.  I've noticed at the WFFC the top anglers maximize their catch regardless of the quality of their beat.

Kind of you to say that I'm a great competitor.  I feel like I've learned a lot since starting comp fishing, but I know I have a lot to learn to get to the top.  You'll likely outfish me in PA, but I'll have fun fishing either way...

Send me a message with your email addy and I'll try to find some of my beat breakdowns from other comps.  Generally there are a couple of beats that win most sessions and a beat or two that someone really figures out to top all anglers where others have struggled.  I can't say I've noticed any pattern to the winning beats, but I'm interested in your take.

 

[Jim Frazier]

Lance i am following ya here , each fisherman looks at every type of water with a different kind of thought. Some guys like fast shallow water , some heavy fast water , slow glides etc. I think alot of times how a angler percieves weather or not he/she got a good beat is "does it match up to what they like and feel confident fishing " But as you stated lance a good top angler will make lemonaid when handed a bunch of lemons ! I think we all know sometimes where the fish are located in a stream has alot of variables , time of day , bug activity , water temp , pressure etc. and like lance said we can control none of the above. when we don't do so hot on an outing we all keep asking ourselves , where there fish there , did i go small enough , did i pick the right flys , did i approach the water right etc. this is what keeps us all coming back regardless of previous expieriences !