We are now halfway through our first season utilizing Tourney X as our method of managing CPR tournament submissions. It honestly has been a great tool not only for tournament directors but for the anglers as well. As is the case with any new tool there are both tech glitches and usage issues that arise and we thought at this point of the season it would be a good time to post some information and advice about a common usage problem. The two primary topics of this post are duplicate submissions and post-tournament photo review. Please read carefully.
One of the more pressing issues we are seeing this season is the mistaken submission of duplicate fish. This generally happens when an angler hits the submit button again while a photo is already uploading or when an angler simply mistakes one photo of a fish for a photo of another fish. These are cases of angler error and not cases of cheating.
Nonetheless, anglers are ultimately responsible for uploading and maintaining the integrity of their photographed fish. This is why we give an extra 30 minutes after the check in to allow anglers to ensure they have uploaded the correct photographs. Although TourneyX is not visible for the last hour, anglers are still able to view and fix their own fish submissions (in both the web and app based tools) even while we have the site blacked out at day’s end (for an example, please reference figures 2 and 3 below). We recommend however that anglers avoid submitting and reviewing photos at the last minute. This can lead to mistakes at the end of a long, tiring day.
The CKA staff has a post event review process. Immediately after the event concludes, Tournament Directors review the winning fish before awarding prizes. In the following day(s), all submitted fish are reviewed a second time before the TourneyX CKA tournament standings are re-activated (fish are reviewed once during the event). If a duplicate fish is found during that process, we will DQ that fish and anglers will not be able to re-submit. Again, while judges score fish during the event, it is up to the angler to submit the correct fish. If a duplicate slips past us on a busy day, and it is caught later, it is still a duplicate and it will be taken down.
In summary:
- Carefully submit and review your catch.
- Do not trust the technology to manage your submissions. Review everything, and try to avoid last second submissions and reviews whenever possible.
- Duplicate fish submitted after an event has ended will be taken down and no re-submission will be allowed.
We understand that mistakes happen. We do not make executive decisions in order to punish anyone or embarrass anglers. It isn’t personal: it is simply about maintaining the stated rules. If you ever have a fish taken off the board, understand that. In the past an angler who has had a fish removed recognized his or her mistake and handled the removal well. We’d like to see that continue. Even more so, we would like for anglers to avoid the situation altogether, so please practice using TourneyX and review your fish during and after submission.
Assorted Advice:
There are many ways to organize photos of caught fish so as to minimize the chance of error. Figure 1 below depicts one such strategy, but you may have others. Find the system that works for you, and practice it so as to avoid having a catch photo disqualified.
Fig. 1. Phones typically keep pictures in rows of (4). Take three pictures of the fish and then one of the water or trees to separate your catches
Fig. 2 Your fish (in the Web Based Version) can be accessed even when tournament is offline:
Fig. 3 Your fish (in the App Based Version) can be accessed even when a tournament is offline:
