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Springfield Crappie Club
Spring Meeting Minutes with Bylaw Changes Sunday February 5, 2023, 1:00 PM
KC Lake Club
Springfield, IL
President Kenny Barlow called the meeting to order at 1:05 pm and welcomed the 21 members in attendance.
President Barlow asked the Club for a moment of silence in honor of Buck O’Conner who recently passed. He was a club founding member. Moved by Kenny Barlow to retire Buck’s boat number. Seconded by Jerry Jallas. Motion passed.
President Barlow asked Tournament Director Rick Montooth to share with our club the latest update on trailering. Rick reported that Army Corp of Engineers (ACOE) Lake Shelbyville called and approved trailering to other ramps. We’ll meet in the designated parking lot and take off by boat or trailering in the order that your number is called. Be back in the parking lot or at ramp by tournament end time. Kenny said from a safety standpoint this is good news for smaller boats, especially in rough weather. The trailering change is for club tournaments and the bash. Per Jeremy at ACOE the new regulation is subject to change if too many trailers end up at one ramp.
Secretary Report
Copies of the August 14, 2022, club meeting minutes were distributed. Secretary Steve Mozley read the minutes as requested. Moved by Dave Amerson to approve the secretary’s report. Seconded by Carlo Catalano. Motion carried.
Treasurer Report
Treasurer Rosetta Shinn reported the following: Total Savings: $3,059.74
Total Checking: $1,053.34
Total Assets: $4112.74
Checks that haven’t been cashed yet are Big Fish, Web Master ($300) & KC Lake Club
Rick Montooth reported that the Club has received $1200 from sponsors to date.
Moved by Ken Kucher to approve treasurer’s report. Seconded by Carlo Catalano. Motion passed.
Carlo asked when does a membership end? Rick said membership is good through December 31.
Tournament Director’s Report
Rick Montooth provided copies of calendar with tournament dates, By-Laws as of 3/3/2019, Rule Changes from 2022, Stats for Angler of the Year: Best Four Club Tournaments
Rick explained that for the April 15- 16 two-day tournament anglers will fish Lake Decatur on April 15 and Lake Springfield on April 16.
Brian Buchanan asked if angler could pay for both days and fish only one day and it still count towards meeting eligibility for the Club Classic Answer from Rick Montooth: Yes, if paid for both days.
Jerry Jallas asked how the two-day tournament will work for Angler of the Year?
Answer from Rick: Teams total weight of fish brought to scale over 2 days to be divided by 2 for the Angler of the Year. For example, if you catch 8lbs each day the total of 16 lbs. counts for the two-day tournament. For Angler of the Year, 16 lbs. are divided by 2 days with 8 lbs. counting towards Angler of the Year. If fish one day of the two-day tournament and catch 8 lbs. your total for the tournament is 8 lbs. For Angler of the Year the 8 lbs. total is divided by 2 days with 4 lbs. counted towards Angler of the Year.
Rick explained that in a conversation with IDNR Lake Sangchrist that of the 10% collected by the State, 10% of the 10% will be provided back to support the site where the funds were collected instead of the State of Illinois. For example, we have to pay the State 10% when we hold our open tournament on Lake Sangchrist 3/25 and 10% of the 10% goes to Lake Sangchrist.
In response to a question about which ramps our tournaments will be held at Rick provided the following: 3/25 Lake Sangchrist Open – East Ramp
4/1 Lake Springfield – Sailboat Ramp
4/15 Lake Decatur – Nelson Marina
4/16 Lake Springfield – Sailboat Ramp
4/29 Lake Shelbyville Bash – Wilborn Ramp and trailering is allowed. 5/13 Lake Shelbyville – Wilborn Ramp and trailering is allowed.
9/16 Lake Shelbyville – Wilborn Ramp and trailering is allowed.
9/30 Lake Springfield – Sailboat Ramp
10/14 Lake Decatur – Nelson Ramp
10/29 Lake Springfield Classic – Lindsay Ramp
11/4 Lake Decatur Open – Nelson Park Ramp
Angler of the Year 2022 Winner
1st Danny Runkle – 23.66 lbs.
We have a jacket that the club will present to Danny when we see him. 2nd Ryan Markwell/Sam Hardy – 18.92 lbs. fishing only two tournaments. Big Fish Winner (2022) Winner
Arick Clark with 1.95 lb. on Lk. Decatur
Arick Clark was awarded Big Fish plaque
Last year number of boats by tournament
Lk Springfield – 8 boats
Lk Decatur – 14 boats
Rend Lake – 4 boats
Lk Shelbyville Bash – 9 boats
Lk Shelbyville (September) – 11 boats
Lk Springfield (October) – 10 boats
Lk Decatur – 11 boats
Lk Springfield Classic– 11 boats
Lk Springfield Open – 10 boats
By-Laws 3/3/2019 Version CHANGES
Rick reported that at the previous meeting President Barlow asked if any club members would like to serve on the By-Laws committee. The committee was made up of the eBoard and chaired by Rick. Rick reported that the committee thought the 3/3/2019 By-Laws look good and were an improvement over the previous. The committee recommended the following additional changes:
Pg. 1. ARTICLE III Membership, SECTION A – QUALIFICATIONS:
“This club will consist of no more than 120 teams of 2 people. (Total of 240 persons).”
Moved by Rick Montooth to remove the above from the By-Laws since it is no longer relevant. Seconded by Arick Clark. Motion carried. “A member without a partner has the right to pick their own partner for a tournament without going to a waiting list.”
Moved by Rick Montooth to remove the above from the By-Laws since it is no longer relevant. Seconded by Carlo Catalano. Motion carried.
“The person on the waiting list may fish a tournament in case of a team vacancy.”
Moved by Rick Montooth to remove the above from the By-Laws since it is no longer relevant. Seconded by Carlo Catalano. Motion carried. “The waiting list will consist of 20 persons or 10 teams.”
Moved by Rick Montooth to remove the above from the By-Laws since it is no longer relevant. Seconded by Ken Kuchar. Motion carried.
“If a team dissolves themselves from membership of the SCC, the first team at the top of the waiting list has priority for the membership of the SCC. If a team dissolves, but the team members decide to stay in the SCC, each has a right to pick a new partner. If both members stay in the SCC, it must be decided who will stay in the 120-team tournament and which will go to the waiting list. This will be determined by flipping of a coin.”
Moved by Rick Montooth to remove the above from the By-Laws since it is no longer relevant. Seconded by Rosetta Shinn. Motion carried.
Pg 6 ARTICLE VI, Tournament Rules and Regulations 9. b.
“Trailering is allowed at Lake Shelbyville following the tournament morning meeting”.
“Trailering at any other location is allowed only upon the direction of the tournament director at the tournament morning meeting.”
Moved by Rick Montooth to remove the above references to trailering from the By-Laws and replace with: Trailering to be determined by the governing body responsible for managing the lake, except when it is a safety issue and then the decision to be made by the eBoard. Seconded by Kenny Barlow.
The modification in trailering verbiage moved by Rick Montooth to include exception for safety resulted from a recommendation from Brian Buchanan that safety exceptions may occur such as when on Lake Springfield we allow trailering from the Sail Boat ramp to Lindsay Bridge ramp or vice vera due to adverse weather conditions.
Thanks to BnM rods for supporting our club. We are still waiting on the arrival of rods. When we receive them, they will be distributed at tournaments as follows:
Jerry Jallas & Carlo Catalano (Lake Springfield) Mark Markwell (Lake Decatur)
Jim & Bob Tintori (Rend Lake)
Bob Sarko and Rick Clifton (Shelbyville Lake) Danny and Mike Rockford (Lake Springfield) Mark Markwell 2nd time (Lake Decatur)
Jerry Jallas and Carlo Catalano (Lake Springfield Classic)
Thanks to our O’Reilly’s sponsor for the discount on plaques.
Bob Sarko reminded everyone that Lake Clinton allows 10 fish over 10 in and 5 under 10 in.
Rick reported that IDNR fisheries biologist Tad Locher electrofishing sampling results showed Lake Sangchrist is down in quality fish numbers this year. Tad Locher said lakes go through cycles and this happens to be a bad year for crappie. Sampling on Lake Springfield resulted in numerous crappie 13.5 to 14 inches.
Locher told Rick that the rearing pond on Pawnee Rd, (near Wildlife Sanctuary, is pretty useless.) The crappie they’re raising there doesn’t make a dent in the restocking of Lk Springfield, but the City wants them to continue to use it.
The stocking of Lake Sangchrist was interrupted when bluegill got in the rearing pond and ate all the crappie fry. Locher told Rick they are looking into buying crappie to restock with.
eBoard voted to change the holdback for the Bash from 30% with 70% going to payout to 20% holdback to increase payout of 80% of monies received to winners.
Vice President Report
Ken Kuchar said member Joe Malek has a boat and is looking for a partner if you know of someone who would like to join the club and needs a partner with a boat.
Mike Rockford said along those lines of possible new members he asked if our meeting dates are on the club web-site. Rick said no because we don’t have a contract with our web master yet. Mike said for people that might be interested in joining our club it would be good to have the dates on the club web page.
President Report
Kenny Barlow said he’s glad we had a good easy productive meeting. He said he’s also glad we can trailer on Lake Shelbyville. It will be safer for large and small boats because that lake can get rough. That’s a big bonus to be able to trailer.
Carlo Catalano moved that the club make a donation of $50 to the KC Hall for the use of their facility. The motion was seconded by Bob Sarko and passed.
Rick Montooth said our club tried to coordinate with HOI on scheduling tournaments to avoid interfering with each other’s tournaments. Despite those efforts and dates being known, HOI scheduled their Decatur tournament on the same day as our Bash. We changed our date on Sangchrist to accommodate their schedule and understood they were going to do the same to accommodate our Lake Shelbyville Bash. Brian Waggoner said part of the challenge of competing with them is their 100% payout to winners. Brian Buchanan said also their lower entry fees, and all their tournaments are open, which make them very competitive. Jerry Jallas said it appears most of their spring tournaments are on the same day as ours. Comments were made about HOI’s Decatur tournament being criticized for not releasing their tournament fish as required by local rules. All our dates were locked in before theirs.
Some discussion followed about going to Mark Twain in the fall and not the spring due to high water conditions that frequently occur on Mark Twain in spring. In spring Mark Twain is often “washed out”. We vote on 2024 lakes at the August meeting and that issue can be considered then.
Jerry Jallas said it would be nice to have a fish fry at a meeting. He suggested 130 – 150 filets with everyone bringing a covered dish.
Kenny Barlow said we need new blood to serve on the Board. Rick Montooth said at the next meeting we vote for officers and the current slate is done. Someone must step up to the plate. It is all laid out and the money is back in place.
Rick said if you guarantee the money the boats will come, but not as many will come if you base the guarantee on the number of boats that come. Rick said the only time the club has any hold back is for the open tournaments. There’s no holdback for club tournaments.
We’re the oldest club in the US which says something about how we’re doing.
Rick said for the Bash we need 20 boats to pay $1000 out.
Rosetta Shinn moved to adjourn the meeting and was seconded by Carlo Catalano. The motion passed. Respectfully submitted,
Steve Mozley
8/6/2023
Minutes Approved by Club Membership Vote 8/6/2023