By Russell Smith, Outdoor Writer
January 19, 2003

The San Angelo company Tournament Time.net was organized to give sporting enthusiasts a place to find competitive sporting events. But now they have produced Easy Weigh-In, a software product that makes fishing tournament tabulations quick and easy, a product that has been badly needed.

Tournamenttime.net

Tournament Time's web page appeared on the scene about two years ago. It was designed to support those of us who enjoy outdoor sports such as fishing and shooting. With just a click of the mouse, you can find any number of upcoming events that might interest you. And, in some cases, you can register for the event right over the Internet.

The web page has given bass clubs and shooting organizations a place to publicize and promote their activities for free. And for a small fee, the company builds flyers that can be e-mailed or mailed to potential competitors.

''This is a one-stop place for those who like competitive sports,'' co-owner Chris Pullig said.

Two years ago, the site only had a few listings of local bass tournaments. Today, it gives you links to the weather, area lake information (including levels), a for-sale category and a whole host of fishing and shooting events. And the list is growing.

Tournamenttime.net partners are Jack Davis, Pullig, Kacie Layman and Keely Wolfe. (The parent company is Source Link.) And except for Pullig, who fishes competitively, the owners have a whole boat load of computer experience.

Their computer expertise, along with Pulligs experience in putting on competitive bass tournaments, helped them develop a new software product called Easy Weigh-In.

Easy weigh-in

After fishing competitively myself, since 1985, and helping administer any number of large organized bass tournaments, I know that there is one time when confusion, human error and timeliness seem to meet head on. And that is during the weigh- in and award ceremonies at bass tournaments.

Bass anglers are normally mentally and physically tired when they come off the water. And the last thing they want to do is stand around for a few hours while someone decides who won and what the standings are. They want to find out the results, get a check, if they have one coming, and relax.

Spectators, on the other hand, would just like to know who has weighed what and what the standings are. And they'd like to see the story develop through the weigh-in. But, unfortunately, many times the crowd is too large or the facilities too small to accommodate their needs. Until now.

The Easy Weigh-In software package was field tested last fall during large open bass tournaments at O.H. Ivie and Lake Amistad. Monitors, placed out in the crowd, allowed spectators to find out immediately who weighed what and what the standings were.

''The monitors really drew a crowd at both weigh-ins,'' local Skeeter Pro Barry Bennett said.

But the greatest benefit is for those who put on the tournaments and for the anglers.

Bass tournaments come in all shapes and sizes. There are monthly club tournaments, the larger open tournaments and the massive big bass tournaments, such as KGKL's Big Bass tourney. And there are year long circuit competitions too. The Easy Weigh-In product was designed with them all in mind.

I spent time last week looking over the Easy Weigh-In software. I tried to find something that it lacked. But all I found were pluses. It even appears capable of taking care of multiple tournament sites, such as the coast to coast saltwater competitions, with immediate results daily.

''I believe the software could be a great benefit to any bass club and should help us (San Angelo Bass Busters) put on an even better open tournament this April,'' Doyle Riddle said, after his club bought their own copy of Easy Weigh-In.

Windows based, the software is fast and user friendly. It even covers the basic needs of bass clubs, such as membership list and minutes. And with just the click of a button, you can contact your members or former competitors by email, or run off mailing labels for those who don't have a computer.

Easy Weigh-In is sold as software or as a complete hardware/software package that is tournament ready.

The future

Tournament Time.net could be the place to find a schedule of other types of competitive sporting events in the future.

''We're interested in any type of sporting event, with a goal to provide listings for events statewide,'' Jack Davis said.

Easy Weigh-In, on the other hand, will probably get the weight of the angler's fish directly from the electronic scales within the next few years.

''We're working on this now because it will remove another element where human error comes into play,'' Pullig said.

Today, tournamenttime.net provides a valuable service for those who fish or shoot competitively. And their new Easy Weigh-In software is a pretty awesome tool for bass clubs. I wish this local company the best as they bet on fishing and the other outdoor sports.

Contact tournamenttime.net at their web site or by calling (915) 947-2945.

Contact Russell Smith at russell.smith@towa.org or (915) 949-7182.