Quote Originally Posted by kent View Post
Ok, so far this thread is nothing but guesses, opinions, questions, and slander. So far not one person in this thread was there and fished or had a raffle ticket. I understand ther are a lot of people out there who do not like or care for John, fine to each his own. I happen to like him a consider him a good friend, so i'm gonna defend him here a little and give you all some FACTS since I was there.
FACT- There were a total of 99 entries in the tourney. 95 were actual entries and 4 raffle tickets sold.
FACT- It takes 115 entries to cover the cost of the boat to be given away. Bullet does not give this boat to John or Marinewoks, however it is discounted to them for this event. But nevertheless, it still takes 115 entries to cover the cost.
FACT- On the flyer it says $2000 guarannteed based on a 150 boat field. It was "supposed" to have a disclaimer about need 115 to pay for the boat, but whoever printed it left it out.
FACT- Fri. night during pre-registration John told a bunch of peple toward the end of registration about the 115 and covering the boat issue because of low turnout. After it was over John, myself, and Ron Critchelowe and Wayne Winter of The Cabin Bait and Tackle had a discussion about not getting the needed # of boats and how to handle it. It was agrred upon to not give away the boat and pay back ALL of the money to the field, Minus refunding the people who bought a raffle ticket.
FACT- John was also telling people that signed in the morning of the tourney about not giving the boat away if we did not get the # of entries, because they were coming down to the dock where I was doing livewell checks asking me about it.
FACT- ALL of the money from 95 entries was paid back out to the field, plus $500 dollars for Big Bass that was donated, plus around $4000 dollars worth of door prizes. The other 4 raffle entries WERE refunded.
Now, yes some people were mad about the situation, understandably so. But in that situation, you have to do what you think is right and that is what was agreed upon and done. NONE of the money taken in went anywhere else. Hopefully this sheds some light on the situation and helps people understand what happened and why. Yes, some mistakes were made, particularly the omit on the flyer, but hopefully lesson have been learned. I'm sure there will be Bullet tournies in the future and hope this helps some of you feel at ease about participating.
Kent Florence
Lexington, Ky

After reading your post I dug through my paperwork and found 3 registration forms/flyers from Bullet tourneys I have fished in the past that John sponsored. Two were on Cumberland and one was on Herrington. None of the 3 registration forms/flyers contained a disclaimer about a magical number of entrants needed before the boat could be given away. They all said that the boat would be given away at the end of the tourney in a drawing. Guess the "typo" thing has been on-going for many years??????????????

I don't know about the extra money awarded but I do know that he should have made an announcement the morning of the tourney when he KNEW that he didn't have the magical number of entrants to cover the boat that he would refund the entry fee for those who were entered primarily for a chance to win the boat at the drawing. He had everyone's phone number who was registered, he could have called those not present on the morning of the tourney and offered their moeny back as well. He could have then based the tourney pay back on the remaining money from those who chose to remain and fish the tourney. Would have probably had to change the name of the tourney and deleted the Bullet Boat name.

If he got 99 entries with a chance to win a new boat, he would have been lucky to get 1/2 that many with no new boat in the mix. The big lakes in the middle of July on a Saturday with a heat index of 115 degrees is about as close to being in hell as I would care to be plus from the guys who fished it they said he run it form 8am to 4pm. No morning bite possibility would also have reduced the entries.