Pond Jumperz started as an electric-motor only club in 2010. This year, the club changed to idle-only, meaning anglers could use gasoline-powered motors on idle to move from spot to spot. The change saves battery juice, making it easier for the bigger boats to compete since they are much more demanding on batteries.

“People were skeptical at first,” club president Brian Calvert said. “Club members and nonmembers liked the uniqueness of our (electric motor) format.”

The original idea behind the club was to give those with small, slower boats an opportunity to compete in tournaments.“There was a group of guys with small boats who love bass fishing,” Calvert said. “But there were no tournaments available for us with our little boats.”He said the new format keeps the club open to all skill levels because even those with gasoline motors can’t take advantage of speed to get to prime fishing spots.While boats controlled by electric motors can travel about 5 mph, boats with gas engines on idle go about 4 mph.Calvert himself just upgraded to a gas-powered boat, bought from another club member who upgraded to an even faster rig.

Longtime club member Ron Gayton said the idle-only rule is a welcome change, as many anglers used to have to motor back for the weigh-in hours before the end of tournaments because of drained batteries.

“A lot of people had their batteries die so everybody was getting back to weigh-in way too early,” Gayton said.