All wonderful ideas in my opinion. Resetting the scores quarterly will increase participation by the newbies I think. A few more contests like the last one and the top 3 or 4 guys will be up over 100,000 points. That could be pretty discouraging to a new participant. Great idea Peter.
Picking a new outing is a great incentive. Since Paul recently photographed numerous new outings, maybe the timing would work out right so that a monthly or quarterly prize could be choosing the next new outing. (I have no idea what Paul's shedule and plans are for releasing outings, so maybe he could weigh in here on this one).
As a tier, I'd be glad to donate flies occasionally. It sounds like a couple others would as well. Just thinking out loud here .... I'm wondering if a "fly swap" collection would work best. I'm sure some of us target specific species and lean towards tying flies for those species primarily. (I prefer Steelhead fishing... so most of my tying is geared toward them). Because I enjoy tying, I've got boxes full of different steelhead flies I'll probably never fish. But not everyone wants a handfull of steelhead/salmon hairwings - especially if their favorite species is bluegill, or bass, or northern pike, or tuna

, etc. etc. However, as a tier, I also enjoy seeing other peoples work. I love reading about the "old" flies, classis atlantic flies, newly developed guide flies, and learning about flies for different species of fish.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that if I were ever fortunate enough to win a gold medal in one of these contests and a handful of flies was the hardware prize, I'd prefer to get an assortment of flies to study and enjoy.
BTW - I wasn't kidding about catching tuna on a fly rod. I read an article recently about a guide out of southern Washington that will take you out 20-30 miles into the Pacific and if conditions are right, you can throw flies at tuna. Wow, what fight that would be! Hey Paul, how about some research on that

. Look me up if you're out west again and I'll go with you and help hold the camera steady for the 5-6 shots in 20 ft swells.
Dcarp