Dead Fish Polo

Dead Fish Polo

We at Sanborn and Merrimack recently hosted a few rounds of a game called Dead Fish Polo during our BaseCamp event here in Winona. Many folks haven't heard of it, so I thought I'd share some of the basics here for anyone curious about it.

Equipment needed:

• Canoes
• Canoe Paddles - Straight shaft recommended but bent shaft is ok too. No double bladed paddles!
• A PFD for each player
• A "Dead Fish" - In our case this is two baseball-sized pieces of sponge sewn into some fish scale print fabric, total length is about 14 inches. Use of a real live or dead fish as a dead fish is strictly forbidden.
• Score keeping - We used sections of pool noodle attached to carabiners with a short cord. The pool noodles are clipped to and and removed from your PFD as points are scored.

The Rules:

• Each player starts with 2 points (the pool noodles) clipped to their PFD in view of other players. 
• Once the game begins the players try to throw the "fish" into each others canoes using only their paddles. 
• You may not move the fish with your hands. 
• Any shot that lands in or on a canoe scores a point. The person who has the fish land in their canoe removes one of their points and gives it to the player who threw it. Once the exchange is made, the player who lost a point may throw the fish back into play. A throw back into play may not score a point. 
• First player to 5 points wins! 
• Control your paddle! If you hit another player with your paddle you must transfer a point to them and must jump into the water.
• You may push off other players canoes with your hands or paddle to redirect them or yourself. You may not intentionally flip another players canoe.
• A player whose canoe collides with another canoe may be assessed a red card. In this case they must jump into the water. Other players may still score by landing the fish in a swamped canoe. 
• Players who have lost all their points may continue playing in the game, but if a point is scored against them they must jump into the water. 
• Dead Fish Polo may be played as singles (one canoe per team, tandem or solo) or as teams with 2 or more canoes. If playing with teams points may be redistributed to keep the other canoe(s) from your team in the game.