Finders Keepers

Recently I was approached by someone who works with physically handicapped individuals about coordinating a fishing event for her group like we do for the wounded veterans. Initially she was looking to get them on the ice and, due to the slippery nature of the ice alone, I was not in favor of that idea and suggested maybe an open water event and that I would look into it for her. While I am all about offering on-water experiences, I have some concerns. So I wanted to get some feedback on a few things from others, guides and charter captains in particular, who may have had experiences to share since I do not take clients out and (other than the few veterans we have hosted) predominantly fish with just my team and some students from school. Obviously weather/wave conditions would be a primary concern and shore or bay fishing could be an alternative. Are there any particular liability issues to be aware of or special insurance requirements that would have to be met? Are there any events of this nature currently being conducted that I could potentially mimic in designing one for her group? Anyone have any stories good or bad to share? Suggestions, things to be aware of, etc. that I can take back to her should she want to pursue putting an event together? Thank you in advance for the help/info in this regard!

Yes you are correct in the 1-in-7 shot, however the first place angler who is chosen will have the choice between the 3 Grand Prize awards ($500 Cash, $1,000 HD10i-Pro Aqua-Vu Camera, or Free Fish Mount), the Second Place angler chosen will have a choice of the two remaining prizes, and the third place angler chosen will receive the remaining prize. The $500 cash could also increase to $750 or $1,000 cash if we receive enough entries. I doubt we will see enough to push it more than $1,000 this year...

Long range models show a pattern shift in the jet stream 1.5-2 weeks out, then the flood gates open for the cold out of Canada... Let's hope that forecast holds!

Agreed!! I think it'll come, just taking it's sweet time this year...

Yes, the one in Henrietta. There is a pretty good line-up of seminars planned: 11am: Suspicious Lines Taxidermy will present on Skin Mounts for Beginners 12pm: Scott Brauer will present on Rigging Plastics to Mimic Bugs in the Water Table 1pm: I'll present on Benefits of Using Underwater Cameras 3pm: I'll present on New Developments in Ice Shelter Designs Fillet Away Mat Demos at 10am, 2pm, 4pm.

Finders Keepers will be in - can't wait! Always a highlight of the season!! We look forward to seeing everyone there!

The unit is fantastic! I will have it at the Field & Stream Ice Show on Sun Jan. 6th from 10-5 if you want to stop in and check it out. I have the original version, not the G2 unit now available.

Tonight we confirmed that we will once again have 3 main Grand Prize Awards: 1. Cash Award (currently $500) 2. Aqua-Vu HD10i-Pro 3. Free Fish Mount from Hirsch Taxidermy These will be awarded by random draw, first drawing for the seven 1st place anglers, second drawing from the seven 2nd place anglers, and third drawing from the seven 3rd place anglers.We will also have an Aqua-Vu Micro Revolution 5.0 Pro for the female angler that weighs in the largest overall fish for the ladies! Lots more to come, stay tuned! Follow all the action at: www.NYSwinterclassic.com

100% of prizes and payouts have been given out (with few exceptions like acrylic angler achievement awards that have not been picked up and I don't want to ship due to a risk of breakage, and last year's Steelhead award that hasn't been completed yet by the artist due to a delay in supplies). Because this is a statewide event, those who do not attend the awards ceremony to pick up their prize(s) have had their prize(s) delivered to their nearest weigh-in when we travel the state. If they don't pick their prize up we have no control over that and we are not going to ship the prizes as the costs would be huge. Occasionally something falls through the cracks and we have made right on all of those instances - like last year there was a wrong count for the number of Clam buckets for the event - I accidentally put 35 into our inventory instead of 25 and we were 10 short. As it turned out, some anglers won multiple buckets and didn't want them so we ended up having extras to give to those who needed them still. Other anglers have thought they could get rich from our event and that we would be paying out $10,000's in the payout event though like most other events, this one has an incremented payout with the number of participants. With enough participation this event could be one of the highest paying events in the country, but we're not there yet. This event is also being run by a corporation that will cover its expenses to set up and run the event, so we do not offer a 100% payback like some would like us to. However, since it is a company running the event and we do an astounding amount of legwork you will not find another event with a greater amount of prizes to offload due to the amazing sponsor backing these events have. These statewide events are not for everyone and we realize that no matter how much effort we put into them we will not make all anglers happy - and that's ok. But anyone who says we have not paid out what we said we would or given out what we advertised we would is a naysayer and their allegations are simply not true. We can track down virtually every item and know exactly where it went. If an item is not won or given back to the event by an angler it is put back into the prize pool either for the Summer Classic or Winter Classic.

Mark the date: The awards ceremony for the 2019 Winter Classic will be hosted by the Batavia Downs Casino on March 16th where all Top-3 placing anglers across all 7 categories will be given free lodging as part of their awards package. There will also be a sportsman show preceding the awards during the day from 10-3. There are currently over 200 registered anglers, ahead of last year's count and on track to take the event over 1,000 participants this year where the Grand Prize increases and we start packing cash into the Weekly Awards (largest fish entered each week for each of the smaller species, and new leaders for the Pike, Trout, and Walleye). Get all the latest info and check out the newest weigh-in locations at: www.NYSwinterclassic.com

Registration for this year's event opens October 1st with the option to join the NYS Classic Anglers Club where anglers in the club will have exclusive access to the club-only Facebook page, be invited to exclusive club membership outings and events, receive a free exclusive club decal and discounts on apparel. All the details will be released on Oct. 1st through Facebook and the website: www.NYSwinterclassic.com Confirmed sponsors for this year's event include: Batavia Downs Casino Frabill Plano Clam HT Automatic Fisherman Ice Well Live Well Fillet Away Fish Mats Aqua-Vu Kahtoola Makiplastic Koyote Ugly Spoons FishUSA Bass Pro Shops Field & Stream Deep Freeze Savage Gear Green Mountain Sporting Supply Nautic Sport Deep Freeze Rose Creek Anglers CMe Trolling Sullivan Tip Down Hirsch Taxidermy Vital Signs & Design Northland Fishing Tackle Ice Strong Celox Line Cutterz Ice Fishing Tournament Guide Let's Catch Fish Takin' It Outdoors The Outdoor Beat Lake Ontario United Nebulus Soco Baits Hammond Tackle Many more to come once they are confirmed. The awards ceremony location will be determined and announced as soon as negotiations are finalized. There will be weekly awards packages again this year for the largest fish fish of each each category caught and a Grand Prize starting at $500 that will be a random draw from all 1st place finishers at the awards ceremony. If the event tops 1,000 anglers the weekly awards will include cash as well as prizes, and the Grand Prize increments to $2,000 cash. The full Prize Pool can be found off of the website link for "Prize Structure", the Weekly awards packages will be updated and posted later this fall once we begin to allocate all of the sponsored prizes.

Yeah, with a ramp on either side. The southern launch has one ramp and a dock as well.

We launch our 21' all the time out there without any issues.