Fishtails

Here are just a few of the new UV spoons that will be coming out from WARRIOR LURES in the near future. Warrior spoons have been awesome for us and the Oh Baby team lately. Mike gave me some of these new UV spoons to try out for the WHI and they have been awesome!! They are not available yet, but will be soon. If you have never tried warrior spoons, you really aught to http://www.warriorlures.com/default.aspx

All good points....and many have come in via pm too so please keep them rolling in over the next month or two. This will in all likelihood happen at some point either this year or next, once enough input and suggestions have been gathered and a final format is developed. It's more important to get it right than to do it fast, so next year is most likely. Keep in mind that the whole point is to hopefully develop a tournament for the 99% who don't feel they have much chance of winning a tournament within a typical structured tournament format There are plenty of those tournaments for the "big guns" on Lake Ontario. I am fortunate to have fished and placed in them all. The LOC is a big fish derby, and most of us feel that while it's fun, it's as much luck as it is anything else. The smaller challenges are great, but again we see many of the same names grace the leader boards. All of these tournament formats are great and fill a need. So the goal here is not necessarily to build another event to target the usual participants, but to get the people involved that might only fish the LOC every year, or don't fish tournaments or derbies at all. Some of the general Goals to keep in mind: Keep the focus about fun, more so than competitive. Keep all participants interested until the final hours. Have all participants feel as though they can win. Promote the spirit of comradery and friendship. Maintain a "tournament" atmosphere, not a derby. Deter cheating by possibly minimizing it's effects. Keep it somewhat simple, without observers, etc. Keep the focus about fun, more so than competitive (worth saying twice ) Make it family & kid friendly. Encourage solo fishermen to participate This is definitely an event where we want to think outside the box and come up with a totally new and unique format, or it probably wouldn't be worth doing. Lets have some fun with this....the regular guy's tournament

This will be the first time I've missed both west end Pro Ams in about 5 years.....that forecast makes missing it a little easier. Good luck out there everyone & be safe.

Hey Glen, If I were him, I'd pass on Mexico and shoot up to Henderson Harbor. Way more options up in Henderson no matter what the weather. I keep hearing how good the bass fishing is there, but never did it. I have been there when the pro bass circuit was holding a tourney there though. Just my opinion, but that is where I'd go for sure!

Awesome guys....way to get the boys on fish and make some memories

There have been some good ideas pm'd to me....a lot to think about ! I may like the idea of having a smaller guaranteed payout to the top 10 or 20 but having everyone qualify for the grand prizes via lottery drawing under the same premise. One thought was to have everyone entered in the tournament qualify for the grand prize. Based on a 100 team field, first place team would be entered in the lottery 100 times....down to the 100th , or last place team, being entered once. That way everyone would have hope....even the last place team. Under a normal tournament structure, it makes no difference if you finish 30th, 60th or last. You either make the money field or you don't. Under this structure, every place you can move up will matter and it will keep you fishing hard right to the last hour. Every place you can move up will mean an extra entry in the lottery for the grand prizes. I have some people to talk with over the next month, so I will update this by mid summer. If I can pull this together at all, It's probably looking like a 2013 event, but I guess ya never know?

Something new....was I not paying attention or are you holding out on me... Like you're ever going to have spare time...who you trying to kid Gary Agree with the Big Weenie Brand heads though....we run a lot of meat and BW heads are tops! Sometimes we'll run real meat and other times we'll run artificial strips in the Big Weenie heads (MC Rockets) and it can be a great set up either way. Some days the fish prefer the action of one over the other. Pic below is a Big Weenie bait head with a #1 MC Rocket with green magic marker on the top edge

I have no idea, but they claim to have 4 call centers on lake Ontario....from the oak to Oswego. You can buy a premium plan that increases the rescue area. I figure the more cards you have to play the better your chances of getting in. I agree with Nick....be over prepared and don't rely solely on other boaters.

The dates could certainly be negotiable. I may or may not fish the last KOTL event....I havn't yet decided. Just thought there are already a lot of people fishing that weekend ???

If we were to do something like this, either this year or next year, it would probably be a middle of the road entry fee. Say somewhere from $100 to $250. Whatever the majority wants? If it were to low, too many people may enter and that can cause a lot of problems for the staff running this type of tournament. Much more than 100 or so teams could get a little nutty. I figure we have plenty of high stakes tournaments for the serious anglers on lake ontario. It would be nice to have something that is a little more laid back and fun, but still has that tournament atmosphere that the loc seems to lack (at least for me) To keep it interesting and minimize the effects of cheating, i thought we could consider a lottery style tournament. In other words, if there are 100 teams, perhaps the final top 25 teams would be entered in the lottery drawing. The first place team would be entered in the lottery say 50 times. The second place 48 times, third 46 times... The winners (top 10?) would then be decided by the lottery drawing at the awards. Under this format, You could be 25th, and win the grand prize....but the team finishing in first during the tournament would have the best odds of winning the biggest check. We could have another drawing for the lower 2/3 of the field also so that no matter where you finish you have a chance to win cash & merchandise. It's a pretty different type of format....it may take some time for everyone to digest, and some tweaking. We'll kick it around and see where it goes.

I am kicking around the idea of starting a whole new style of tournament, and I would like some feedback and suggestions. I have had this in my mind for a couple years, so I figured I'd throw it out there. The General Idea.... My thought is to have a 70 hour salmon only shootout from 12:01am Friday August 31st until 10pm Sunday Sept 2nd, with awards happening sometime Monday late morning (labor day), but winners need not be present at award ceremony. You can fish any hours within the 70 hour time frame and from any port on lake Ontario, but the official Weigh in station would probably be in the Mexico Bay area. I don't think I would consider multiple weigh in stations...it would need to be one location and I have it in mind. I am thinking this would be a team boat tournament with one paid entry per boat, but with only one person needed to make up a team. Winners would be determined by the overall weight of their heaviest 2 or 3 fish....not sure yet. What are your thoughts? Each team would only qualify for one placement, but can continue to weigh fish throughout the 70 hours during the designated weigh station times, with your top two or three counting as your final team weight. You can continue to upgrade your fish right through the 69th hour. Fish under 20 lbs will not be accepted at weigh in....maybe it should be heavier? The weigh in station would be open for approx 10 hours continuously each of the 3 days. The leader board would be updated on the website each hour or so. If this were to be put together, what would you like to see the entry fee placed at? The more we would collect, the higher the payouts. I would think $100 would be the minimum. There are a lot more details, but I guess as a general starting point for your ideas this should do. This could be a lot of fun with some big payouts. It's a holiday weekend and the final weekend of the fall loc, so there will be a ton of boats out fishing. I would be willing to take on the responsibility of putting it together and running the weigh station. Thoughts ??????

Like it's been said, great reports Nick...it's been fun! I will catch up with you in Sodus in the next month or so....

This is a good topic! I had a similar experience. My very first tournament on lake Ontario about 5 years ago. I had just purchased my boat and it was my first time really using it. Long story short my batteries went dead while trolling on Saturday morning around 9am and I couldn't start either engine It was rough and no Rec boaters were out. It was a tournament and no tourney teams would help. It didn't help that nobody knew me, nor really liked my fishing partner I had back then (so I found out later). Coast Guard said the same to us...no help unless we were in danger, which we were not. All I needed was a jump. Finally, my wife called the Coast Guard office from home and worked her magic. Soon after they sent a huge ship out to pull us in The whole ordeal was pretty unpleasant but we got in with about 2 minutes to spare under coast guard power and were not dq'd. Even with two engines, it's possible to break down, so Boat US is well worth the money....just in case you can't get another boat to assist. Just don't ever go out without a working VHF. Be sure to do a radio check while out on the water, and have a fully charged cell phone plus a charger. You also MUST have a working gps! You will need to give coordinates so that you can be found. I carry a back up handheld gps and a back up handheld vhf, just in case. I learned the hard way...when your batteries go dead, none of that stuff works

Of course...the drink is for Friiday only, as one must be of top alertness on tourney days .......

I am interested Are meals included ? I would be coming very hungry and very sober.....both problems of which would require immediate attention, and none of that cheap crap you drink either.....i end up peeing more than fishing Blue moon and some fresh sliced oranges would do I guess. I can read and write, you think two out of three is good enough?

Only about 25 minutes from east Greenville. Lived there when I was a toddler

I could tell by your numerous text messages you were having a crazy good day out there. That last Brunch fly from Big Weenie has been a good one! I'm really loving the Warrior spoons too, the paint jobs are great! Sooo much better than the fishlander ever was. Hope the boat situation works out. I'll miss fishing the Niagara Pro Am with you, but I have kid duty. Jen is coming home early though so I'll be ready to get back on the water soon !!

Interesting!! I load my rods to the max, but a lot of guys don't so I figured 1/2 at best and then factor in blowback. Currents play a role as well. Based on your observations maybe the free slider is running deeper than I usually figure it is?

Probably 30 ft range on the free slider. Could be higher but I doubt it's deeper. Depends on speed and also how much you load the rod. Sounds like a 10 color lead core kinda day Our biggest king In the WHI was 25 and change and it came on a 10 color core out over 300 fow on a regular size warrior spoon....forget the name but it was green.

Sounds like you got them going Nick. I sent you a text....try it for me if you can, you'll like it

Thanks Stan....just the kinda stuff I need to hear I don't know how well I'm gonna fit in out there Stan, but at least it's only part time for me The wife has been out there 9 mos. already, so she's already converted and my daughter heads out with her in June. Justin and me still have some unfinished business on lake Ontario to take care of this summer before we go out in August I'm actually starting to look forward to it....but only cause I get to go back and forth each month. I should get out there just as the salmon season gets going outside the Golden Gate so guess what I'll be doing Stan

Happy Birthday Richard

The saga continues Just as I have finally agreed to toss out my anchor in San Francisco, I find out the schools blow where we were planning on staying, which is a deal breaker. Where the schools are good, we cannot afford to stay. San Francisco is the highest rental district in the USA. Anywhere we can afford to stay seems to be out of the question for various reasons or too far from where Jen is working. So we'll have to see, but the way it's starting to look, you may not be getting rid of me after all I need a drink

Oh...it's ok to loose gear....just not when fish are attached We all put a spoon on a free slider and toss it in without attaching it to the main line now and again....don't we ? That's the best way EVER to get rid of that spoon your buddy insists on continually washing that you HATE cause it never catches fish....oops...sorry dude, my bad

Wicked awesome....I can just imagine the fun that must have been