King Of The Lake Amateur division

[get it wet]

I am pleased and excited to announce the first ever Am division to our Spring and Fall events.

We have had extensive discussions about this in the past and hopefully this could include some teams that have been on the fence for yrs and create some sort or Farm system to our tournament series.

This Tournament will be on Each Saturday of the Spring and Fall Tournaments.

Saturday April 27, 2013

Saturday Aug 31, 2013

Blow day will be the sunday

1 day Salmon Tournament

3 largest fish

3 Anglers max

24ft boat or less

6 rods max per boat

6am start

2pm in the pierheads

2:30 in line at weigh in

Can register up until the captains meeting or online when we launch new website

**All am teams will weigh in first and at 3pm the pros will then weigh in

All other rules are the same as the King of The Lake Tournament

This is a great way to participate in our events

$150 entry

Based on 30 teams

1- 2000

2- 1000

3- 500

4- 350

5- 150

Dreamweaver Big Fish Friday is still $50 and you will be able to participate in all of our weekend events including raffles, weigh in show ect...

[muskybob]

Fantastic news!!! I'm sure there won't be any problem getting 30 teams for that one.

[Capt Vince Pierleoni]

Yvan, just to save you the trouble later, is the only determining factor to be an "AM" the vessel size? Are you going to let U.S. Capts fish that(Is there an official Canadian Capts license as well?) ? There are many "Pro" tourny fishermen who don't charter fish on both sides of the fence, are they good to go too? Don't dismiss this, as it will certainly come up if you don't clarify now.

Otherwise, good thinking. Anything new with KOTL series? Will the scoring for overall remain the same? Are you letting teams "throw out" one of the "one dayers"?

[get it wet]

So far 24 ft is the only criteria. We don't have captain licenses here. but here is my theory.

If a charter guy sandbags an am tournament in a 3 fish tournament to save his team 400 bucks in entry he is not too much of a charter guy. I also know some guys that do it as a write off and don't even fish often enough to matter and this is why a 3 fish limit is cool with this as anyone can catch 3 kings to compete.

This is really to get people that have never joined us hopefully bridge the gap and get them involved.

With all the tournaments going high ticket to enter and the pro ams faltering a little this could very well be a good avenue to set up a farm system to breed new teams.

How many teams will catch 10 kings in their day and think.... I wish I would have fish the pro division!!

Scoring

Instead of changing the world all in one yr we have decided to keep scoring the same way. you can throw out 1 of the one days but you don't get an extra 10 points for fishing all. We found last yr was a huge advantage to throw one score out without giving them an extra 10.

We are bringing back some draw prizes as in the past, we have been asked to do that by a lot of people and we are not going to have a beer tent but will have BBQ available with pop and water in a tent as we used to have.

Hope this works

[Shade]

Yvon,

What does the boat size have to do with AM vs. Pro. I have a 29' boat and I can assure you we are not Pro's. We bought the boat for #1 good deal and #2 the lake conditions. I have adisability due to a damaged spine and the larger boat allows helps tolerate the lake conditions to a point. I would ask that you reconsider boat length as a critiria.

Shade

[get it wet]

I am going to reconsider as the other boards are asking about his too.

Boat sizes pose a few things for us but we will look at it and get to you on this.

[Time Out]

Ya know what they say...it's not the size it's how you use it

Can't wait for St. Cats

[gbill512]

I am not familiar with King of the Lake. What does the $150 cover? Boat, man, each Sat?

[get it wet]

150 covers entry for your team

50 for Dreamweaver Big Fish Friday is extra

[Fishtails]

Sounds like a great idea Ivan! Looking forward to kicking off the 2013 tourney season at St. Catherines

[hooknup]

Im not understanding how boat size determines your pro or am status. Most ams I know have boats >24ft.

[ Post made via Android ]

[Sharky]

Sounds like a better name for the AM division would be the "Trailer Boat" division.

[Shade]

Come on guys. At least they are trying to open up options. Sarcasm gets ya nowhere. They have already committed to look at the boat lengths issue, give them a chance.

Shade

[fishman08]

what many of you guys don't know is that every year during the st catherines tourny there are other tournaments going on the same day in the same area. Many of these teams have small boats which is the norm in canada (small 18 to 22 foot aluminuim boats where unlike the US where small boats to us are much bigger). Many of these teams want to be able to compete in the KOTL but don't want to put the money in way ahead of time since gthey won't know what the weather is like. So this division is to help incorperate these new teams into the king of the lake atmosphere but also so they can get in last minute as they wait to see what the weather will be weather. It's funny that we continue to see people complain about tournaments one way or another yet most wouldn't even consider fishing it anyways.

[slimshady]

It's your tournament, run it as you see fit. I think the rules sound great, including the 24' and under part. I think you'll have the 30+ teams easy. Trying to please everyone on the internet boards will only drive you nuts.

[Yankee Troller]

what many of you guys don't know is that every year during the st catherines tourny there are other tournaments going on the same day in the same area. Many of these teams have small boats which is the norm in canada (small 18 to 22 foot aluminuim boats where unlike the US where small boats to us are much bigger). Many of these teams want to be able to compete in the KOTL but don't want to put the money in way ahead of time since gthey won't know what the weather is like. So this division is to help incorperate these new teams into the king of the lake atmosphere but also so they can get in last minute as they wait to see what the weather will be weather. It's funny that we continue to see people complain about tournaments one way or another yet most wouldn't even consider fishing it anyways.

^^^^^ Exactly!

[randy111]

In my opinion a pro gets paid. That is their PROfession. An amature does not and dabbles. I am a pro at electrical work you most likely are not. That does not mean you don't dabble with electricity in your free time. Just my 2¢ I could be wrong. My schedule is to busy to commit to a tournament but I like the way the am devision is laid out. Minus what makes you a pro or not.

[ Post made via Android ]

[Fishtails]

It's funny that we continue to see people complain about tournaments one way or another yet most wouldn't even consider fishing it anyways.

So very true!!

In my opinion a pro gets paid. That is their PROfession. An amature does not and dabbles.

I think that's as good a way to look at it as there ever will be, and how the Pro Am's defined a pro for many years until they eliminated the Am division. As Ivan mentioned though, there is no captians Lic. in Canada so it's not so cut and dry in his KOTL events.

This subject comes up each year. I remember a few complaining here on LOU last year when a couple "captians" fished the west end open division in the Pro Ams. Imo, way to many fishermen underestimate themselves while at the same time putting far to much value on a captians license. I'm not a licensed Captian at this point in time, but as far as I know they don't teach you how to fish during your training classes

Tournaments are great fun and I think Ivan has a good idea with adding an Am division to his series. For someone like myself, it wouldn't pay to fish the am after all my expenses of getting to Canada, but for the locals it will be an awesome way to get involved.

[get it wet]

Thx for the kind words and the interest.

After some Time to think about this and trying to reason with this group We have come up with a solution to the questions

We are going to open up the division to whatever size boat BUT will have the weather based on an 18ft boat being safe on windy days.

This raise the questions on eligibility?

****who is an amateur****

This will be laid out in our rules section of our website when our new website is up and running. Please read as these questions will be asked before you go and fish.

The Main Criteria will be - Not getting paid to fish or guide (no charter boat), Not sponsored (not allowed to have sponsored clothing during weigh-in and show), Not having placed top 5 in any major tournaments around the lake, Once you win 2 events you must move up to the main event.

We are pretty confident in getting 30 teams and this should be a fun event for all to participate.

[get it wet]

Well Good things are happening daily right now. As you may or may not know fishawk electronics purchased "Deeper Diver" this yr and with the good vibs that are happening with the amateur division, they decided to Sponsor this side of this. It Is the Deeper Diver Amateur showdown.

With this sponsorship the winner will get a free entry in the main event of the next St Catharines tournament.

Just to be clear if You Win the Deeper Diver Showdown you get First place Money and an Entry in the main event of the next St Catharines KOTL Tournament. this is a $600 value!!!

Thx to our sponsors for making this happen!!

[Yankee Troller]

[stoutner]

I love the idea of boat size being the factor. I suggested it last year in the pro ams. Here on the U.S. side of the lake most Pro/Charter boats are over 27 feet long and most ams are 27 feet or less. I know there are exceptions so don't argue about a few boats here and there. The biggest problem I had last year with signing up for the pro division was that my 22' boat was not good in anything over two footers. I can do 3 footers but it is really rough and I really am a lot more comfortable staying nearer to shore in 2-3 footers in that boat.

We fished in 3 of the pro ams last year and each time my team decided to sign up as an amateur team because we couldn't justify paying $700 to roll the dice based on weather. In 2 of the 3 events weather was a factor and we made the right decision.

If pro teams with smaller boats such as Finders Keepers want to use a smaller boat in the Pro division that is up to them. I just think if you are an am team you shouldn't have to compete with 35' sport fishers in the Am division.

[Chas0218]

Is there a link where I could read up a little on it?

[Wolfhound]

We fish a lot of am events...our boat is 26ft.  I would be interested if the size was reconsidered.  Sounds like a good tourney.

[Fishtails]

Guys,

 

My opinion for this event....boat size should not be a factor in you fishing this tournament or not. That goes for Pro or Am, and my guess is anyone who has ever fished this great event will back me up.

 

The reason boat size plays a lessor role is the time of year, water temps, and where the fish tend to be concentrated. Every year is different, and last year was an exception but this spring should fall somewhere in between.  Some years we are fishing very shallow...10 to 60 fow. Fishing 50 fow is not uncommon at all. In those situations where you find yourself 50 ft or less, I firmly believe a smaller boat has the advantage over boats with larger footprints (maybe the early spring and late fall are the only times I feel this way).

 

Sure, last year most of us fished 100 to 200, but I think that was a first and it was a record warm winter & spring.  This year isn't shaping up to be as drastic and the fishing could be awesome.

 

I am fishing the Pro division out of my 24, and I have no worries what size boats I will compete against cause it makes very little difference in this tourney. Now Wilson....that is a different story and it's become more of a big boat tourney, but the spring KOTL is the perfect event for smaller boats to succeed and sometimes even have the upper hand over the bigger rigs.

 

Think about it & hope to see some of you guys there....can't wait!!!