National Lake Trout Derby news

[Great Lakes Lure Maker]

Now that the group has its new officers and board of directors in place, tonight's meeting got right down to business. I am excited to say that Mr Stivers and Mr Franklin have secured the future participation of the City of Geneva. They will continue to provide tents, porta potty's and a location for derby headquarters. They are also willing to appoint interns to help with web development. This is good news and a step forward in the right direction. The derby is also seeking a grant from the City of Geneva, a vote on this grant will happen next week.

Huge changes to the prize structure are in discussion. It was proposed, voted and accepted to double all prizes and add 5 more places to each catagory, if certain parameters are met. We need a 500 person increase in registration to make this happen as well as the grant to be approved.

Mike Burt ( Iron Duke ) was chosen to chair the committee to oversee advertising, web development and presence.

We also approved the use of Finger lakes Radio as well as WOKN to promote the derby. This will be at no cost to the derby as these stations will sell advertising to cover the cost of promotion.

Discussion involving weigh station man power as well as chair persons to oversee all weigh station efficiency are in progress. Directors will oversee reporting and make sure all fish are properly identified and categorized.

Jason Oakes and Tom Westervielt will chair registration committee and make regular visits to all satellite locations to assure an expedited registration process. Increased emphasis on online registration and late registration is also in discussion.

A motion to move the derby bank account was approved and at least 2 signatures will be needed to approve expenditures.

The boat raffle discussion is in motion and new ideas are being discussed.

More emphasis on Memorial Weekend are also being discussed. No specific direction has yet to be discussed, but was approved to affiliate with other groups, such as Waterloo and Watkins Glen, who already have Memorial Ceremonies in place.

Tonight's meeting was a huge success and a big move in the right direction! Much discussion went on and it was realized there is much more work to do. The meeting went on so long it had to be ended and our next meeting will start earlier. It was agreed that Mr Stivers, Mr Franklin, Mr Burt, and Mr Oakes will meet privately to discuss future direction of the derby, since there is just not enough time to meet our goals in a formal setting.

Please share this exciting news with your fishing circles. This derby is here to stay and is moving in a direction that will secure its growth and in turn provide a much broader and larger payout. $10,000 grand prize is a huge payout. $4,000 for 1st place lake trout. $2,000 for first place BT, LLS, and RT. Lake trout division alone is huge! $4,000, 3,000 2,000 and 1,000 are the top 4 payouts!

Congratulations to all who stepped up to see this derby continue and grow even bigger and better!

Thank you and stay tuned for next months news!

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[fisherdude]

is there still going to be a pay out for senior , male , female , teen , 6 th threw 10 th  for lake trout ? 

[lakebound88]

Good news. Keep me in the loop Jason for what we mentioned earlier. Also, I never got back to you. I have you a sponsor from watkins.

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[glenm]

Excellent news! Thanks to all who are playing a role in keeping this tradition alive!

[Hop]

2 thumbs up!! [emoji106] [emoji106] [emoji122]

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[Sk8man]

Very encouraging news Jason. Thanks for posting it and thanks to all you folks involved in "rescuing" the derby   Sounds great!

[Great Lakes Lure Maker]

is there still going to be a pay out for senior , male , female , teen , 6 th threw 10 th for lake trout ?

Yes and those categories have also been increased as well. For example, first place used to be 200$ and it was proposed that we raise them to 500$ , 250, 150, 100 and 50 for 5th - 10th for each of those categories.

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[Great Lakes Lure Maker]

Good news. Keep me in the loop Jason for what we mentioned earlier. Also, I never got back to you. I have you a sponsor from watkins.

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Thanks Nick, sounds good. Sponsors will certainly be needed to help with the prize structure. Also, Bill Carey called me Monday and the Seneca Bass Masters has elected to stay on board with their participation in running the Sampson weigh station. We still have lost Battery L which worked Sat and Sun morning and are still looking to replace that spot.

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[lakebound88]

I am unsure of help at the weigh station. Only option I can think of would be to work it possibly evenings for a couple hours personally. But that's a long shot as my boat is right there.

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