2021 Great Lakes Salmon Showdown

[Finders Keepers]

After running a full year testing out the Fish Donkey online tournament platform with the NYS Classic events with great success and receiving 100% positive remarks from the anglers who participated, the 2021 Great Lakes Salmon Showdown will be opening up all of the Great Lakes to compete in one monumental event that runs from May 1st through Sept. 30th. Registration is by boat ($250/boat for the Pro Division, $125/boat for the Am Division) - once registered, any salmon caught on the boat (regardless of who caught it) is eligible for entry via the Fish Donkey App. This includes charter clients for a registered charter boat. Fish are entered at the time of the catch and place via length. Pictures and/or videos verify the catch and measurement with the date/time/GPS Coords all encoded into the pics/video. The leaderboards are updated in real time and all participants are notified when a new leader is entered. Full rules and regs and other tourney information can be found within the event at FishDonkey.com (Pro) or FishDonkey.com (Am). 

 

There are many benefits to this style of tournament:

1) All fish can be released after entry (angler's choice).

2) Anglers can fish solo.

3) No extra travel necessary to bring fish to a weigh-in station.

4) No set hours - anglers can fish 24/7 and take advantage of the evening bite.

5) Event is open to both US and Canadian anglers for larger prize pools.

6) The event is 100% transparent - the number of anglers, the resulting payouts, percentages paid, sponsored prizes, etc. are all laid out for all to see.

7) The protocols along with the checks in the App offer very little opportunity for foul play. 

8 ) All anglers are treated equal with no favoritism. Denied fish are publicly seen in the app (as all fish are) along with the reason why, disputes are sent to the tourney committee (5 members) for review and a final decision made.

9) The fish entry process is very quick and easy (less than a minute), especially with two people for larger fish. 

10) Leaderboards update automatically in real time.

 

We will be working to secure sponsors for the event over the next couple months as new contracts are finalized and Covid restrictions are modified. Current sponsors include: Plano, Frabill, Okuma, Koyote Ugly Spoons, FishUSA, Reel Cool Lures, and Omnia Fishing. 

 

Tourney Details:

When: May 1st - September 30th

Registration: Pro Division - $250/boat

                       Am Division - $125/boat

Location: Any open waters on the Great Lakes, both US and Canadian.

Fish Entry: Length via Fish Donkey App

Fish Placement: Stringer Total of Best-5 Salmon (boats can upsize all season long)

Cash Awards: 80-85% Payback + Sponsor Prizes (checks mailed at end of event, prizes shipped)(number of places & amounts paid determined by number of boats entered, in US funds)

Website: GLSSEvents.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Great-Lakes-Salmon-Showdown-Tournaments-111757507172599

 

Boats can be registered at any time, even after the event starts, but cannot start entering fish until the day after registration. If you have any questions, please drop me a PM. Best of luck to all the teams this year and tight lines!!

 

 

Edited June 25, 2021 by Finders Keepers

[Al-slamminhogs]

Really fun tournament very easy highly recommend


Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

[Bozeman Bob]

Really needs weight ,not just length to make any sense out of it . You could have 100 entries  say , Kings , with the same length. Who wins that ? 1st entry ? No thanks .

[Finders Keepers]

21 minutes ago, Bozeman Bob said:

Really needs weight ,not just length to make any sense out of it . You could have 100 entries  say , Kings , with the same length. Who wins that ? 1st entry ? No thanks .

It's no different than weight, just a different method of measurement. And if there happens to be a tie in total length of the Top-5 fish, then yes the first one to that total length wins, same as any similar tourney done by weight. Best thing about these events, however, is that all the fish can be released unlike all the weight-placing kill events. The platform these events are running on is far superior IMO, it just takes a little getting used to the new format. I have yet to have anyone not like the format once they have fished an event on it - speaks volumes when there are 100's of anglers fishing the other Classic events I run...

[Bozeman Bob]

While I understand the C + Release aspect in some species and started doing this successfully with Muskys back in the 80s I also understand the weight aspect along with stocking programs . If bass can be weighed ,not measured and released  to win a tourney why can't any other fish do the same thing ? About the only species I can think of on the Great Lakes that measurement takes the win is Muskys and Northerns. I take exception to your " kill events " . Every Captain I have seen in these "kill events " makes sure the meat harvested is not thrown out. Last Atomic Tourney I did in Oswego NY  , Tom Allen ,the promoter had a local  Veterans group collecting Salmon that Teams would give to them . You also have a well stocked and natural reproduction class of game fish on the GL that are there for a reason $$$ . Collected by bordering states and they will adjust the stocking programs accordingly. I still may sign up just throwing mine and probably a few other people's thoughts out there on length vs weight and length ( if need be for tie breakers along with 1st one in the boat ). Thanks for your reply. 

[Finders Keepers]

7 minutes ago, Bozeman Bob said:

While I understand the C + Release aspect in some species and started doing this successfully with Muskys back in the 80s I also understand the weight aspect along with stocking programs . If bass can be weighed ,not measured and released  to win a tourney why can't any other fish do the same thing ? About the only species I can think of on the Great Lakes that measurement takes the win is Muskys and Northerns. I take exception to your " kill events " . Every Captain I have seen in these "kill events " makes sure the meat harvested is not thrown out. Last Atomic Tourney I did in Oswego NY  , Tom Allen ,the promoter had a local  Veterans group collecting Salmon that Teams would give to them . You also have a well stocked and natural reproduction class of game fish on the GL that are there for a reason $$$ . Collected by bordering states and they will adjust the stocking programs accordingly. I still may sign up just throwing mine and probably a few other people's thoughts out there on length vs weight and length ( if need be for tie breakers along with 1st one in the boat ). Thanks for your reply. 

Agreed, there are some events that make arrangements for the catch to be taken by groups, however most are not. Smaller species like bass, perch, walleye, etc. can be kept alive in livewells and therefore can be brought to weigh-in, entered in, then released. Trout and salmon however can not be. Any kept for a tourney will perish. In any tourney event there will be positives and negatives, for those run on the Fish Donkey platform there are little to no negatives - the reason why I (and many others) have switched all of the events we run onto this platform. These are the next generation of tourney events...

[Finders Keepers]

The 2021 Event kicks off this weekend! Compete against teams from all across the Great Lakes in this fun 5-month long tournament event! Anglers can register at any time through the event, but must register the day before they wish to start entering fish. 

 

Every fish caught aboard a registered boat is eligible for entry making this a fantastic format for charter boats - all of your clients are already in the event with you! Join in the fun this year!

[Lightbringer]

Alright, giving this one a try.... let's see how it goes. 

[Finders Keepers]

11 minutes ago, Lightbringer said:

Alright, giving this one a try.... let's see how it goes. 

If you have any questions let me know! Biggest thing is make sure you take the required photos (4) with a bump board or photos and video with a metal tape measure. 

[rogertalk]

Really fun tournament very easy highly recommend

 

 

Kodi nox

Edited May 23, 2021 by rogertalk