2015 NYS Ice Pro-Am and Winter Classic Tournament Thread

[Finders Keepers]

I have now taken over full reigns of the Winter Classic Tournament and the following changes/additions will be made available in the upcoming weeks:
1) We will have online registration so anglers can pay via credit card. This will eliminate issues with sending in checks.
2) We are looking at possibly adding two more weigh in stations: one on Lake Erie and a 2nd one on Oneida Lake (in case Apps is closed due to poor ice).
3) A new detailed-filled website is under construction and will be live soon!

More updates coming soon as we transition to full ownership of the event, including a full listing of the sponsors (still being confirmed at this time). Stay tuned for updates!!

[Finders Keepers]

Things are coming together nicely for the Winter Classic - I ran the numbers for payout and this can be HUGE!! I've heard so many anglers comment how they wish we had tournaments like those out west here in NY. Well, this has a very real potential to become one of the largest in the country! With only 15,000 anglers (out of the 350,000+ that fish NYS every winter) there would be over $250,000 in cash ($10,000 for 1st, paying down 10 places in all 7 categories), a quad every week (given out to the largest fish in one of the seven categories of fish each week), and a blind drawing for the 1st place finishers for a 1 in 7 chance at a Frabill I5 suit. Plus the 7 1st place Lunker Pool winners will be placed into a blind drawing for an additional $2500 in bonus cash!!

Sound like fun? $25 gets you in the 50 days of fishing frenzy!!

Again, please feel free to ask questions!! Online registration will be opening soon!!

[Finders Keepers]

Online registration is now OPEN for the NYS Winter Classic and can be found at:
http://www.nysiceproam.com/RegistrationInfo-2b.html

Anglers can now pay via PayPal with credit cards, debit cards, etc. We also added a single day registration for those coming to NY on vacation or for a charter/guided trip. The rules have also been updated and posted on the new site. We'll have the prize levels posted soon.

We are also working on the online forms for the IPA Series events and will have that up soon.

[Finders Keepers]

We've added three more weigh-in locations for the Winter Classic Tournament - check them out at:
http://www.nyswinterclassic.com/2015Weigh-In-Station-Map.html

More to come - stay tuned!!

[Finders Keepers]

Fish307 is now an official 2015 Winter Classic Weigh-In station!! Anglers will soon be able to register in person at many of our weigh-in stations. Look for the RED stars to showing up on our Weigh-In Station Map!

[Finders Keepers]

Things are progressing nicely as we continue to add weigh-in stations to our grid across the state. If you would like to see a weigh-in station in a particular area, give us the location and contact information for a shop, and we'll see if we can add it in!! Get registered before December 1st to get in on the early-bird drawings - if we reach 1,000+ anglers we'll be adding (2) $100 Visa cards to the drawings!! 

[Finders Keepers]

Posters are now being sent out and posted in tackle shops across the state! Hopefully this will spread word of the tournament even more and start to ramp up the registrations. We are now up to 23 weigh-in stations and we will likely add several more. There was a question about the prize structure - the amounts posted on the website are all cash payouts (in the form of checks). We have an additional $2400 in door prizes and $3,000 in additional prizes to be awarded to the top finishing anglers in random drawings (including a Frabill I5 suit, (2) Clam Extreme Suits, and (2) Fish Mounts). This is another reason we are requiring the top 3 placing anglers in each category to attend the Awards Ceremony in Sodus on Feb. 22nd.

So here are a few highlights to keep in mind for those just looking into this tournament:
*Your tournament registration number is your Driver's License Number, or an "X" followed by your birthdate if you don't have a driver's license or are under age. There are no tournament cards, wrist bands, etc. given out.

*If registering online, you can print the "Thank you" page to verify registration. If entering at a weigh-in station, you can drop us an email or phone call to check your registration (however, we can always contact the shop if there is a discrepency). If entering by mail, please email or call for entry verification.

*Check the leaderboard online before bringing a fish in to weigh-in. We will be updating this leaderboard throughout the day, every day of the tournament as new entries come in. We will have a "Bottom" weight for each category that will account for any disqualifications, and this is the weight you will need to beat in order to weigh-in a fish.

*The top 3 placing fish in each category will need to be kept (frozen) until bumped below 3rd place. If the fish stays in the top 3, you and the fish will be required to attend the Awards Ceremony at Sodus Point, NY on February 22nd. The fish must be untampered with and will be re-weighed and scanned for any foreign objects.

*Fish do not have to alive when weighed-in, but must be fresh and cannot be frozen. If any fish is deemed questionnable by our weigh-in station, they will tag it with a note of what they noticed should you still want to weigh it in. If it places in the top 3 with a special note, it could trigger a lie detector test to be given before any funds or prizes are awarded.

*If you accuse an angler or weigh-in of being dishonest, you will be required to file a tournament dispute claim form and put forth a $500 deposit for a lie detector test to be given. If the accused person fails the test, they will be DQ'ed from the tournament and their name(s) will be forwarded to all tournaments we have associations/connections with (both ice and open water). You will also receive your $500 back for helping us keep our tournament's integrity. If they pass the test, you wll look aweful foolish for having had doubted their truthfulness and you will have paid for keeping the integrity of our tournament.

Again if anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask as they will only help us make this tournament better! 

[Finders Keepers]

We added 3 more weigh-in stations yesterday for a total of 26 now! I believe we have most major waterways covered. We're still looking to add stations in the Albany, Binghamton, and Finger Lakes regions. Once secured we'll let everyone know where they are!! Don't forget to register for the tournament before December 1st to get in on the early bird drawings for the following items:
Frabill Tackel Pack/Hand Muff
Frabill Rod Safe
(2) Aqua Glow 2' Lighting Systems

Get an extra entry when you register for any of the Pro-Am events (print off the registration form online and send in with payment). The $99/night rate at the 1000 Islands Harbor Hotel will only be available until December 15th, so get your reservations soon!! Let's just hope Mother Nature gets all this snow out of her system now!!

[Finders Keepers]

We're up to 29 weigh-in stations and may add one more down towards NYC to make 30. The scales will be arriving in the next couple days and once NYS certified, we'll be heading out across the state gearing up our weigh-in stations! If you're going to be fishing in NYS this year, especially any of the local tournaments anywhere in the state, it makes sense to join this tournament and be fishing this tournament the whole time your pre-fishing any other event, and while fishing the other tournaments! How cool is it to make every day fishing this season a tournament day!! And you don't have to catch a huge pike or other predatory fish to cash in on the big money either!! A large panfish or crappie could land you in the money as well!!

Sound too good to be true? Think there's a catch? Well, there isn't. We took feedback and input from anglers over the last three years to put together a tournament with all the positive attributes anglers wanted, with none of the negatives, and we're ready to give this area of the country a winter tournament where anglers can make some serious cash!

[Finders Keepers]

 

I realize ice fishing tournaments is not for everyone, but not a sport and a fad?? I've been doing it my whole life and I know personally 1,000's of anglers that would differ with you on that one! LOL!! I do have a solid day job (I teach earth science and meteorology in high school), fishing is my past time and passion outside of work. I live and breathe fishing - anyone who knows me (and my brother) knows this, and we crave the competitive edge of tournaments (in fact my whole family does and everyone in our family helps to put these events on). I'm not a gambler, but rather a risk taker. I'm not afraid to step outside my comfort zone and do something no one else has. I don't think you understand the essence of these tournament events for the fishery nor the local economies of our state. Our events promote tourism and bring $100,000's into communities that are so much in need of a financial boost in the winter time. Are they a financial interest for me? Sure, I put in an average of 4 hrs per day, every day year round, to developing these tournament events and developing relationships with companies, etc. that I would like something back for my efforts. But I'm taking a cut much less than any other tournament entity (about 15%).

As I have stated before, by all means support the local fire departments and charity events (our events will actually draw more anglers into those events) - but those events will rarely if ever pull the prize structure, tourism, or grandeur that our events will. How many posts do you see of anglers around here looking to head out west to Lake of the Woods and other waterways in Wisconsin, etc.? Wouldn't it be nice to see anglers coming from out there to NYS to fish the Adirondacks, or the Finger Lakes, or the tributaries, or ...? Would you like to see the National Tournament trail come back to NY? I'm not saying if you ice fish you should be tournament fishing - I realize it is a nice past time for many to kick back, relax, and hopefully ice some fish. However, with the Winter Classic you can still do that but have the chance if you ice a nice fish to get some decent cash for it too. 53 days and only $25 to enter - for less than 50 cents per day anyone can fish this tournament, as leisurely or gung-ho as they want. This has the potential to draw anglers in masses from out west - many stated so on the FB pages we monitor and post on when we were talking about some of our ambitions.

As with anything, this is a work in progress, and patience is needed for some things to be put in place. We're working on putting together a Kid's clinic before the Sodus IPA event in 2016 to encourage more youth to get involved with the sport, we're working on some charitable connections with the Winter Classic (almost complete) to give back a little more but making that happen is much harder than you would ever believe!! So support us if you want to see the sport of ice fishing grow here in NYS (at all levels), or don't if you want things to stay as status quot. 

[cnyiceboy]

Well put Tim. I fished the very first event in this a few years back and to see where is has come is a good thing for everyone in all these communities. Go to Sodus point on a weekend sometimes during the winter and then go there the weekend of this event. It's a complete 180. I to fish derbies for local fire dept and love them and the pro-am structure isn't my thing, but the winter classic where you can fish any body of water in NYS for 25.00 and have the chance to win some good CASH your crazy if you don't think that's a good idea. Do I think it might take awhile for the word to spread and catch on big sure. Just like everything that's new it's going to take time to grow but look at some of the other tournaments out there. Do you think they started right out with the number of entries they have today. The answer is no.

[Pike Paralyzer]

I realize ice fishing tournaments is not for everyone, but not a sport and a fad?? I've been doing it my whole life and I know personally 1,000's of anglers that would differ with you on that one! LOL!! I do have a solid day job (I teach earth science and meteorology in high school), fishing is my past time and passion outside of work. I live and breathe fishing - anyone who knows me (and my brother) knows this, and we crave the competitive edge of tournaments (in fact my whole family does and everyone in our family helps to put these events on). I'm not a gambler, but rather a risk taker. I'm not afraid to step outside my comfort zone and do something no one else has. I don't think you understand the essence of these tournament events for the fishery nor the local economies of our state. Our events promote tourism and bring $100,000's into communities that are so much in need of a financial boost in the winter time. Are they a financial interest for me? Sure, I put in an average of 4 hrs per day, every day year round, to developing these tournament events and developing relationships with companies, etc. that I would like something back for my efforts. But I'm taking a cut much less than any other tournament entity (about 15%).

As I have stated before, by all means support the local fire departments and charity events (our events will actually draw more anglers into those events) - but those events will rarely if ever pull the prize structure, tourism, or grandeur that our events will. How many posts do you see of anglers around here looking to head out west to Lake of the Woods and other waterways in Wisconsin, etc.? Wouldn't it be nice to see anglers coming from out there to NYS to fish the Adirondacks, or the Finger Lakes, or the tributaries, or ...? Would you like to see the National Tournament trail come back to NY? I'm not saying if you ice fish you should be tournament fishing - I realize it is a nice past time for many to kick back, relax, and hopefully ice some fish. However, with the Winter Classic you can still do that but have the chance if you ice a nice fish to get some decent cash for it too. 53 days and only $25 to enter - for less than 50 cents per day anyone can fish this tournament, as leisurely or gung-ho as they want. This has the potential to draw anglers in masses from out west - many stated so on the FB pages we monitor and post on when we were talking about some of our ambitions.

As with anything, this is a work in progress, and patience is needed for some things to be put in place. We're working on putting together a Kid's clinic before the Sodus IPA event in 2016 to encourage more youth to get involved with the sport, we're working on some charitable connections with the Winter Classic (almost complete) to give back a little more but making that happen is much harder than you would ever believe!! So support us if you want to see the sport of ice fishing grow here in NYS (at all levels), or don't if you want things to stay as status quot. 

Out-of-staters: No fish in the Adirondacks, not enough room, the ice isn't strong enough, bigfoot will run on the ice and eat you!  Fingerlakes and tribs are where it's at!

Tim I think your making a tremendous effort to give the people what they want.  If they don't want it they won't sign up.  I do believe that ANY contest (not just the IPA's) hosted on ANY lake other than fundraisers, should have to give a cut of the proceeds to the fisheries for lake restocking purposes.  These lakes take a hard hit during these big tournaments and if they quality of fishing is to remain for years to come then it starts with restocking. Just an opinion.

[Finders Keepers]

We are looking at several opportunities to give back, both for charity and for the fishery we all enjoy so much. There is a lot of red tape to clear for us to be able to give back, but we are making headway and will be looking to make those connections a possibility. Again, the bigger this tournament becomes the more we will be able to do that will benefit everyone!!

[Finders Keepers]

And the winners of our early bird drawings are:
1st Round:
      Frabill Tackle Pack w/ Hand Muffs - Jon Schafer
      Frabill Rod Safe - Christian Komanecky

2nd Round:
      Frabill Tackle Pack w/ Hand Muffs - Kevin Riley
      Frabill Rod Safe - Shawn Boschetto
      Hydro Glow 1' Underwater Lighting System - Donald Mooney
      Hydro Glow 1' Underwater Lighting System - David Muldoon

Congratulations to the winners!! We will be dropping your item off at the nearest weigh-in station to you either this weekend or next weekend when we deliver the scales to your region. We will drop you each an email with the details!

[Finders Keepers]

All 36 of the Winter Classic and Ice Pro-Am scales got certified today and are ready to be distributed across the state to our weigh-in stations! We'll be hitting all of the eastern sector stations this weekend and the central and western sectors next weekend. All of the webpages, supplies, and support are now ready for the tourney to begin in less than a month - gotta get in it to win it!! 

A couple reminders:
*You can fish any waterway in NYS, including private ponds, as long as all NYS DEC regulations are followed and the fish are caught by legal angling means.
*If your fish places in the TOP 3 of any category you need to keep that fish (unless it gets bumped below 3rd place) and bring it to the awards ceremony on Feb. 22nd at Sodus.
*You can weigh fish into other tournaments running at the same time (pending the other tournament's rules).
*You must register before 7am if you want the fish from the day you enter to count in the tournament.
*1-Day Passes are available for $10 for those fishing a single day or two (especially for charters and guided trips).
*Any questions, please drop us an email, PM, or give me a call direct at (585) 330-0494.

[Finders Keepers]

I totally disagree with that post. Plenty of competition among most icefisherman. Most people recreational fish, open or hardwater, but, would jump at the chance to be competitive at any chance they could . I am going to bet that most people would agree. Keep up the good work on your winter classic tournaments!!--KP

Thanks KP!

It's always great to get feedback and encouragement from fellow anglers! We're also open for suggestions if anyone has anything they would like us to consider - we've taken in a ton of angler feedback over the last two years planning this event, and continue to strive to make this the most inviting tourney to all anglers, no matter what their background, or where they fish. I can't wait to see where the top 3 fish for each category come from!!

[FISHFORPIKE]

Just a quick note, Phil I wasn't disagreeing with your post, it was the post you quoted that I was disagreeing to as well!

I got that -    Hope the tourney does well.  I tried for years to do something big - the area up here just was not/is not ready for it.  At least not the group I was working with. It'll be tough up here Tim.   Don't give it up though.

[Finders Keepers]

The tourney will go on this year whether we have 500, 5,000, or 50,000 anglers and no matter what winter mother nature gives us. The only difference will be how many checks we write and how many 0's we write on the checks!!

Same holds true for the IPA events this year, pending safe ice for those though.

[deweyicefish]

  Great Tim    This looks good...  Things getting going for this years tournament season ...
  Do you know where we will be launching for chaumont bay tournament team  only event
  Jan 17 ,2015 ?

[komo15]

Tim,
Any chance of including tiger musky into a category for the winter classic.  Possibly with Northern Pike?

The tourney will go on this year whether we have 500, 5,000, or 50,000 anglers and no matter what winter mother nature gives us. The only difference will be how many checks we write and how many 0's we write on the checks!!

Same holds true for the IPA events this year, pending safe ice for those though.

[wantabe]

Tim,
Can you give me any  names of places to stay were the other anglers spend the night at Sodus Bay.
we stayed at the Wolcott Hotel last time.

[Finders Keepers]

  Great Tim    This looks good...  Things getting going for this years tournament season ...
  Do you know where we will be launching for chaumont bay tournament team  only event
  Jan 17 ,2015 ?

Things are progressing nicely so far!! For the Team-Only Chaumont Bay event on Jan. 17th (and those fishing the Large IPA Event Jan. 31st and targeting Chaumont Bay), the shotgun start/launch point will at the public launch just north of Chaumont Hardware. I will have maps drawn up and put up online as soon as all is set with the Winter Classic. Launch point on Black Lake for the Jan. 31st event will be at the main ice access point on the east side of the lake (somewhat towards the southern section). Again, I'll have a map drawn up for everyone.

Tim,
Can you give me any  names of places to stay were the other anglers spend the night at Sodus Bay.
we stayed at the Wolcott Hotel last time.

Yeah, I wouldn't recommend the Wolcott Hotel. ;-)  The Sodus Point Lodge is the most convenient place located right on the point near everything. However, Tom Frank (owner of Capt. Jack's Restaurant) has several places for rent, especially for larger groups (whole house rentals). Drop me a PM for his number. Another place is the Maxwell Stream Inn. As for hotels, the nearest places (other than the Wolcott Hotel) are Comfort Inn in Newark, and a couple in Webster (all about a 45 minute drive from the bay).

Tim,
Any chance of including tiger musky into a category for the winter classic.  Possibly with Northern Pike?

We won't be making any changes this year as all the rules and regs have already been printed, posted, and distributed. We will revisit the categories after this year to look at possibly adding or restructuring the categories for next year. It has already been brought up that LL Salmon would be a good addition, as well as possibly Rock Bass. So we will add Tiger Muskies to the list for discussion for changes in next year's tourney.

After visiting the NE Winter Classic weigh-in stations today, a couple great points came up:
1) Other than online and through the websites, our fliers & posters do not state where anglers can register.
For the Winter Classic, anglers can register online via the website, print off the registration form and mail it in with a check, or stop in to any of our weigh-in locations and register in person with cash. Lou at Fuel & Food today said he will also take credit cards at the shop. Anglers fishing any of the Pro-Am events can also register when checking in at any of those locations.
For the Ice Pro-Am events:
Teams for Team-Only events - Mail in registration with payment (first 15 teams receive bonus incentives), or register in person at the shotgun start locations between 2-5am.
*NOTE* THERE ARE NO CAPTAINS MEETINGS FOR THESE EVENTS-ALL TEAM MEMBERS ARE ASSUMED TO BE FAMILIAR WITH THE RULES/REGS FOR THE EVENTS. A COPY WILL BE HANDED OUT AT EACH TEAM-ONLY EVENT FOR REFERENCE.
Teams for Full-IPA events - Mail-in registration with payment (first 15 teams receive bonus incentives), or register in person the Friday before each event (noon to 7pm) at the 1000 Islands Harbor Hotel for the Chaumont Bay/Black Lake event, and at the Sodus Pt. Fire Hall for the Sodus Bay event.
*NOTE* ALL PRO-AM TEAMS MUST ATTEND THE MANDATORY CAPTAINS MEETING THE FRIDAY EVENING BEFORE EACH MAIN IPA EVENT FROM 7-8PM HELD AT THE REGISTRATION LOCATION.
Open Anglers - Register in person the day before each main IPA event (at the 1000 Islands Harbor Hotel and Sodus Pt. Fire Hall) from 12-8pm, and 4-7am the Sat morning of the tournament. It is highly recommended that Open anglers register on Friday to avoid possibly having to wait in line Sat morning and missing time on the ice.

2) Just a reminder - if you are going to register for the Winter Classic on your way to fish, you must register prior to 7am for that day's catch to count. No exceptions, unless you are waiting in line at a shop that is very busy and it goes slightly beyond 7am before they wait on you.

We've had some great questions regarding our events!! Keep them coming as we want to be as clear as possible to avoid any confusion before the events start in January!

[sfirkbass]

Hey finders keepers quick question about the winter classic. Can we only qualify for 1 place in each species division or can you techniquely take 1st place -5th? I can't wait for ice this year!! Going to be a blast with all these fantastic tourneys, great work guys!!

[Finders Keepers]

Hey finders keepers quick question about the winter classic. Can we only qualify for 1 place in each species division or can you techniquely take 1st place -5th? I can't wait for ice this year!! Going to be a blast with all these fantastic tourneys, great work guys!!

You can only place once in each category (your biggest fish of any one category), but you may place in multiple categories. So if you have a 15 lb pike on the board in 4th place and you catch a 17 lb pike, the 17 lb'er will replace the 15 and possibly move you up in the ranks. Then if you catch a 2 lb yellow perch that places 3rd, you will keep both the pike and yellow perch placements.

[sfirkbass]

Awesome thank you! All signed up as of last night!

[Finders Keepers]

After this weekend, all of our weigh-in stations will have the ability to accept registrations at their shop. As a way to say thank you to all of them, we are giving them a kick-back for every registration they bring in at their shops. So support your local bait/tackle shop by stopping in and filling out a registration!

On-line and mail-in registrations will also be available.

[ShaneO19]

Looking forward to the tournaments and the statewide one especially.  Will make it a little extra exciting every time you go out.

Only thing disappointing is that the Chaumont Bay/Black Lake derby is both waters combined (at least from what I can understand).  Although Black lake is a great fishery, the sizes of fish probably won't have much chance of competing against Chaumont's.  The only category I could see competing is panfish for the open division if Crappie are allowed.  Also there are no pickerel in Black Lake( at least that ive ever seen) so that drops out one category for the open division and I would think makes it a bad choice for any team to fish there especially.  I was excited to see Black Lake as one of the stops this year since I am a regular there but this sort of ruins it.  I am not yet sure what division I would enter if I fish this event but it would be nice if there could be someway of separating the prizes between the 2 waters.  Or maybe at least having one place in each species designated for Black Lake?  Might be too late for changes but just thought I would give some input on this.  Hope all the tournaments are a success. Thanks

[Finders Keepers]

The different species on the two waterways this year will add to the important decision making each angler and team will have to make. We originally planned for a 2-day event allowing anglers and teams to be able to target one waterway one day and the other the second if they wanted. However, to avoid many logistical issues with the current Firehall  tourney on Chaumont Bay, we cut ours to a 1-day shoot-out. Speaking with several of the teams fishing the event, some of the strategies are similar, while others vary greatly! This will make for a very interesting, fun event for all fishing the event! Think of it this way - just because there are pickerel in Chaumont Bay, doesn't mean they will be biting that weekend. We've seen it before (Sodus IPA 2013) - who would have ever thought that not a single pike would be caught that weekend??!!

Next year we will be back on track and the two main IPA events will both be 2-day events. 

[iceguy]

Tim as well as others will be at the  Niagara fishing expo Jan 23-25th

http://niagarafishingexpo.com/

[Finders Keepers]

There has been some concern over the previous deadline for Ice Pro-Am teams to register by. We have waived the December 13th deadline for the IPA Team events and will continue to accept registrations until just prior to the Captains meetings before the main IPA events (Chaumont Bay/Black Lake and Sodus Events) and the morning of the Team-Only events (Chaumont Bay and Oneida Lake). However, we still have Bass Pro Shops gear for the first 15 teams to register for the IPA events.