2015 NYS Ice Pro-Am and Winter Classic Tournament Thread

[Finders Keepers]

This will be the official forum thread for discussing both the NYS Ice Pro-Am Tournament Series events and the new NYS Winter Classic statewide fishing tournament. We will post updates, announcements, and other tournament information along with answering angler questions and inquiries.
 
Information regarding the NYS Ice Pro-Am (NYS IPA) can be found at: www.NYSiceproam.com
Information regarding the NYS Winter Classic Fishing Tournament can be found at: www.NYSwinterclassic.c om

Below I will highlight the changes for the IPA events this year, then give a general overview of the Winter Classic Tournament:

2015 NYS Ice Pro-Am Tournament Events:
This year, as a result of last year's events and angler survey feedback, there will be 5 events: (2) Full IPA Events, (2) Team-Only Events, and a Premier Invitational Event. Here is the official schedule of IPA events:
January 17 - Team-Only Event on Chaumont Bay ($100/team)
January 31 & February 1 - Full IPA Event on Chaumont Bay & Black Lake ($160/team, $30/Open Angler)
February 15 - Team-Only Event on Oneida Lake ($100/team)
February 21 & 22 - Full IPA Event on Sodus Bay ($160/team, $30/Open Angler)
March 14 - IPA Invitational Event (location TBD)($275/team)

All IPA events (Pro-Am Division) will be limited to the 1st 100 teams that register. All teams must register via mail-in entry form and payment of tournament fees by December 13th. Teams will be listed on each event page on the website once payment has cleared. All OPEN Division anglers (for Full IPA events) will register at check-in for each event. Full IPA events will allow OPEN anglers only to bring fish to weigh-in locations via ice or vehicle to accomodate all anglers. Fish must be caught on event waterway(s) the day of the event. We will be running a Triple Crown ($100/team) for the Pro-Am Teams again this year that will include each team's top 3 scores from the (4) team events (Invitational not included). The Invitational event will be limited to 12 teams, by invite only, includes the Lunker Pool & a dinner awards ceremony, with the first round of invitations being sent in the upcoming weeks to those teams who have participated in both previous years' events. If the event has not filled all 12 spots by October 31st, additional invitations will be sent. Once all 12 spots have been filled, a waiting list will be generated for teams wishing to participate in the event should a confirmed team have to drop out. We are also working on several other ambitions, including a Kid's Clinic prior to the Sodus Bay Event on February 20th.

The NYS Winter Classic Fishing Tournament:
This will be one of the largest tournaments ever run in NYS with a similar format to the current LOC tournaments run on Lake Ontario. This is a state-wide tournament event where anglers can fish any waterway across NYS (ice, open water, & tributaries) from January 1st through February 22nd for 7 categories of fish species: Trout (brown trout, lake trout, steelhead/rainbow trout), Northern Pike, Walleye, Pickerel, Crappie, Yellow Perch, and Panfish (sunfish/bluegill). Top 5 fish by weight in each category place, lunker pool with placement of Top 3 in each category and a random drawing from the 1st place Lunker Pool winners for $1,000, and 14 weigh-in stations across the state to bring fish to (see website for station location map). This will make every day a tournament day and for only $25/angler to enter plus $10/angler to enter the Lunker Pool, which includes all categories! Registration is via mail-in registration form only, available to print off the website or visit any of our weigh-in locations after Sept. 1st. We only need 500 anglers registered by December 20th to run the tournament - there will be a running total on our website for anglers to keep tabs. We have also listed the payout structure as the number of anglers increases above 500. There will be a formal awards ceremony on Feb. 22nd in conjunction with the Sodus Bay IPA awards ceremony. 

Please be patient as we update the IPA website for the 2015 events. It is a very large site and will take a bit for all pages to be updated! Sponsors for both tournaments are still being confirmed and will be announced later in August. Ice season is only 5 months away!! Let's hope we have a banner ice season like this past year!! I look forward to answering all of your questions (I know there will be many) and receiving your registrations in the upcoming months!

Tim Thomas
NYS Ice Pro-Am Corporation
President & Tournament Director
www.NYSiceproam.com
www.NYSwinterclassic.c om

[Finders Keepers]

Trip up to Chaumont Bay and Black Lake was a huge success. Lots of legwork accomplished, waterways researched, etc. At the same time some major sponsorship potentials have been brought up and are currently being discussed and negotiated. Due to this and other items that have to be addressed, we are going to have to postpone the kids' clinic planned for the Sodus Event until 2016. Also, the Chaumont Bay and Black Lake Full IPA event on Jan. 31/Feb 1 may be changed to a 1-day event (sat only) due to complications with the Super Bowl and the current firehall tournament planned on Chaumont Bay the same weekend. While running the two tournaments concurrently can help boost numbers for both tournies, the awards ceremonies are both planned for Sunday afternoon. They have been running theirs for much longer and therefore have precidence on the waterway. An official announcement will be made once finalized.

[Finders Keepers]

We have made the decision to make the Chaumont Bay/Black Lake IPA Event a 1-Day shootout to avoid all complications. Exact timing of the event is still being worked out, but it will occur on Jan. 31st only. All Weigh-in stations for the Winter Classic now have registration forms along with the rules/regs. Get in before Sept. 1st for your chance at the first round of giveaways!!

[komo15]

Tim, are the team only events strictly cash prizes, or is it similar to the way the IPA series is ran?  Thanks, c. Komanecky

[Finders Keepers]

The team only IPA events will be cash payouts based upon number of teams entered, plus a few key sponsored items (to be released soon) in addition to the cash prize values listed on the website. So for example, with 50 teams, the 1st place team will receive $1500 plus $800 in sponsored product for a total prize package of $2300 as it stands right now! For all our events this year, based upon anger feedback last year, we will be packing as much cash into the prize packages as possible! Keeping it simple: The more anglers, the more cash. The Winter Classic has the potential to pay out some serious cash!!

Also, it was brought to our attention that the current size limit listed on the rules and regs for walleye is 18". That will be changing to 16" for the Oneida Team Event.

[BudMan]

Onida has a 15" minimum for eyes.

[Finders Keepers]

Onida has a 15" minimum for eyes.

That is correct. However, to avoid any "close" measurements, our tournament minimum will be 16". This is standard practice in many tournaments that is used to protect the anglers from any issues of short fish with the DEC. 

[BudMan]

Right on. Thanks for the explanation.

[Finders Keepers]

Better fishery locations....five star hotel accommodations....more cash payouts....huge sponsor support both returning and new...this coming season is going to be epic!!! Are you ready??

Stay tuned for all the details!!

[Finders Keepers]

For those of you planning on fishing the Chaumont Bay/Black Lake full IPA event on January 31st, we have an amazing deal at the 1000 Islands Harbor Hotel (www.1000islandsharborh otel.com) with 5-star accommodations which will be hosting the tournament festivities all weekend. Registration, check-in, captains meeting, banquet, and awards ceremony will be housed there. They have reserved a block of rooms for our anglers at a rate of $99/room with either two queen beds or a king and pull-out sofa. This place is amazing and if split between anglers, is very affordable!! To make a reservation with the discounted price, ask for the "NYS Ice Pro-Am" rate. We are also going to be doing a full banquet prior to the awards ceremony open for only the Pro-Am team members at this time. It will be $20/person and will include a full dinner featuring your choice of a fish selection (likely walleye) or a vegitarian meal (likely pasta). We will be adding this option to the team registration form this weekend. If you have already sent in your registration, I will contact your team captain to see if you would like to add the dinner option. We will need 150 anglers to cover the cost, so if we do not reach that number by mid-December, we will open up the option for Open anglers to join us.

Keep in mind, during the Chaumont Bay/Black Lake event there will also be the local firehall's derby goin on that you may want to enter (a 2-day event Sat/Sun), the NYS Winter Classic will be ongoing through the event, and the Black lake Fish & Game Club may also have a tournament going on Black Lake (not confirmed at this time). This will be an amazing weekend of tournament fishing where you can fish multiple tourneys at the same time and if you land a lunker, can really cash in BIG!!

In addition, Arthurs BBQ will be offering BBQ lunch selections at all of our events this year for when you come off the ice!! Much more to come - stay tuned!!!

[FISHFORPIKE]

I hope you do well Tim.  The BL Club will likely be moving their fishing contest to a different Saturday.  You are also on with another large derby at Cranberry Lake.  Maybe your clients are different than the locals around these smaller derbies.  Tough to pick a date around here these days.

[Finders Keepers]

Thanks for the info! Yeah, we knew about the Cranberry Tourney. When we first set up our dates for the IPA 3 years ago there wasn't a conflict with this tournament, but since they moved their date last year it is now. It will be up to the anglers on what they want to fish for and support: we offer much higher chance of catching decent fish across multiple species with no harassment from forest rangers, a ruleset that deters cheating, multiple divisions, a massive cash/prize/door prize structure, the ability to fish multiple tournaments on Chaumont Bay, multiple waterways to choose from, it's run by professional anglers, and we have our event housed in a 5-star hotel. They offer a local connection, have run their event for a number of years, hourly cash prizes, and a slim chance at icing a monster pike.

[jakep138]

Tim is there a reason the chamount bay event was changed to only a 1 day tourney ? Is there any possibility to get this changed back to two days through angler survey via ice shanty website or emails. ? A two day tournament at least allows the pro am teams to be consistent fisherman through the course of not only just one day but two consecutive days . Thanks for your time .
Jake pollock team brotherdads

[Finders Keepers]

There are two main reasons it was changed to a 1-day tourney:
1) The Chaumont Bay firehall puts on their local tournament this weekend and it is a 2-day event. Their awards ceremony is around 4pm. While running the two events consecutively is not a problem (as we can cross promote both tourneys), our awards ceremony would have to occur after theirs as not to interfere. This would push our awards ceremony to start at 6pm at the earliest. Considering we have anglers traveling from some great distances, we don't want to create a situation where people are driving home in the middle of the night (especially if there is weather occurring) or forced to have to stay another night (even though the accommodations are amazing). 

2) It's Superbowl weekend, and this would deter anglers from fishing our event. And when tied to #1 above, we'd all miss the Super Bowl or we would have to make special arrangements to have a large screen set-up and have it broadcast during the awards ceremony.

Too many obstacles and logistics to work out. With a 1-day event, there are no issues. Is it ideal? - No. But it is the best and easiest solution for everyone.

[jrtbaits]

can't wait ... hope to fish a few of these tournys this year!!

[Finders Keepers]

can't wait ... hope to fish a few of these tournys this year!!

Look forward to seeing you there!

We'll be at the Bass Pro Shops in Auburn on Sept. 28th giving some seminars on fall fishing techniques and beginning basics with the kids - come on out and let's talk fishing!! We can also discuss the tournament events!!

[rball]

hey for the winter classic what needs to be done to add another weigh station if at all possible. There is nothing here in the Saranac Lake area.

[boss j]

theres no weigh in stations anywhere near the southeast portion of the state either! and ALL the IPA events are in the northern and western portions of the state as well. this kinda sucks for those of us in the south...

[Finders Keepers]

hey for the winter classic what needs to be done to add another weigh station if at all possible. There is nothing here in the Saranac Lake area.

theres no weigh in stations anywhere near the southeast portion of the state either! and ALL the IPA events are in the northern and western portions of the state as well. this kinda sucks for those of us in the south...

For the Winter Classic state event: Eastern/southeastern NY was purposely left off this year for several reasons related to ensuring the proper management of the tournament. In preparation, we knew I would have a newborn (born yesterday) that would greatly limit my ability to be away from home this fall and dedicate time. Keep in mind, we are still a small, family run outfit and need to ensure we can handle the scope of this event. Plus we have a network already in place across Central and Western NY, to add eastern NY will require quite a bit of legwork, which we plan on doing next summer to include all areas for the 2016 event. This will also allow us to adjust and add more staff if necessary as adding the eastern sections could double our numbers. In addition, each station we add costs us upwards of $1,000 to research, outfit, and manage, and must meet some general guidelines (like being open and readily available to weigh-in fish). Our plan (assuming this year's event meets the minimum number of anglers, operates without any major flaws, etc.) is to add at least 5 weigh-in stations in the eastern sector next year, and move/alter/add stations elsewhere as needed depending upon the results of this year's event. I know that's not what you want to hear and I apologize for not adding the eastern sectors this year, but it is necessary on our end. With angler support, this tournament has enormous potential - one of our ideas is to offer a quad every week to the largest fish caught in one of the categories coordinated with the tournaments going on that week and a new truck to the grand prize winner. With enough anglers in the tournament (roughly 5,000+), this will be possible along with many more prize options!

For the IPA Events: It's just not currently feasible for us to run an event in southern or far eastern NY. These events require an enormous amount of legwork and preparation that I cannot commit to while I still have an every-day job. If the current events and the state event take off to the point I can run them full-time, then more events may be possible (new areas need to have all the resources and facilities to host one of our events). Not to mention, the more events we run, the less time I have to fish. Not to be selfish, but as a professional angler, I need to hit the ice too, not only for sponsor related work, but also for my own (and my family's) sanity!!    So there is a delicate balance there between running events, fishing, and family time that I would hope everyone can understand, and respect.

[jakep138]

Congrats on the newborn Tim !!!! Wish you and your family well

[Finders Keepers]

Congrats on the newborn Tim !!!! Wish you and your family well

Thanks Jake!!

Our new printer will arrive today, so the invitations for the IPA Invitational event should go out in the next couple days - look for them in the mail! I'll also be including a copy of the rules and regs as well as a reminder that this is a very limited event with only 11 other teams in addition to ours allowed. I just confirmed the reservation at Capt. Jack's today for the included awards dinner. 

[boss j]

congrats with the child.

i understand your limitations with setting events east/southeast. hopefully they will be able to be added in the future.

[Finders Keepers]

Quick question for the Winter Classic: would you prefer a $2,500 cash prize or a $5,000 shopping spree at a sporting goods store?

[boss j]

$5000 if at cabelas otherwise $2500 cash.

[line dropper]

5k

[FISHFORPIKE]

cash

[Finders Keepers]

Thank you to those who gave us input! This month we'll be receiving our HUGE shipment from Plano/Frabill, having the posters and fliers printed up and distributed across the state, and finalizing the line-up of teams for the Invitational event (only two spots left)! We'll also be formally announcing and highlighting our banner line-up of sponsors for this year's events!

We will also have a booth (or multiple booths) at the Greater Niagara Fishing & Outdoor Expo on January 23-25. Mark your calendars now as that show is the largest in NYS and features the LOTSA marketplace on Sunday where you can load up on gear at amazing prices!!

If you are going to be fishing the IPA Team events, check out the new promotions listed on our website for those who register before December 1st! Open anglers can also get in on the action by registering for the Statewide Winter Classic by December 1st! Lots more to come as we head into October and the temperatures start to drop!!

[Finders Keepers]

The proposed prize structure for all the events is now up and continues to grow as we confirm sponsors and once we start to see Pro-Am teams sign up, the cash supplements will increase as well!

We are very excited to announce that Plano and Frabill will be headlining this year's events again! Their support has been paramount over the last few years for the continued development and success of our events. This year we will be featuring some of their new gear again including the side step shelters, redesigned 371 combos, and I-Series suits to name a few! Frabill also has stepped up to add safety items to our captain packs for the two main IPA events that will push the values of the packs over $50! Keep in mind, teams must register prior to the December 16th deadline to receive a captains pack at the events. 

[Finders Keepers]

Other sponsors are being announced daily on our website and Facebook site! Give us a "Like" and follow the latest on Facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/NYSiceproam

A full list of sponsors will posted here once they have all been announced on Facebook - Stay tuned!!

[deweyicefish]

    Tim this looks like a great ice pro am season shaping up ... The line up of sponsors is growing by the day...
    Looking forward seeing old friends & rivals...also meeting new faces & friends  this year... The competition
    is always great...