Pro am ice tourney

[caliking]

Wow u guys are f****** brutal!! It's really sad to see people whinin about a couple dollars!! Tourneys like this event dont happen without months of preparation and a bunch of dedicated people who are passionate about the sport.. Holy crap if u were out there to win it god bless but really?? Go to work make da money go ice fishing and enjoy!! 

[Toxic fisher]

I will speak on the behalf of #Team brotherdads as I am the captain. Me and brother had an amazing time this weekend as well as all of the pro-ams that we did this year and last. We were actually the first team ever to register and support Tim and his brother in the pro-am tourney. Tim and Jeff are by far some of the most decent people I have ever met and am glad to call them my friends.  We teambrotherdads fish these tourneys for the sport and to win! We completely understand these tourneys take time to grow and they will. Judging by the turnout this past weekend and tupper the word is getting out. The pro am tourneys puts out huge prize packages and eventually money. The format of the tourneys are second to none. We had an absolute blast as well as put some huge fish on the board! Also was great meeting and chatting with all of you we fished with. Hopefully some people that want bigger payouts will tell there friends to fish it next year to up the pot! We will be eagerly waiting to fish all of the pro-am tourneys next year!!! Thank you again Tim and Jeff for an amazing year of fishing. #teambrotherdads
Jim

[1beaver]

Maybe some people should just stick too bar tournaments.more your Speed and easyer too win.

[1beaver]

Had a Great time can,t wait till next year.got some nice fish and saw some nice fish caught. Great job finders.nice too see large scale events like this in our area.

[o2rmk800]

What tournaments have 500 people in them?  I fished two local bar tournaments that had less people (160), smaller entry fees ($10.00) and payed out $400 for 1st, $240 for 2nd and $160 for third in 2 Divisions (pike and perch).

Walleye Challenge had 1750 anglers!! and as of yesterday the weekend Fuel and Food contest was over 500!!! there are contest out there that get quit a few people to them

[Finders Keepers]

Northern Challenge had over 850... These tournies have been around quite some time compared to ours. We got the ball rolling last year, we just need a little time to pick up the momentum!

[RedWolfUSAF]

Just the fact that Finders Keepers is standing up to all the judgement impresses me.... I'll be in next year with several other teams as well.... It's so easy to be negative and drop bombs on websites.... Keep chugging Tim!

[bcons]

I for one was disappointed they didn't bring this to oneida. With as many huge turnouts as the lake has from guys even from out of state seemed like an easy answer.
Not bashing in anyway just saying if was here I'd hazard a guess there would a been good turnout.

[o2rmk800]

I think they originally were gonna do Oneida, might still be in the plans in the future....

[pimplepounder]

ONEIDA ONEIDA ONEIDA

[LP Steve]

Now that would be easy 500 guys I bet over 1,000 would enter. A Late season tournament with a year like this could be a lot of fun.

[rball]

Love the idea of this tournament and see great potential. You are right the amount of people who enter make up the prizes when it comes to money. For instance the nys almost annual crappie derby. In 1974 it started with 197 ppl and a purse of $150 bucks. This year the purse was over 14,000 with over 3 THOUSAND participants some traveling as far as'alaska to fish oh and the entry fee is only $2. They do it defferent and its largest crappie every 15 min gets a prize. With the multiple species fished as well as the different devisions in the pro am tournament its on another level. At the same time if we stick to it, and keep moving forward this tournament can be huge.....who knows one day broadcasted on ESPN......things take time, and the biggest and best form of advertisment is word of mouth because well not only is it free but its up to us the fisherman to keep this alive. Let's get the word out and make this tournament something people will come from not only other states but other countries to compete.

[Yankee Troller]

Tim.... Ever thought about observers to the pro division? I have no issues paying someone $75 or $100 to go sit and watch someone to uphold the integrity.

[rball]

Keep up the good work tim, for very few participants with such large total possible winnings I can't wait to see what this tournament brings in another ten-twenty years. This is a new tournament and every year something can be learned and adjusted to make the next that much better. If there is anything I can do to help future tournments do not hesitate to let me know.

[Finders Keepers]

Tim.... Ever thought about observers to the pro division? I have no issues paying someone $75 or $100 to go sit and watch someone to uphold the integrity.

Hey Rick - In fact, we pondered this very hard when we were designing this series in the beginning. The main issues with requiring an observer is:
1) Transportation on the ice - how can a team and an observer all go out together?
2) Every team would have to be able to provide some sort of shelter for their observer, as conditions can be brutal at times out there!

I would be more than willing to discuss thoughts/concepts, but we just don't see how using observers would be possible in an ice fishing tourney and still allow the teams to fish anywhere on a waterway. The only way I can see it happening is to limit the teams to a certain area and have observers positioned throughout the field. In my opinion that is too limiting. Thoughts??

[RACKMASTER]

I agree that money would be nice. Me and my partner took 2nd place in the Pro am at Tupper and didn't receive a dollar, but we still will fish these events in hope that numbers will grow where money will be in the prize packs.

You gotta think about the other tournaments you guys fish....there are not 200 anglers....there are 500+ therefore people can walkaway with $400 for 1st and down from there. If the anglers will come fish these events, then payouts would happen like people want. You wouldn't see any regular derby payout 1st, 2nd, 3rd, for 8 hours of the day with only 200 anglers in the event.

Not true .... I won the conesus lake derby in 2010 with a 16 pd pike !   1 st place paid $500.
2nd place I think 300  3rd 250   4 and 5th were pay outs 
the same $500 for first in perch and same 2nd 3rd 4th 5th
Avon anglers put it on !
Their was only 170 people entered at $20 ea      Only 170    Total in $3400  they prob paid out 2400.

Givin it back to the people and takin a small cut, that's the way to go

Not dazzle with equipment........LOL   LOL

[RACKMASTER]

 

Maybe some people should just stick too bar tournaments.more your Speed and easyer too win.

;DRight on !  and more money goes to the anglers .....NICE

[Finders Keepers]

Givin it back to the people and takin a small cut, that's the way to go

Not dazzle with equipment........LOL   LOL

We are very lucky to have all the sponsor support we do, and they all see the potential this series has otherwise they would not be shipping the product to us like they have.

Again, to each his own. I haven't fished that tourney so I don't know their structure, but I would be willing to bet they have many volunteers and very few expenses. Did you get a trophy? Probably not, but again I wasn't there...

If you want a huge cash payout, give us a couple years and we'll have it for you.

[Finders Keepers]

The full list of results are now posted: http://www.nysiceproam.com/2014SBResults.html

Any other tournies have their results posted next day? 

[mrm57]

Maybe some people should just stick too bar tournaments.more your Speed and easyer too win.

the bar derbies are much more casual.you can actually catch the fish anywhere and go weigh them in. theres lots of room for cheatin but thats the way it is. it's a small investment.we like to fish for the fun and competion.you can have both.i think the organizers of this tourney put in a lot of time and effort to try and give the fishermen what they want.we don't fish them because we're not that serious about it but would have a good time if we were. it sounds like a good event.anyways we did fish those 2 bar derbies because they're more are speed and easy to win. . and actually got 1st and 3rd place [perch division].......in both of them..Ka-ching..thank you very much. ...so how did you make out in the big event?

[o2rmk800]

heres a thought on observers, how about assigning people to areas? depending on the size of the lake the more or less you need. 1 person per 1/2 acre and keep rolling around checking on everyone

[RACKMASTER]

Open anglers can enter the ice at any location, however you have to keep in mind that all fish need to be brought to the weigh-in stations via the ice (you can't hop in your car and run them over). We'll likely have the northern weigh-in station off of Maiden Lane like last year, even though the shotgun start will likely be off the park.

Checking in any time Sat morning before 7am is ok for Open anglers.

here's what was told to me on February 19 th 2014
Try to keep the same rules that's all we ask
You wrote this and have to live with it

[deweyicefish]

I would like to start by congratulating team gaff lunkage, you guys caught some awesome  fish in these tournaments .. team brotherdads really put there hearts into winning this thing …hats off to them
all the other teams that fished these tournaments great to see you again… team eat me had a great time fishing these events ..we had some ups & downs  1 man short at chautauqua  cut lines & loss fish, bad conditions tupper lake & the same at sodus ..I  & we fish these tournaments for the fun of them & the competition..it's a great time & experience you will remember a long time …you won't get rich trying to win ice fishing  tournaments…these tournaments will continue to grow & they will get some better #s,  they will get some better great pay outs …I fished last years events & all ready see the subtle changes & the excitement that's  building as they continue to grow  ..Tim & his crew do their best to put out the best tournament they can, the countless hours of preparations that go into a tournament can be overwhelming & exhausting..I will be looking forward to fishing  next years events …  thanks Captain TEAM EAT ME

[ShaneO19]

So was the 15 pounder alllowed then?

[blackmer826]

Don't get me wrong and my partner would agree, we had a great time getting ready for the tournament, fishing the tournament and hanging out with some fellow shanty members afterwards. Also, other than a couple hic ups it was ran smoothly and we couldnt wait for next year again. It just put a huge damper on the whole thing when you finished in the "money" and didn't take home a dime. You should at least get your $160 back. Heck, I still haven't told the wife I received no cash for finishing in the "money"! I'm scared as hell! Lol

Haha that's great.

[blackmer826]

Is gaff lunkage here on IS?

Tim keep the event going and busting your ass because there are more people in favor then not. Maybe those not happy with the lack of payouts will get their buddies to come next year and boost the entries to get a payout for the top 5.

Just checked the sodus results..... Congrats to the winners. Looks like there were some great fish caught. Can't wait to see the tupper lake and sodus pics!

[ChiefCatchemall]

So was the 15 pounder alllowed then?

Yes the fish was allowed

[Finders Keepers]

So was the 15 pounder alllowed then?

After an investigation by the tournament committee including picture and video analysis and fish pattern recognition, since the Open Rules that were printed for this event did not include the rule for running all fish in via the ice, the fair ruling was made to allow the fish. This rule is being closely looked at for next year and will likely take into account angler feedback. We have gone back and forth on this one as a committee and might leave it up to the majority vote: to enforce all fish being brought to the weigh-in stations via ice, or open it up. This would only apply to the Open Division, and if opened up, we would make separate lunker pools for each division (pro-am and open). Some food for thought for those fishing our events next year - we will post some surveys once we are ready to start planning next year's events.

[BillyGoat]

TO THE PEOPLE WHO HAD A GOOD TIME AND SAID IT WAS WORTH IT,,,, MUST OF VOTED FOR OBAMA AND CUOMO    KEEP PUTTING IN AND KEEP GETTING    UCKED.

  HAD A TOURNEY OVER THE WEEKEND AND 10 of us 10 PER person=100.   we payed out 100.  had good sponsers to like my shanty frailbill, graph vexlair, eskimo augar. show me 1  prizes that's better than the stuff the pro am's got ALREADY ? can u answer that. SHOW ME THE MONEY.           

[Cat78gum]

Thank You to everyone for the congratulations comments! We had an amazing time fishing all three events! We truly enjoy fishing proam style tournaments and look forward to seeing the NYS Ice Proam grow in the future. I must admit that the highly anticipated announcement of the Triple Crown winners was quite a surprise at first! We were disappointed in the mistake that was made, but we did some thinking and also realize that the guys doing the math were running on like an hour of sleep all weekend. Maybe we shouldn't beat up on them too badly. The prize packages we won are amazing. We have almost a whole new setup for next year plus Ice Armor suits on the way. Not to mention like 20 new tackle boxes. (ha)
Anyway! Congrats to all the winners, thanks to all of the other anglers, and to Finders Keepers team for all your effort and time invested!

~TEAM GAFF LUNKAGE