Northern Challenge was sucsessfull

[bigbear138]

I would like too thank the Tupper  Lake rod and gun club for putting on such an awesome tourney.  It seems like the cash prizes and other prizes are getting better and better every year.  Me and a friend decided too split any cash prizes if luck where with us and it was, I ended up taken 2nd place for the 7th hour for $200 and my friend won the dive team 50/50 raffle for $1787.00.  We could not ask for a better colder day than that.  I dont normally like too start out being negative about issues but i would like too state my opinion about the tournery.  We fished well away from most other people  down at the other end of Simon Pd and cant beleive all the inconsiderate people.  I could never understand why the snowmobilers and atvrs have too come so close too your tipups and fly past you when they have the whole center of the pond too go by.  These people are out flying up and down the lake and suppose too be fishing, yes alot of these guys are weighing in fish but there is no need for all the unnessessary travel this only scares the fish from biting better. Well enough complaining but cant wait for next years tourney.  Oh by the way the 2 posters hanging on the side of Simon Pond Rd say welcome Northern Challenge fisherman 2005 I think you need too change the dates on the posters.  LOL  LOl LOL LOL  Don

[adkman]

On behalf of the Rod and Gun Club, I would like to thank you bigbear for your support.  We have to agree that the ATV and snow sleeding is a major issue however if we banned then from the ice a lot of people wouldn't be able to get to the more remote areas and everyone would just gather up in the middle of the area. As sportsmen I honestly believe that the secret to stopping this isn't banning but teaching respect.  It all starts with the youth, and eventually some of them will catch on.  Not all of them but some will.  I'm not saying that all of these were young people but sportsmen that just weren't thinking.  Once again thank you and all ice shanty members for supporting our event.  50-50 drawings totaled just over $8000, 2 ATVs at $6000 each, $6500 in door prizes, and $6400 in hourly cash prizes for a total of $32,900 paid out for a one day derby.  Maybe someday I'll stop being chairman and actually get to fish it.

Dave McMahon
Northern Challenge Chairman

[coldwater]

I was at the Northern Challenge an I thought it was poorly run. First there were to many fisherman for the size of the lake. I stayed as long as I could for the prizes at the end but with the PA system down and them continually calling out the same #s for over an hour when it was clear they were not there, it was not worth staying. The fishing was great for the first few hours but it got fished out pretty quick and by the end of the day there were no fish to be caught. I will not be back!

[mikespra]

i won't be back again either. sorry coldwater, that may have been my name they were calling, it wasnt even worth sticking around that long to see if i won. we left for awhile around 1 and came back at 4 in hopes of catching some more fish, and i can't believe how much garbage was left out. if i owned any of those camps or houses along that road i would be furious. although i guess if i won 2000 bucks i woulda been happier with the experience.

[bigbear138]

Well Coldwater and Mikespra thats too bad that you thought the tourney was poorly ran, but i really have too disagree with you guys, due too that fact that Simon Pond yes had a lot of fisherman but down the lake more where we fished there where plenty of room.  If the club filled all 1500 enteries in the tourney its just plain luck too win any of the prizes and is hard for the Tupper r&d club too make sure everthing goes smooth.  Yes this is a big cash tourney but even if i didnt win anthing i still would of had a great time with the very few fish i caught, and being with my friends, the prizes are just the icing on the cake.  When i was standing there listening for the numbers being drawn there where lots of piss poor attitudes after each number was drawn, beacuse there number  was not drawn too damn bad, thats FISHING...  Perhaps did you guys by any 50/50s or did you get a late start beacuse you drank so much the night b4.  Finally its a shame that you will not be in it next year, GREAT more fish  for me.... FISH HARDER       DON

[3beagles]

Well, I guess you can't please everyone, no matter how much you try.  If some of you think it is easy to hold an event of this size, you should try it sometime!  As far as garbage being left around, guess again.  Our club members went around and cleaned up most of it.  But, due to the weather being windy and snowy today, I am sure some of it got buried.  But, we will form another work-bee to clean it up.  And as far as that subject goes, why is it that some people are too damn lazy to walk a couple of feet and put their garbage in the garbage container that was RIGHT there!?  A container this size of a dump truck!  And, yes, the speaker system turned out to be a nightmare.  I guess we should have been able to "foresee" that somebody's kid would be swinging from the speaker wire and pull it apart.  But I can assure you, we will have some bull horns next year incase we run into that problem again.  We couldn't get a bullhorn from any of the local cops or fire station.  So what were we to do?  We did the best we can.  For those of you who don't think it was enough, I am sorry, but we ain't miracle workers!  But, like Dave said, our club would like to thank you all for attending. 
Mike

[Hood]

HEy we didnt catch squat but had a fun time. We fished out a ways til 11 then moved inside cuz we didnt have a shanty or wheeler. You gotta expect some good and bad with 1200 rednecks fishin on a pond of that size, personally I love it. It was fun sittin on the dumpster watchin the number callin at the end, the committee worked with what happened and got the job done. See ya next year!

[mikespra]

Well Coldwater and Mikespra thats too bad that you thought the tourney was poorly ran, but i really have too disagree with you guys, due too that fact that Simon Pond yes had a lot of fisherman but down the lake more where we fished there where plenty of room.  If the club filled all 1500 enteries in the tourney its just plain luck too win any of the prizes and is hard for the Tupper r&d club too make sure everthing goes smooth.  Yes this is a big cash tourney but even if i didnt win anthing i still would of had a great time with the very few fish i caught, and being with my friends, the prizes are just the icing on the cake.  When i was standing there listening for the numbers being drawn there where lots of **censored** poor attitudes after each number was drawn, beacuse there number  was not drawn too d**n bad, thats FISHING...  Perhaps did you guys by any 50/50s or did you get a late start beacuse you drank so much the night b4.  Finally its a shame that you will not be in it next year, GREAT more fish  for me.... FISH HARDER       DON

nah i was pretty sober as i got out of work at 1:30 and drove 5 hours through a snowstorm (it got bad near old forge) to fish the tournament. (not to say i didnt have a few on the ice, but they froze before i got too many down )as i said we came back later to fish some more after the tournament and i hit oneida lake this morning, so im not sure i could fish much harder, unless i broke the 5 tip-up law or something, but thanks for the advice. i didn't call it poorly run and i sure couldn't have run anything half its size, nor would i try to. it just wasnt for me. i had fun just like you guys did, but i had even more fun this morning on oneida and didnt pay 30 bucks for it. my choice is that i would rather fish somewhere else next year, and you are gonna make a different choice, i hope we both have fun. i also dont think its the organizers responsibility to clean up after everyone. its cool you guys did and im sure the homeowners appreciate that. i was just saying id be mad if i had garbage strewn about my yard by other people. not at the organizers, but by the inconsiderate people that left it there. no way could anyone hope to police that many people. so 3beagles thanks to you and the club for putting it on and for a good time and even more for cleaning up after a few foolish dirty people. i think most of the problems are the same problems you would have at any tournament, and are the reasons i had never fished a tourney before. i had heard this was one of the better ones so i gave it a try. it wasn't for me. i guess i could have expressed it better. sorry.

[adkman]

I guess I misunderstood you also mikespra.  My apology to you.  It sure isn't an easy job to do and we can only keep trying and educate our youth.  Tight lines and may your next fish be a monster.  You are welcome to fish with me anytime.
Dave

[hdqtrswp]

I would like to thank the members of the Tupper Lake Rod and Gun.Once Again another great Fishing derby!!! I thought it was very well run !!! up to the point of the pa system not working... I did not catch a fish,,, nor win any raffle money( could not here the numbers if i did win) If you attend this challenge and expect a quiet day of fishing !!! Don't come,This is the wrong tournament for you...For the most part,, I thought the snowmobiler's and ATVs where controlled, State PD and DEC all over the place.. Also it was just to cold to ride around,,,most anglers stayed in their shanties,,,at least i did...
As for the guy directing traffic at the entrance at about 645 am ,,, Thank god that guy stepped up to the plate,, some idiot in a white ,dodge, 6 wheel truck, plate number !@#$%^++ decided he could not get along with others and  parked in the middle of the road.Traffic at a complete stand still, no one could move...He seen the light when a size 13 started in his direction!!!! The Tupper Lake police need to come in and take over traffic control..It should not be left up to club members,,(kids in orange vest) or worse anglers to try and keep the traffic moving !!! Especially with the amount of money this event brings into Tupper...

Please reconsider including raquette pond next year// That would alleviate allot of the complaints...




Dave had a great time   ///  Thanks for the hat  ///  See you next year

[bigtim]

Dave

   the fishing wasn't good for me or my 18 friends we landed 3 fish total all 3 wouldn't have weight 5 pounds but we had fun. i do thing you need to think about fishing new waters. i believe the pond is fished out between the derby and summer fishing. i hope you have my iceShanty flag when i got there it was gone you can send it to 27 cedar st. norwood NY. how many fish were entered this year?



                                                                         TIM

[adkman]

Yes Tim I have your flag and thank you for the use of it.  I will be sending it out this week to you.

Dave

[percheyes42]

Dave

   the fishing wasn't good for me or my 18 friends we landed 3 fish total all 3 wouldn't have weight 5 pounds but we had fun. i do thing you need to think about fishing new waters. i believe the pond is fished out between the derby and summer fishing. i hope you have my iceShanty flag when i got there it was gone you can send it to 27 cedar st. norwood NY. how many fish were entered this year?



                                                                         TIM

Hey Tim, go to sleep. I was fishing with Big Tim's group. I would also like to send my thanks to the club members for holding this event. We didn't have any problems with the ATVs or quads. Of course, we were at the other end of the lake. This really wasn't my style of fishing, but it was a blast. We'll see ya next year.

[mcully]

So what was the biggest fish?

[coldwater]

just want to clear things up, one guy in our group did win for the hourly prize, another won a heater, we just had to forever to claim the prize. We caught a bunch of fish mostly small, and registered around 5 fish but I still believe there was way to many people for that small lake, which might explain why no one was catching anything in the afternoon at least around us.

[esox slayer]

We caught a bunch of fish mostly small, and registered around 5 fish but I still believe there was way to many people for that small lake, which might explain why no one was catching anything in the afternoon at least around us.

I think that happens a lot..I fished a small local derby Friday as a benefit for a mans family who was killed a few years ago, and the fishing shut off cold at 10:30...not one more flag for the 60 guys the entire day, all fish caught were caught the first 2 hours of the day.  We were on a lot bigger body of water than Simon Pond.....

I've fished the TLC and had a good time when I did, I haven't been back in a few years now.  It is a lot to have on a small body of water, but I know guys who fish there in the weeks following the derby and they do fine as far as catch rates are concerned. 

I think the TLC challenge isn't for everybody, but it's a good time IF you fish with the understanding of the parameters set forth by the derby rules.

Too bad some kid had to break the PA wires by hanging off them, I know the one derby I attended there was well run and about as organized as it gets when you've got 1000 people standing around for the prize presentations......my hats off to the guys who put it on every year.....Esox

[SUNYESF]

I was up there for the first time this year and although the fishing sucked for me and my group it was still worth it. We put our shanties together and drank "a little" in the comfort of two heated shanties...........lol  I was a little miserable trying to hear the numbers being called at the end but the worst part was some guys yelling out other numbers while we were trying to listen, oh well, still fun and although we didn't win a thing or catch a thing it was a blast.........I'll be up there next year, but in a different spot...........lol

[fitchy74]

On behalf of the Rod and Gun Club, I would like to thank you bigbear for your support.  We have to agree that the ATV and snow sleeding is a major issue however if we banned then from the ice a lot of people wouldn't be able to get to the more remote areas and everyone would just gather up in the middle of the area. As sportsmen I honestly believe that the secret to stopping this isn't banning but teaching respect.  It all starts with the youth, and eventually some of them will catch on.  Not all of them but some will.  I'm not saying that all of these were young people but sportsmen that just weren't thinking.  Once again thank you and all ice shanty members for supporting our event.  50-50 drawings totaled just over $8000, 2 ATVs at $6000 each, $6500 in door prizes, and $6400 in hourly cash prizes for a total of $32,900 paid out for a one day derby.  Maybe someday I'll stop being chairman and actually get to fish it.

Dave McMahon
Northern Challenge Chairman

[willbilly]

Do you have the dates for next years challenge?

[adkman]

The Northern Challenge is always the first Saturday in February.  I'm glad that even though there were not a lot of fish caught that people had some fun.  As far as the kid hat pulled out the wires from the PA system he taught us another lesson to make our derby better next year.  I just ordered a Champion MP16w Bullhorn that has a range of 1000 yards. 
Dave

[bigtim]

Hey Tim, go to sleep. I was fishing with Big Tim's group. I would also like to send my thanks to the club members for holding this event. We didn't have any problems with the ATVs or quads. Of course, we were at the other end of the lake. This really wasn't my style of fishing, but it was a blast. We'll see ya next year.

[hindes_06]

thanks to all the rod and gun members for another good tourament,but have no use for the guy that was doing the parking

[Dr Juice]

Hey Dave, it was good meeting you and the rest of the guys at the club. It was my first time up there and I had a fun. Since I was alone, it was easier for me to pre drill on Friday and I got to the club at 2am on Saturday. I sat and had coffee for a few hours bull sh*%ting with some guys before heading out onto the ice. I parked right behind the club. No problem for me. I had 2 fish on the ice and lost 2. I weighed 1, but no luck.
I didn't win any prizes or a 50/50 and god knows I needed that 4 wheeler, but that wasn't happening either.
I still had a good time. If people were complaining about parking, then they should have got there earlier. The P.A being down sucked, but you did your best calling out those numbers. At least there was an ambulance around with a speaker. LOL.
I came across a few A-holes during the day, but that is the norm. Allot of people were not being clean and throwing trash on the ice and ground. That has to be my biggest complaint. People just don't care about about the environment. (Dirtbags).
 I thought I could meet up with some other shanty members, but nobody had their radios on. I was on scan and channel 7 all day. I'll be looking for that picture we took holding the shanty flag.  8) All in all I thought it was a good day. I will be back next year, but will fish a new spot. I will also have a freaking 4 wheeler. 

Tightlines   

-Juice

[adkman]

It was a pleasure meeting you also Dr. as well as some of the other members.  90 % of the garbage was picked up that night and after the snow melts off the ice the club will do another sweep of the lake and clean up the rest.  Yes it is to bad that some people just don'tthink and leave things outside when it's windy and it gets blown around.  We wish you better luck next year.

Adkman

[percheyes42]

The whole trash thing was a joke. We had 18 people in our group and managed to take everything off that we brought on. It's as simple as bringing a trash bag with you. It's not like this stuff gets heavier out on the ice and makes it difficult to bring it back off. People should respect the resources that allow them to go out and have all this fun. Thanx again to the members for putting on such a good derby.

[Hank Henry]

Thanks to all the rod and gun members and the local town folks that support this tournament.  I have not missed a year yet.  All in all just enjoy what has been provided for you.  Great time had by all, you don't get 1200 people on the ice with out a few quirks.  You also have to know that parking is a hassle if that many people show with all their equipment.  Relax and enjoy or stay on the couch.  GREAT JOB to all.

[3beagles]

Thanks again to all who came.  WE try to learn from our mistakes and do it better with each passing year, but it is a daunting task and there are bound to be glitches from time to time.  Remember, we are all volunteers who put in countless hours behind the scenes that most people can't even imagine!  It is not for everyone that is for sure, but overall I think most people have fun.  And, you can't gather that many people into one area without some of them being less than considerate of others.
Mike

[adkman]

[adkman]

[adkman]

Northern Challenge 2007 winners   

7-8 AM
1st     John Riley                             12.84lb
2nd   Scott Laonde                           9.12
3rd Dan Dibble                                  8.14

8-9AM
1st    Bill Newman                            6.59
2nd   Ken Albrite                              6.34
3rd  Andy Magoon                    5.64

9-10 AM
1st  Jim Myers         8.46
2nd Mary Lyman         4.88
3rd Bob Jock         4.05

10-11 AM
1st Hope Laramee         10.57
2nd Tom Allen          4.97
3rd Josh Thomas          4.92

11-12 Noon
1st Gordy Stadler         7.28
2nd Jim Charland          4.34
3rd Leo Compo         3.96

12-1PM
1st Scott Hamburg         5.04
2nd Cathy Shaheen      4.00
3rd Jerry    Maliszeski      3.11

1-2 PM
1st Brian Trumble         4.37
2nd Don Stafford         4.30
3rd Pete Legacy         3.28

2-3PM
1st Bill Nemier                                  4.36
2nd Cathy Shaheen                           3.71
3rd Mike Robare           3.33   

Winners of the Charters were

Fayette Trumble and Charlie Poirier

Winners of the ATVs were
Andrew Mooney of Altmar NY
                and
Joesph Boudreau of Massena NY

All in all we gave out about $32,900 in cash and prizes