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ICHA - This year Leo and I will be involved in two special events. We have been helping with the ICHA Fishing Derby for the last six years and it just keeps getting better and better. The seventh annual ICHA Fishing Derby will be held on May 31 and this year we will have two special guests to help out, Clay Dyer and Italo Labignan.
For those of you not familiar with Clay, he was born without any lower limbs, no arm on the left side and a partial arm on the right. In spite of these limitations, Clay has fished in more than 200 bass tournaments and placed first in approximately 20 state bass tournaments. You can read more about Clay on his web site, www.claydyerfishing.com .
Italo Labignan is the host of The Canadian Sportfishing Show and has been present at several derbies before to give us a hand. Italo will also have his film crew with him to cover the event to be televised at a later date. We will be looking for some volunteers to help out with the kids so if you have some spare time, please come down and lend a hand.
AYA - The Angler and Young Angler tournaments have been around for about ten years but this is the first time that one of their tournaments have been held down here. Deerbrook Marina will be hosting the event and it will be held on Saturday, July 11/09. The purpose of the AYA Tournaments is to introduce our youth to tournament fishing in an actual tournament setting. Only forty teams are allowed at each AYA tournament and each team consists of one adult and two youths age 17 and under. Entry fee is $150.00 per team and fist place will win a Lund boat, motor and trailer package and an invitation to the final tournament that will have the winners from each division. After the tournament, there will be a BBQ and the awarding of the prizes. Most AYA tournaments are walleye tournaments but this will be the first AYA tournament where the primary species will be bass.
For more information visit the Deerbrook/AYA web site and the official AYA web site. Outdoor Canada magazine has also written a terrific article on the Angler and Young Angler tournaments. If you are interested and would like more information, you can contact Linda Brochu at linda@deerbrookmarina.com .
From time to time, Leo and I will be involved with various fishing tournaments/derbies and other outdoor activities helping out where we can. We will be helping out with the ICHA Fishing Derby next year and Leo will be helping the Southwest Outdoors Club (SOC) at a couple of their Fishing Derbies. Because of this, I will be maintaining the website to keep the information from local events as up to date as possible. As the information for these events becomes available I will have it posted here with the appropriate links. If anyone has a special event that they want posted here, you can send the info to me at ecba_too@yahoo.ca.
Recently, Leo attended and took some photos at the annual OFAH Zone J meeting in Wheatly hosted by the Southwest Outdoors Club. The meeting was held on Saturday, September 20, 2008. On Sunday the 21st the OFAH Directors and members of SOC visited the Gosfield North Sportsmen's Association's pheasant hatchery and Jack Miner's Bird Sanctuary. There is a slideshow posted from the two day event.
And so it ends. Sort of bittersweet, but rather fitting I think. Gloomy morning with lots of rain turning into a beautiful afternoon. Fifteen teams fished our first tournament and fifteen fished our last. It's been 10 years since we held our first tournament and over the years we have met some really great people and some of the area's best anglers. The support that we received from everyone has been fantastic and very much appreciated.
However, the last few years have been a test for us and we failed miserably. We tried doing things to improve the club but they didn't work. We considered making some changes to try and bring the club back up next year, but we still have those detractors out there that aren't happy no matter what we do, so we decided to just shut it down.
When Leo and I discussed it, we were going to try to explain our reasons but after thinking about it, I decided not to. I don't remember when or where I heard this before but I think it fits. "To those who understand, no explanation is necessary; to those who don't understand, no explanation will suffice". For the people that have stuck with us for as long as you have, we apologise for letting you down. It's been a real pleasure knowing you and hopefully, we'll see you on the water sometime.
John Kopcok and Slavko Vidakovic won the tournament with a total weight of 21.2 pounds. They also had the big fish for the day weighing in a 6.3 lb smallie. John Gratton and Dave Kells took the Team of The Year award for the second straight year, edging out Todd Hatch and Darryl Walker by one point. The complete results have been posted, the final standings are updated and the slideshow is finished.
Over the years we have had a lot of help from our volunteers and sponsors. Without that support this whole thing would not have been possible. I was going to try and list them all but I know I would forget someone. Thanks to everyone that helped make this a great club. The website will remain online for a while but the forum will be shut down within the week. I have removed the link to the forum from the website. You can access it here for the next little while. If anyone has any information related to fishing that you would like to see posted, you can email it to me.
What a beautiful day. Lots of sun, a breeze in the morning and low humidity. You couldn't ask for better weather. It's too bad the same can't be said for our members' support. For the teams that did show, Leo and I would like to apologize for the low turnout. Apparently the majority of the ones that wanted a higher payout didn't have the balls to back up their requests.
John Gratton and Dave Kells won the tournament with a total weight of 20.9 pounds of smallmouth bass. Todd Hatch and Darryl Walker had the big fish of the day, weighing in a 5 pound smallie. The complete results have been posted, the standings have been updated and the slideshow has been finished.
I'm sure most of you are already aware that Big Fat Bass is having a new big fish contest this year with prizes from St. Croix/Gamma and Fishing World in Hamilton. I have already uploaded your pictures from the tournament to the BFB Tournament Photo Album. All you need to do to make your entry eligible is to log in, find your picture, and leave a comment as to your name, the weight of the fish and which tournament. You must be a member of Big Fat Bass in order to log in so you will have to register if you aren't already. It's completely free and easy to do.
Leo and I would like to thank Cheryl Thompson and Hank Duquette for their help. Without them things would be rather difficult. We would also like to thank our sponsors for helping to make our tourneys a success. TNT Tackle is in Kingsville and the store is located at 39 Mill St. East in Kingsville and you can reach him at (519) 733-5302. Gary's Taxidermy is located at 1115 Morton Drive in Lasalle Ontario. You can reach him by phone at (519) 978-2946 or email at mounter@mnsi.net . Thanks also to all our other sponsors, Deerbrook Marina, Angling Outfitters, Bass Magnet Lures, Meadows By The Lake and Canadian National Sportsmens Shows. A special thanks to those teams that did come out.
Even before the tournament started there was a buzz in the air, and it wasn't the wind that blew up after lunch. We had in our midst one of Canada's finest ambassadors to the sport of fishing, Bob Izumi. It was both a pleasure and an honor to finally meet him and we enjoyed having him fish with us. I know he would have preferred to remain incognito, but..... sorry Bob. I don't think there are very many places in the fishing world that you can remain anonymous for very long. I was down checking boats and I knew within five minutes of seeing the boat who was in it. Thanks for brightening our day even more than it already was.
The morning started off a little breezy and there were even a few sprinkles but the sun came up and the rain stopped. Then around 11:00 AM the wind started to pick up and increased steadily throughout the day. We had twenty-two teams sign in for the tournament. Kyle Schuchard, who just got back from a payday with the FLW, and Rick Schuchard won the tournament with a total weight of 18.95 pounds. Derek Meloche and Matt St. Pierre had the big fish for the tournament, weighing in a 5.25 lb. smallie. The complete results have been posted and the slideshow is posted.
Don't forget, our next tournament is August 03/08 at Mitchell's Bay. It will only be a one-day tourney but entry fees for this one will be $400.00 per team. We would like to thank our sponsors for helping to make our tourneys a success. TNT Tackle is in Kingsville and the store is located at 39 Mill St. East in Kingsville and you can reach him at (519) 733-5302. Gary's Taxidermy is located at 1115 Morton Drive in Lasalle Ontario. You can reach him by phone at (519) 978-2946 or email at mounter@mnsi.net . Thanks also to all our other sponsors, Deerbrook Marina, Angling Outfitters, Bass Magnet Lures, Meadows By The Lake and Canadian National Sportsmens Shows. Leo and I would also like to thank Cheryl Thompson and Rob Dietrich for their help. Without them things would be rather difficult.
I received in my email this link to an article in the Chatham Daily News about ethanol fuel. It is an interesting read and also raises some very serious concerns that many boaters may not be aware of. I think everyone that ventures out on the water should take a look at it As always, you can reach me at ecba_too@yahoo.ca .
We had twenty-three teams show up for the opener. Todd Hatch and Darryl Walker won the tournament with a top weight of 22.6 pounds. Matt Pams and John Armour Jr. weighed in a 5.5 lb. smallie to take the big bass honors but I think the biggest winners were George and Avery Schaffer. A new father/son team that fished their first tournament ever and said they had a ball. George posted a message in the forum thanking everyone for their help in negotiating the tournament rituals. Stop by and read his comments. The complete results have been posted and the slideshow is done.
We would like to thank TNT Tackle in Kingsville for coming on board and donating some fifty packs of Tube baits for prizes. Tim Diotte has also announced a 10% discount on tackle purchased to all club members. He has a wide assortment of bass, walleye and salmon tackle so make sure you stop by and check it out. The store is located at 39 Mill St. East in Kingsville and you can reach him at (519) 733-5302. Also, Gary's Taxidermy donated a beautiful replica mount of last year's biggest bass of the season caught by Cliff and Brenton Roebuck. Gary's Taxidermy is located at 1115 Morton Drive in Lasalle Ontario. You can reach him by phone at (519) 978-2946 or email at mounter@mnsi.net . Thanks also to all our other sponsors, Deerbrook Marina, Angling Outfitters, Bass Magnet Lures, Meadows By The Lake and Canadian National Sportsmens Shows. As always, you can reach me at ecba_too@yahoo.ca .
On June 08/08 we held our 6th annual fishing derby and I started the write up but I just had trouble getting it done. My apologies to all those involved for my negligence.
It was another scorcher on Sunday, but it didn't stop the ICHA 6th Annual Fishing Derby. Fortunately, we had a good stiff breeze blowing and it helped to keep things a little more tolerable. We had quite a few participants joining in and although the helpers we had hoped for didn't show, we still had a great crew lending a hand.
We were expecting a bigger crowd but I think the thunder storm during the night may have scared some off. There were 70 registered anglers and 72 fish were caught. Michelle caught a nice rock bass for the first fish of the day and Cody caught the biggest fish, a 1.1 lb. sheepshead. Nicholas caught the second biggest fish while Taylor caught the most fish, 13 including two double headers. Lindsay had the third most fish including a mud puppy. At times the fish were biting well enough that we had people waiting to weigh them. The slideshow is done and has been posted.
Thanks to Samantha Daoust, Joe Cardinal, Jay Thompson, Len Atkins, Mike Atkins, Frank DeAngelis, Dan Mason, Jeff Gibson, Derek Meloche, Greg Fields, Cheryl Thompson, Rick Tessier, Gary Marcon, Gary Cowan, Hank Douquette and Rob Dietrich. These people managed to find the time to come down and give us a hand. The list of sponsors for this event is too big to post here, so I made a separate page listing them. Without their support this event would be near impossible to pull off. Thanks to everyone involved helping to make this event such a great success.
