Quinte Fishing Series – 2012 Season PRESS RELEASE

Quinte Fishing Series – 2012 Season September 29th, 2011
Firstly, on behalf of the executive, I want to thank all the anglers who took the time to complete the survey that was handed out at the Quinte Classic and those who also took the time to drop by and give us their input or sent emails. I want to convey a couple of things that we, as an executive, feel are very important. The results of the survey or conversations we had with anglers were not taken lightly and we spent over three hours Monday night going over the information and deciding if changes needed to be made. Every member of the executive had the mind set of “what is the right thing to do, what is best for the Series”, not what do I as an individual angler want or is best for me! Personally, I want to thank Bob, Brian, Danny, Art, Randy, Mat and Rick for their professionalism and dedication to the Series and trying to make the best decisions going forward.

The Quinte Fishing Series started very humble fourteen years ago with the first year entries at about 23 boats. Over the years we have seen, for the most part, steady growth with entries going up each year to a high of 75 boats two and three years ago. We as an executive feel that the decrease over this year and last can be attributed mainly to tough economic times and anglers not willing to travel as far as in past years. We do also recognize that we may have strayed somewhat from our “roots” - entries increased, boats and engines became larger and with that the ability to travel farther and with more teams, higher payouts and prizes. The Series has always strived to be known as a well run, competitive and FUN tournament series with reasonable entries fees and good return for your investment. We feel that we still do those things well and will hopefully continue to do so.
Over the past two years every member on the executive has heard some minor grumbling or comments and we certainly look at tournament results and see if patterns were developing, certainly we have seen a pattern in the Classic! This is the main reason we decided to ask you, our anglers, for your input and comments with this year’s survey. Certain questions on the survey; Classic qualifying, 115 Hp and under, Team of the Year prizes all came back with the majority not wanting any change while we certainly needed to look at other questions more closely. So in doing this Monday night, the executive unanimously support the following changes for the 2012 Quinte Fishing Series tournament season.
• The opening walleye tournament will stay a one (1) day event and will be on Sunday, May 27th, 2012.
• The opening bass event of 2012 will be a two (2) day tournament, largemouth bass only with open water. Date will be July 7/8th.
• The second bass tournament will also be a largemouth bass only event – open water and will be held on July 22nd.
• The second two (2) day tournament will be on August 11/12th and it will be a largemouth and/or smallmouth bass event – open water.
• The last qualifier for the Quinte Classic will be on August 26th and will also be a largemouth and/or smallmouth bass tournament – open water.
The 2012 Quinte Classic will be on Saturday and Sunday, September 15/16th and will be a largemouth bass only event – open water!

** The tournament site/weigh-in will once again be at George St., Belleville for ALL tournaments! As in the past, teams will have to qualify for the Classic, see rule 29 Revised:2011.

The 115 H.P. and under division will continue in 2012 but with a slight change. Last year saw between 9-12 boats per event with teams eligible for both overall prizes and a bonus prize (entry fee back). For 2012, the top team in the 115 HP and under division in each event will receive $100.00 cash and we will continue with the “Team of the Year” prize of “FREE ENTRIES” for the next year along with reserved boat/entry number two (2).

Entry fees over the years have not increased substantially and in fact went down at one time a few years ago. The cost to maintain/replace equipment, fuel and site rentals continue to rise so for 2012, entries will increase $10.00 per team per event with this $10.00 increase going to the Series. One day (1) tournaments will now be $185.00/team and $260.00 for the two (2) day events.

The executive knows we will NOT please everyone and may in fact loose teams with the decisions made but hope like us, you will feel that the Series offers a viable tournament experience here “on the Bay of Quinte” and will continue to grow. The Series has always had conservation and safety as part of our equation of running a tournament circuit and the well being and the mortality rate of fish, especially smallmouth, we always monitor. Some of the decisions made and put in place today reflect those ideas and concerns.
We look forward to the 2012 season with much anticipation as we hope you do and thank you once again for you support in the past and in the future. Just a reminder, entries for the 2012 season will be accepted starting November 15th, 2011- not before!
In fishing,
Pete Thompson, Tournament Director
Committee Members: Mat Seeley, Randy Cronkwright, Bob Mackie, Brian Hadley, Art MacConnell, Danny Elliot, Rick Somerville.

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Dan Elliot - A bad day on Quinte is better than a good day at work !!!