Orleans County Lake Ontario Trout & Salomon Pro-Am Tournament
Team Top Gun above left won the Pro Division and team Fish Nutz above right took the top amateur spot in the 2009 Orleans County ProAm
June in the western basin of Lake Ontario has always been considered a transitional month for trout and salmon fishing. The lake has not yet warmed up enough to allow these fish to collect in their preferred temperature zones and yet it is not cold enough to keep these fish in their springtime haunts. So why would you want to hold a Pro-Am tournament during this time of year……. having the Pro-Am events during unpredictable times of the season brings into play all of the skill and knowledge of the participating teams, allowing only the best of the best to finish at the top.
On June 13 and 14 of 2009 brought the 4th annual Orleans County Lake Ontario Trout and Salmon Pro-Am Tournament back to the port of Point Breeze, New York. 57 teams, 41 professional and 16 amateurs competed in the 2-day event for over $50,000.00 in cash and prizes. Teams came from six US states, Canada and Great Britain to compete in this fantastic event. Scoring for the tournament series is based on 10 points for each legal fish brought to the weigh-in and 1 point per pound of the total weight of the catch. Amateur teams can weigh in a maximum of 9 fish per team and the professional teams can bring in up to 12.
Day one of the Orleans County event brought clear cool weather, a fishery that was scattered from Olcott to Rochester and fish in anywhere from 50 feet to 600 feet of water with no concentration in any one area. At the end of the day only one professional and one amateur team managed a limit catch earning both teams the bragging rights for being in first place at the finish of day one. On the professional side it was team Screamer Atom-Mik lead by Dave Antenori that grabbed the lead and Paul Powers’ team Fish Nutz came out on top on the amateur side. A seasoned competitor in the Amateur division, this was Antenori’s first year fishing in the professional division and he was obviously as sharp as ever.
At the dawn of day two it was obvious that the conditions had not changed that much from day 1, yet when all was said and done the results really told the story. Some teams redeemed themselves from day 1 and yet other teams found day 2 much more challenging. Top Gun and Fish Nutz were two of those teams capturing the top spots in their respected divisions.
The 4th annual Orleans County Lake Ontario Trout and Salmon Pro-Am was also the last leg of the West End Challenge Cup Race. The Challenge Cup is based on a formula much like that of NASCAR in that teams are awarded points not only on their catch but also on their finish in each of the Western Pro-Am competitions. Winning the West End Challenge Cup were team Top Gun in the Pro Division and team Liquid Plumber from the amateur ranks.
We would like to thank all of the sponsors that made this event another great success and those who put in untold hours to insure that all ran smoothly, but we would especially like to thank all of the participants in these events. Your continued support lets sponsors and event committees know that they are bringing you competitions that you are interested in.
For those of you who have never entered one of the Pro-Am Tournaments, they offer an excellent opportunity to ply your skills against some of the very best trout and salmon fishermen. It also offers you an excellent opportunity to learn new tactics while having fun doing what we all enjoy———FISHING!
2009 Orleans county Pro Division Top Ten
1st Top Gun
2nd Screamer
3rd ColdSteel
4th Sunrise II
5th Reel Excitement
6th Tracker
7th Reel PLeasure
8th Vision Quest
9th Free Spirit
10th Savant Spoon
2009 Orleans county Amateur Division Top Ten
1st Fish Nutz
2nd 5 More Minutes
3rd Liquid Plumber
4th Wizzard
5th Still No Sponsor
6th Oh-Baby
7th Flat Top
8th Catch-N-Hell
9th Mud Shark
10th Spoonfed
West End 2009 Challenge Cup Pro Division Top Three
1st Top Gun
2nd ColdSteel
3rd Screamer
West End 2009 Challenge Cup Amateur Division Top Three
1st Liquid Plumber
2nd Fish Nutz
3rd Spoonfed
