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Day Two High Winds Story at Quinte Classic!
After a relatively calm day with light rain on
Saturday's opening day of the Quinte Fishing Series' Quinte Classic, strong
winds of over 35 kph and waves of over 4 feet greeted the anglers on Sunday
morning. With forecasts of 60 + kph winds for the afternoon, possible
thunderstorms and waves of 6 to 8 feet, tournament director Pete Thompson
had some tough decisions to make before the 7:00 a.m. blast off. "You
always have to think of safety first and when you have over 40 boats on the
water of every size and anglers with different levels of experience, it
makes it tough", stated Thompson. "With this being the final tournament of
the year and a number of teams fighting it out for different awards and
titles, I didn't want to have to cancel the day but it was decided that the
day would be shortened with the weigh in being moved from 3:00 p.m. to 12
noon to get boats off the water early."
The day one weigh in saw a number of teams climb up
the leader board with Belleville's Glen Thompson and Frankford's Casey
Ruttan eventually taking the day one lead with a great bag at 20.25 lbs. In
this bag was "big Fish" of the weekend, a largemouth weighing 5.35 lbs.
which earned them $840.00 in cash as well as Big Fish plaque and $150.00 in
quality soft plastic baits compliments of Bass Magnet Lures. Second place
after the first day were Belleville's Jeff Kerr and Gary O'Neil from
Kitchener with 19.85 lbs. and rounding out the top three were Kingston's
John Harmsen and Scott Ashurst with 18.40 lbs.
Going into this weekend, the "Angler/Team of the
Year" race was vertually down to two teams with the Nabulsi's, Mike and Mary
having a seven (7) point lead on Bill Tripp for the title. The Nabulsi's
had a good first day weighing in 18.35 lbs., fourth spot on Saturday, with
Tripp in the top fifteen after day one. In the race for the top angler in
the 115 H.P. and Under division, Stirling's Art MacConnell had a four point
lead on Michael Joron from Brockville going into the final weekend - 52 pts.
to 56.
With the change in weather and a shortened day, a
number of the top teams could not fish areas or ways they wanted to on
Sunday which resulted in lower weights and some major changes on the leader
board. With a good second day weight of 15.85 lbs., Tom Brooke, president
of Shimano Canada, and long time partner Dan Crawford from the Peterborough
area, moved up from 8th place after day one to claim the Quinte Classic
title with a total weight of 33.60 lbs. On stage Tom said, "We didn't go
far and were probably only a mile or so from the weigh in site all weekend."
" We really enjoy fishing this Series and encourage all anglers to thank
their sponsors, support this Series sponsors and we thank Pete, and Margo
and the Series staff for a job well done" added Dan. These two anglers
took home $2,800.00 as well as two embroidered fleece coats courtesy of
Mark's Work Warehouse, $50.00 gift certificate from Kelsey's/Montana's and
tournament champion hats and medallions.
Holding on to second place from day one were Jeff
Kerr and Gary O'Neil weighing in 12.30 lbs. for a total of 32.15 lbs. and
these two anglers took home $2,000.00 for the weekend. The husband and
wife team of Chris and Mary Ann Frazee moved from 5th on Saturday to take
the third place spot with a two day total weight of 31.60 lbs. and they
received $1,300.00. The Asselstine's, Andy and Darcy, from the Napanee
area, took home $900.00 for their fourth place weight of 30.45 lbs. with
Belleville's Bill Tripp and Frank Mondeville taking the $550.00 and a weight
of 30.30 lbs. for fifth place. Randy Cronkwright and Phil Defosse weighed
in 30.00 lbs. even to take sixth spot with a largemouth weighing 4.40 lbs.
in that bag giving them "Big Fish" for day two and $840.00. and the final
position went to John Harmsen and Scott Ashurst with their weight of 27.95
lbs.
The top team in the 115 h.p. & Under division went
to the father and son team of Bob and Josh Green weighing in just over 27.50
lbs. and they received $220.00 as well as a three day vacation package
compliments of Merland Park Resirt in Picton.
The biggest "change" in standings happened in the
"Angler/Team of the Year" race with Bill Tripp moving ahead of the Nabulsi's
with his fifth place finish. Unfortuneatly for Mike and Mary, the change in
weather really hurt them and they were only able to weigh in two fish on
Sunday and ended up in 22nd place for the tournament which dropped them to
the runner up position. For their efforts they were presented with
certificates for free entries for the 2007 season by tournament director
Pete Thompson and congratulated on a great year. Tripp, a longtime angler
on the "Bay", had a consistent year and had fished with three different
partners over the season which makes this win very special. "Bill has been
fishing the Series from day one, a good friend of mine over the years and
I'm proud to present him with this award", stated Thompson. Bill was
presented with his "Angler of the Year" prize of a 15' Princecraft boat, 15
hp. Mercury outboard motor and trailer as well as $500.00 in Canadian Tire
money compliments of D.E. McCullough at Canadian Tire,Belleville and winning
trophy. As part of the Series tenth anniversary celebrations, a third place
prize of another $500.00 in Canadian Tire money was presented to the
Lawrence brothers, Tom and Steve, for their third place finish in the
"Angler/Team of the Year" race.
Art MacConnell with an 18th place tournament finish,
held on to win the overall top spot for the year in the 115 hp. and under
division and received $500.00 and winners trophy from the Series. Art
stated, "I am very proud to win this division and thank my long time partner
Blair Smith for his help and thank the Series for recognizing the smaller
boats in the field and for putting on great events".
The highlight of the prize presentations was the
special 10th anniversary draw prize sposored by "the House Team" at Mortgage
Intelligence in Belleville. Teams were given one ballot for every five (5)
pounds of bass that they weighed in with double ballots for the Classic if
they had fished the other five tournaments in 2006. Representative, Susan
House from Mortgage Intelligence was on hand to assist with the draw and
explained the draw and how happy they were to offer this prize of two (2)
$2,000.00 vouchers for the Trip of the Anglers Choice. The lucky anglers
ballot, drawn by tournament director Pete Thompson, were Napanee's Andy and
Darcy Asselstine.
A number of other prizes and draws were handed out
including the 9th Annual Frazee Award for sportsmanship and enthusiasm and
this years winners were Rick Van Wort and Ray Rodden from Tweed. Thompson
also thanked Quinte Alternator and Starter, Humminbird, Thunder Cycle and
Sport and Merland Park for other draw prizes that were given out and
congratulated Danny Elliot who won the framed limited edition James Lumbers
print that was also drawn during presentations.
Quinte Fishing Series would like to thank all their
valued and loyal sponsors, many who have been with the Series from 1997 as
well as a big thank you to staff and helpers who assist with tournament
events. Sponsors include: Princecraft boats, Mercury Marine, Shimano,
Mortgage Intelligence, Ultimate Powersports, Peter Smith-Chevrolet Cadillac
Ltd., Humminbird, Quinte Alternator and Starter, Anderson Equipment Sales,
Art's Signs, Belleville Sport and Lawn, Shopper's Market, Merland Park
Resort, Mill Valley Natural Spring Water, Bass Magnet Lures, The Belleville
and District Fish and game Club, Canadian Tire-Belleville, Quinte Outdoor
Sports, Kelsey's/Montana's-Belleville, Skevy's Outdoor Specialties, Mark's
Work Warehouse, Thunder Cycle and Sport, Rose's Scale (Belleville) Ltd.,
Hart n' Hart, Bowen's Petro Canada, Bay Marine, www.quintefishing.com and
Minn Kota.
The highlight of the prize presentations was the special 10th
anniversary draw prize sposored by "the House Team" at Mortgage
Intelligence in Belleville which was won by Andy and Darcy Asselstine |
Day one "Big Fish" winners Glen Thompson and Casey Rattan |
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Gary O'Neil and Jeff Kerr - 2nd place |
