Quinte Classic 2010 Champs and “Teams of the Year” crowned on weekend!
Another tremendous year came to a close at the Quinte Fishing Series, Quinte
Classic, on September 18 and 19th at the George
St.
ramps in Belleville. The forty top teams fished the weekend after
qualifying from their best three events from the summer.
The
big story of day one was one word – FOG!! Upon arriving at the George St.
launch ramps at 5:30 a.m., tournament officials and anglers were met with a
thick blanket of fog and new that the blast off, scheduled for 7:00 a.m. was
in jeopardy. “We knew the fog was bad and as time went by, it got worse,
stated tournament director Pete Thompson. The anglers were itching to go
but also knew that it was way too dangerous to venture anywhere and had to
just sit tight and wait it out”. Finally just before 9:00 a.m. the fog
started to lift and cleared up quickly so tournament officials blasted the
field of 40 off at 9:20 a.m. Due to the late blast-off, officials decided
to extend the day and delayed check-in from 4:00 to 4:30 p.m.
As
teams started to weigh in at 4:30, it was very evident that weights were
going to be down on day one. For this tournament, weights are usually in
the 19 to 21 lb. range and top weights early on were more in the 14 to 16
lb. range. Top weight on day one went to last year’s Classic champs, Brad
Arnott and Jay Martin who, weighing in near the end of day one, posted the
leading weight of 17.50 lbs. Second after day one were Toronto’s Yu Zhang
and Marc Potvin from
Belleville
with 16.75 lbs. The leading teams in the “Teams of the Year” race did not
get off to great starts on Saturday and left the door at least partially
open for other teams to possibly catch them – especially in the 115 H.P. and
under division.
Day
two saw clear skies and flat water and teams left at 7:00
a.m.
with check-in at 3:00 p.m. With favorable weather conditions, a number of
teams made the run to “the lake” hoping to cash in on the possible
smallmouth bite. The first teams in to the scales at three
o’clock
once again didn’t have huge weights and the early leaders were the second
place finishers from day one, Zhang and Potvin with a two day total of 31.30
lbs. With a weight of 18.25 lbs. on day two, Martin and Arnott once again
took the lead with 35.75 lbs. for two days and it looked like they would
claim their second Quinte Classic in a row. But that was not to be as
Belleville’s Mat Seeley and Scott Palmer from Toronto had a huge weight day
two of 22.15 lbs.(smallmouth’s) giving them a two day total of 37.75 lbs.
and with that their first Quinte Classic title! “We didn’t catch a lot of
fish today, but they were all quality fish, 4 to 4.5 lbs, and that made the
difference”, said Mat. Scott added, “I want to thank Mat for a great year
and the Series for a great, well run tournament circuit”. These two anglers
received $3,800.00 as well as two gift bags from Mark’s Work Warehouse and
Certificates from Kelsey’s,Montana’s-Belleville. For their second place
finish, Oshawa’s Martin and Arnott took home $2,700.00 and Jay stated on
stage, “we want to thank Pete, Rick and tournament staff for a great year
and also local anglers/business’ for helping us out over the year when we
needed it – a great bunch of guys and we really appreciated it”.
$1,700.00 went to Yu Zhang and Marc Potvin for their third place finish.
These anglers, who fished together as a team for the first time this
weekend, also claimed the top team for the tournament in the 115 H.P. and
Under division which netted them another $250.00. Deseronto’s Randy
Scero and partner Al Vivian from Port Perry weighing in 31.20 lbs. took the
fourth place cheque for $1,000.00 with $500.00 going to Colin Hunter from
Holland Landing and Eric Thompson from Belleville for their fifth place
weight of 30.30 lbs. Hunter and Thompson also claimed the Big Fish prizes
for both Saturday and Sunday with weights of 5.15 and 5.75 lbs. This gave
them $800.00 cash for each day, Big Fish trophy and four $75.00 gift
certificates compliments of Canadian Tire, Belleville – not bad for
finishing in fifth place! The final cheque went to Frankford’s Kevin
Jaquith and James Davis for their sixth place finish and they took home
$250.00.
Shimano Canada this year provided the Series with two additional prizes.
The runner up for Big Fish for the weekend was a tie, 5.10 lbs, so both
Randy Cronkwright/Phil DeFosse and Brad Arnott/Jay Martin received a G.
Loomis rod. The winners, Seeley/Palmer and Hunter/Thompson, big fish
winners, also took home a 1500 yd. spool of Power Pro line compliments of
Shimano.
The
“Back at Ya at Bay” Angler Appreciation Draw winners for this final event of
the year were Mike Lukashal and Cory Kinmond and they received $250.00. Our
thanks to Brent and Casey at Bay Marine for this added prize this season.
The
final qualifiers for the Caribbean Cruise were Lee Sprague and Bruce Tufts
from Kingston and their names were added to the other five names for the
grand draw.
Going
into the Classic, the “Team of the Year” race was not that tight with the
Asselstine’s, Darcy and Ben, holding a 22 point edge on their nearest
competitors. Although they finished in 12 place, teams behind them had too
much ground to make up and these young but very competent anglers were
crowned the 2010 Quinte Fishing Series “Team of the Year”. For their great
year with an aggregate total of 23 points, they received a prize package of
a 15’ Polarkraft aluminum boat, 15 H.P. four stroke Mercury outboard and
Northtrail trailer. “We had a great year but were a little worried after
day one, said Darcy, but we thought if we could weigh in around 14 lbs. each
day we would be okay and we were able to do that”. Darcy was also
surprised and honored as he was presented with the Blair Smith Memorial
Award for 2010 – an award in memory of one of our anglers, Blair Smith, who
died of cancer two years ago. This award is presented to the top angler for
the year, between the ages of 26 and 39, the years that Blair fished the
Quinte Fishing Series.
With their second place finish, Jay Martin and Brad Arnott took the
Runner-Up spot in the “Team of the Year” race with 39 points and these
consistent anglers will receive free entries for the 2011 season.
As
stated earlier, the race for the top team in the 115 H.P. and Under division
after day one got a lot closer as Paul Downer and Richard Campbell placed 35th on day one with their nearest competitor sitting at 5th place day
one – Ron Ellery and Troy Davis. With a much better day on Sunday, Campbell
and Downer hung on to win the Team of the Year in this division and claim
the prize of free Entries for 2011 and $500.00 in cash. Their aggregate
total for the season was 62 points with Ellery and Davis ending up at 77.
The
Frazee Award given to a team who shows true sportsmanship, dedication to the
Series, a love of fishing and a cheerful and helpful manner, went to the
father and son team of Rick and Rob Bowen from Napanee.
A
number of draw prizes were handed out throughout the prize presentations
including a free spray –on truck bed liner courtesy of Line X Kingston and
that was won by Carl Chesterton. Other prizes won were: a 101 lb. and 55
lb. Minn Kota trolling motor, two Humminbird Fish Finders, a five day
vacation package courtesy of Merland Park Resort in Picton and Rapala
Thermos/mug gift packs.
The
final draw of the day was for the Caribbean Cruise for four compliments of
Karol Marshman of Marshman Jewellers and T.A.D. Group-Sports Marketing,
Robert Coolahan. At each tournament this year, a team has been drawn to
go into this final draw for this three night, four day cruise with the
Series also giving the winners $500.00 to help cover any additional costs.
The lucky and excited winners were Mike Lukashal and Cory Kinmond from
Carrying Place. Have a great trip and time guys and our thanks to Karol
and Rob for donating this bonus prize for our anglers.
“We’ve had another great year and I want to thank the staff, especially Rick
Somerville our weigh master, for all their hard work and dedication to the
Series and to our great anglers, who support this Series, stated Pete
Thompson.
Also to our sponsors who continue to support this Series on the Bay – we
have been very fortunate over the years to have wonderful sponsors, local
companies/business’ as well as fishing/boating/motor manufacturers who
continue to show their support in what we do”.
The
Series executive will be meeting over the next two weeks to review the 2010
season and to decide on dates for 2011. Dates will be announce by Oct. 15th and entries for the 2011 season will be accepted starting Nov.15th,
2010.
Our
thanks to our valued sponsors: Canadian Tire-Belleville, Belleville Sport
and Lawn Centre, Mercury Marine, Bay Marine, Northtrail trailers, Benton
Fry Ford Lincoln Sales, Reid’s Plumbing & Air Conditioning, The Boathouse
Seafood Restaurant, Rawdon Refrigeration, Art’s Signs, Merland Park
Resort, Line X-Kingston, McInroy-Maines Construction, The Belleville and
District Fish and Game Club, Quinte Outdoor Sports,
Montana’s/Kelsey’s-Belleville, Mark’s Work Warehouse, Rose’s Scale
(Belleville) Ltd, Redwing Tackle, SWE Autoglass, Bass Magnet Lure Company
and www.quintefishing.com! |
