The final tournament of the Quinte Fishing Series, the Quinte Classic got under way at 7:00 a.m. on Saturday, September 20^th. Tournament organizers had turned to weather watchers in the days prior to the tournament but when Saturday rolled around anglers were met with fairly clear skies and manageable winds.

Thirty six teams fished this final two-day tournament fishing for a limit of five(5) large or smallmouth bass each day for a total weight over the two day Classic.

With the Bay being very stained and dirty from the high winds on Friday, organizers weren’t sure what to expect in the way of weights but as usual, some anglers always manage to find fish. After day one, Deseronto’s Dean Thompson and partner Mike Burriss from Newburgh grabbed the lead with a great weight of 18.62 lbs. Dean led the Series for "Angler/Team of the Year" going into this tournament and showed after day one that he wasn’t about to let this title slip away. In second place going into day two were Belleville’s Frank Mondeville and Chris Frazee with 16.91 lbs. and the husband and wife team of Mike and Mary Nabulsi rounded out the top three with 16.87 lbs. and in that bag the big fish of the weekend, a largemouth of 4.77 lbs. In fourth place were last years Quinte Classic winners, Howard Laguff and Brian Robinson with 16.16 lbs. and still close enough to make it two in a row.

Day two started with calm waters and little wind at 7.00 a.m. with all 36 teams heading out for another good day on the water before returning for the 3:00 p.m. check-in time and weigh-in. The weights Sunday were very close with a number of teams taking their turn atop the leader board but after the last teams had weighed-in, a first time Quinte Classic champion was crowned. Carrying Place’s Mike Lukashal and Cory Kinmond from Brighton came from ninth place on Saturday to first overall with a great weight of 19.43 lbs. giving them a two day total of 33.58 lbs. In this bag was big fish of the day, a largemouth at 4.38 lbs which earned them $720.00 and these two anglers also took home $2,500.00 for the win as well as two Q.F.S. coats compliments of Mark’s Work Warehouse, A $50.00 Gift Certificate from Kelsey’s/Montanna’s-Belleville and two Q.F.S. 2003 tournament champion hats.

Holding on two second place overall were Frank Mondeville and Chris Frazee with 33.04 lbs. earning them $1,600.00 and in third were day one leaders, Dean Thompson and Mike Burriss taking home $900.00 for their total weight of 32.00 lbs. Mike and Mary Nabulsi took the fourth spot with a 31.04 lb. total giving them $650.00 plus $720.00 for the H2Optix "Big Fish Award" as well as two pairs of quality H2Optix sunglasses and trophy. The Asselstine’s, Andy and Darcy, 2001 Team of the Year, finished in fifth place with 30 91 lbs. and took home $450.00 for this two day event.

The Angler/Team of the Year race going into the Classic was still up for grabs with Dean Thompson holding a 6 point edge over the Asselstine’s - 8 pts to 14 with last years winners, Brian Hadley and Terry Langstaff just behind at 16 pts. With Dean and Mike’s great weight on Saturday and an overall third place finish in the Classic, Dean held off any challengers and became the Quinte Fishing Series first "Angler of the Year". Dean had a anglers dream year with two 1^st place finishes, one 2^nd, one 3^rd and a 4^th to give him the lowest aggregate total in the seven year history of the Quinte Fishing Series - 11 points! For his tremendous efforts, Dean was presented by Tournament Officials, Pete Thompson and Rick Sommerville a 15' Princecraft Yukon boat, 15 H.P. Mercury outboard and trailer. The Q.F.S is now affiliatedwith the Canadian Fishing Tour and as an additional prize for Angler of the Year, Dean qualifies for C.F.T’s 2004 Classis for the one day series and a first prize package of over $35,000.00. In his speech after the presentation, Dean thanked his good friend and partner for five of the tournaments Mike Burriss and complimented the Series and other anglers for their support and comradory. In a funny moment Dean stated," the other night the fire alarm went off in the house and I jumped up and ran out of the house and my girlfriend said "where are you going? Dean said," the hell with the house, I got to make sure the boat’s okay." A very dedicated and focussed angler!! The Asselstine’s, Andy and Darcy gave it a great try but came up just short but were presented with certificates for free entries for the 2004 season by Thompson for their runner-up finish.

A number of other awards and prizes were handed out by Thompson and Sommerville including one to Frank and Linda Mondeville for their help with the Shimano live release boat and also the 6^th Annual Frazee award for sporstmanship and enthusiasm which went to Bart Lucas and Kerry Loft. Terry Cronkwright was the lucky winner of the draw for a three day vacation package to Merland Park resort near Picton provided by one of the Series sponsors, Kevin Lavers of Merland Park. Tournament Director, Pete Thompson thanked the loyal sponsors who help keep this growing circuit going, many of them who have sponsored the Series for all seven years and also thanked the staff, Bob Adams, Don Trottman, his wife Margo and two boys, Joel and Graeme for their help tournament day. The series committee will be setting the dates and locations for the 2004 season in the coming weeks and look forward to another very successful year.