Bass Pro Shops Lake Simcoe Open

[Bruce Farrell]

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The Aurora Bassmasters are pleased to announce an exciting new partnership between their club and Bass Pro Shops Canada, Inc. The partnership will focus around the club’s well established Lake Simcoe Crackle Cup Bass Tournament, which has been breaking records since the inaugural event in 2000. This is the same event that currently holds the one-day, all-time Canadian tournament record at 29.90 pounds for five bass (smallmouth) set last year by John MacDonald and Steve Hawkins.

Beginning this year, Bass Pro Shops will become the new title sponsor of the event. The Crackle Cup will now officially be called the “Bass Pro Shops Lake Simcoe Open”. “On Saturday, October 27th, the 2007 Lake Simcoe Open will see an array of prizing, cash awards and incentives for competing anglers in a team format” says George Wallace, Canadian Market Manager, Bass Pro Shops. “We have been looking for an event that can offer outstanding market appeal for all tournament anglers, sponsors, and the community alike. We believe that the Lake Simcoe Open will fast become the grand finale of the Ontario tournament season and with such a tremendous history of record sized bass it will be a great showcase for the sport of competitive fishing here in Ontario and Canada as a whole. We look forward to growing this annual event into the future.” Wallace concluded.

Herb Quan president of the Aurora Bassmasters added that, “On behalf of the entire Aurora Bassmaster chapter I’d like to thank BPS for the commitment they have demonstrated to our club and this tournament. Not only will BPS and their proven marketing abilities be able to achieve incredible exposure for the tournament itself, but it will now also heighten awareness for our bass research project - which is a very important part of the tournament itself.” Quan is referring to a bass-tagging project spearheaded by the Aurora Bassmasters and supported by MNR’s Community Fisheries Wildlife Improvement Program. The conservation project sees bass caught during select Simcoe tournaments, tagged, measured and aged, with valuable data collected and sent to the Ministry of Natural Resources.

Des Barnes the founder of Crackle - a gel capsule loaded with a crackling-sound crystal that becomes activated when in contact with water, remarked “For over five years Crackle has proudly been the title sponsor of this unique bass tournament and I am thrilled that Bass Pro Shops will now be able to take over that role in order to move this tournament to levels we would have otherwise never have reached. Crackle will remain an integral sponsor of the event and free packages will still be offered to all competing anglers so that they can continue to insert that bit of magic sound into their tube jigs to catch all those monster sized Simcoe bass”.

Limited Field … Early Registration Encouraged:

All anglers competing in the BPS Simcoe Open are encouraged to pre-register as the field will be limited to ~ 50 teams. To entice early registration, a special prize package consisting of two Mustang Classic Floater suits will be up for grabs to all those who sign up prior to August 31st 2007. Total entry fees per team will be $250 including $20 for Big Fish and $10 for Launch at Monto Reno Marina in Lefroy. Anglers wishing to pre-register should send either a $50.00 non-refundable cheque as a deposit or the entire amount payable to Aurora Bassmasters to: 58 English Ivy Way, Willowdale, ON M2H 3M4. Please be sure to clearly mark your co-angler in the “re:” line of the cheque itself.

Taste of Incentives for 2007 BPS Lake Simcoe Open

BPS Record Payout: The BPS Record Payout will be held in trust by the Aurora Bassmasters and awarded to the Team that breaks the 30.0lb mark. If, in 2007 this one-day, all-time Canadian bass tournament record is not broken it will continue to be held in trust until the following year when an additional $2,500 will be added to the BPS Record Payout. Furthermore, when the BPS Record Payout is awarded, the contribution ($2,500 annually) will renew and again be considered the BPS Record Payout for subsequent years to the Team that successfully breaks the new Record as established.

Outside the traditional 80% payout structure, additional announcements are pending in support of the BPS Lake Simcoe Open by participating sponsors including Minn Kota, Humminbird and many more in association with Big Fish, a potential All-New Ontario Smallmouth Record Payout and much, much more.

As new information is made available, it will be posted on Bass Pro Shops’ website at www.basspro.com or the Aurora Bassmasters site at www.aurorabass.com in the coming weeks and months. Registration Forms and a complete listing of General Rules, Regulations & Liability will be made available online through the Aurora Bassmasters. The Aurora Bassmasters are one of ~30 clubs across the province belonging to the Ontario BASS Federation Nation at www.ontariobass.com . This tournament is an OPEN event where tournament anglers from any bass circuit are invited to attend.

Press Release prepared by:
Wil Wegman
wil.wegman@aurorabass.com

[Frank Adamo]

Hope I can make this event this year, its a great event! Keep up the good work Wil Wegman!

[Steve Hawkins]

Great news for a change.
Industry backing established events, good work Wil and Mark
I've put it on the calander.
Steve

[DarrenNegri]

Never participated before but I will be this year...very exciting news.

[Steve Hawkins]

Just a thought, from last years experience, will the Sunday be available is this gets postponed?
If this is an option I think the anglers should know ahead of time. I thinks there was a couple of teams that weren't able to do the reschedule event last year beacuse of the week delay into November (hunting season).
Steve

[simon frost]

Steve

Sunday will be the Rain date for this event and if the weather on Sunday is also bad (Tournament officials discretion) Then the Event will be held on the following weekend.
This time of year it can be a little cold so Safety first.

Hope to see you all there


Simon Frost

[Mike Reid]

Sounds great Simon. I can't wait, this year I have a secret weapon. I'll give you a hint. He is an old captain that ensures me he is up for the Action.
Mike

[simon frost]

Mike

Very cool, this Tournament should be a blast
You two should have a great time and hopefully you can get him to stop wearing those Visors ?LOL


Simon Frost

[Steve Hawkins]

Simon
I got one for you and Wil to work on.
This year the open is on Simcoe, next year at Port Colborne same weekend. We alternate this tourney each year.
Steve

[simon frost]

Minn Kota® and Humminbird® Sponsor Bass Pro Shops Lake Simcoe Open

Burlington, ON (April 2007) – Minn Kota® and Humminbird® announce sponsorship of Bass Pro Shops’ Lake Simcoe Open. This one-day, team event traditionally takes place during the last weekend in October on Lake Simcoe directly north of Bass Pro Shops in Vaughan, ON.

“This grassroots event offers anglers a tournament opportunity competing against varied levels of skill & luck on a body of water known for producing big weights.” Regional Sales Manager Dave Duffin said. “We are proud to support this with a partner such as Bass Pro Shops providing our mutual customer base with an exciting payout structure with additional monies available in Bass Pro Shops Gift Cards for use of select brand name products that offer the features and reliability anglers want…plus we eagerly anticipate the 5-fish limit record to be broken!”

Minn Kota and Humminbird announce manufacturer compensation payout of up to $2,000 in BPS Gift Cards:
• $250 for the top Minn Kota Team. Another $250 if the top Minn Kota Team wins.
• $250 for the top Humminbird Team. Another $250 if the top Humminbird Team wins.
• $250 if the 5-fish limit record is broken from Minn Kota - this goes back into the following year’s Record Payout if not won.
• $250 if the 5-fish limit record is broken from Humminbird - this goes back into the following year’s Record Payout if not won.
• $100 for Big Fish from Minn Kota. Another $150 if the Big Fish Team uses Minn Kota.
• $100 for Big Fish from Humminbird. Another $150 if the Big Fish Team uses Humminbird.

For more information contact Johnson Outdoors Canada Inc., 4180 Harvester Road, Burlington, ON L7L 6B6, 905-634-0023. Or, check out the Web at www.minnkotamotors.com and www.humminbird.com.

Minn Kota is the world’s leading manufacturer of bow- and transom-mount trolling motors, and offers a complete line of battery chargers and marine accessories. Trolling motors in the Minn Kota line include Maxxum Pro, Maxxum®, PowerDrive™ V2, Terrova™, Edge, Vantage®, Vector™, Endura™, Riptide Pro, Riptide®, Riptide SP, Riptide ST, Engine Mount and E-Drive models. Minn Kota motors are manufactured and marketed by Johnson Outdoors Inc., headquartered in Racine, Wis.

Humminbird® is a leading innovator and manufacturer of fishfinders, fishfinder/GPS combo units, marine radios and digital depth gauges. Products in the Humminbird line include 900 SeriesÔ, 700 Series™, 300 Series™, Matrix®, 500 SeriesÔ, PiranhaMaxÔ and SmartCastÔ. Humminbird branded products are manufactured and marketed by Johnson Outdoors, Inc., headquartered in Racine, Wis.

[Mike Desforges]

That's great to see Bass Pro Shops, Minn Kota and Humminbird all step up with performance based incentives.

You see a lot of this south of the border, it's nice to see it in Canada.

[Bruce Farrell]

I just noticed an email from Wil with this news in it. Thanks for getting it up Simon.

the Ô symbol in Simon's post should be a Registered Trademark symbol, I guess it doesn't work here.

From Wil,

Last week we brought you the exciting news of Bass Pro Shops (BPS) taking on the new title role for the ‘Crackle Cup’ Tournament hosted by the Aurora Bassmasters. This week we bring you news of two major corporate sponsors who have jumped on board the BPS Lake Simcoe Open. We anticipate that sponsor-driven incentives such as this will not only be excellent for competing anglers but for the Canadian competitive fishing industry. We welcome the commitment and support of Johnson Outdoors to this bass tournament that has been … “Breaking records since 2000”.

Thank you,

Wil


(see Simon's post above for the rest)

[simon frost]

THIS JUST ADDED........

Bass Pro Shops Head Wear Bonus: $250 BPS Gift Card To Each Member of the Winning Team If They Are Each Wearing A BPS Hat @ Weigh-In . . .


MORE TO COME!!!!!

[BrianBlowes]

Simon,what do you win if your wearing a Carbelas hat :P:P J/K dude.

Man this is very cool. Guess I,ll be keeping the boat out this year,even if it is hunting season.LOL


Great job by all involved.

[BlakeRankie]

Looks like a great event. Great job Simon and company getting this together.