Pro-Am Series Kicks Off This Weekend in Orleans; Niagara Next

By Bill Hilts, Jr.

The 2007 Lake Ontario Pro-Am Salmon Team Tournament Series kicks off this weekend with the Orleans County event out of Point Breeze Saturday and Sunday. This year's tournament was moved to the weekend before the Niagara contest with the hopes of improving the weather and the fishing. To refresh your memory, the Pro-Am tournaments are unique team events that utilize a special scoring system of ten points per fish and a point per pound over two days of angling action on the lake. Consistency on the water is key, even more so than catching a few bomber fish. To help level the playing field, observers are placed from one team to another. Open communications is an option teams can use, but not a necessity. This year, for the first time, all the rules and regulation are the same for all four events - including Wayne and Oswego counties to the East. While each tournament is their own individual event, an overall series is in place that ties in all four contests - the Lake Ontario Challenge Cup. In addition, there will a separate cup and prize for the "Best In The West" - the team with the largest overall score in both Niagara and Orleans. Ditto for the East in Oswego and Wayne counties. It should make things much more interesting. There will also be ways to earn a few extra points for the Challenge Cup so check out the website at www.lakeontarioproam.com  for all the details. 

           Time is running out for the Orleans County event. Today is the deadline for getting information to tournament coordinator Mike Waterhouse. Give him a call at 585-682-4925. Deadline for the Niagara event is Friday for mail-in applications; walk-ins May 28th at noon. The Niagara tournament will be run out of the ports of Wilson and Olcott, with weigh-ins to take place at the Lions Club pavilion in Krull Park, Olcott each day, June 2-3. The Oswego tournament is set for July 7-8; the Wayne County event is July 14-15.