Capt Vince Pierleoni

Matt LeClair and myself will be collecting $100 from Captains of teams wishing to compete for the Cup. Must be in before boats depart Saturday for day 1 of the Orleans County Open.

To be eligible to compete for the 2020 Challenge Cup, contact Matt LeClair or myself prior to the start of this years Orleans County Open. Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

Great news. The Lake Ontario Challenge Cup will be awarded this year based on The Orleans County Open, and the Sodus Pro Am. Teams wishing to compete for the cup should contact Matt LeClair or myself prior to the start of the Orleans County Open. Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

Good deal Pete. I have wanted to get back to Ludington myself but Sodus is a damn good event.

Looking forward to both the WHI and the Oak. See everyone at these events. Sent from my iPhone using Lake Ontario United

With the cancellation of the Niagara Pro Am, and confirmation of the Oak Orchard Open and Sodus Pro Am, the 2020 Lake Ontario Challenge Cup will be awarded based on the scores from those 2 events(4 days).

Many people worked very hard for this to happen. Lets hope operators have respect for the guys that worked on this and play nice. Good practices onboard and on social media will go a long way. If you read ALL the documents, this CAN be rescinded. Too many people to mention did good work getting this in front of the right people to be considered, you know who you are--good job. I want to say a special thank you to Rob Wescott, Matt French, and Ryan from Sodus Pt. for the extra effort that went into this.

Just to clarify for the newer teams and visitors from outside the area--the WHI out of Wilson is still a go. the info below that is in reference to the "KOTL" event out of St Catherines Ontario, Canada. That event will hold its second leg on Labor day weekend. Hope to see everyone in June in Wilson. Thanks for the updates Pete.

Thanks Pete. I think it's very reasonable to not rush to cancel. The south shore of Lake Ontario is probably one of the safest places to be--especially FIVE weeks from now. I am getting called/text/emailed constantly by concerned peers, restaurant owners, and clients who all desperately want the Country, State, and Fishery to open back up. I can imagine you are being asked many questions that you just cannot answer. Thank you for your dedication to the events. People need things to look forward to, especially at times like this.

I am seeing a lot of kids outdoors, and not just fishing. I would add that everyone, not just kids, will be more grateful for everything around us.

There are many good full time operators in both of those areas. Some have already begun operations from smaller vessels, and many will have their big rigs in by the end of the month. I have too many friends in both areas to make a suggestion but do some digging. Even the established guys will have short term openings as we draw from all over the country and each area has different challenges.

See you there. Looking forward to it!

For 2020 the events used for scoring will be the Niagara Pro Am, the Oak Orchard Open(new for 2020), and the Sodus Pro Am. Sign up will take place at the Niagara Pro Am Captains meeting, and the Cup will be awarded at the Sodus Pro Am awards ceremony. There has only been a couple of years where the Cup was awarded for two, 2 day events--last year was one of them due to unforeseen circumstances involving one of the planned tournaments. While staying with the 2 day, multi species theme of Tournaments used, (for the traditional Challenge Cup chase) other factors have to be considered. The 3 chosen for 2020 scoring have proven stability and hopefully adequate dockage for traveling vessels. At one time there was 2 scoring events in the western basin, and 2 in the eastern basin, and we are hopeful in the future to return to this format. In recent years this Cup chase consisted of 1 tournament in the Western basin and 2 in the Eastern basin--all of which were 2 day multi species events. Lets hope we have a dry Spring in the Great Lakes basin.

If you are Chinook fishing you must broaden your horizons to alternative rock.

If you are going to limit yourself to just water/nautical themed songs then you must include Gordon Lightfoot's "the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald".

Great responses and advice here. It's challenging enough in what was "normal" flow/level. I used to think a minimum of 70 hp but these days I would say 90 hp. It's flow like none of the 30 plus yr vets of the river have ever seen. Whirlpools can and do open with no notice--if you hit one of these while on plane you could throw people out of the boat. if you ever have a break down or have to fight a fish through the plants you can get the transom sucked down in a flash. If you do opt for a hull 17' or less and plan on fishing up there regularly, strongly consider a closed transom over one with a low casting platform.