wild at heart

This is our new logo. We have also picked up Tournament Trail as a sponser for our 4th of July Weekend portion of the tournament and Big Weenie for the Memorial Day Weekend Kick Off. Web site www.summersalmonslam.com, and more info coming soon

The SSS Summer Salmon Slam is coming along very well. We have an awesome logo but I not smart enought to get it from my doucuments to a post. Web site is in the works, hopefully in a couple weeks. We are working on getting 2000 registration tickets printed. You can get some info at the Big Weenie booth at the GR Show. Well keep you updated.

lake Macatawa opened up last night also

Your right the LOC has 3 seasons and its $25 for each one or $65 for all 3. Our feeling is that we wanted something for the whole summer so that most of the time your out there you've got something on the line to keep it more interesting. Plus with a port prize every 2 weeks at each port that should keep interest up(if you win 1 port prize out of the dozen you got more than your money back). I was hoping for a prize for each species but that will have to wait for next year after we see how things work out. We are also looking for a sponser to take on 4th of July Weekend and Labor Day weekend for an additional prize. "Big Weenie" has already agreed to sponser the Memorial Weekend kick off prize.

Still working on the details. $$$($ummer $almon $lam) will start Memorial Weekend and run through Labor Day Weekend. There will be a kick off prize for Memorial Weekend. The web site will be up in a few weeks (www.summersalmonslam.com) with the rules, weigh stations, and lots more. Entry tickets will go on sale at the weigh stations as soon as they are printed.

None of the tournaments we fish have completely enforcable rules. For the most part, your out of site and on your honor. 1mainiac, I believe the LOC requires that you hang on to any fish that makes the top 10. I can't believe your would be worried about eating a fish that might be worth thousands. The LOC strongly suggests that how a prize is split up should be decided before its caught. My suggestion would be to talk about it before you set lines and if you do bring in a fish that looks like a winner, write something up and have everyone sign it while your all happy and before anyone has time to start having 2nd thoughts. I have already heard some great ideas for what to do at this point if the fisherperson that caught it changes their mind about wanting to share.

Good points GLF. Peir fisherman will be welcome, they will just have to get someone to sign a breif witness statement. Our feeling about ending on Labor Day weekend was to make sure we had time for the big ones to arrive and usually we don't have a lot of the run before that. Hopefully that last couple of weeks will bring in a lot of entries and excitment. Our rules will allow you to fish inside of the peirs up to the natural shoreline, and the weigh stations are going to be carefully looking for anything that could tip off an illegal entry.

Maniac1, First thanks for the input. 2nd realize that we are not inveting a new idea for a tournament here, we are trying to bring a oppertunity to our area that is very sucessful on Lake O. Last year the LOC gave out apx $84000 using this format. Over their 10+ years of expereince they have developed a set of rules that work. We are tweaking the rules a little to fit our circumstances here. For $25 in the LOC 1st place is a guaranteed $20000. Thats huge. And from what I've been told we have more potenial fisherman to draw from here. And so far the interest has been huge. Now we all realize the biggest issue is in requiring that everyone on the boat have a ticket. As much as we have tried we can't find a fair way around it and I'm sure thats why the LOC does it this way. All of us realize that there will just some days when we won't be "legal". But on the days we are for mere $30 we will be in the hunt for some pretty nice cash. And there will be bi-weekly port prizes and a Memorial Day Week-end kick of prize. As far as the honesty/integity issue goes, I wish that we didn't even have to address it. But you put up a prize of $20k and some people will do anything they can to win. The rules just try to curb this and make it hard for those that would cheat, and reasure the rest of us that we have a fair chance to not get cheated out by someone else.

SalmonSlayer Today our committee decided on the name for our new tournament. We had over 50 entries, on 3 different web sites and appreciate all those who participated. We shortend SalmonSlayer's entry to $UMMER $ALMON $LAM Stay tuned for more info and soon you will be able to read all about our plans at www.summersalmonslam.com. Congradulations SalmonSlayer, I will get in touch with you as soon as the tickets are printed up to claim your prize

There will be an age cut-off for kids in the boat not needing to be licensed. And there will be a youth license for a reduced price to get in the main tournament and a youth catagory(probably 10 or 12 up to 17). You will have to have at least 2 licensed people on board to be legal so that there is a witness.

Jon, I was just picking out a random number. The difficulty would be how do you be fair with a guy like you that might take out 400 guys a year, a smaller charter that takes out 100, a retiree that takes out 50, and a guy like me that takes out maybe 20. As far as who get the money, the check goes to the guy who enters it, and signs the entry form. The LOC states in its rules to please discuss and decide how this money will be split ahead of time.

Pauly, were thinking a lot alike. Yes, the tackle shops can also be polygraphed. They also will all be trained to insure consitancy. When you weigh a fish you, your witness, and the weigh person will all sign the entry form swearing to the honestly and the authenticty. We know we will not please everyone, and I agree with you that we will pick up some momentum each year if we run a good show. (especially with the guys that catch one that would of "cashed" had it been entered.)

Thanks for your input Jon. I hadn't thought about the weigh in times. Don't know how that will go over with the tackle shops. I disagree with the registering of boats though for the very reasons you state. Your right that Charters like you have a big advantage. Skill, experience, and time on the water give you the edge. Thats why having you pay a boat fee of say $450 that would cover 450 people through out the season tips the hat even more in a charters favor. Now if all 450 pay the full amount that makes it more "fair", even though you still have a considerable advantage skill wise. And a contest like this will cover the whole range of skill levels, but anyone could hook in to that big one and win. The essence of this tournament is that it is an individual contest not a boat contest. LOC runs this way and last year they paid out about $80000 in cash. So that alone makes me think it can work. And I've been told that we have 3 to 4 times more potential fisherman to draw from then they do there.

We are looking for a name for our new tournament. You can read about it in this section under "New Tournament need honest input". New name will be picked this Sat so not much time. Winner will receive a free entry into the tournament ($30 value) and will recieve Lucky #00001 license (the very 1st one issued. Jesus could of spent time with who ever he wanted-but he chose to hang out with fishermen. Port Sheldon

Where do you see the problems Frank? If you want to fish in it you pick up a ticket at your nearest port, bring your big ones back to get weighed, and watch the web site for overall and port prizes. The tackle shops do must of the work each covering their area, and they get more traffic thru the door for their effort. What are we missing?

yes, any port

Here is some answers to your questions, but keep in mind that nothing has been finialized yet, and we are seeking you opinion so we can come up with the best set of rules. Also we are leaning heavily towards the LOC rules because of the great job they are doing and there experience. We definatly want to include the port of Muskegon fisherman but we need a tackle shop or store that wants to be involved with weighing fish. If you know someone thats interested have them contact me. The reason we stopped at Muskegon was we all live down here and the consensus is that Whitehall and north have bigger fish and that would be a real advantage. If this turns out to be sucsessful there has been talk of getting some northerner's involved an having a north and south division someday. On-line lincense purchasing is being looked into in conjuction with the web site, and everyone on a boat will need a "derby" lincense for any fish to qualify. We have also discussed the possibilty of a way to "lincense" a boat for the season, but could not figure out a way that would work with Charters also coming into the equation. Night fisherman would have to get to a weigh station the next morning. Lie detectors are not a threat, some winners will be required to submit to them between the tournament close and before the awards ceremony. Unfortunate but nescessary.

Nailer, we would welcome a weigh station in Muskegon if someone would step up with a certified scale and a desire to be involved.

Today 7 individuals representing fisherman, tackle shops, charter fisherman/boats, and manufacturing/sponsers sat down and formed a committee to bring a new Salmon/Trout fishing tournament to West Michigan. Basicly it will be a copy of the LOC Derby on Lake Ontario tweaked to fit our circumstances. We have discussed the rules and will finialize them in the next couple weeks. We are asking for your input on several things that we are considering. Basic premise of this tournament will be. Boundries= Mich/Ind state line north to the pier at Whitehall. Tournament Date= Memorial Day through Labor Day. Biggest Salmon and Biggest Trout Payout= Salmon, 10 to 20 places with first place $5000 Trout, 5 to 10 places with first place $2500 (based on 500 entries) Cost= $30 per lincese Season, $10 3day, $5 youth. Weigh Stations at 5 Ports. (St Joe, South Haven, Saugatuck, Port Sheldon, and Grand Haven) Bi-weekly port prizes. Lie detector for winners, and witnesses. Every person on a boat will be required to have a license (excluding kids under age ???) for a fish to be a legal entry. All DNR rules apply. You can see the rest of the LOC rules on their website. Nothing set in stone yet so feel free to comment on any of the above. So what do you think ???????? We already have some sponsers, but would welcome others.

Brown Blast===== 8 weeks from this Sat.

This is a great tournament. We've been lucky enough to finish 2nd the last 2 years. We like Thin Fins, orange flashers w/peant flies, and Hot n tots for the coho. Stick baits mostly for the browns, but the coho stuff works for them also. Fish anywhere as long as its south in 5 to 20fow. Last year only 1 brown was even caught, but I think the year before it was 27. We weighed 4 coho and a 16# king last year for big fish that just beat out a 15#er so be prepared for anything. 2 years ago a 12# steelhead was caught that jumped back out of the cooler by some freinds.

Because of the cancellation of this weeks tournament Michelle has agreed to carry over to next week Sat for those that want to. Same rules, $50 entry, $10 big fish, no food, weigh in at The Barn on US31. They'll probably be no Port spotters so it will be strictly honor system. You need to be signed up by noon on Thur. Call Gold Coast if you have any questions. Open to all. Michelle gauranteed calm to 1ft(just kidding).

rd, Port Sheldon nailer, that the flasher/fly signal.