Welcome to the Aurora Bassmasters Tournament Page.

Although we are  “Much more than just another fishing club” ... and have strong commitments to conservation and youth initiatives ... we are after all, a bunch of hopelessly addicted bass-aholics who love to fish tournaments... And boy, do we fish tournaments! While many clubs have four, maybe five club tournaments every year ... we easily have twice as many. We begin and end the tournament seasons with “Open Events.”   These two tournaments are the only ones open to all tournament anglers not just those belonging to the Aurora Bassmasters. We begin with a pike tournament and transfer on Cooks Bay, Lake Simcoe on the 4th Saturday in May and end with the renowned Bass Pro Shops Lake Simcoe Open (click here) on the last Saturday in October. We begin our regular club-only events with a fun-club Classic shortly after the Bass Opener. This is our only team bass tournament and sees the top placed boater from the previous year, teamed up with the last placed non-boater from the same year. The 2nd place boater fishes with the 2nd last placed non boater ... and so on.
 
After that initial club tournament, it’s down to business and every man and or woman for him/herself.  These regular club events pit individual against individual.   Boaters fish with non boaters but each catches and maintains their own five fish limit. You find out who you will fish with based on draws that take place at the start of each month. This format may seem a little ‘harsh’ for those not accustomed to it, however after well over a decade of such events, the Aurora Bassmasters have learned that it really is the best format for both boaters and non boaters. “There really is no substitute for learning how to put your own fish in the boat in pressure filled situations than these individual tournaments”, said Aurora Bassmaster president Herb Quan. “Furthermore, all of these club tournaments prepare our members for the same format they will fish as they progress from our club tournaments to the OBFN Championships, to the Eastern Divisional, to the National BFN Championships ... and perhaps someday even the Bassmasters Classic”, concluded Quan.
 
Despite the intense competition, Aurora Bassmaster tournaments are extremely friendly with a strong and unique emphasis on educating all those who compete. Tom Tsatskas tournament director for the club explains that, "Although we may fish against each other in the boat, we have all learned that to be truly successful on a consistent basis anglers do best when they help each other out.  So we net each other’s fish, help out with patterns and techniques and generally try and assist our boat partner to catch fish as well. Once the weigh-in has concluded and the top three anglers have been announced ... those anglers are mandated by club tradition to explain how they caught their fish. This doesn’t mean they have to share hot spots ... far from it; but merely try to describe what worked for them – patterns, depth, type of structure and even baits.  With this learning atmosphere, Aurora Bassmasters have a quick and unprecedented learning curve that has helped develop many aspiring beginners to reach skill levels they had only imagined , in record time” .  
 
Tournament Costs and Paybacks:
Pike Tournament ... $110 per two person team– includes launch, Big Fish. 80% Paybacks
Club Classic ...$100 per two person team does not include launch and Big Fish. 100% Paybacks
Each Club Tournament: $40 boater, $40 non boater. Big Fish $5 is included in each event entry, $10 Greedy Bucks*  see club paybacks below
BPS Lake Simcoe Open $280 per team, includes Big Fish and launch. 125% Paybacks
 
·         Greedy bucks is an Aurora Bassmaster exclusive that allows anglers who want, to put in an additional $10 into  greedy bucks pot.  If the winner of the event put his/her $10 in the pot – he/she will collect the whole Greedy bucks Pot ... but only if they put that in before the tournament. If not, the 2nd place angler will collect the pot ... as long as they put in beforehand of course!
·         Collecting points towards Angler of the Year and to qualify for the *next year’s OBFN Championships is therefore a bigger deal than collecting cash from paybacks for the Aurora Bassmasters.
 
* If a new member joins in 2008 for example, he/she can fish that year’s club tournaments, however will not be eligible to compete in the OBFN Championships until the following year.... basically we qualify for that event a year in advance.   
 
Club Paybacks:
We are the only OBFN Club that will pay the entry fees to the annual OBFN Championships for the top five boaters and top five non boaters from the previous year. In order to accomplish this it means that we have to raise enough money to pay those fees for ten anglers and we do this thru our club tournaments. We charge a $40 entry fee Per angler. Therefore our club tournaments are not about collecting big pay checks or making serious coin off of your own club mates. We earmark a simple format that works for all: $150 for first place, $100.00 for 2nd and $50 for 3rd. The Big Fish entry is $5 per angler and is included in the events entry fee. 100% payback is awarded for the single heaviest alive bass caught during that days event.
 
Boater, Non Boater Protocol:
·         BASS rules stipulate that the boater/non boater share the boat for the day – so if the non boater desires to use the front of the boat with the electric and go to his/her spots for half the day ... that wish needs to be honored by the boater.
 
·         If the distance the non-boater wishes to travel is considered too far or weather is too inclement to safely travel that distance, the boater will have the last call.  
 
·         Most often a mutually beneficial agreement is worked out where the boater remains at the front controlling the electric, however spots are shared and the non boater plays a key role in deciding where the pair will fish, how long they will stay and so on... again all leading to a fun and educational day on the water for both.
 
·         With ever increasing gas prices it is only fair that that the boater and non boater share the price of gas and oil used for the days’ fishing.  When both anglers are driving together this can and oftentimes does include both the gas used in the vehicle to drive up to the tournament lake ... and the gas used to travel around in the boat for the day. Non boaters should therefore be prepared perhaps to at least pay the entry fee of their boater for the day.
 
For more information on Aurora Bassmaster club tournaments, please contact our club tournament director Tom Tsatskas at: tom@aurorabass.com