STRIPER TOURNAMENT CANCELLED!!

The CT River Striped Bass Tournament for this Friday and Saturday, May 16-17, 2008 will be cancelled.  Anyone who has registered will be refunded their entry fees.  The event is being cancelled after much consideration by several agencies and volunteers.  Some of the launch areas have been flooded and do not have docks in place, making our weigh in stations difficult to manage.  In addition, the number of pre-registered participants is only 30, not enough to cover the expenses of the event and make reasonable payouts for the winners.

Special thanks to Riverfront Recapture and Craig Mergins for their assistance in planning this event and hosting our tournament headquarters.  We look forward to working with them next year.

We are sorry for any inconvenience this has caused you.  We do plan to hold this event next year on the third weekend in May.  If you are interested in participating in the planning of the event please call us at 860.428.7739.  See you next year!!

The Thames River Striped Bass Tournament on May 9-10, 2008 was once again a challenge for even the seasoned angler.  The weather was cold and rainy on Friday and throughout the night but cleared up just in time for us to award the winners.  There were a total of 80 anglers who fished with us this year.  On Friday we had over 200 people planning on attending but it seemed many could not weather the storm.  Tournament Headquarters was at Thayers Marine in Norwich, a last minute change in location due to one of our sponsors withdrawing their location.  Our gratitude goes out to the staff and Dick Thayer for allowing us use of their facilities and docks. 

Also, many thanks to our two corporate sponsors Dime Bank and NRG Energy, who, without their support, the event would not be held at all.  The mission of this event is to promote and conserve the natural and economic resources of the Thames River.  This as the 6th annual Dime Bank Thames River Striped Bass Tournament.  Next year's event will be the second weekend in May.

The winners were as follows:

NEW THIS YEAR---NORTHEAST BASS CHALLENGE

The Northeast Bass Challenge is a new event for CT Outdoors this season.  It will be held on Candlewood Lake on Saturday, June 7 and Sunday, June 8, 2008.  It is a two day event on CT's largest and most productive bass fishery.  We decided to add this tournament to our schedule after many of you expressed an interest in a two day event on Candlewood in addition to the Candlewood Classic.  The Northeast Bass Challenge is one month later in the season so the weather should not be as challenging as the Classic in early May.  Boat numbers are assigned based on registration postmarks.  On the second day of competition the boat  numbers will be reversed.  There will be an eight fish limit for each team and a lunker award each day.  Hope to see you all there!!

Get your kids and entire family out fishing!!!  On Father's Day we will be hosting a bass tournament and an on-shore fishing derby at Mansfield Hollow.  The tournament is from 7:00 am until 2:00 pm.  The cost is $50 per team.  A team must have an adult and a youth under the age of 16.  We will launch from the Mansfield Hollow State Boat Launch and will weigh in at the grassy field below the dam.  The derby will be held in the field area just below the dam.  You can access the area by a road that is located directly across the road from the Mansfield Hollow State Park entrance.  The derby runs from 9:00 am until 1:00 pm.  All participants will win an award.  There are prizes and food for all participants.  Also, we will be conducting a Casting Kids competition where the winners will go on to a state competition and may end up going to next year's Bassmaster Classic!!!  Please register early so we can prepare for prizes and food.  If you plan on attending the derby just send an email (diane@ct-outdoors.com) with your name and number participating.