The Perchmasters Classic was begun in 1999 to give the perch fishermen of Western New York another opportunity to enjoy the world-class perch fishery that we have been so lucky to enjoy for many decades. The goal was to offer a team tournament that would be run like most team bass tournaments, where a “limit” or in this case “Largest 5” would be weighed-in by each competing team, therefore removing some of the luck involved in single fish tournaments. Our event has grown each and every year from having 8 boats in our inaugural year in 1999 to having 84 boats in 2005, which is more than we ever hoped for when we first put this event together. Many of the waters in Western New York have reputations for their perch fishery, but none produce as many perch over 14 inches year-in and year-out as Seneca Lake. Needing to add a nearby, smaller body of water that also held a good perch fishery in the case of high north or south winds, Keuka Lake has been a perfect fit and also boasts the occasional 2 pound perch. In 2007, we are adding Canandaigua Lake to the tournament waters allowing our participants even more choice in where they can fish the Classic! We believe it is just far too difficult to cancel a tournament and have a blow-off date when fishermen are not starting from the same place the morning of the event… Dresden, N. Y., with its perfect location at the center of our tournament area, was the obvious choice to try and establish a tournament headquarters. In 2006 we moved our Tournament Headquarters to the Seneca Lake Duck Hunters Club about 2 miles south of Dresden on Route 14. We will continue to offer registration the morning of the event at the Club from 5:30 to 6:30AM. The Club also opens at Noon allowing fishermen who call it a day early, a place to enjoy food and drink in a comfortable indoor venue. Weigh-in will as always start at 5PM.

The Perchmasters Classic has evolved over the years and will continue to evolve as we consider the many suggestions we receive from our participants. Though there was interest in adding a second event for 2007 in late March, two weeks before the traditional event, my schedule with young kids in sports will not allow me to organize or run such an event in the near future. Change is good though and our addition of Canandaigua Lake shows once again that we are open minded and look for positive ideas that will increase participation. We established a cash draw prize four years ago to be drawn from the names of team leaders who return for the weigh in. The hope was to encourage as many teams as we can to weigh in no matter the size of their catch and also give teams that may have had poor luck that day, an opportunity to still walk away with a decent prize. We wish every team would weigh-in five fish and maybe someday it will happen. There’s no shame in weighing in 10-11 inch perch and we predict that some day the bite will be off or we will have extremely high winds and that’s what will take the top prize… Despite suggestions to allow fishing to begin earlier than 7AM, we do not foresee going in that direction. Encouraging a lot of boat traffic in pre-light hours is not safe, no other one day tournament allows it for good reasons, and we feel 9 hours of fishing is more than sufficient.

Finally, we decided two years ago to incorporate the use of a polygraph in our format to add integrity to our event. The constant suspicions / accusations of other fishermen regarding the entering of fish that were not caught the day of the tournament OR the pooling of fish by multiple teams was not uncommon. This on top of the known ease of keeping fish alive in the colder months of the year led us to add this accurate method of verifying the winning team’s catch. In an attempt to control administrative costs, we choose to only test the designated leader of the winning team. If that individual was to fail his or her test, their team would be disqualified and all teams would move up one place. There would be no subsequent tests. The decision to include this testing has been very popular and will be a fixture from here on.

We would like to thank Bass Pro Shops for once again being the exclusive tackle sponsor of the Perchmasters Classic. Tackle donated from their store in Auburn will be given out using a raffle system following the selection of the Cash Draw Prize winner. Once again, Team Leaders must be present to be eligible for these merchandise awards.

I would personally like to thank each and every person who has either participated in one of our events and to those who have contributed with suggestions, which have helped us make the Perchmasters Classic what it is today.

Take care and good fishing!

Ron Boyce