Tournament time can get pretty funny on Lake Ontario. Most everyone that regularly fishes the lake enters at least one of the ProAm Tournaments.

I call it Stealth mode. Originally the ProAm tournament had a major rule of "no communication" while fishing. It was up to the team to find their own fish and keep it to themselves.

Over the years, rules changed along with the no communication rule. Now it is open communication for all, but I wouldn't really call it that. They communicate alright, via cell phones or whispers to their friends. During the tournament, you can find many texting or calling each other all day long to help each other get into the fish.

Nobody is allowed to know what anyone is using out there. They will travel a long distance to purchase their lure of the moment. They sure as heck aren't going to buy their stuff locally, especially if other teams can see what is going on.

They are quite funny to watch as they run over to their buddy or call him off to the side to whisper their top secret programs.

And if you are getting any report from anyone, it is usually false. They may be west, but tell you east. It might be blue and silver but they tell you its green and copper. They will actually send other people to buy things that aren't working, just to throw other people off track. They watch each other like hawks, and hide all their stuff in little brown bags. They paint their own lures and basically aren't going to give it up to anyone...or are they?

Captain Fred forgot to fill in one of the "mandatory" lines on a ProAm Tournament form. This led to what some saw as a golden opportunity to prank him

Someone filled in a new team name on his form to Team Lickety Dick. The day before the tournament, Fred went to the mandatory captains meeting with about 200 in attendance. As the ProAm Committee was searching out for a team that had not checked in...on the microphone...um...we have a team that hasn't checked in yet..Team Lickety ..., Team Lickety....Laughter could be heard all around the room. They couldn't find the captain who had to report in. Fred had no idea they were looking for him. He even said to the guy next to him "Wow, I'd hate to be the guy who has to fess up to that name"

Then it happened, they announced they had one team that hadn't reported in... so on the microphone "Captain Fred...... from Team Lickety Dick....." Freds jaw dropped, and the ribbing began.His awesome sense of humor kept it alive for the rest of the summer and there were a lot of laughs. Actually, they were caught in a photoshoot waving proudly as they unknowingly troll out of the harbor with the boat name on the bow "Team Lickety Dick". Check out the pic taken from event photographer Wayne Peters as the boat leaves the harbor! The fun didn't stop there as that Golden opportunity struck again and instead of being team Yankee Pride, they were named "Yankee Panky" for a recent tournament. This ProAm, Captain Fred filled his forms out completely!

"What soap is to the body, laughter is to the soul"

Can't Swim
One of the guys has a dog that can't swim. As the guy was pumping gas, his boat began to drift away from the dock. His dog was just about to get on the boat. The boat began to drift away and the dog fell in the water. Since she can't swim, she just stood there looking up at him with those big eyes. You'll be glad to know the dog is fine, he jumped in and rescued her.

Lost Dog
All set for a great day of fishing a couple of guys head out on their boat and get all set up for trolling. Something was wrong.They realized the dog wasn't on the boat with them. Frantic, they got on their cell phones and called around the Olcott area looking for their dog. They remembered her standing on the boat dock, waiting to board. Well..the dog was found shortly afterwards sitting on the boat dock still waiting for that fishing trip. They remembered to lock the gate that goes to the dock, but forgot their dog..Ow!

You Speak English?
One of the charter boats had a one man trip in the Lower Niagara for some great steelhead fishing. The captain only speaks English and his charter guest only spoke Japanese. Headed out for a great day of steelie fishing the Lower Niagara, the man had locked his wallet, passport and all documents in his truck. Fishing the water between Canada and the US, the coast guard was patrolling the area that day. When they approached the charter, the man could only speak Japanese. That wound up being one wild fishing trip as the every law enforcement agency and their brother showed up with the Border Patrol and the man had no identification. They even brought the helicopters