Bass Tournament Reaches Goal

As tournament organizers take care of final details in preparation for the inaugural Miramichi Striper Cup beginning on May 29th, the city says that the build-up to the event has already benefited the city economy, and that there is still time to sign up for the big event.

"There is room left in all divisions. We have reached our goal of 100 boats in the Team Division," said co-organizer Jeff MacTavish. All of the teams have pre-registered either online or by sending in their registration form. "But we could take another 200 boats." The top prize in the Team Division is $5000, and winners will be chosen by total weight of fish caught. Teams can submit their two largest fish for each day, Saturday and Sunday.

MacTavish says there seems to be an even mix of local teams and teams from away who are coming to show their expertise. "We have teams coming from the Gaspe coast, Quebec, there is a Bass Pro team coming from Springfield Missouri, we have teams from Cape Breton and Halifax, and from some places tere are several teams coming who are going to be competing against one another." MacTavish said most of the advertising was concentrated locally and on the Acadian Peninsula, but word of mouth has helped bring contestants in from all over. "There is a guy named Steve Dube who works in the fishing industry, and he helped promote the event in his area in Quebec through social media, and it really helped fill up our team spots."

"There is also all kinds of room in the Individual Division," MacTavish added. "What's important, is that if they are interested in getting their name in for the Grand Prize Draw, that they have to get registered." Top prize in the individual Division is $500 plus a sponsor prize, but every contestant who enters gets their name in the draw for a boat/motor/trailer combination donated by Cabano Marine, Mercury, and Princecraft.

"Being from Miramichi, we know that locals sometimes wait until the last minute to commit to participating in things, but we urge people to register online or come to City Hall to register to help avoid any waits on Saturday or Sunday," MacTavish said. He said they anticipate a slight bottleneck if a lot of people show up at the event and need to register. There will be tournament staff at all sights taking new registrations, and also handing out packages to people who have pre-registered. "Friday night, people will also be able to register at the information session being held at the Miramichi Curling Club at French Fort Cove between 6:30pm and 9:30pm." The first thousand people through the door will receive a free ball cap from Bass Pro.

MacTavish said on Friday night they will be reviewing the rules in both languages, and having a question and answer period as well.

Friday night will also have a beer garden at the curling club.

On Saturday or Sunday, there will be 4 locations to register and launch a boat. Beaubears Island, Station Wharf Marina, Douglastown marina and the Newcastle Wharf. Individuals will also be able to register at Strawberry Marsh.

Tournament with Technology

Individual entrants will be able to submit their catches online, or with their phones. On the leaderboard page of the tournament's website (www.miramichistripercup.ca), the leaders in all divisions are shown, with a link to the page where you can submit your fish. Take a photo of your fish with the ruler you will be supplied when you register, and upload it along with the length and your registration number, and you'll be able to watch the live leaderboard to see if you are in the prizes. People without cell phones or computers, can bring their cameras to the curling club to have their entry submitted. (Bring any cables, cards, etc needed to get the photos from your camera). Team division entries will be put in at the end of the day when they are weighed and the leaderboard will updated.

Economic Impact Already Visible

"For the past several weeks we have been taking calls from people who are interested in participating. I know they have been coming to Miramichi to practice and find out where the fish are. I know some of them brought their RVs and stayed at Station Wharf and rented berths for their boats. I know there have been some people staying at the Governor's mansion, and some people at the Rodd while they fish and try to find out where the big ones will be," said MacTavish.

"I can tell you that anytime there is something going on in Miramichi it impacts us positively," said Jim Gertridge, General manager of the Rodd Miramichi River Hotel. "We have had people staying with us all week, bass fishing, and we will have more on the weekend. We even felt the impact during the rib fest this weekend. As long as there is activity, it's a win-win." Gertridge said that having two events in May is also a big help.

"Everyone benefits. Room attendants get more hours, maintenance staff stay busy, and restaurant and kitchen staff do better too," Gertridge said. He also said it gives them a chance to show off their newly renovated hotel to more and more people.