Sailing beyond Lake Simcoe

Description:
Ever wonder what lies beyond the Atherly Bridge?

Wanted to try a few weeks of live-aboard cruising?


Wonder what it takes to charter a boat down south?


This event will provide participants with an overview of the planning, equipment and skills needed to cruise a trailer sailor or small cruiser for a week or more and an introduction to the possibilities of chartering. The format will be an inter-active information session with supporting handouts followed a slide show of recent cruising experiences to illustrate the key points.


Time: 9:00AM - 5:00PM
Location: TENTATIVE LOCATION
York Region Police 3 District Community Room
Address: 3527 Baseline Rd, Sutton West


When:
Sun Mar. 26

Where:
York Region Police 3 District

More prizes added to ice fishing championship

More prizes added to ice fishing championship


The best ice anglers in North America will test their skills in the annual Canadian Ice Fishing Championship this weekend.
A one square kilometre area will be marked off in a different location on Lake Simcoe each day, the first in shallow water of eight to 14 feet and Sunday in a deeper area of the lake, 55 to 80 feet. Perch, pike and walleye are the target on day one and whitefish and lake trout on day two. Anglers will depart from the Sibbald Point Provincial Park boat ramp area to an area near Georgina Island, tourney organizer Rocky Madsen said Saturday.

The first exact location will be disclosed during rules night, starting at 7 p.m. tomorrow and the second Saturday at CIFC headquarters in the Kin Community Centre in Sutton.

Mr. Madsen said there will be $25,000 in cash up for grabs, with the winning two-person team collecting a cheque for $10,000 and having their names inscribed on the Georgina Cup, the symbol of ice fishing mastery. Second prize is $5,000. Teams can register up to and including rules night.

Last year's champs, brothers Mike and Norm Burden will be back to defend their title, Mr. Madsen said. Last year was their second win in a row, the fourth altogether for the ice fishing maestros, counting the old four-person team format. Mike is from Georgina and Norm from Toronto. Trophies will also be handed out for biggest lake and whitefish.

Popular last year and included this year is an on-ice taxi service for anglers who don't have a snowmobile or ATV.

And also new this year is a husband and wife team award, early bird draw, lunker pool and several promotional prize packages. Each angler has an opportunity to pay $20 to enter the lunker pool, Mr. Madsen said. Whoever catches the biggest fish will get all but 20 per cent of the money, he added.

The CIFC will donate 20 per cent of the event's proceeds to the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority Foundation, a non-profit organization whose mandate is to restore the water quality of Lake Simcoe. Last year the CIFC donated $1,000.

This year we've made it easier for contestants to catch more fish, thus scoring more points, Mr. Madsen said, adding panfish have been included in the scoring system. On the second day in deep water, we will allow contestants to fish with two lines for big fish.

Scoring will be done by a team of eight experienced officials led by fish master Larry Ellis.

Mr. Madsen, a Sutton resident, took over the CIFC reins from Mike Burrows last year after serving on the tourney's board of directors for 10 years. In addition to his reputation as an angler, Mr. Madsen is also well-known for his Rocky Madsen's Fish Crisp coatings.

For full details see the website www.cifc.org or phone 905-722-5425.

King of the Ice

The Barrie Home Builders Association organized an ice fishing derby on Saturday and raised in excess of $20,000 for the RVH cancer care unit. The catch-and-release event was attended by 500 people.

Anglers brought 100 fish into the on-ice weigh stations for a chance at the numerous prizes that were donated and purchased with money supplied by Direct Energy.

The big prize of a Bob Cat utility vehicle went to the clear winner Mark Gaston of Barrie who hauled in a 16-pound lake trout.


Forty-nine other prizes were awarded including a new Yamaha snowmobile that went to Jon Rouse of Barrie, who was surprised that his .09-kg perch could have brought in such a big prize.

Former NHLer and current host of Full Contact Fishing Kris King said this event was about what was raised for RVH.

“Anything we can do to help bring a cancer unit to Barrie, we will do. You see how this bad weather has affected driving, now think about all the cancer patients that have had to drive to Toronto for treatment.”

King and his family are active in raising money for cancer research but he talked about it being a group effort. “If you have a lot of people doing a little, then, it doesn’t leave all the work to one or two people.”

James Bazely, president of the Barrie Homebuilders Association, was thankful for all the support of the sponsors and was happy the event was such a big success.

He was a little nervous with all the reports of unsafe ice a couple of weeks ago, but as it turned out, there was 12 to 16 inches of good ice throughout the bay.

To ensure that the event will run for years to come, Bazely announced that $10 of the $75 entry fee will be used to reduce phosphates in Lake Simcoe.

Woman, boy killed in canal plunge

Woman, boy killed in canal plunge

A woman and a young boy pulled from a canal near Bradford were rushed to Newmarket's South Lake Hospital last night but arrived with vital signs absent.
Police said the two were in a car that plunged into the canal. Emergency crews took them out of the frigid water at 6:30 p.m. South Simcoe police, paramedics and hospital staff refused comment on the incident.