[Angler Paul]

I am the JCAA president and I agree that we should have an alternate date in the event of bad weather. However, I still have only one vote on the board and on our fluke tournament committee. In addition to safety reasons, I want everyone to have a nice day on the water, catching fish and enjoying the competition. It is also the second year in a row that our tournament was held during a bad nor'easter. This is perhaps our biggest fundraiser and I know that we lost thousands of dollars in entrance fees because many people waited until the last minute to join and based there decision on the weather forecast. For the record record, I waited until almost mid-nightmidnight until I made my decision not to fish the tournament. (You could sign up until midnight the night before the tournament) . I would also like to point out that the weather forecasts have been wrong most of the time which makes our decision a tough one. It is hard to reschedule a tournament of this magnitude and we try hard not to interfere with the other major tournaments as well. Regardless though, I intend to push for an alternate date for next year's tournament. Lastly I am amazed by the quality of fish that were weighed in and I would like to thank everyone who participated. Congratulations to all the winners!

Paul Haertel