Bartlesville OK --- Baldwinsville, New York will be the site of the American Carp Society’s first regional tournament for 2007-8. Teams from Europe and the United States are expected to enter the May 16-19th contest on the Seneca River in Central New York State.

Over $15,000 in cash and prizes will be awarded to the top teams fishing along the Seneca River which serves as a primary watershed and tributary from the glacier-formed Finger Lakes to Lake Ontario in the Great Lakes. Lake Ontario eventually empties to the Atlantic Ocean via the St. Lawrence River.

The tournament course will cover several miles of the Seneca River from the mouth of Onondaga Lake to the outlet of Cross Lake. Baldwinsville is located mid-way between the two boundaries. The tournament will be headquartered at the newly restored 1820’s historic Red Mill Inn in the village of Baldwinsville. The beautifully renovated former gristmill sits on a small island in the center of town adjacent to the original Erie Canal and the carp-filled Seneca River.

During the reconstruction and development of the 32-room boutique inn, the construction crews and developers were keen to notice amazing numbers of wild carp in the waters surrounding the site. A number of man-made structures such a wide dam, piers and sluices attract multitudes of feeding carp. A group of local citizens, business persons and community leaders approached ACS Tournaments about bringing a contest to the Seneca River last year after observing the carp behavior in the village center.

The fishing friendly community has always depended on the river for recreation and commerce in the past, and they have exhibited great determination to develop carp angling along their shores.

“I couldn’t believe it when I first saw it,” said David Moore, ACS Tournaments Director. “Al St. Cyr and I went to the Red Mill Inn in July this past summer at the invitation of the Baldwinsville community to scout the location. We walked literally twenty steps from the front door of the inn to the bank. The waters were teeming with hundreds of carp stacked up below the dam. It was an amazing sight.”

“We baited up and had fish on our first cast! It was unbelievable,” he added. “The folks in Baldwinsville are certainly sitting on something unique with great potential. We found everyone open to hosting not only a tournament, but leisure anglers, too. The fish are healthy, hearty and strong. A swift current below the dam and ever-changing water levels makes angling fun, but after a while we stopped counting and weighing fish as we were hauling them in so quickly we could hardly keep up with two rods each. Competitors can expect hard-fighting beautiful virgin common carp in the mid-twenties along this river.”

The Baldwinsville community, in partnership with ACS Tournaments is planning a hosted welcome ceremony and peg draw for the evening of May 16th. The two-person team tournament will be 50 hours of ACS NE Regionals, Baldwinsville NY continuous fishing and prizes will be established by total weight.

Prizes are based on a minimum of 50 two-person team entries. The first-place team will be awarded $5,000 cash, second $2,500 and third $1,500 as well as the ever-popular Big Fish prize of $1,000 cash. A number of special sponsor tackle and equipment prizes will be awarded throughout the competition. A public awards ceremony and competitors’ party will close the event on May 19th.

Tournament sponsors already on board include The Red Mill Inn, EconoLodge, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Dynamite Baits, Big Carp Tackle, Badger Tackle, Fox International, Enterprise Tackle, and Reuben Heaton ACS’s official tournament scales. The tournament has the approval of the New York State Division of Tourism and I Love New York who have sponsored ACS tournaments in recent years.

Registration for the ACS NE Regional tournament can be processed on-line at www.americancarpsociety.com or by phoning 918-914-2256. The fee is $500 per two-person team. Full payment is expected before May 1st. Early-birds have until February 28th to receive a $50 discount. For overnight accommodations contact The Red Mill Inn, phone 800-841-0411 or email reservations@theredmillinn.com and ask for the tournament discount. Special rates will be extended to participants prior to and after the tournament for those wishing to arrive early or stay after the contest.

Baldwinsville is located 11 miles from Syracuse, New York. The site is an easy drive from many points in the Northeast United States (including the St. Lawrence River) and Canada via Interstate 90 (the NY Thruway) and Interstate 81. Syracuse airport is served by many major domestic or U.S. airlines and accessible by short (1 hour) connections from most international carriers through New York City’s LaGuardia and Kennedy Airports.

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Media information and media credentials:

Kathleen Kelly, Publicist
ACS Tournaments LLC
PO Box 1502
Bartlesville OK 74005
315-764-5654
kathy@americancarpsociety.com

Available photos, on request:

Caption: Baldwinsville government official, Tony Saraceni, shows his first-ever carp at The Red Mill Inn in downtown Baldwinsville NY (photo courtesy of ACS Tournaments)

Caption: ACS Tournaments Director and world-class carp angler, David Moore, explains to the local media about the potential for the growth of carp angling tourism on the Seneca River in Baldwinsville NY (photo courtesy of ACS Tournaments)

Caption: David Moore, ACS Tournaments Director shows his 20-plus common at the Red Mill Inn in Baldwinsville NY (photo courtesy of ACS Tournaments)

Caption: The Red Mill Inn – ACS NE Regionals headquarters – located in downtown Baldwinsville NY (photo courtesy of The Red Mill Inn)