ANNUAL REPORT - Onondaga County Parks

Working with a new tournament and holiday fishing publication published by Parks which has
drawn raves at national sport shows, the Chamber’s Director of Sports Development and
Oneida Shores Park Superintendent are working on a variety of tour requests for coming years.
They are selling our tourism-oriented strengths in a business model which this year delivered
a 20:1 return on investment from Room Occupancy Tax dollars used to secure and produce the
ESPN Empire Chase.
Syracuse Post-Standard Outdoor Writer J. Michael Kelly perhaps best summarized the
quality of life impact of the Bassmaster Memorial Tournament coming to Onondaga Lake:
The lake’s notorious image... will be obliterated by the time pros like Kevin VanDam of
Michigan and Mike Iaconelli of New Jersey have come and gone, for the pond lapping at
the city’s North Side is loaded with lunker largemouth and smallmouth bass. Watching
the big-time bassers hoist their trophy catches on ESPN TV with the Syracuse
skyline prominently visible in the background should do wonders for our civic
pride.
Alton Jones, a professional angler from Texas, said the Elite event at Oneida
Lake in July was his most enjoyable tournament. “I hated to see that tournament
end - I wanted to stay and keep fishing. If it didn’t freeze over, I’d go up
there in the off season.”
Courtesy bassfan.com.