Our Story

The Quinte Fishing Series was formed in 1995, as a not for profit organization, by a group of six (6) local anglers and fishing enthusiasts who saw tremendous potential in the fishery and with the desire to bring a quality Tournament Series to the Quinte area. At the time, Belleville resident Pete Thompson was appointed Tournament Director for the Series and the format and criteria was established. In 1997 Pete was also on staff with the then Chevy/Mercury Pro Bass series as their Tournament Director and had been involved with tournament fishing for over eight years. He brought a wealth of knowledge and experience with him to the Quinte Fishing Series. Over the next fifteen years the Quinte Fishing Series saw a steady and continuous growth with anglers coming from different parts of Central and Eastern Ontario, including Oshawa, Toronto, Kingston, Ottawa and the local area. This was due, we feel, to a number of factors which include: a great body of water, a series that strives to promote first class events, loyal and dedicated sponsors and an entry fee/ payback ratio that is angler friendly.  

The Series committee has worked hard at investing and improving the series. They have set goals and worked towards improvement. Over a ten (10) year span the Quinte Fishing Series saved enough to purchase the trailer / stage and sound system. They were also successful in purchasing top grade weigh scales and adopting the water weigh-in system developed by Queens University in conjunction with Shimano. Recently the release boat has been refurbished and rebuilt with the support of Line X.

In March 2012 Pete Thompson was diagnosed with Leukemia and passed away in July of the same year. The committee decided to dedicate the final tournament of the season to Peter Thompson and the Classic became the Peter Thompson Memorial Classic. 

Richard Somerville started with the series in 1998 as a volunteer and was accepted as a committee member in 2000. He moved into the position of Weigh Master in 2001 and worked closely with Peter Thompson on developing the Quinte Fishing Series. In 2012 Richard Somerville took over as Tournament director.  In the same year Brad Pound joined the committee as the Wight Master. Mark Sullivan also joined the team that summer as the MC of the Quinte Fishing Series.

Partnership with Queens University

The series is proud to have worked with Queens University on a research project over the past 6 seasons. Queens University is doing research around sustainable fishing. Students from the University attend many of the tournaments and tag fish before they are release and gather information on the number of fish caught during the tournament. For more information on the research project or to report a tagged fish contact Dr. Bruce Tufrs at Queens University.

Committee Members:

Director: Brad Pound

Announcer: Mark Sullivan

Secretary: Darlene Davison-Pound

Weigh Master(s): Brad Pound/ Richard Barrett

Counselors: Richard Barrett, Glen Meeks