Point Breeze wins ‘Ultimate Fishing Town’
Orleans community declared winner over Cape Hatteras, NC
Photo by Tom Rivers – An angler tries his luck at Point Breeze last month. Point Breeze was declared “Ultimate Fishing Town” by the World Fishing Network today.
POINT BREEZE – It appeared to be a big fish that got away, the title as “Ultimate Fishing Town.”
Point Breeze seemed to be the runner-up to Cape Hatteras, NC. When a three-week on-line voting contest ended May 24, Cape Hatteras led fishing communities with 47,147 votes. Point Breeze was next with 32,053 votes.
But the World Fishing Network declared Point Breeze the winner today, after the WFN reviewed the votes for Cape Hatteras and tried to authenticate them. Apparently those votes didn’t hold up.
Point Breeze can proudly proclaim itself as the overall winner of the contest. The community won an earlier regional competition. That netted the community $3,500 to promote its fishery. The prize money has now swelled to $25,000, plus lots of free publicity.
“That’s $25,000 that can be used for anything fishing related,” said Mike Waterhouse, the county’s sportsfishing promotion coordinator.
He praised Point Breeze fans for voting in the contest. The votes kept coming for Point Breeze even when it appeared Cape Hatteras had an insurmountable lead.
Point Breeze businesses say the competition unified the community to promote a fishery well known for brown trout, salmon, steelhead and cohoes.
The community built a new lighthouse at Point Breeze about three years ago.
“We are a small fishing town elated to win the title of Ultimate Fishing Town,” Point Breeze resident and town nominator Sharon Narburgh told the WFN. “We have a unique small town with many needs for our fishery and are thankful to our residents and anglers for their diligence in voting.”
WFN representatives, including Ultimate Fishing Town host Mariko Izumi, are expected to be in Point Breeze on June 26 to celebrate with the community and produce a video about the great fishing at Point Breeze.
WFN says it is the leading entertainment destination and digital resource for anglers throughout North America. Today it also declared Port Colborne in Ontario as the “Ultimate Fishing Town” in Canada. Last year, Olcott won the U.S. title.
There were 700 towns in the U.S. and Canada that received nominations and were eligible to advance in the contest. Participants were asked to nominate where he or she believes is the best place to fish. Town walls were then populated with videos, photos and written comments to promote the community’s candidacy and reinforce why the town is deserving of Ultimate Fishing Town honors.
“I want to take this opportunity to congratulate Port Colborne and Point Breeze, winners of WFN’s Ultimate Fishing Town for 2013, and commend the regional and affiliate winners, too,” said Pam Stinson, senior director of marketing for World Fishing Network. “The accomplishment of being named Ultimate Fishing Town demonstrates pride, passion and enthusiasm from start to finish, and it wouldn’t be possible without the commitment and dedication of all those who participated.”
