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| Lake Trout Wins Spring 2001 Loc Derby |
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| Release Date: 5/8/2001 |
| Authored by: Bill Hilts, Sr. |
Sooner or later it had to happen, especially in the spring when the salmon sizes are a bit smaller. Every year in the Lake Ontario Counties Trout and Salmon derby - spring or fall - it was the mighty Chinook salmon leading the charge. Paying tribute to the trophy quality of this great resource, this year's Spring LOC winner was a BIG lake trout, weighing in at 28 pounds, nine ounces. Lynn Cunningham of Binghamton, NY was the lucky angler while fishing the famed Niagara Bar off the mouth of the Niagara River in Niagara County. He bested some 3,000 other anglers in winning the $10,000 Grand Prize with his unique catch.
Not far off the mark was Mike Gustin of Webster, NY. His 28 pound, one ounce Chinook salmon was just a few ounces shy of Cunningham's LOC record catch, the largest laker ever entered in a LOC event - a record that was shattered last fall when Jonathan Dies registered the top laker at 28 pounds, eight ounces. Those lakers are getting bigger, thanks to a longer life cycle, a rebounding forage base and a 25 to 30 inch slot limit that requires anglers to release these prime spawners back into the resource.
"We were trolling a green/glow Rebel Fastrak near the green buoy marker off the mouth of the Niagara River," reflected Cunningham at the awards ceremony in Rochester Sunday night. "We had been catching a lot of fish when this one hit and we thought it was going to be about the same as some of the others we were catching. When it didn't want to come up, though, we new we had something special." He was fishing with his brother, Bob and two friends, Harold and Danny Crocker, all from Binghamton aboard Bob's "Catch A Few." It was the second year in a row that they were derby fishing the Niagara area. Their biggest lake trout previously? "Only about 14 pounds," said Cunningham.
Gustin was fishing the same general area on the Niagara Bar, only he focused his attention around the red buoy marker. Fishing with friends Gale Ferguson and David Lee, they were trolling a Michigan Stinger spoon in Emerald Shiner pattern when the king hit a downrigger fished 32 feet down and 65 feet back. They had been catching 20 to 25 kings a day and thought this one was similar in size * until they saw it near the back of the boat. They immediately went to work clearing lines and babying the fish to the net, taking some 35 minutes to bring the fish in. Once in the boat, they motored directly to Williams Marine in Youngstown to weigh in their catch, which earned them $2,500 on awards night.
The Lake Trout Category winner was also a real trophy fish, weighed in by Terri Fulop of St. Catharines, Ontario. She hauled in a 23 pound, 13 ounce fish while trolling the Niagara Bar for salmon, too. She had been competing in a Scotty Downrigger Salmon Tournament out of St. Catharines the first Saturday of the derby, specifically targeting salmon with a Michigan Stinger spoon they had colored themselves when the lake trout hit. Had their lake trout been a salmon, they might have won the tournament, but they wouldn't have won the $2,500 for first place in the LOC Derby!
For the Brown Trout class, Brian Pickel, Sr. of East Montpelier, Vermont was the lucky angler when he weighed in a 19 pound, 14 ounce fish while trolling off Nine Mile Point in Oswego County. He was fishing with Kevin Keller of Syracuse aboard the "Fish Chopper" working black and silver Junior Thundersticks 200 feet behind planer boards when the trophy hit. Forty-five minutes later, they had the winning brown trout, earning them $2,500 for first place in the division. They boated the fish at 5:30 p.m. in the afternoon.
Another Vermont angler, Mark Forbes of Newport Center, was busy winning the Rainbow/Steelhead category with a 20 pound, three ounce fish. Fishing with his son, Dana and Donald Bartlett, they were trolling in 90 feet of water, 30 feet down off Golden Hill State Park in Niagara County when the fish hit an orange/silver Northern King spoon. He also earned $2,500 for his first place fish.
In the Youth Division, salmon reigned king as Michael Stablewski, Jr. of Lancaster reeled in the largest salmon of his seven year life - a 24 pound, 12 ounce king taken from that same Niagara Bar area. He caught the Grand Prize on a Northern King spoon that's simply referred to by anglers as "monkey puke." He was fishing with his dad, Mike, Sr., in 51 feet of water, 25 feet down. Keeping it all in the family, Mike's other son, Kyle Clester of Lancaster, caught the winning lake trout 24 hours later on the final day of the derby - a 17 pound, five ounce fish taken on, you guessed it, the Niagara Bar. He was using a Northern King spoon in 20 feet of water.
In the Brown Trout category, Brandon DeSantis of Rochester took top honors with 13 pound, eight ounce fish wrestled in from the waters around Irondequoit on an NK watermelon spoon. Daniel Worboys of Hilton was the top steelhead catcher with a nine pound, 11 ounce fish caught off Olcott, also on an NK spoon.
In the special category acknowledging the largest fish caught by a woman, Brenda Boyer of Bethel, PA reeled in a 24 pound, 14 ounce salmon while fishing out of Sodus Bay. She earned a special gift basket donated by Cayuga County and an assortment of product from Mustad, in addition to her 10th place salmon division winnings.
Sponsors for this year's derby include Northern King Lures, Scotty Downriggers, Lowrance Electronics, Triton Boats, Okuma, Lake Ontario Online, Lake Ontario Outdoors, Hot Spot Flashers, Musky Joe Tours, Mountin' Man Taxidermy, Fish Hawk Electronics, Triple S Sporting Goods, American Legion Vietnam Post 1902 in Syracuse, Underwater Technologies, Clingerman Taxidermy, Animal Art Taxidermy, L.J. Roemer Release, Mustad, American Legion Vietnam Post 1902 Syracuse, Eagle Claw, Mepps, N&D Baits, Pepsi, Triton Boats and Lockport Wal-Mart.
The Lake Ontario Counties Trout and Salmon fishing Derbies are under the auspices of the non-profit group, Lake Ontario Sportfishing Promotion Council, composed of representatives from each of the seven NY State counties bordering the shoreline of Lake Ontario - Niagara, Orleans, Monroe, Wayne, Cayuga, Oswego and Jefferson. All profits from the derbies are utilized for the promotion of the Lake Ontario fishery, education about the fishery and resource enhancement projects. A Summer Bonus Derby is slated to be held out of Henderson Harbor July 20-22. The Fall LOC Derby is set for August 17 - September 3, 2001. |
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