Published: September 25, 2008 02:59 am            

NEWFANE: Local team of fishermen wins big catch — $25,000

NEWFANE — A Newfane team of fisherman became kings of the lake, winning the $25,000 first prize in a St. Catharines, Ontario, tournament over the Labor Day weekend.

Tom Letcher, Dan Phipps and Dave Hoffman of Newfane and Fred Lockwood of Connecticut were late entries in the Scotty King of the Lake Tournament. “We weren’t going to do the tournament because of gas prices,” said Letcher, who navigated the boat, Double Play II. “They upped the prize to $25,000 and we decided to go for it. We had a riot.”

There were 62 entries that paid a $500 fee. Their total take was $28,000. It was the largest payoff for any fish tournament in Lake Ontario.

It was a three-part tournament. Friday was Big Fish Day, and the Newfane quartet took the $625 second prize. On Saturday, there were payoffs for first, second and third. They placed third, with an 80-pound total catch, for $1,000.

The quartet landed four fish on Sunday, with a total weight of 77 pounds, and won the tournament by 8 pounds.

“We grew up together most of lives,” Letcher said. “Dan and I have been friends for 35 years. We gave up softball for fish. We’ve won money before. We do a lot of tournament fishing in the lake.”

Dream Weaver lures sponsored the team.

The tournament was held at Port Dalhousie, and the teams were fishing for king and coho salmon. The team fished in the Niagara Bar, where the Niagara River empties into Lake Ontario.

Letcher, the captain of the team, piloted the 25-foot Pro-Line boat. The men upgraded to the 25-foot Pro-Line after they won a fully-equipped 18-foot Lund in the Thousand Dollars a Day Tournament in Canada five years ago.

Letcher works at Custom Laser in Lockport. Phipps is a vice president of a sales advertising agency. Hoffman works at BOC and Lockwood is a farrier. He shoes horses all over Northeast.

The fishermen donated the fish they caught on Saturday. Sunday’s fish have been frozen for a future feast.

“We eat fish out of lake,” Letcher said.

Contact reporter Bill Wolcott at 439-9222, ext. 6246.

        

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