Published: July 21, 2008 10:46 pm            

OUTDOORS: Gasport woman wins Summer Derby

Carrie Choate of Gasport, a 10th grade math teacher at Wilson High School, won the $7,500 grand prize in the second annual Summer Lake Ontario Counties Trout and Salmon Derby with a 31-pound, 14-ounce king salmon.

Choate was fishing with her husband, Todd, and their four children off the red barn between Wilson and Olcott, a favorite fish hangout. They were trolling a chartreuse Bechold Flasher and a Familiarbite Alewife with a chartreuse baithead behind a wire dipsy diver 220 feet back on a No. 1 setting over 200 feet of water. They estimated the bait to be down about 65 feet down when the trophy hit.

“I fought the fish a good 45 minutes before we finally got it into our boat,” said Choate before a packed house at Abe’s Waterfront in Sodus Point. When they netted the fish and pulled it into “Lit L Bit Cra Z,” a 28-foot Baha that they run out of McDonough Marina in Olcott, the first words out of her mouth were: “Holy (Cow)! That’s a big one!”

No question, when asked at the awards ceremony, she said that it was the biggest king of her life. It came at a great time for her, but not a good time for Tom Allen of Oswego.

Allen led the derby for the better part of three weeks with a 29-pound, 9-ounce king that hit a green E-Chip flasher and a No. 23 Green Crinkle A-tom-Mik fly. He was fishing with Capt. Tom Germain of Oswego out of their home port, trolling their preferred bait 125 feet down over 270 feet of water. Allen, who owns A-Tom-Mik Flies, fought the fish 25 minutes before he landed the lunker.

Top youth was a 28-pound, 8-ounce king salmon reeled in by 12-year-old Ryan Bobzin of Rochester. He was fishing with captains Bob Holden and his son, Bill, while fishing out of Sandy Creek aboard “Fishing Fanatic.” They caught the fish just west of Braddock’s Bay 70 feet down over 134 feet of water with a Mountain Dew Stinger spoon. The fish ended up in third place overall.

First place brown trout was a 15-pound, 10-ounce fish reeled in by Mike Engle of Hamlin. He was fishing with Joe Bianchi of Gates and they were trying their luck out of Sandy Creek on July 13. At 8:30 a.m., they were trolling a Silver Streak spoon 45 feet down over 50 feet of water when the brownie hit. The spoon color was a gold spook pattern. Engle’s “Coyote Ugly” boat also produced a 12th-place brown trout the same day when Bianchi hauled in a 13 pound, 6-ounce brown.

In the lake trout division, it was the Battle at the Bar between the Barber boat, the Klejdys clan and the Turton twosome — the Niagara Bar, that is. By the time the smoke had cleared, it was Richard Barber of Niagara Falls standing at the top of the hill with 21-pound, 7-ounce laker he hauled in from the Bar while trolling Hammerhead cowbells and a chartreuse Spin-N-Glo.

“I was fishing with my brother, Pat, and we had just trolled past our spot,” said Barber, a machinist. “We were turning around when one rod went off and there was nothing there. The next rod went off and this winner was on the line, boating it at 7:30 a.m.”

Their 17 1/2-foot Crestliner, known affectionately as “The Killer B’s” on the Bar, also produced a third-place fish with Diane Barber and a seventh-place fish with Pat. Ed Klejdys of North Tonawanda came up just an ounce short of beating the Barbers, hauling in a 21-pound, 6-ounce fish from the same area. His son, Steve, ended up in fourth. Roger Turton of Sanborn finished in fifth with a 19 pounder and his son, Robert, ended up in eighth place. That makes seven of the top eight lake trout from the same general area from three different families. The battle continues during the Fall Derby, set for Aug. 15 to Sept 1.

The first-place steelhead was caught by Mark Chybinski of Altmar with a 15-pound, 15-ounce fish manhandled off Oswego. He was fishing with Tom Wojslaw of Central Square and Fred Schneider of Central Square in over 600 feet of water with their Fish Hawk team. They were trolling 400 feet of copper wire with a Spin Doctor and an A-Tom-Mik Mirage Glow Fly when the steelie hit and it almost spooled them out.

Top youth in the Steelhead Division was Cody Osborne of Albion, weighing in a 12-pound, 12-ounce trout while fishing out of Point Breeze. He was using a Northern King spoon and finished in 11th place.

Empire State-Lake Ontario Promotions will present “The Return of the King” — the Fall Lake Ontario Counties Trout and Salmon Derby — Aug. 15 to Sept. 1. The grand prize is a whopping $20,000. For more information, log on to www.loc.org or call (888) REEL-2-IN.



Junior big-game hunting license bill needs support

Probably the most important piece of legislation as it relates to the future of hunting in the Empire State is now on Gov. David Paterson’s desk. Assembly bill A-11033 and S-8228 — the Junior Hunting/Trapper Mentor Bill — would establish a junior big-game hunting license, allowing 14 and 15 year olds to hunt big game with a shotgun. They must be under the supervision of a parent, guardian or youth mentor who is at least 21 years of age with at least three years of hunting experience.

“I don’t need to tell you the importance a junior big-game license will have in promoting the sport of hunting, conservation and hunter safety to a new generation of sportsmen,” said Assemblywoman Francine DelMonte, one of the sponsors of the bill in the Assembly.

Thanks to her hard work, 65 of her colleagues in the Assembly supported this legislation, something that’s been talked about for decades. Previously, this would always stall in committee in the Assembly and timing has never been better for this bill to pass the final hurdle — the governor’s signature.

At the time of this writing, the bill still hadn’t been signed so make the extra effort to fax a letter off to Albany as soon as possible. Faxes should be sent to 518-486-9652 and 518-486-9693. We need your support. We’ve said it before many times in this column, New York is the most restrictive state in the country when it comes to minimum age requirements for big-game hunters. This bill would bring us a little more in line with some other states and give junior hunters an opportunity to hunt big game here.

Many thanks go out to Assemblywoman DelMonte for all her hard work in the Assembly and to Sen. George Maziarz for all his efforts in the Senate for the same cause. From a sportsman’s issue standpoint, there isn’t a better one-two punch in Albany from any area in the state. Now get writing and faxing!

        

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