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“THINKIN BIG” Lives Up To Name With Spring LOC Derby Grand Prize Catch

By Bill Hilts, Jr.

It was a spring fishing frenzy like no other as far as the Lake Ontario Counties (LOC) Trout and Salmon Fishing Derby was concerned. Held May 11-20, the lakewide contest experienced a flurry of fishing action that turned the traditional final results upside down – starting with the $15,000 Grand Prize salmon catch coming from Oswego.
“We had some great salmon fishing straight out of the harbor in Oswego,” said Daniel Manti of Cortland, who reeled in the winning fish on May 12.. Our ‘Thinkin’ BIG Fishing Team’ worked together to pull off the Grand Prize win.” The team was made up of Rodney Brown of Baldwinsville, Jerry Brown of Lafayette and John Emmons of Memphis, fishing out of Rodney and Jerry’s 29-foot Baha “Thinkin’ Big.” The boat name couldn’t have been more appropriate.
“At 7:30 a.m. we were trolling in 60-feet of water using six colors of lead core line to get our Diehard Michigan Stinger spoon down about 25 feet,” he told the awards ceremony at Bald Eagle Marina May 20. “At one point the king was wrapped around a downrigger cable and another line. Thanks to some quick work by the team, we were able to get the fish to the net. We knew it was a big fish so we pulled the rods and ran in … an hour early. The weigh station didn’t open until 9 a.m.”
Salmon fishing has been very good this spring and anglers have been catching kings from one end of the lake to the other. In fact, 5 different counties were represented on the leaderboard in the Salmon Division, something that has been unheard of. The last 10 spring Grand Prize winners came from Niagara County. This year, while more than half of the winners came from the Western hotspot, the highest-ranking catch came in at 4th place.
First place in the Salmon Division was Brandon White of Spencerport with a 23-pound, 12-ounce Rochester king. He was fishing with Capt. Kip Mammano of Rochester Sportfishing out of the Genesee River on May 13. They were fishing in 50 feet of water just west of the river using four colors of lead core line off a planer board and rigged with a Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnow. It took them 45 minutes to reel in the $2,000 fish, the biggest king he’s ever caught in the spring. Also on board the 275 Kingfisher was Joe Coon of Webster and Muriel Cunningham of Penfield.
Second place salmon, good for a check for $1,000, was a 23-pound, 4-ounce king reeled in by Chuck Penrose of Boyertown, Penn. He was fishing with Capt. Ken Krott of Reading, Penn. with Lip Ripper Charters in front of the Oswego Power Plant on opening day at 5:38 p.m. The fish hit a Michigan Stinger NBK spoon 35 feet down over 120 feet of water. Also on board the 30-foot Starcraft was Bill Geiger, Jr. and Bill Geiger III, both from Barto, Penn. It was Penrose’s biggest king he’s ever caught in the lake and only his second year of fishing the derby.
In the Brown Trout Division, first place went to Capt. Chris Vogt of Albion with an 18-pound, 1-ounce trout he caught out of his home base (Bald Eagle Marina, Kendall). “It was pure luck,” Vogt told the awards attendees. “I tried to go turkey hunting in the morning and the bird weren’t cooperating so I called my brother Bill (of Conesus) and asked him if he wanted to go fishing. We met at my boat and headed out at 3 p.m. As we were putting out tackle out in 12 feet of water, the outside board had a fish hit a chrome and black Bomber that was 120 feet back. It was the biggest brown I’ve ever caught in the lake so we came back and weighed it in. We went back out and never caught another fish.” What’s that saying about rather being lucky than good? Or maybe being in the right place at the right time would be more appropriate! It was good for $1,000.
In the Lake Trout Division, Steve Klejdys of North Tonawanda did it again, adding another first place trophy to his mantle at home. This time it was a 22-pound, 5 ounce laker that took the top prize of $1,000. He was fishing his home waters on the Niagara Bar using a spin-n-glow to work the bottom in 85 feet of water when the fish hit. His father Ed placed third with a 20-pound, 3-ounce lake trout caught on the same bait in 100 feet of water on the Bar. Green was the hot color pattern and both fish were caught between 10 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. out of their 19-foot Monarch boat.
Second place lake trout was reeled in by Scott Libihoul of Clay with a 21-pound, 3-ounce fish. It was the biggest lake trout of his life, caught while fishing with Rich Redsicker of Ontario and Chris Hook of Macedon aboard Redsicker’s 25-foot Proline named “Salmon-illa.” They were fishing on May 16 at high noon using a cowbell and a peanut in green and silver on the bottom in 137 feet of water between Pultneyville and the Ginna power plant. It was the first lake trout of the day when they switched the program from brown trout.
In the Walleye Division, a category normally owned by the Eastern Basin of the lake in the spring, it was Harry Crannell of Queensbury setting the pace with a 12-pound, 1-ounce Niagara Bar fish that took the top prize. “We were fishing for salmon and trout on May 16 around 4:30 p.m. with a silver and orange Sutton-clone spoon when we caught the big walleye,” said Crannell at the awards gathering.
He was fishing with Matthew Glebus of Port Henry aboard a 20-foot Alumaweld Intruder using 100 feet of 20-pound Blood Run walleye copper in 25 feet of water to just tick the bottom with the Plasma 44 custom-taped spoon. After catching more than 150 salmon and trout for the week, the walleye came as a pleasant surprise. It was worth $1,000.
Second place walleye was an 11-pound, 7-ounce Oswego River fish reeled in by Jim Stanski of Fulton. He caught it at 1:30 a.m. while trolling with Jessica Derycke of Fulton. He was long lining a black and silver F-18 Rapala 75 feet back in 10-12 feet of water.
Total cash payout in the Spring LOC Derby was $44,350.
For a complete leaderboard, check out www.loc.org. Next contest up on the LOC Derby docket is the Summer Derby set for June 30 to July 29. Grand Prize is $10,000 for the largest king salmon. ... See MoreSee Less

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