Published: May 12, 2008 11:19 pm            

HILTS: Shreve wins LOC Derby with 28-pound salmon

Todd Shreve of Dover, Pa., a construction estimator by trade, won the 12th Annual Spring Lake Ontario Counties Trout and Salmon Derby in spectacular fashion by reeling in a 28-pound, 11-ounce king salmon on the final day of the contest to earn a check for $12,500 and the grand prize trophy. He was fishing out of Point Breeze in Orleans County with his fishing partners Mike Geiger of Wellsboro, Pa., and Steve Gerloff of Douglassville, Pa. The derby was held May 2 to 11.

After spending some time fishing in Wilson, Geiger took his 22-foot Wellcraft (aptly named “This Is It” after his wife told him it was his final boat purchase) to a favorite spot off Johnson Creek west of Point Breeze. Terry Williams, owner of North of the Ridge Campground in Orleans County, was credited with the secret location.

When they reached the honey hole, they placed a black and purple Pro King spoon 35 feet down over 160 feet of water. At 6:30 a.m. they experienced a hard hit off the downrigger and they immediately knew it was a good fish. They pulled in all the other rods and slowed things down. The fish put up a valiant fight as it pulled the lure to the bottom four times with Shreve battling the fish all the way. A half-hour later, he had his derby winning fish. They were at the Point Breeze weigh station, Narby’s Superette and Tackle, when the scales opened at 9 a.m. and proprietor Sharon Narburgh was wide eyed when she shouted out. This was a huge spring king, big enough to make the board in last fall’s LOC competition.

“It is our honor and privilege to fish a world class fishery like Lake Ontario,” said Geiger at the awards ceremony at Abe’s Waterfront in Sodus Point, Wayne County. “It truly is a great place to fish.”

Shreve had no plans for the prize money other than they were going to be splitting it up among the team.

While Shreve and his fish partners were celebrating, there was another celebration of sorts going on in Youngstown, Niagara County. Brian Brehm of Erie, Colo., had been fishing his first LOC Derby on the Niagara Bar with derby veterans David Levan of North Collins and 78-year old Jerry Levan of Cheektowaga when a big fish hit the Forrest Gump Fishlander magnum spoon behind a dipsy diver at 5 a.m. They had been targeting lake trout, but they recognized that this was a big fish. Just how big wouldn’t be revealed until they arrived at Petroy Marina in Youngstown, an official weigh station for the derby. A half hour fight on the water saw a massive lake trout hit the net. The scale read 26 pounds, 12 ounces — big enough to take over the lead. Little did they know that Shreve was weighing in his huge king, so their celebration was short-lived. First place was worth $1,000. Still, the lake trout was an impressive catch, as was the king.

The prior grand prize leader had been Duane Knapp of Addison with a 26-pound, 3-ounce fish he boated out of Olcott. He had been fishing with Paul Pasko of Troy, Pa., and Del Knapp of Gillett, Pa., when the weather got rough on the lake. Right next to them in the Town of Newfane Marina was Capt. Chris LoPresti and his father, Mike in their 10 Meter Trojan named “Maverick.” They agreed to give it a go aboard LoPresti’s boat and began trolling northwest of the harbor off the Red Barn. The first place salmon hit a Northern King 28 Frog spoon 200 feet back on a dipsy diver set at No. 2. They, too, earned $1,000.

The first place brown trout was quite a story, too. Robert Briggs of Belle Mead, N.J., was fishing with his friend, Len Garriques of Belvidere, N.J., while trolling out of Sandy Pond, aboard Len’s 24-foot Grady White named “Heartbeat.” On Tuesday, they snagged a lure off the bottom that they would later find out was a Renosky firetiger stickbait. They put it down in the water and immediately caught an 8-1/2 pound rown trout. The next day, fishing the same area, they put the newly-acquired bait into 11 feet of water. At 9:30 a.m., they boated a 13 pound, eight ounce fish — a brown that would hold on to be a $1,000 winner.

The first place steelhead was another winning fish that almost wasn’s. Larry Daggett of Guilford, Maine, was fishing with Allen Cole, Jr. of Brewer, Maine, and Capt. Frank Peckham of Hampden, Maine. Trolling out of Point Breeze aboard Peckham’s 22-foot Starcraft Islander, they were working 120 feet of water with a dipsy diver on Tuesday morning when a fish hit their Northern King blue dolphin spoon 125 feet back on a No. 2 setting. They figured it was a king salmon that weighed between 16 and 17 pounds, not big enough to make the board. When they showed up at the fish cleaning station, someone there told them that it was a nice steelhead, so they took it down to Captain’s Cove to check it out. The fish weighed in at 16 pounds, nine ounces — hours after they caught it. Yes, it was a steelhead! This was Daggett’s first time fishing the LOC Derby, but it wasn’s the first time for his fishing partners. Daggett is $1,000 richer and he’ll be back.

Not too many youth weighed in fish this year. Bobby Lorentz of Rochester did manage to place 20th in the Lake Trout Division with a 15-pound, four-ounce fish he caught while fishing off Wilson. The Summer LOC Derby kicks off on May 23rd and runs through July 20th. The Fall LOC Derby is set for August 15th through Sept. 1. For more information on the LOC derbies or to see the full leaderboard for the May 2-11 Spring event, log on to www.loc.org.

Derby Notes: Of the top 21 salmon caught in the derby, 18 of the winning catches came from off Niagara County waters. All top 20 lake trout came from Niagara County ports, as well. Four of the top nine steelhead came from Niagara, as well.

Bill Hilts Jr. is the outdoor sports specialist with the Niagara Tourism and Convention Corporation. Contact him at bhiltsjr69@cs.com.

        

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