NYS 2008 Seneca Lake Trout Derby

Reel Draggin' Tackle · 05-26-2008, 07:43 PM

NY State Seneca Lake Trout Derby Report
On Friday afternoon, 23 May 2008 Karen and I were leaving our work place in Washington DC, headed home for the long weekend. Our weekend commitments had changed at the last minute, and we found ourselves free for the weekend. We made a snap decision to head north to upstate New York. My brother Dan, Captain of a 21 foot Starcraft fishing machine, was entered in a Trout Derby on Seneca Lake in NY State, and he was short handed. We packed our bags in 45 min and made the run north up through the mountains of Pennsylvania to Watkins Glenn, NY, and up the east side of Seneca Lake to Sampson State Park where a primitive fishing camp had been established for the weekend. Due to traffic delays, we arrived around 11pm, and immediately hit the sack; wake up call was 4am.

Day-1
Capt Dan had the boat ready and waiting, having spent the night aboard ensuring everything was in good order for the planned Trout Assault. We promptly cleared the inlet at daybreak and headed north. Aboard we had: Capt Dan Lahr, Vince Lahr, Ken Lahr and Dan’s son Noah (. Arriving at our destination a short time later, we put lines out in 80 feet of water. The tackle of choice was silver spoons and shiners dressed with nose spinners. Capt. Dan’s spread was quite impressive, consisting of eight poles yet totaling something like 17 hooked lines. Quite impressive for a 21 foot boat with an 8’6” beam! I was going to have to learn fast to be an asset vice an obstacle in this cock pit! The bite was on almost as soon as we had the spread out. We bailed Lake Trout without a break until 11am, when it slowed to a pick here and there. Pulling lines around 1230pm, we ran back to Sampson to do a crew swap. We had some impressive trout in the box, ranging from 4.5 pounds to 6.5 pounds. The numbers on the leader board indicated that the lake was giving up some big fish. We needed bigger fish to get on the board. Noah was replaced by Dan’s daughter Sara, Vince went ashore and Dan’s wife Beth joined us for the afternoon. Fishing slowed down, but we continued to pick off quality trout throughout the day, all between 4 and 7 pounds. We finished day one at 9pm with lots of quality fish, but we didn’t make the board. Again tonight Capt Dan stayed aboard the boat, studying charts, re-rigging tackle and developing the next days plan.
Day-2
Again, we cleared the inlet at daybreak with the same morning crew. However, we had a new twist; there were no live shiners to be had at any bait shop on the lake. We had plenty of floaters, so using some super nice live bait rigs made by Capt Dan; we rigged dead bait vice live bait. Today we headed to fish structure in the deep section of the lake (over 400 ft). We set lines deep and shallow, and the fishing was slow but steady. We immediately noticed that the quality of fish was much better, so we pressed on. Noah boated a nice 8.19 pounder, and we had two larger ones in sight of the net, but they lived to see another day. At the end of day 2, the leader was over 13 pounds. Noah was on the board for 3rd place at the end of day 2. Congrats Noah, NICE FISH, and great job getting him to the boat!
Day-3
The third day is a short fishing day, ending at noon. Capt Dan took Noah, Sara and Vince back to the deep early Monday morning. Again, the pick was slow but steady on some very nice lake trout ranging from 4.5 to Sara’s 7 pounder that almost got her 4th place! Nice fish Sara!!

We would also like to give a shout out to the camp cooks, and helpers, Gloria, Kathy, Beth and Karen. Kathy baked a whole trout in the fire that was truly outstanding and the rest of the gals made sure we didn’t go hungry, or thirsty while on the high seas of Seneca Lake. Double thumbs up to Beth who also put her time in on the second crew shift and bringing in some very nice lake trout.

The 2008 Derby was a great success with the lake yielding bigger fish than has been seen in recent years. The weather was nice and the water temperatures ranged from 45 to 52 degrees. Nice fishing guys and gals, it was a great time we look forward to next year!

Capt Ken & Karen

I will be posting pictures soon...

Capt Dans Starcraft, what a fishing machine!

Vince bringing one of the many Lake Trout boated this weekend:

Capt Dan releasing this nice pike:

Sara, age 7 bringing in a nice 7 pound laker!

Hoping this one is good to get Sara's name on the board:

Another one gets close to the boat:

Noah (age 8), headed for the weigh in scales:

And Noah is ON THE BOARD!

Reel Draggin' Tackle · 05-27-2008, 05:27 PM

If your reading this and your not a member, take a few seconds to join NB$ so you can respond, its free!

spikehorn · 05-27-2008, 06:13 PM

Thanks for the report!

Your report brought back many memories, I used to fish this derby with my Dad and brother in the 70's.

Reel Draggin' Tackle · 05-27-2008, 06:25 PM

Those were the days of the 17 to 20# lake trout winners. I grew up in Geneva.

spikehorn · 05-28-2008, 07:58 PM

Quote:

Those were the days of the 17 to 20# lake trout winners.

Unfortunately, none on our boat ...

I grew up in Ontario. Once the trout / salmon were established in L. Ontario, we didn't travel to Seneca.

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