cinnamon fish

One of the guys in the derby committee told me, not yet official, but approximately 259 entries this year.

Love hearing about these monster/record fish!

The derby has Ric Cleveland/Flint Creek do their mounts.

Yeah, that's truly nuts!

Harvey, the derby committee told me they were planning to contact the DEC about finding the age of the fish via a certain bone in the fish, similar to the rings on a tree. That's what they did 2 years ago when the 29 lb laker was caught. But I guess they have to time it with the taxidermist doing his thing. So, might be awhile.

Very cool to know, thanks so much for sharing!

Thank you, Les! I'm still in shock that I caught it. Probably will be for awhile. Means a lot to me you guys saying such nice things. I've learned a lot on this site, and from fellow fisherman in the area, and my dad, thank you guys!

Thanks so much for sharing this knowledge and article! Sk8man tells me he knows of an 18 pound rainbow also caught in Naples Creek when he was in high school. But if I really caught the largest rainbow from the lake, not creek, that would be amazing to know. And hearing multiple times Canandaigua is known for the largest rainbows in the finger lakes, I wonder if the fish I caught could be the largest rainbow from any finger lake? Doesn't matter too much, but sure would be cool to know. I think the derby committee may be looking into it as well. And they might have the DEC investigate the age of the fish too.

Sk8man wrote to me privately and I responded and this is most of what the weekend looked like for me... Saturday morning I drove the boat all the way up to the north end and had 2 big fish break off early. Not sure what they were. After that I slowly trolled my way down the lake and caught 11 lakers to 6 pounds, 4 rainbows to 4 pounds and 1 big yellow perch but nothing worth weighing. Sunday morning I decided to stay on the south end for a bit and that rainbow was the first bite I had about 6:30am approximately 1 mile north of the Woodville launch on the west side. 45 feet of water approximately 20 ft. down... on one of my little 3 way swivel rigs. 8 lb mono mainline to a very small 3 way swivel, bottom eye to a 5 ft light line with a 3 oz weight and side eye to a 6 ft 10 lb fluoro leader to a reel rage watermelon spoon. Similar to a Seth Green rig, but only 1 spoon and very small swivels and lighter weight to stay higher in the water column. Hard long run right away, dumped 3/4 of my spinning reel then jumped 4 ft out of water off in the distance. Knew it was big but too far away to tell how big. After that, steady pressure, a few shorter runs and inched him closer over about 15 min while he stayed near the surface. He went deeper near the boat but thank god he was tired by then and I got him up and netted him. Barely fit in my net, 36.75 inches. Also, lucky it was early morning before the wind picked up. What a thrill! I have to thank guys like Les and others on here who have shared so much valuable information that I've absorbed. I've been fishing my whole life but grew up mostly fishing saltwater with my father and I only became addicted to fishing the finger lakes in the past 8 years or so. I feel so overwhelmed and thankful that I found this fish of a lifetime. I just love the mysteries of what lurks in these amazing waters!

Well said guys! I love the event and challenge. Even a modest Rainbow brought me $1500 one year and I think it's up to $2k now. Love to find one of those big landlocks. Good luck to all fishing!

Bear said he only had one small salmon come into the weigh in. Lots of rainbows and some browns.

So great!

Planning on it, always a great time!

I'll take Lot A

Thanks Harvey. I'll probably bring it, appreciate it.

ttt

PM sent

Still for sale

ttt

still available

I'll take them!