Seneca, the derby, our story

[Adm Byrd]

I've fished the derby for 30 years, like many others it's a ritual. This year I got the boat out 2 weeks before Easter to get it ready for the season. First on the list was repair a stripped screw for my removable floor panel over the fuel tank (Penn Yan Fisherman). I brought home a small container of resin and a large drill bit to get the stripped wood out and the hole filled up. When I drilled I found out there was no wood left in that area of the stringer which led to finding rotted wood in front engine mount which led to a VERY spongy transom. By last monday I had the transom redone, 1 major & 2 minor stringer repairs done and the outdrive housing in with  new boots and a new steering cable. Tuesday night the engine went in, by friday I was finishing up and trying to find out what wiring I missed for the GPS to work. 5:00AM saturday Scott comes over and we load all my unrepaired gear & tackle from last season into the boat and hit the chamer launch about 6:15. We needed to recalibrate auto pilot and then we cruised out to Bellhurst drop off. We set up 2 leadcores and one thermalcline rod and sat down to see what wasn't going to work on the boat. We gave Les (Sk8man) a call and imediately got a hit on the rig, Scottbrings in a really good fish that we run back in to the chamber (11.66 lbs). Back out and fish the rest of the day picking up my other buddy at 1:30 and we ended up with 15 fish that averaged 7 1/2 - 8 lbs. Sunday we went back to the same area and didn't do anything till 8:30 then we got a 10 3/4 lb laker. Liney and I where trying to decide wether to run it or not but we procrastinated, about 9:30 talking to Les on the phone again we get another hit on a rig - good fish, a few minutes later we got the net under a 13+ lber. We start to clear lines and the other rig gets a hit, we leave it till other rods are in and I start horsing it up with the rod still in the holder, when I lift the rod out I realize this is a BIG fish as well. Liney unhooks the leaders and next to the bottom is another nice fish. 3 times it swam out of the net but we got it in, threw it in the cooler take another lakes off the bottom leader and headed for the weigh station, Neither of us gave a thought as to how big this fish was because the first one was huge for us. We carried the cooler in, put first fish on the scales, 13.09 and Liney and I both realized that the other fish in the cooler was bigger - 13.44 with the third one being 10.78. We sort of floated on air back to the boat and ONLY caught a couple more 7 - 8 lbers for the rest of the day. Monday was more to our normal speed with 8 hits, 3 fish and one of them maybe 6 - 7 lbs. Don't even talk about derbies this was our best ever fishing in Seneca by a long long stretch. What did we do different this year? Nothing other than not being prepared at all.

I don't know if I'm more amazed by the fish or the fact everything in the boat worked right.

 

Bob

[Frogger]

Bob great story and congrats on your success this weekend. Hope to see you down at the awards today.

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[Keep'n it Reel]

Awesome awesome awesome way to go that is a great story I'm glad all went well with the boat that is a major repair for sure congrats again on the awesome fish!!!

[blueghost1]

That is awesome Bob! Felt bad for you Thursday when you called and said the boat wasnt ready. What a derby for you! Sorry I missed you when you stopped by the campsite sunday eve we had taken the kids for ice cream. Congrats again!

[Senecalake27]

What did you catch them on? Suttons or other spoons?? How deep were you when they went off?

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[Sk8man]

I feel especially lucky this year despite not landing in the standings....despite a couple 10 pounder lakers and smaller fish as well. Two of my long term (more than 30 plus years) fishing buddies scored big time this year. Admiral Byrd (Bob Boerjan) and Gary Hoppy. To hear the excitement in both their voices (separately) while discussing things has been a plus for me as these results have been a long time coming for these two very competent fishermen. This derby was was exceptional in terms of the sizes of the fish for Seneca Lake or any of the Finger Lakes for that matter. Some of the fish that barely missed placing in the standings at all would have won some of the past derbies.  Catching any trout over 12 pounds on Seneca or the other Finger Lakes is a major accomplishment and catching two 13 pound plus lakers and others over 11 pounds is exceptional and not something attributable to "luck". Gary Hoppy's 15 pound plus laker is the culmination of many years of paying his dues, putting in the time, attention to detail and proof to me that "Old School" (e.g. Seth Green rig fishing) is still very much alive and well in the Finger Lakes and that all the newest and fanciest equipment isn't always (if at all) the most relevant variable or absolutely necessary for success because with both of these guys cases it was very much "experience and knowledge" that separated them from the 'luck" variable. Apparently Bob was shy about posting a pic of himself or Liney with their fish so I'll do it (also his boat mentioned above) . For those of you who know Gary (from Ovid NY area) here is a pic his wife took of him at the awards ceremony and another with me ( I must have been desperate for attention ).  By the way the separation of the overall winner (15 lb plus Brown Trout) and Gary's  Laker was just ounces making a $3,000 difference in the prize money and it is another reminder of why it can be important to weigh fish immediately too. By the way, I had always thought that the Lie Detector (Polygraph) test that is mentioned on the entry form was just BS to scare potential wannabe cheaters but Gary confirmed that he was actually given a polygraph test and so was the overall winner and that very specific questions were asked regarding the integrity of the catch and the process of catching it.... I was kinda surprised because as many derbies as I have fished I have never actually known someone who was given the test. Certainly adds to the integrity of the derby regardless of one's perception of the validity of a polygraph. 

Edited May 27, 2014 by Sk8man

[Adm Byrd]

Sorry I missed you as well Kevin, I came down to Sampson to talk with you, Mitch (Line Stretcher) and John (Anxious Angler from Massachusetts) and I missed all of you, that stunk. Trying to get my son to come home for Canandaigua, he has a knack for catching fish there.

We caught fish on silver streaks, northport nailers, finger lakes spoons and evil eyes. We had 2 evil eyes crushed by trout (literally) and was very impressed with the finger lakes spoons. We worked in 150 - 220 fow most of the time, active fish where very deep.

Bob

[Keep'n it Reel]

I feel especially lucky this year despite not landing in the standings. Two of my long term (more than 30 plus years) fishing buddies scored big time this year. Admiral Byrd (Bob Boerjan) and Gary Hoppy. To hear the excitement in both their voices while discussing things has been a real shot in the arm for me as these results have been a long time coming for these two very competent fishermen. This derby was was exceptional in terms of the sizes of the fish for Seneca Lake or any of the Finger Lakes for that matter. Some of the fish that barely missed placing in the standings at all would have won some of the past derbies. Catching any trout over 12 pounds on Seneca or the other Finger Lakes isa major accomplishment and catching two 13 pound plus lakers and others over 11 pounds is exceptional and not something attributable to "luck". Gary Hoppy's 15 pound plus laker is the culmination of many years of paying his dues, putting in the time, attention to detail and proof to me that "Old School" (e.g. Seth Green rig fishing) is still very much alive and well in the Finger Lakes and that all the newest and fanciest equipment isn't always (if at all) the most relevant variable or absolutely necessary for success it is in both of these guys cases very much "experience and knowledge" that separated them from the 'luck" variable. Apparently Bob was shy about posting a pic of himself with the fish so I'll do it. For those of you who know Gary (from Ovid NY area) here is a pic his wife took of us at the awards ceremony. He is on the right in the blue shirt. By the way the separation of the overall winner (15 lb plus Brown Trout) and Gary's Laker was just ounces making a $3,000 difference in the prize money and it is another reminder of why it can be important to weigh fish immediately too. By the way, I had always thought that the Lie Detector (Polygraph) test that is mentioned on the entry form was just BS to scare potential wannabe cheaters but Gary confirmed that he was actually given a polygraph test and so was the overall winner and that very specific questions were asked regarding the integrity of the catch and the process of catching it.... I was kinda surprised because as many derbies as I have fished I have never actually known someone who was given the test. Certainly adds to the integrity of the derby regardless of one's perception of the validity of a polygraph.

i received the lie director test when I won 1st place brown as well a few years ago a

[Sk8man]

Did you pass Joe?   Just kidding....

[rbonnell]

Very nice pics congrats to all that placed

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[Keep'n it Reel]

Why yes sir I did lol that was on bait as well grew up drift fishing saw bellies as you said sometimes it may be better to go back to the basics and keep things simple

[ERABBIT]

Nice  ...... how hard is it for you to keep Sk8man  inline............  

[BrookTrout]

exciting story, congrats!

[Adm Byrd]

Ed,

We haven't met yet but I can see a great ball bursting fishing trip in our future with Les. I hate to admit this but he started teaching me how to get addicted to fishing around 1980. He didn't know much then but fortunately for him I new even less.

This was our best fishing weekend on Seneca ever and I will be happy just remembering it for the rest of my life - god I hope I don't get alzheimer's!! Les, did I spell it right?

Bob

[Sk8man]

  Yes but it needs to be capitalized Bob!   It was worthwhile just seeing you guys get that excited this time pulling in those huge fish right under the nose of all those guys fishing around us

[ERABBIT]

I could see where he could give you some great inside info on the lake ......heck he was there when it was dug out.....       ........

[LakerTaker85]

Great story ! When I saw the standings after Sunday and how close that huge laker was I almost passed out!! What a great derby filled with huge fish! Hopefully the rest of this season will be just as good

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