Wayne County Life

7 year-old Kyle Enger with his 1.5 lb largemouth bass which was caught on Sunday, June 26th. The fish was released after being weighed. The Enger family is from Connecticut.

SUBMITTED by Mary Mastracy (27-Jun-2011)

The brown trout are still cruising the Lake Ontario shoreline, and anglers are currently out in full force looking for the warmest water temperatures, which guarantees trout action. A 29.9 pound king was hooked Sunday, June 25 near Hughes’ Marina, while a 14 pound brown made it to the scales during the LOC Summer Derby… Two lunkers in the same day!


In the bays, the action is also fast and furious with perch in the pound class. Walleye and pike are also in abundance and have been hitting since the opener on May 7th. The angling experience continues in another phenomenal Wayne County fishing season. The only ingredient for a great time is some young energetic youngsters.

“If you need an activity that will involve the entire family and you enjoy angling, Wayne County is your ‘fishing Mecca,’” states Chris Kenyon, Outdoor Recreation Coordinator for the Wayne County Office of Tourism. “This year our 5GrandSlam and Merchants Challenge Youth Fishing Derby celebrates its 13th season, and I believe we are in store for some excellent fishing. Last season we had a record number of youngsters (90) registered for the contest.”

Here’s how the derby works. The Merchants Challenge Division requires anglers to catch the five species of warm water fish; pike, perch, walleye, largemouth, and smallmouth bass. After qualifying they can add to their total weight by registering larger species. The GrandSlam Division species are; Chinook, Coho, steelhead, brown, and lake trout. The Species Challenge allows anglers to enter any one of the ten species. No qualifying is necessary in the Species Division.

To enter the Youth Division, a child must be between the ages of 4-16, at the time of registration. There will be two age categories – Youth ages 4-7 & ages 8-16. Entry fee is $5.00.

The only change for this year’s contest is: all perch caught must have a minimum weight of 6 ounces.

The event kicked-off May 7th and continues through August 17th.Tickets are available at all bait and tackle shops in Wayne County. The county web page lists the complete rules and regulations and will feature a continuing leader board during the entire derby. www.waynecountytourism.com . For more information call Wayne County Tourism at 1-800-527-6510.

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