Day one of the Northern Chautauqua Conservation Club Walleye Derby was a rough one.

Jim Plinzke, Captain of Team 90, was the first one at the weigh station, which opened at 2 p.m. Plinzke commented he started his day fishing out of the Cattaraugus Creek and ended up in the area fishermen refer to as the “Ditch.” There was some residual wave action left over from Thursday’s small craft warning weather, but it was fishable until about between 10 and 10:30 a.m., when it seemed like someone threw a grenade in the lake and the wave action really kicked in and continued to build. Team 90 weighed in five walleye with the heaviest fish being a 7.61-pounder.

Team 20 Captain, Ron Duliba, was up next with a respectable box of three fish which tallied 20.82 pounds. They boated 20 fish, with walleye taken on the down riggers, wire line and dipseys. They commented they had four fish on at once, but their heaviest fish weighed 7.71.

Team 26, led by Captain Donald Denzel, raised the bar on big fish, weighing in two 8-pounders that combined with their third walleye for a 23.51-pound total. They fished 90 feet of water using black and purple Bay Rat stick baits and a fire tiger renosky presented on six colors of lead core line, one dipsey diver and two down riggers.

Team 31, led by Captain Dennis Gaul, took the big fish lead with an 8.22 walleye and two other heavy fish for a 22.51-pound total. Team 4, which consisted of Jamie, Dennis and Paul Pomietlasz, took a commanding lead for big box of fish weighing in a 23.77-pound total. They had a total of seven fish for Friday taken on stick baits.

Team 80, lead by Captain Paul Soper Jr., reported the first 9-pounder, weighing in a 9.05-pound walleye, and a total weight of 19.34 pounds. Team 30, lead by Jim Dolly Sr., could not beat the 9-pounder, but their three walleye tallied 23.56 pounds, just under the Pomietlasz team.

Team 35, led by Captain Don Ruppert, likewise, weighed in three nice fish for a total of 22.22 pounds. Team 97, led by Bernie Lewandowski, took the big fish lead with a 9.27-pound walleye and a total weight of 21.53 pounds. Team 8, lead by Captain Elsaesser, fished out of Barcelona and found one big fish, a 9.03-pounder that put his team in third place for the big fish prize – at least for awhile.

There was a lot of activity at the weigh station for the first two hours, as Gregg Marzec, Steve Ball, Mike Munson, Ken Seibert, Don Mullen, Adam Zwack, Barry Ball, Jared Meyer, Daryll MacNeil, Gary Marcinkowski, Tom Slawatycki, Arnold Moore, Gene Strianese, Dennis Buczkowski, Chuck Simpson, Robert O’Rourke, Vincent Costello and Jack Shaw, weighed in three fish totals of at least 20 pounds.

Then, Team 99, led by Captain Tim Schrantz, took the lead with a 10.34-pound walleye, and two other fish, for a 23.97-pound total. Schrantz’s 10 pounder reportedly was the first fish to hit, smacking a worm harness while the group fished north. It was not all smooth sailing either in the chop, as the guys reported having to contend with a tangle on the planner board lead core rod that made the trip a challenge.

Team 27, led by David Levan, took the total-box lead when they weighed in a 9.66-pound walleye and two other heavy fish for a 24.06-pound total that held up as the heaviest three-fish box for Friday. It was getting close to the end of the day when two other teams came to the scales.

Team 5, led by Dennis Alguire, had a total weight of 23.75 pounds, taking fifth place for total weight, only to be nudged out by Team 21, which was led by Garry Olsen, whose team weighed-in the third-heaviest walleye of the day, a 9.53 pounder and a three-fish total weight of 23.86 pounds.

Today is day two and the weather has the potential to get scary, with more wind and possible thunderstorms. There are 12 other teams with total weights of at least 19 pounds, seven with 18 pounds or more and a lot of good fishermen competing in this event. A lot can change in a day or two.

The scales open from 2 until 6 p.m., and the public is invited to attend the event, have some food, a beverage and enjoy the fish tales. Look for coverage in the Sunday edition of the OBSERVER.