Chairman Zen Olow kicked off the pre-contest captain’s meeting at the Northern Chautauqua County Conservation (NCCC) clubhouse on Thursday, citing the official rules and regulations for the competition where 94 teams registered for the three-day weekend fishing contest. The Con Club Derby has become a favorite among the many fishing Lake Erie walleye contests for anglers near and far, with old friends coming together to share a tasty hot dog, hamburger and the cheerful banter of conversation not to include guarded fishing secrets. Details of where and how fish were caught are among the most significant secrets. In a contest where the top 30 teams are separated by a mere 4 pounds on Day 2, mum was the typical word regarding lure types, colors and sizes, but good, old-fashioned jokes were flying, and laughter and banter were hearty.

In this Friday, Saturday and Sunday contest, each team is allowed to register as many as five team members, but teams must have at least two, and no more than four, members on board the boat when fishing. Olow and his tournament committee crew issued 10 yellow-colored cable ties to each boat captain.

Each team is allowed to weigh three walleyes per competition day, and each of the three walleyes coming to the weighmaster must be identified with a cable tie attached to the fish. That allows for one spare cable tie in case of a cable tie malfunction. In addition, the fish presented at weigh-in must be in a cooler with bagged or block ice only, no loose ice, and the minimum size for weighed fish is 20 inches.

On Day 1, Dennis Pillard, Jr. of Team 77 took the lead with a three-fish bag of 20.97 pounds, including a big fish of 9.59 pounds for the day. Not far behind was Curtis Loveless of Team 92 with a 19.41 bag for second place, and David Thompson with Team 89 in third with 18.72 pounds.

Submitted Photos Above, Chairman Zen Olow helps a competitor with a rules interpretation during the Con Club Fishing Tournament where big walleye, like the one below, are the focus.

Paul Soper of Team 80 shared that the fish-catching (for numbers of fish) has been great, with most boats catching between 25 and 45 walleyes daily. Soper has fished every Con Club derby since the event started 19 years ago, with the pandemic year the only year the contest was canceled.

“We are all catching lots of fish,” Soper said. “The problem is that they are all cookie-cutter fish, pretty much the same size.”

Anglers in the competition fished from the Chautauqua County access ports of Barcelona, Dunkirk and Cattaraugus Creek, with many anglers sharing only one detail — they caught fish in depths ranging from 65 feet to 110 feet of water.

“The fish are where you find them,” Soper said. “One of our rules on my boat is that you never leave fish to find fish, so we have been fishing right out here off Dunkirk, mostly with my homemade, old-fashioned spinner/worm rigs. We found lots of fish, just no big fish.”

After Day 2, Soper’s team was in 54th place with a two-day bag of 31.81 pounds for their six fish, which puts them 7.43 pounds off the lead.

As each team captain or representative brings their three fish to the weigh station, the cooler is inspected for ice form/type to verify that the three fish are properly jaw-tagged with a yellow tie-rap. Following that, the fish is wand-scanned for metal by weighmaster volunteer Delia McDonald. Then its over to the certified scale to be weighed to the nearest one-hundredth of a pound by weighmaster Frank Solares. Computer tally technician Kathy Murckel then confirms the weight and, using electronics, tallies the fish into the database for each team. Following the three-fish weigh-in, one team member must sign a printed copy of the daily tally, verified by witness official Micki Fenney. The technical team computations and communications are coordinated by weigh station team leader Al Zurawski, and team coordinator, Don Murckel.

Weigh station hours for Day-1 and Day-2 are 4-6 p.m. The first team to weigh fish on Day -2 was Jeff Phillips of Team 16. Phillips said they caught more than 40 fish trolling near Barcelona Harbor, but the increasing northeast wind and waves brought them in early. His team weighed in a three-fish bag of 15.32 pounds, the smallest fish at 4.97 pounds and the largest at 5.29 pounds. Phillips shared that many of their fish were fooled by a Bumble Bee Yalleye lure with no worm. Their tally took them to a two-day total of 29.84 pounds and 64th place.

As all the teams started to bring fish to the Day 2 weigh station line, the northeast wind cast a welcome chill on the colorful picnic grounds for anglers that had been in the sun for most of the day. Bud Marsh Jr. of Team 69, firearms and ammo manager at the new Valley Outdoor Store in Cassadaga, said: “The fishing was fun today, but it is hard to find big fish. My team weighed 18.73 pounds today for a two-day tally of 35.69 pounds.”

Marsh introduced me to his team Captain Jim Kraser, and team members, Wesley Bartoo and son, Wyatt, a 15-year-old angler who likes to fish with his dad. Wesley Bartoo was the first-place winner at the Sunset Bay Walleye Shootout and shared, “We use lead-core line and Bomber lures, mostly from the Fish USA online store.”

As the weigh-line grew longer, the wind grew stronger. Russ Tenamore of Team 74 said: “We had a close call today. I’ve been fishing this great tournament for all 18 years, but today while we were catching 35-plus fish, a waterspout came down and followed us. I turned north. It turned north. We were about 8 miles out in 105-107 feet of water, and I thought we were goners for a moment. My team members — my son, Vinny, and Scott Korzenski — thought it was coming right into the boat at the stern, like 50 feet away, then it just dissolved.”

Tenamore is in 46th place with a two-day bag of 32.21 pounds.

“On Day 1, 89 teams weighed in. On Day 2, 82 teams weighed in. That’s great competition,” Olowo said. “It’s a good day when everybody makes it back to port, and there are no problems at the scale.”

Rob Ebersole of Team 42, and team member, John Woelfle of the infamous team “Scary Good” weighed in a good Day 2 bag of 18.03 pounds for a two-day tally of 35.94 pounds, good for 11th place and just 3.30 pounds off the lead. Ebersole, another contest veteran, says they caught more than 40 fish, mostly on lead-core of 8, 9, and 10 colors, and all on sticks in about 90-95 feet of water.

Sunday, the final day of the competition, was expected to be very interesting for all competitors. Everyone knows that some giant walleyes are swimming out there, but they have yet to be found. The biggest fish on Day 1 was Dennis Pillard, Jr. with his 9.59-pound beauty, and on Day 2, it was Brian Plecas of Team 109 with his 9.71-pound walleye, the biggest derby fish so far. Plecas has a two-day bag of 37.65 pounds, just 1.59 pounds off the tournament lead. Don Ruppert of Team 35 says, “We all know there are 10, 11 and 12-pound monsters out there at this time of year. Any boat in the top 30 could win if they find the big fish.”

According to the NYSDEC, walleye are distributed widely in the lake and available to anglers using trolling, drifting, or casting techniques. About 60 % of all angling effort is on walleye, making them the most sought-after fish in Lake Erie. Most walleye caught in Lake Erie are between 18 and 28 inches long and 4 and 8 pounds. This contest will verify that statement.

The weigh station times for Day-3 were 11 a.m. to 1p.m. Contestants and weigh station volunteers were subject to polygraph testing at the discretion of the Derby Committee. The five heaviest fish and/or heaviest total bags should expect to be tested, and cash prizes for these top categories may be withheld until testing is resolved. Contestants failing the polygraph or not showing up for the polygraph will result in disqualification and ineligibility to win prizes. Contest rules for this event are rigid, and contestants admit they appreciate when the rules are enforced.