The nasty weather during the first three days of the nine-day derby held early anglers in port, but in the end, 320 fish were weighed in for the Adult Walleye Division and 24 fish in the Youth Division.

The largest fish in the youth group was caught by Adam Goodberry, a 9.50-pound walleye that won the youngster a new rod and reel and the $250 Dave Goodberry Memorial Prize. Ten places were awarded to the youth anglers, and the smallest fish in 10th place was 6.05 pounds, which was caught by Cole Hanlin, who received a new rod and reel rig.

In the Adult Division, Timothy Stone caught the largest walleye of the derby at 10.7 pounds. In 10th place for the adults was Frank Simonick with a 9.48-pound walleye. Like the casino lucky numbers, SWA offers a unique “777” prize for the fish closest to 7.77 pounds, and Kevin Coyle, with a 7.75-pound walleye, won that prize. Bob Rustowicz caught the largest fish on the 40th Derby Lure painted by Kilam Custom Lures with a 7.08-pound walleye, good for $150. Adam Zwak caught the largest walleye on the previous derby Kilam custom-painted lure with a 9.95-pound beast, good for $100.

Above the usual winning places is the cash Calcutta winners circle, an extra competition paid for by the anglers who want to participate. In first place was Timothy Stone, with a 10.7-pound fish good for $7,803. Second place went to Joshua Pfeiffer with a 10.02-pound walleye, good for $6,503. Adam Zwak captured third place with a 9.95-pound fish, good for $5,202; John Risau, with a 9.76-pounder, took fourth, good for $3,902; and Rob Ebersole took fifth place with his 9.74-pound fish, good for $2,601. As you can see, some of the winners doubled their winnings in the regular contest and added to it with the Calcutta contests. Some anglers can take home well over $10,000 each by winning several categories if they sign up for those. Visit the Southtowns Walleye Facebook page for a complete recap of the winners and prizes.

Photo courtesy of Southtowns Walleye Association Family fishing fun for, from left: Tom Rizzo, Wyatt Simonick and Frank Simonick, with some nice Lake Erie walleye caught last weekend.

The extra categories cost an additional fee to register, but overall, if you’re lucky — this is a single fish contest — the winnings are substantial. In addition, there were individual daily winners for each of the nine days of the contest. So winning cash and prize gear in this contest can be eye-opening.

The Southtowns Walleye Derby may be the most popular and well-attended amateur walleye fishing contest in North America and has been for 40 years now. Hats off to this organization’s hard-working derby committee members who are working as volunteers.

The polygraph results keep the competitor-clan honest, and there is nothing to fear when you tell the truth about how you caught your fish, where you caught it, what you used and the number of rods in the water. With the recent cheating events across the country in fishing competitions of all sorts, the Southtowns Walleye Association holds a high standard. Good for them.

Gotta love the outdoors.

CALENDAR

June 28: WNY Heroes Day, Dunkirk Harbor, visit https://wnyheroes.org/, sponsored by Eastern Lake Erie Charter Boat Association, President Jim Steel, 716-481-5348.

June 29-30: Bart’s Cove Walleye Duel-1 (Integrity Walleye Series), Lake Erie walleye tournament, Dunkirk Harbor, two-day/three-fish bag/day, $500 entry, contact Bob Rustowicz, 716-830-6394.

June 29-30: NYS Free Fishing Days, no license required for residents and non-residents.

July 4: Firecracker Sporting Clay Shoot, Hanover Fish & Game, 780 Overhiser Road, Forestville. $50 cost for 100-bird shoot. Visit www.hanoverclays.com for more info.

July 9: Erie County Trappers, Potluck Family Picnic, 12580 Jennings Road, Patti Wattengal. Bring a dish to share.

July 11: WNY Walleye monthly meeting, 6:30 p.m., at Knights of Columbus, 36 Pierce Ave., Hamburg.

July 19-20: Sunset Bay Walleye Shootout, $500 entry, $500K prizes, six fish bag/one day, Info: Captain Don Ruppert, www.walleyeshootout.com.

July 27-28: Bart’s Cove Walleye Dual-2, Integrity Walleye Series (IWT-2), Dunkirk Harbor, three fish bag/day, two days, Info: Mark Mohr, 716-998-9871.