Wayne 2009 Winners High Voltage and Hook’n’Up Win Wayne County Pro-Am The Mighty King Salmon Dominates Pro-Am
High Voltage pictured on the left and Hook-N-Up at the right were the 2009 Wayne County Challenge Cup Winners!
The most effective way to showcase the world class fishery from Lake Ontario is a tournament. All angling contests involve weighing the catch to determine the winners, and the old adage, ‘the proof is in the pudding’ was evident during the 6th Annual Wayne County Lake Ontario Pro-Am Team Tournament. The mighty king salmon dominated, and Lake Ontario is certainly alive and well… and continues to be a world class fishery.
Waves were running 4 to 6 feet during the first day of tournament action on Saturday, July 18. Tournament officials monitored the contest carefully, acknowledging that fishing was difficult; however there were no safety issues for the 67 boat field.
When the first group from the Amateur Division came to the official weigh station, located at Abe’s Waterfront, Sodus Point, the catches were phenomenal. The 9 fish tournament limit for the Am Teams was easily accomplished by a majority of the boats.
The same scenario occurred when the Pros brought their boxes to the scales. (Staggered times are used for Pros and Ams to speed the weigh-in process.) The 12 fish limit for Pros was achieved by 7 of the 38 teams fishing the Wayne County tourney.
The competition was fierce and the catches were so close that a few pounds made the difference in the standings.
Pro Team Candy, the winner of the prestigious Challenge Cup in 2008, was the leader after Saturday’s competion. Screamer/A-Tom-Mik was second and High Voltage was third.
Sunday’s conditions on Lake Ontario were easier on the teams. Waves were not topping out at 6 feet, and as the teams left the channel of Sodus Bay, they scattered in all directions.
Mark DeSantis and his High Voltage team headed their 39 foot Sea Ray west and set-up by the Ginna Power Plant in Ontario. “I found a pod of fish near Ginna during the Big Fish Friday contest, and stuck with the same location both days of competition,” the Rochester resident recalled. “We boxed out the first day, so I used the same presentation.
“Sunday, I trolled west 2 miles from Ginna, and they weren’t there, so I returned to my original location. That was at 6:49 am. We were the only team fishing that location. It was kind of lonely.”
The High Voltage Team was sticking with the spinner-Atom-Mik Fly presentation and they ended their morning by boxing out with 12 fish. DeSantis knew the exact time of every hook-up. “We boxed out at 11:38 with triples… two on the wire and one off the rigger.”
The High Voltage Team took first place on Sunday, and with a phenomenal two day score of 549.77 won the trophy and took home $7,800 cash and prizes for his effort.
Second place went to Randy Calus and his Sure Strike Team with 534.93 and third was the Cold Steel/A-Tom-Mik/Fat Nancy Team from Oswego with 531.83.
Winning the Amateur Division was Team “Hook-n-up” who caught his mighty king salmon 15 miles from High Voltage’s location. “I headed 10 miles east of Sodus Bay and located fish in 150 to 200 feet of water,” said Albert Adomitis, Team leader. “I don’t like fishing with the pack. “Sometimes I’ll troll on the outside of the group, but usually I’ll locate my own fish and stay with that program.”
Adomitis was fishing with fiancée Mary Kurlandski, brother–in-law, Mike Bonomo, and nephews Mike Jr. and Nick Bonomo. The Hook-n-up team , from Mountaintop Pa. fished Captain Jack’s Big Fish Friday, the pre-fishing event before the official Pro-Am. “We were the only Amateur Team to fish Friday, and we came in 8th place with some nice kings. The next day I went to the same location, and the fish were there. We used a north- south troll and landed nine and lost six kings.”
The Hook’n’Up Team ended the first day with an impressive score of 193.18 which put them in second place among the 27 teams competing in the Amateur Division. Pro-Am scores are calculated by 10 points per fish and one point per pound.
On day two of the contest, Adomitis lead his team to the same place, and he repeated his program of using chrome flasher-A-Tom-Mik-Fly rigs to capture the kings. “We were fishing the same location, which was north of Port Bay,” he said. “We had four quick fish in the box, and then missed seven in a row. I headed for 200 feet of water and we decided to troll east the rest of the day.”
The east troll proved effective, and the Hook’N’Up Team caught 5 more fish, one a nice 24 pound king. Adomitis and company boxed out with a day two score of 195.62 giving them first place in the Wayne County Pro-Am with a two day score of 388.80. They won $3,680 in cash and prizes.
Second Place in the Amateur Division was to Tony Chatt and his 5 More Minutes Team with 378.21 points, and third place went to Brian Mickatavage’s Team MC with 359.90.
The Lake Ontario Salmon and Trout Team Tournament Series provides the most intense fishing experiences in New York State, and the prestigious Challenge Cup is won by the “best of the best” who fish the four port series. The action starts in Niagara County the first week in June, followed by Orleans, Oswego, and Wayne.
The 2009 Eastern Lake Ontario Challenge Cup were Cold Steel in the Pro Division and Hook-N-Up in the Amateur Division.
The 2009 Lake Ontario Challenge Cup in the Pro Division went to Captain Tom Burke and his Cold Steel/A-Tom-Mik/ Fat Nancy Team, who compiled a total score of 1162 points. Burke fishes from Oswego County.
First Place in the Lake Ontario Challenge Cup Amateur Division was Del Casterline’s Liquid Plumber Team from Mountaintop Pa. with a four port score of 1173.
2009 Wayne county Pro Division Top Ten
1st High Voltage
2nd Sure Strike
3rd ColdSteel
4th Screamer
5th East Coast Boys
6th Top Gun
7th Vision Quest
8th Yankee Troller
9th Rebel Charters
10th Royal Flush
2009 Wayne county Amateur Division Top Ten
1st Hook-N-Up
2nd 5 More Minutes
3rd MC
4th Coldwater Affair
5th Liquid Plumber
6th Oh-Baby
7th Spoonfed
8th Engineers
9th Fish Nutz
10th Dodger
East End 2009 Challenge Cup Pro Division Top Three
1st ColdSteel
2nd East Coast Boys
2nd Screamer
East End 2009 Challenge Cup Amateur Division Top Three
1st Oh-Baby
2nd Liquid Plumber
3rd Hook-N-Up
Wayne County Office of Tourism
9 Pearl St.
Suite 3
Lyons, NY 14489
800.527.6510
