Laker LOC leader Lake Ontario Counties Derbies, spring and fall, pay top money to the biggest fish entered, always a king salmon - but maybe not this spring. Lynn Cunningham of Binghamton leads the LOC Spring Derby with a 28.09-pound fish she caught Saturday while trolling a Fast Track lure at the Niagara Bar. Her catch was a lake trout, weighing less than a pound lighter than the king salmon that won the spring derby in 2000. LOC Derby competition continues until Sunday and anglers can register before 7 a.m. to be eligible for that day. Niagara River Lower river fishing can be tough.
Boaters have to compete with incoming smelt.
The better catches come from lake waters just off the mouth. Smelt dippers have to work late to get an eight-quart limit. Hardy, nocturnal types head to Lewiston and Art Park at and after midnight to start running dip nets downstream. Not all boaters were in the derby. Those unregistered anglers are the ones that so often bring in the big ones.