2002 Spring Grand Prize Winner | | Scott Palmer, Grand Prize winner of the LOC Spring Derby, with his 26lb.13oz salmon. |
Scott Palmer
Sunday, May 05, 2002
Weight: 26.13
Location: Off Olcott
“It ain’t over until it’s over!”
That adage was never more true than during the final day of the just completed 2002 Springedition of the Lake Ontario Counties (LOC) Trout and Salmon Derby. When everyone thought “it was over”, the waning minutes produced a new Grand Prize winner with a lunker salmon hauled out of the Lake Ontario waters off Olcott, NY.
Scott Palmer of Olcott, has a story to tell, from which movies are made. He and his crew were fishing off his 19-ft.Star Craft “Fatty”, heading out into Lake Ontario on the opening day of the derby when his engine failed. Unable to restart, the craft finally washed up on some rocks and did heavy damage to the hull.
Scott managed to get help and the boat was towed into port and delivered to The Boat Doctor. The seemingly unlucky angler had high praise for the boat repairman, but it wasn’t until last Saturday before his repairs were completed.
On Sunday morning, the final day of the derby, “Fatty” headed back into Lake Ontario from Olcott, for a “final gasp” effort to catch a prize-winning fish. Fishing with Scott were Mark Boyer and his son Joey. They decided to drag a black and silver Northern King spoon about 25-feet down over 31-feet of water, when the line released. They struggled with the fish for several minutes, before Scott landed a husky 26.13- pound salmon,which proved to be good enough to win the LOC Spring Derby Grand Prize of$10,000!
“It ain’t over until it’s over!”
Scott Palmer took first place in the Salmon Division in the 2001 Fall LOC Derby, a trophy 36.06 pound Chinook, also caught out of Olcott.
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