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Crayfish 'n crackers looked pretty good $30,000 derby fish eludes John B. and thee by John B. McClelland Let me say at the outset that I entered the Big Bass Derby on Lake Scugog last Saturday fully ex- pecting to win the $30,000 top prize. As I stumbled out of bed at 5:00 A.M. the morn- ing of the Derby, trying to clear the cob webs and wondering what I was doing up at such an hour of the day, 1 began to get this feeling that Lady Luck would smile on me. OK, so I knew the odds were a little high, but you have to think positive about these things, right? Fishing partners for thing) and Paul Barton, the day were my father a friend and neighbour. (who was a little skep- We hit the lake right at tical about the whole 6:00a.m. and set anchor I i. 3 » Eleven year old Iver Hansen of - Gravenhurst didn't catch a tagged bass dur- ing the $30,000 Big Bass Derby last Saturday, but he did catch himself four nice bass. Iver reported that he was using live frogs for bait, and he also caught a small muskie. 4 fo about 500 yards off Bird- seye Park. | selected a weedless artificial frog. Dad opted for a fat dew worm and bobber, while Paul contemplated how to hook a live crayfish to the end of the line. With that kind of bait, how could we miss? It was a beautiful mor- ning, the air still and cool, the surface of Scugog almost as smooth as a sheet of glass, broken only by the small armada of fishing boats whose occupants presumably were after the same prize we were. . Reaching deep down into my reservoir of angling skills, I worked that artificial frog with short casts, moving it across the surface of the water from right to left, waiting for that swirl as a big bass lunged at it from the murky depths. I expected to have the $30,000 fish in the bottom of the boat by 7:00 a.m. and we could all go home in time for breakfast. But by 7:00 o'clock, we hadn't had so much as a nibble, let alone a fish in the boat, so we decided to weigh anchor and head for the swampy shoreline just to the east of the causeway. And after an hour of steady casting, 1 was ready for some "lazy man" fishing with a bob- ber and dew worm. There were dozens of boats in the bay near the causeway, but we nudg- ed our way in and found a likely looking spot. I settled back to watch the bobber. At 8:15, I had a strike. The bobber ducked under the water, once, twice and on the third one, I tried to set the hook. The fish was on and felt like a good one. This was it. But alas, the line went Fishing partner Paul Barton contemplates a crayfish bait. He thought these mini-lobsters would make interesting snacks if boil- ed and served on crackers. ale le EE ERR PPI dd eh rr srry. slack. I muttered under my breath. A minute later, the fishermen in the boat next to us land- ed a catfish. Maybe that was the fish that had hit my line. I felt better. The morning drifted on. The three fearless fishermen who had started out with so much hope and anticipation were " starting to feel discouraged. We munch- ed on sandwiches, sipped coffee and tried to keep our spirits up. Paul had hooked and landed several fish; perch and rock bass which we joked might make good bait. I tried several dif- ferent types of baits: a Mepps spinner. svith worm which became hopelessly tangled in the weeds; an artificial leech, purple in colour, even an artificial worm, of all things. But to no avail. By 11:00 a.m. I had this feeling that the $30,000 bass was very safe. It wasn't in our boat, that's for sure, and it didn't look like the fishermen in any of the boats around us were having much luck, either. Paul commented on how much the crayfish bait resembled tiny lobsters and said half seriously that we could take them home, pop them in boiling water and serve them on crackers. ~ Dad wasn't saying too much of anything. Just before noon, we were ready to call it a day, but decided to give it one final try on the west side of the lake near the mouth of the Non- quon River. After an arduous trip up the lake dodging the weeds, we began to fish the west shore and Derby fish eludes 600 luckless fishermen (From page 1) people who entered the derby were grumbling about the weeds in Lake Scugog which made fishing and boating diff- icult, On a brighter note, Mr. Barr said that about 80 per cent of the entrants were from out- side Scugog Township, so the derby is helping to bring visitors to the community. The tagged fish, including the one worth $20,000 had been releas- ed in the west arm of the lake, south of the Non- quon River. As well, organizers were pre- pared to honour any largemouth bass with an MNR tag with a cash prize worth from $25 to $200. The derby was held to coincide with the open- ing of the largemouth bass season on Lake Scugog. PORT PERRY STAR -- Wednesday, July 4, 1984 -- 23 discovered that the ac- tion was about as hot there as it had been in the bay. Nothing. At one o'clock, the vote in 'our boat was unanimous. Let's get off this lake and admit final- ly that the $30,000 bass had out-smarted us. For a full morning of fishing, Lake Scugog had yielded several rock bass, two perch and countless weeds. On talk- ing to other fishermen 'later in the day, I found _that they too had not had 'much luck. : In fact, not one of the tagged fish was caught on Saturday. One angler did manage to hook and land four nice largemouth bass, but that was the only success story 1 heard for the whole day. ; Maybe next year, as the old saying goes. Skipper for the day's outing was John's father Borden, an old salt from Nova Scotia, who kept a sharp eye peeled for bass and those pesky Lake Scugog weeds. Port Perry Star editor John B. McClelland was hard at work Saturday morning in the Bass Derby on Lake Scugog. But as he says in his report on this page, the bass were tough to find. EERE ----.--