Leave it to Oswego’s famed sportsfishery to shake up a couple of longtime anglers.

Tom Allen reeled in a 29-pound, 9-ounce king salmon Thursday morning near the Oswego lighthouse. He was fishing with Captain Tom Germain aboard Germain’s Little Whip Charters.

The huge salmon was caught on the first day the two were fishing in the Lake Ontario Counties Summer Derby, and it gives them the lead for the $7,500 grand prize. The derby began May 23, and continues through July 20.

Catching the big king caught Allen and Germain by surprise.

“Fishing has been pretty tough here lately,” Germain said. “We decided to go out a little bit deeper. We had been fishing in close, but we went deeper and found fish out there.”
“We were sweating. Our hearts were pounding,” Allen said. “We were high-fiving and screaming once we had it.”

Allen said he and Germain fish together in the LOC derbies each year. Their previous best finish was with a third-place king salmon in the LOC Spring Derby a couple of years ago.

“We do this seriously. We live for this. We don’t get this excited over a lot of things,” Allen said. “This would put us up another level, especially because fishing in Oswego has been a little tough recently. The kings are just starting to show up now.”

Allen said the fish was caught at about 9:30 a.m. in front of the lighthouse in 280 feet of water, about 125 feet down. It was caught on an A-TOM-MIK stock #23 green crinkle fly with an e-chip attractor.

Allen’s business, A-TOM-MIK Manufacturing, makes the A-TOM-MIK trolling flies and other equipment. He’s on a roll with fishing, as he is a member of the Cold Steel/A-TOM-MIK/Fat Nancy’s fishing team which currently leads the Pro Division of the Lake Ontario Challenge Pro-Am series.

Allen and Germain set out Thursday both to fish in the LOC Summer Derby and to pre-fish for the Mustad Challenge, a one-day tourney set for this Saturday at the Oswego Marina. About 45 teams are expected to compete in that event.

“We wanted to get a few pre-fishing days in because we are both fishing in the Mustad Challenge,” Allen said.

When they found the right spot, “The rod went off. The fish hit and came almost to the surface instantly. Then he took off and he ran off 300 feet of line,” Allen said.

How long did it take to boat the fish?

“Probably 25 minutes. It was a real good fight,” Allen said.

They had the fish weighed at Larry’s Oswego Salmon Shop and took over the grand-prize lead in the LOC Summer Derby.

“The leader was only about 24 pounds,” Allen said. “We’re hoping for the $7,500 grand prize.”

Actually, the grand-prize leader had been Jim Devos of Ontario, N.Y., with a 24-pound, 7-ounce salmon. Devos now becomes the leader of the Salmon Division. Division winners in the derby get $1,000 each. In addition to the Salmon Division, fish can be entered in the Brown Trout, Lake Trout, and Rainbow/Steelhead divisions.

One other fish caught in Oswego ranks among the Salmon Division leaders. Gene Delicati of Archibald, Pa., caught a 23-pound, 13-ounce fish in Oswego.

Several of the biggest fish in the Brown Trout Division were caught in Oswego County waters. That includes the division leader, a 14-pound, 12-ounce fish caught in Mexico Bay by Kevin Woodring of Easton, Pa.

The Lake Trout Division leader is Rochester’s Nicholas Janchuk with an 18-pound, 13-ounce entry. Sandy Creek’s James Bishop stood in 11th place with a 13-pound, 12-ounce catch.

Albert Dewald of Grove City, Pa., leads the Rainbow/Steelhead Division with a 12-pound, 1-ounce fish.

For derby details and entry information, see www.loc.org.