29-pound salmon now in lead in final weekend of fishing derby
There is a new leader for the $4,000 grand prize in the Rotary Fishing Derby.
Julie Schaeffer on Friday reeled in a salmon weighing 29 pounds, 6 ounces. That knocked a 27-pound, 8-ounce salmon from atop the leaderboard.
Schaeffer is from Sligo, Pa. and has been coming to Orleans County to fish since the early 1980s. She won the fishing derby in 2017 with a salmon weighing 30 pounds, 14 ounces.
The derby continues until Sunday with $8,800 in prizes available.
Participants in the derby can enter fish in four divisions: Chinook salmon, brown trout, rainbow trout, and lake trout.
Besides $4,000 for the biggest fish, the four division leaders each get $500, followed by $300 for second, $200 for third, $100 for fourth and $50 for fifth.
There is also a $200 prize to the Orleans County resident who catches the biggest fish. (Jeff Newman of Lyndonville currently leads with a salmon weighing 23 pounds, 10 ounces.)
The derby is sponsored by the Albion Rotary Club, and proceeds go towards community projects. The Rotary Club has been organizing the derby for more than 30 years, seeing the event as a way to promote tourism businesses and the local fishing scene.
Click here to see the leaderboard.
