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The Ninth Annual John B. Daly
Memorial Bass Classic was held out of Fort Niagara State Park and
everything worked as planned. Some 75 fishing enthusiasts were competing
for trophies and prizes aboard 33 volunteer boats. And the main purpose of
this fun-filled activity was to raise money for Niagara Hospice and the
Niagara Falls Boys and Girls Club - two worthy organizations that were
close to the late State Senator.
The weather was iffy, as it has
been all summer long, as dark clouds drifted in. Would it rain or would it
hold off? Anglers questioned their boat captains as to the effects of this
summer's weather patterns and how it affected the bass fishing. Would the
fishing be good? How much of an impact would the wind have? Would the
fishermen get out on the lake or would everyone have to fish the river?
And who would really catch the biggest bass for the day? It was only a
matter of time before all those questions would be answered.
When the weigh in was finally held
starting at noon, it was Rock Wagner fishing with Capt. Jim Gordon
that won bragging rights with two smallmouth bass that weighed in at 6.79
pounds. They were fishing off Four Mile Creek in Lake Ontario.
Second place went to event chairwoman
Connie Lozinsky and her son, Cody, while fishing with John Fugate,
Jr. and Capt. Jeff Draper. Their best two fish totaled 6.47 pounds,
catching most of their fish on the Johnson drift in the lower river.
Third place was Dominic Mallar,
Herbert Darling and Chuck Welch while fishing with Capt. Frank
Campbell. Mallar also earned big fish for the day honors, good for
$570 in cash, but not without some friendly ribbing at the awards
ceremony. Teammate Darling had just handed him his rod when the fish hit.
Mallar immediately set the hook and fought the fish to the boat, a 3.83
pound bass.
First place in the youth division
was Jacob Lusak of Niagara Falls with a nice 3.33 pound bass.
Second place was Kathryn Pluff with
a 3.08 pound fish.
Alex Mieth placed third with a
2.75 pound bass.
In the Organized Labor
category: Darling Construction set the pace, the team mentioned
earlier that had fished with Capt. Campbell. The two-fish score was
6.24 pounds. Second place went to CATCO Construction with 4.42
pounds, the team of Gene Swanson and Bob Turrell.
A two fish total of 4.37 pounds
was weighed in by the Painters Local led by Capt. Phil Rowan, John
Adams, Nate Sieak and Jason Sieak.
The after party in the park was as
good as ever with Mike George cooking up some of his famous fish, a
crew from the 3-F Club cooking up burgers, sausage and hot dogs and
Marc Daul (the kid) orchestrating everything behind the scenes. Daul,
along with Lozinsky, Ed Lozaw and Fred Vanoni did the lion's
share of the work. It started with a special award to Vince Corriere,
honoring him for his years of service as a volunteer. In fact, from here
on out, this award will be given out annually with this special event for
a "Volunteer of the Year" type of thing - the Vince Corriere
Distinguished Service Award. Of course, Niagara Hospice and the
Niagara Falls Boys & Girls Club volunteers and workers were out in
force to help out. Hats off to all the volunteer boat captains (both
professional and very good amateurs) and everyone else who pulled together
to make this happen for a good cause. To quote George Peppard of the old
"A-Team" television show, "I love it when a plan comes
together!" Look for bigger and better things for the 10th Annual
event next summer!! |
