PACNY's Annual Pro/Am Fishing Tournament Was A Whale of a Good Time!

As we write this post, we are snacking on some of the salmon we caught and cured during this year's fishing derby.  It is absolutely delicious!  Creamy & buttery with a little hint of peat.  Love eating it plain, it doesn't need any garnish or bread.  Oops!  Sorry we're getting carried away.  The third annual (really the fourth annual, last year the weather was too rough to go fishing) Professional Abatement Contractors of New York's (PACNY's) Pro/Am Fishing Tournament (you say tournament, we still like derby) was a success.  There was 18 boats that went out of Point Breeze at Oak Orchard Creek to brave the Lake Ontario waters and see what we could catch this year.  A big THANK YOU to PACNY for again sponsoring this Tournament, giving us more opportunities to get together and network.  Here was this year's lineup of PACNY members and the boat they were on:

Lining Up for the Shotgun Start

Abscope on the Chrysalis

Cornerstone Training Institute on the Sunrise II

Cornerstone Training Institute 2 (NRC) on the Legacy

Paradigm Environmental on the Free Spirit

Future Environment Designs on the Catchin Hell

Aramsco on the Runnin Rebel

LeChase on the U-Betcha

Rochester Environmental on the Irish Thunder

Envoy on the Rusty Lure

Environmental Contracting and Construction on the Reflection

AAC Contracting Inc on the Troutman

AmVets courtesy Sullivan Contracting on the Intimidator

United Rentals Rochester on the Screaming Reels

Dival Safety on the Reel Excitement

Dival Safety #2 on the Just Eleven

ECG on the Richmond 4

Greenleaf/Watts on the Rally Killer

AAC Contracting Inc #2 on the Shotgun

The day started out beautifully with a nice sunrise over Lake Ontario.  We started loading the boats around 5:50 in the morning.  PACNY's Darren Yehl organized the event again and was as efficient as the attendees allowed.  Everybody was ready for the shotgun start at or about 6:30.  As our usual we took the luck of the draw and this year our boat was named "Catchin Hell", with Captain Tom and first mate Mike.
  

Sunrise over Lake Ontario

It was a beautiful day out on the lake.  The sun was hot but there was a nice breeze.  We caught three king salmon, two steelhead trout and one rainbow trout.  Veronica Garcia caught the big fish this year and the one that got away "coulda been a contender!"  After the weigh-in, we enjoyed a delicious lunch at the Black North Inn, while being serenaded by Acoustically Sound.  This year's prizes and the winners were:

Big Box of Three Fish:  1st: $350  2nd: $200  3rd: $100

Biggest Fish:  1st: $350  2nd: $200  3rd: $100

The final weigh-in numbers!

Though this year we didn't finish in the money, we still had a great time and we brought home a lot of fish.  This year we tried a new recipe for salt/sugar curing the salmon.  We even created our own version of the cure by adding Islay Scotch Whiskey to the cure.  Needless to say we're in-love with our recipe.  For the original recipe visit GNOLLS.org.  Plans are already being set in motion for next year's fishing derby (tournament).  We would like to host our own boat next year.  If you think you would be interested send us an email so we can start making plans.  The Tournament is always on a Wednesday and usually the second or third one in July.  We're already looking forward to the adventure!
  

Veronica Garcia, Capt. Tom , & the Big Fish! 

Related articles

• PACNY's Second Annual ProAm Fishing Derby, is Bigger & Better!(futureenv.blogspot.com)

  ---

• Lake Ontario shipwreck discovered by explorers funded by local Great Lakes museum(toledoblade.com)

  ---

• The Discovery of 148-Year-Old Shipwreck(theatlantic.com)

  ---

PACNY Fishing Derby Was An Adventure

On July 17, 2013 we attended the Professional Abatement Contractors of New York (PACNY) fishing derby.  We decided to attend the fishing derby because we've never fished for salmon before and going on a fishing trip with the PACNY group sounded like a lot fun!

 Well the day started with a great sunrise (photo above), as we learned which boats we were on.  We were placed on one of the two Cornerstone Training Institute (CTI) boats.  Our boat was named the Irish Thunder with Captain Joe T. & First Mate Charlie. Our team consisted of Heather King of KBH, Chris Miller of LeChase, Kevin Hutton of CTI, and ourselves.

Once we were all on-board our respective boats , we headed out to the shotgun start (see video above).  Which means all the boats line up straight across & when the bell is rung the boats speed out to the fishing areas.  It was a very hot day and sun shone brightly, meaning we were thankful for air movement.  Captain Joe T. & First Mate Charlie, were very experienced in finding fish and it wasn't long before we had our first catch of the day.  Ms. Heather King reeled in the first fish.  All of us took turns reeling in fish, however, Mr. Chris Miller reeled in the first over 20 pound salmon.  Which we all teased him in how long it was taking him to bring the fish in (we would regret that later).  We were thankful to Mr. Kevin Hutton for stocking his cooler with some really good local craft beers (thank you!).

As you can see above, we caught ourselves an over 20 pound king salmon.  Catching a salmon is not an accurate description of what actually took place.  A better description would be is having a tug-of-war with an unknown opponent.  Once you grab a hold of the rod & reel you spend what feels like an eternity (actually 10-20 minutes) of doing forearm curls.  Pull the rod up, then reel in excess line; pull the rod up, reel in the excess line; repeat, repeat, repeat (now regretting teasing Chris about how long it took him to bring the fish in).  Just about the time our arms were saying "we give up", the salmon appeared several yards away from the boat.  Giving us a second wind to bringing the fish on board.  When we were a kid we remember a cartoon that likened fishing to pulling a drain plug from the lake, we now get that cartoon.

Once the derby was over we gathered at the Black North Inn for lunch, weigh-in, & the awarding of the prizes.  The scoreboard above details the scores. Congratulations to team Aramsco for the biggest basket (three largest fish) and the $500 award.  Congratulations to Brian Warren from the Aramsco/Envoy boat for the big fish.  His 30.5 lb king salmon won him $150 cash.

We had a great time and hope to do this again.  Our team was fantastic and entertaining.  Our team won one of the prizes.  We also got to bring some salmon home for smoking & grilling (as you see above).  It was the best salmon we ever ate.

 Related articles

• Kenai King Salmon eggs, a 2011 fish tale
• Fishing Report: Large king salmon have arrived, fishing solid throughout Muskegon area
• Huge chinook salmon caught off Milwaukee
• LI fisherman accused of illegally harvesting fluke