CLINTON CO., Pa. (EYT) — A Hawthorn native has been chasing big fish for decades, and recently he boated a monster king salmon that netted him a big prize.
Daniel Clinger was fishing in the Fall Lake Ontario Counties (LOC) Trout and Salmon Derby on August 29 with his wife Ramona and one of his fishing buddies, Rich Raidline, of Pen Argyl, Pa., when they hooked the fish that ended up measuring 51 inches and weighing 39 pounds, three ounces.
The lunker salmon was more than big enough to net him the grand prize of $25,000.00. The fish was also worth an extra $500.00 for biggest fish of the day.
“We’ve been coming up here for 20 years, and we finally won it,” Clinger said. “We fought the fish for about 45 minutes. Rich and I took turns with it while Ramona drove the boat.”
“It was the biggest winner here in probably the last eight, 10 years. The big fish are starting to come back,” Clinger said.
Clinger split the prize money with Raidline. With his share, he is going to build a shed to house the “Why Knot,” his 24-foot Thompson boat.
Clinger was fishing out of Sodus Point in Wayne County in the derby that ran from August 18 through September 4.
They were fishing in about 200 feet of water when the salmon struck at 10:30 a.m.
“We were trolling with a Dreamweaver spin doctor and an A-Tom-Mik stud meat rig that was hand-tied by Raidline’s son, Ryan,” Clinger said.
Clinger explained the meat rig was baited with herring which is about five or six inches long. The rig also has three big flies, four or five inches, that work with the spin doctor flasher to attract the fish.
His rod and reel are both Daiwa, ones he’s been using for 30 years.
“We had it 382 feet back, and when it hit, it took another 400 feet of line out, so it was a good 800 feet at first,” Clinger said.
Clinger said the fish ran four times before he and Raidline got it in the boat after nearly an hour.
Clinger started fishing the Great Lakes when he was a teenager when his great uncles would take him to Lake Erie.
“I fished Erie for many years, but when we moved up here (Jersey Shore), we started going to Ontario because it was closer,” Clinger said.
The Clingers smoke most of the fish they catch, but this was trophy went to the taxidermist.
“We love eating them, but this one’s going on the wall,” Clinger said.
