Louie Oakes Memorial Fishing Tournament

The fourth annual Louie Oakes Memorial Fishing Derby was held over the weekend, August 17th and 18th, at the Tacklebox Marina in Snye. The tournament is held by Tom and Chubby Oakes to honor the memory of Tom Oakes’ father Louie, a well-respected fisherman and river guide. For the last four years, Chubby and Tom Oakes have put their tournament on and each year it has grown.

Starting at 7AM Tacklebox Marina has a sale on bait and the group of 39 participants starts out. Prizes were awarded for biggest lunker both days for youth and adult categories. In the downtime while everyone was out, there was a kayak race with six participants. Chris Lazore won the race and received a prize of $150 and a six-foot trophy to go along with it.

MCA Environment had a representative on hand to collect walleye samples. Cindy Lazore explained that in a joint partnership with Ontario Power Generation and River Institute, the St. Lawrence River was split into four quadrants, and through collecting samples of walleye, the quadrant with the lowest heavy metal content can be assessed. The program is paying for samples, $25 for three whole samples or six filets. The results of last year’s study are still being compiled but it looks as though the area of the river around St. Regis and Snye is likely to be the safest to fish.

For the kids, Bellybuttons the clown was painting faces and making balloon animals and cracking jokes. Bellybuttons also performed her magic show just before the winners were announced. It was nice to see that not only were there a lot of kids there, but they had entertainment and free ice cream too!

There was a meal at the end for the participants in the tournament, with a fish fry and pizza from Spinner’s Pizzeria, winner of the best wing contest at the Ironworker’s festival, which is located right next to the Tackle Box, and Chubby hired Amanda King’s DJ Karaoke Service to provide entertainment.

The winners of this years Tournament:

Youth Division

Biggest Lunker: Cayde David with 3.93 bass

3rd Place: Landon Cook with 31 fish

2nd Place: Lincoln Cook with 33 fish

1st Place: Iate Thomas with 41 fish

Adult Division

Lunker of the day: Kevin Hill with a 15.84 catfish

3rd Place: Shawn Thompson with 21.28 pounds

2nd Place: Nolan Thompson with 23.96 pounds

1st Place: PJ Burns with 27.52 pounds