HURLEYVILLE — The 23rd Annual Morningside Fishing Classic is in the book. At the start at 5:00 AM all was calm. Within an hour the wind picked up and made fishing a chore. The water temperature was the same as the air temperature at 71 degrees. The water was clear to a light tea stain in clarity. There were not a lot of lily pads to fish and with the wind kicking up it was a rough day on the water.

Fifty-four people took to the water and brought sixty-one fish to the scale.

Tom Clegg of Newburgh brought a bag of five fish to the scale for a total weight of 7.54 lbs. to win. Tom had a 2.27 pounder as his largest. Tom has placed in the top five in the Classic for years.

Frank Torres of Greenwood Lake also had a five-bag limit and placed second with 7.51 lbs., Frank had a 2.89 pounder as his largest. Frank also has done well in previous Classics.

Bill Orr of Youngsville, another perennial winner in this contest brought three fish to the scale for a total weight of 5.89 lbs. for third place. Bill had a 2.37 pounder as his largest.

The big fish (Lunker) of the day belonged to Richie Shafer of Livingston Manor. He brought in a 3.35-pound bass.

Steven Bennett of Sparrowbush caught a 3.33-pound Walleye. One of the few walleyes caught in recent years.

The Pickerel division was won by Don Ricciardi with a 17.00” .93 pounder for a score of 17.93, second went to Tom Clegg with a 16.50”1.10 pounder for a score of 17.51 and third went to Nick Milligian with a 16.50” .88 pounder for a score of 17.38.

The bass were caught on a variety of lures, from crank baits to worms of all different colors. There apparently was no pattern for the day.

Some other notable fish, Bob DeGraw a 2.00 pounder, Chris Stangel a 2.11 pounder, John Velde a 2.15 pounder and Pete Crisci with a 3.13 pounder.