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New rock bass record!

Jack Danchak - Columnist
Posted 7/16/20

Eight-year-old Jason Leusch from Webster, NY fishing from shore on Lake Ontario on his parents property yelled to his parents that were nearby, “Got a big one.” His parents were slow answering …

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New rock bass record!

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Eight-year-old Jason Leusch from Webster, NY fishing from shore on Lake Ontario on his parents property yelled to his parents that were nearby, “Got a big one.” His parents were slow answering their son since he already caught about 20 rock bass, “We will be there in a minute.”

When Jason's dad, Mike Leusch, finally came over to see his son's catch, he replied, “Holy crow, we have to weigh that one!” Mike went on to say, “We knew that the record rock bass for New York State was one-pound, 15 ounces, caught in 1984. I grabbed my digital scale and the fish weighed 2 lb. .02 ounces.”

Father and son took the rock bass to the Bay Bridge Sport Shop at the south end of Sodus Bay and it registered two pounds with no ounces on their certified scale.

Mike said, “We had a friend from Webster print out the registration official form and he immediately brought it to us. The next step was to contact the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and have them certify the catch.”

Fishery biologist Pete Ousterman from Region 8 Office came over and verified the rock bass, and 8-year old Jason Leusch, a second-grader in school, is now an angler in the official record book with the new rock bass record.

When asked what fishing equipment he used to catch the rock bass, Jason proudly replied, “I was using my five-foot ultra-light rod with 10-pound braided line and using fathead minnows. My rod was a KastKing, but I just broke it. The hook was caught on the bottom and I yanked it too hard and it broke.”

He was asked, “What record fish are you going for now?” Without hesitation he said, “It will be a bluegill.”

Sportsmen's Federation Cancels Events!

The Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs of Sullivan County has canceled the Kay Danchak Memorial Youth Day and Expo that was scheduled to be held at the Grahamsville Fairgrounds on Saturday, September 5, 2020. We will also not have a booth at the Grahamsville Fair since it also has been canceled.

The Federation's annual Dinner Banquet scheduled to take place on Saturday October 3, 2020 at the Rockland House in Roscoe is still up in the air and undecided, along with the Youth Ice Fishing Derby scheduled to take place on Saturday, January 30, 2021 and the 3-day coyote contest scheduled for February 5-7, 2021.

The past Federation's “Sportsmen of the Year” have selected the Federation's 2020 “Sportsman of the Year” that will be announced at a later date.

The Federation's pheasant stocking pick-up date for qualifying clubs is still scheduled for Sunday, October 4, 2020¸ and the Federation's fish stocking will take place this fall.

Jack Danchak is the President of the Federation of Sportsmen's Clubs of Sullivan County.

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