Latest News

LACKAWAXEN – Fourteen-year-old Jordan Metzger of Milford, PA reeled in three winning smallmouth bass and landed an Old Town canoe package valued at $800 when results of the Zane Grey Catch-and-Release Fishing Derby were announced on July 12.

Metzger was the lucky winner of the grand prize drawing from all entries in the derby which honored renowned author, world record fisherman, and Lackawaxen resident Zane Grey as part of the year-long celebration of Pike County, PA’s 200th anniversary.

The bi-state fishing derby opened on April 12 and ran through July 6, targeting rainbow, brook and brown trout, and smallmouth bass caught and released live on the Delaware River, Lackawaxen River, their tributaries, and all the flowing waters of Pike County. Participants photographed their fish on a 24-inch Official Derby Ruler and emailed their entries to the Pike County Historical Society for review by a panel of judges.

An awards ceremony took place at 2 p.m. during Saturday’s 10th Annual Zane Grey Festival held at the National Park Service’s Zane Grey Museum in Lackawaxen.

In the Youth Male Division, Aidan Sensiba, 14, of Long Eddy, NY won for his brook trout, while Hunter Shampine, 13, also of Long Eddy, submitted the winning brown trout entry. The Youth Female Division was dominated by Delaware Valley (PA) School 9th grader Jordan Metzger with the three largest smallmouth bass.

In the Open Class Division (Male or Female, ages 16 and up), winners were:

Smallmouth Bass Category – 1st place, Ted Metzger of Milford, PA; 2nd place, Henry Szwaba of Ozone Park, NY.

Brown Trout Category – 1st place, Karol Sundholm of Eldred, NY; 2nd place, Will Reeve of Milford, PA.

Rainbow Trout Category – 1st place, Michael Van Biema of Napanoch, NY; 2nd place, Lee Hartman of Equinunk, PA.

Derby prizes were donated by Thomas Spinning Lures, Inc. of Hawley, PA (fishing lures and caps); Pike County Historical Society (three publications and two admissions to The Columns Museum in Milford, PA); NPS Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River (fishing and Zane Grey books); Trout Unlimited Upper Delaware Chapter President Andy Boyar (fly fishing rod); and Zane Grey’s West Society (books and free memberships).

At the conclusion of the awards ceremony, all of the entrants’ names were placed into a random drawing for the grand prize of an Old Town Canoes & Kayaks Saranac 146 canoe with two Carlisle Ausable paddles and two Extrasport Universal personal flotation devices generously donated by Johnson Outdoors Watercraft.

A recap of the Zane Grey Catch-and-Release Fishing Derby will be featured in the August on-line issue of www.thepoconochannel.com.

Serving as contest judges were 2014 Upper Delaware Council (UDC) Chairman and Catskill Fly Fishing Center and Museum Vice-President Andy Boyar, Blue Ridge Communications TV 13 “Out in the Open” producer and co-host Alex Zidock, NPS Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River Chief of Resource Management Don Hamilton, and The Barryville Sportsman proprietor Harry Datys.

Printing sponsors for the Official Derby Rulers that were graphically designed by W Design of Barryville, NY were the Pike County Commissioners, Pike County Historical Society, Zane Grey’s West Society, and Pike County Outfitters.