MASSENA - While Waddington may be known as the Carp Capital of the World, in the early hours of this year’s St. Lawrence International Junior Carp Tournament Massena was the place to be.

By mid-afternoon. the tournament’s leader was fishing in Massena and the top two fishing sites were both located in the Massena area with anglers fishing off of Route 131 and at Hawkins Point both reeling in more than 130 pounds of fish.

Fishing continued until 8 p.m. Friday and will resume at 7 a.m. today. The tournament will come to close at 5 p.m. tonight with an award’s ceremony at 7 p.m. at Madrid-Waddington Central School.

Matt Delosh, 14, of Madrid topped the leaderboard by the end of fishing Friday with his top four catches weighin 69 pounds, 8 ounces of carp.

Four other competitors - two fishing at the Customs House in Ogdensburg, one at Lighthouse Point in Ogdensburg and one at River Road in Waddington - had their top four catches totaling more than 50 pounds by the end of the first day of the two-day event.

St. Lawrence County Chamber of Commerce Director Pat McKeown explained that scoring is based on an anglers’ best four fish.

“Right now he’s trying to replace his smaller fish,” she said Friday afternoon. “And when I say smaller, I’m talking about 14 or 15 pound fish.”

That’s one of the things many of the competitors, including Matt, said they enjoyed most about carp fishing.

“They’re strong. They’re fast and they’re big fish,” Matt said, adding fishing for carp was something he enjoyed doing with his family.

His brother, Austin Delosh, 12, was also participating in the tournament.

When asked what he liked most about carp fishing, Austin replied, “Everything.”

Unfortunately for Austin though, the tournament’s early hours weren’t quite as kind to him.

“I’ve lost seven fish,” he said, adding that as of Friday afternoon he had yet to bring in a single fish.

Today when fishing resumes, both boys will be fishing at Coles Creek.

So will Joseph Green, 11, of Waddington, who was participating in his first carp tournament.

While it may have been his first tournament, Joseph said it was not the first time he’s been carp fishing.

“It’s really fun to fight the fish,” he said. “It’s a really fun moment when that fish is right in your hand.”

Joseph too though was having hard luck Friday morning, noting that he had two bites, but was unable to reel in either catch.

Should he catch a fish though before the tournament is over, Joseph said he’s looking forward to the old carp angler’s tradition of kissing the fish before releasing it back into the river.

“I’ll kiss my fish when it comes in,” he said.

Ms. McKeown said that as of Friday afternoon 46 fish totaling 664 pounds were caught. The biggest fish caught as of that time was a 24 pound fish caught in Ogdensburg near the Customs House. Later in the day 24-pound carp were also caught on the River Road in Waddington and on Little Sucker Brook in Waddington.

The overall winner of the tournament will receive a $10,000 prize. Prizes are also awarded for second and third place with sportsmanship awards, team awards and a big fish award also presented.

Ms. McKeown, who was among the volunteers at Hawkins Point Friday, said the fish aren’t the only reason Hawkins Point is a good place to be.

“This is a great place for us, because people come to visit the power dam and they see us here with these bright yellow shirts,” she said. “They ask us what we’re doing and it gives me a chance to tell our story.”

After telling the story, Ms. McKeown then joked she often asks people if they would like to buy a house here.

“It’s all about tourism for me,” she said.

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