Ice fishing enthusiasts hope to reel in pike worth $10K

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 06/03/2011 (5347 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

LAKE WAHTOPANAH — It was a chance for one lucky ice fisherman or fisherwoman to hook a cool $10,000.

All they had to do is catch one special northern pike during the Rivers Game and Fish Association Fourth Annual Tag Northern Pike Derby.

"Right now, there’s a $10,000 fish swimming around this lake," event committee member Bruno Bruederlin said during Saturday’s event held at Lake Wahtopanah, otherwise known as the Rivers Reservoir.

Participants had five hours to try to catch the pike which had been specially tagged with a specific number.

If successful, they’d release the pike but keep the $10,000 prize.

There were also small cash prizes for hooking two other tagged pike and prizes for the largest pike, walleye and perch.

Gift certificates of $25 redeemable at Rivers businesses could also be won for catching fish closest to certain specific times.

The derby attracts fisherfolk from across southwestern Manitoba, and this year from as far away as Rocanville, Sask.

Bruederlin, who fishes not only at Lake Wahtopanah but other area lakes, said ice fishing is good this year.

The sport remains popular in general. No boat is needed, he pointed out, and there are plenty of lakes in the area to drop a line in.

This year’s field of adult participants was smaller than last year’s, which organizers said is likely due to competing events and a poor economy which makes expenses like fuel and food hard to swallow.

There was 169 ice anglers this year who caught 61 fish. That’s a smaller haul than last year when 212 people took part.

The derby raises money for the game and fish association’s programs, promotes the outdoors and boosts the local economy.

Those that took part yesterday seemed to have fun, whether they bundled up and fished from a seat set on the ice or fished from inside heated shacks.

The temperature on the lake yesterday was an estimated -14 C without the wind chill.

Brothers Terry and Lee Houle bundled up and manned their lines as they sat on a cooler. It was their first time at the Rivers event.

"It’s a great time," Terry said. "We try to support the community, it’s all fun."

The brothers planned to split the cash if they caught the $10,000 fish. Lee said he’d bank it or throw it under his mattress while Terry said he’d save the money for Christmas.

Also out on the lake was Rivers area resident Karly Ducharme, with her brother, Daniel Klassen, and friends Cesar Rodrigues and Serena Hill.

They fished comfortably through holes in the floor of a shack heated by a wood stove.

Their setup included padded seats which could be pushed together to make a bed, windows adorned with curtains, kitchen utensils and a small wooden table complete with a table cloth.

"We’re fancy here," Ducharme said. "We even have a porta potty."

In the end, nobody caught the $10,000 pike. That fish and two other tagged pike are now worth $150 if caught within the next year.

For the record, Steven Perrin of Rivers earned bragging rights and $200 by hooking the biggest fish of the day — a 75.2-centimetre long northern pike.