649 anglers take part in Ice Fishing Derby
The 11th annual Healthy Lake Ice Fishing Derby was by all accounts a raging success!
Pelican Lake was turned from a small village into a budding metropolis – a sight rarely seen across the expansive beauty of the ice.
This year, 649 anglers were entered into this very popular derby, each one vying for the grand prize of a gorgeous 2024 Polaris Sportsman 570 quad, generously donated by Avenue Polaris Honda. The grand prize winner was Collin Ayotte who registered a massive northern pike measuring 107 cm which is equal to 42.126 inches or 3.5 feet – fantastic to know there are monsters like that in the lake!
This brings back a memory from the March 2, 2019 derby, published in our March 7, 2019 edition: “March 2nd was the annual Healthy Lake Fishing Derby in beautiful Ninette, Manitoba. With an estimated 560 entrants and 36 catches on the leaderboard as of 2:08:42 p.m. there were plenty of smiles to go around. But there was one person whose smile outshone them all.
Noah Messner and his buddy were entrants at the derby and had caught nothing all day, that is until he landed this 41.5” northern pike – but there was a slight problem. You know that adage, ‘a day late and a dollar short’, well there is a twist on that saying for fishing derby entrants, ‘an hour late and….’, okay there really isn’t
a saying for the entrants, but after this, maybe we should be coining one!
Noah, being a diehard fisherman, wasn’t ready to go home after the derby ended. Using a 10” mackerel as bait, he again dropped his line in and waited. About an hour after the derby ended his line twitched and then bent. At that point, he had no idea how large this catch really was, but the fight was on!
When he finally pulled this massive monster out of the water his initial reaction was disappointment! If only he had caught this giant an hour earlier he would have won the quad, but his disappointment quickly faded when he realised (in his words), “that he had caught a trophy fish of a lifetime”. (a story too good not to be retold). Although there was only one grand prize, there were many more great prizes to go around!
Talking to a number of the participants there were many kudos for the organizers who did a fantastic job organizing the event – but they always do a great job! Moving to an online platform for registration and submitting the fish caught was well received. It was a great day to get out and enjoy some camaraderie and some healthy competition.
Between the 649 anglers entered, they registered, in total, 22 perch, 119 walleye, and 50 northern pike.
PHOTO CAPTION: Collin Ayotte of Winnipeg was all smiles when he pulled this large Northern Pike out of the water and weeds during the Healthy Lake Ice Fishing Derby held on Pelican Lake at Ninette on Saturday, March 2nd. The 107 cm (42.1”) fish was the longest caught all day and earned him top prize. PHOTO BY SUZANNE PADDOCK
