Kids & families claim prizes at Ice Fishing Derby awards celebration
February may be the shortest month of the year, but ice fishing anglers of all ages claim it's the best, thanks to Soldotna Hardware & Fishing's Annual Ice Fishing Derby. "It was the Derby that got me out ice fishing for the first time, but I was the one who really got hooked and this year we had three generations each catch fish. It's different than summer fishing; we talk to each other more." said one participant. Last week Brian and Scott Miller who created the Derby, invited all of this year's winners into their Soldotna store for an awards presentation. As a result of this invitation, the parking lot was packed, and the store isles were full of kids and families stepping up to claim their trophies, prizes, and pictures.
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"This year was truly our best ever. We had more people than ever, about 1,400 signed up and over 400 fish were brought in. There were more kids, and big fish caught by kids, than ever before as well," said Scott. Some anglers, such as Christy Cunningham, are all too happy to set their hobbies such as quilting aside, and put on the thermo-wear to take up the Derby challenge. For the last three years, Christy has caught a fish in each category, completing what's called a straight flush and winning with the heaviest total weight. When asked where she goes to find such success, Christy replied, "Top Secret Lake! I do some serious scouting before I go, then plan a strategy of where to fish. Let's face it, ice fishing this is no longer a male-dominated activity. Women are the fastest growing demographic in outdoor hunting and fishing sports. We love it and we're good at it," she told the Dispatch.
According to Miller, he was the happiest with the increased family involvement this year. "What we enjoy seeing the most is the parents taking out the little ones and getting them involved in outdoor winter activities like the Derby. More and more each year we see groups of families going out on the ice, sharing gear and helping the kids catch fish. One family hiked all the way up to Fuller Lake this year to get bunch of grayling for the Derby. It's just great for us to see all these families coming in the store with their fish and telling us about how much fun they had out there fishing. The prizes are great fun and we appreciate our sponsors standing behind this event every year, but it's really about the experience these families have that is the incentive for the Derby," said Scott.
The largest fish this year was Larry Wall's 12.40 lb Lake Trout, and the smallest fish prize went to Makayla Racmaker. Miller said the effort of Fish & Game to reduce the invasive Northern Pike from area lakes was showing again this year in the Derby results, with larger trout being caught and smaller Pike as well. "In the lakes Pike were in, we're seeing bigger Rainbows and we're starting to see some fish in those lakes that hadn't been there for some time, like Dolly Varden and Rainbows starting to show again. So the hard work they've been doing is showing up in the Derby. We're also seeing a lot more of catch and release of the large trout now," added Miller. For all the results of the Soldotna Hardware Ice Fishing Derby for the last three years with photos of all the kids and their fish simply log on to www.soldotnahardware.com