Jay Siemens brings the Winter Fish-Off to the world!

We are incredibly grateful to the great and powerful Jay Siemens for coming to the 18th annual Falcon Lake Winter Fish-Off and documenting the whole process. Jay is in the action the whole time. Watch the video and follow him through helping us drill thousands of holes, picking a spot, missed hook sets, and even a big fish coming out of the hole on camera!

New Manitoba regulations for this year!

In Falcon lake, all pike over 75cm(~30in) and all walleye over 45cm (~18in) may not be possessed. Which means by law we can’t bring them to the weigh station to weigh them.

We support the province's efforts to protect big fish and we want to ensure that we do our part. We don’t want to lose the excitement of having the biggest fish win the tournament though.

So here’s what we’re gonna do!

We’re going to have teams of judges around the derby site with handheld digital scales to weigh any fish over that size restriction. If you catch a Big Fish, call over the mobile weigh judge to your hole and they will weigh your fish at the hole. The fish will be released immediately down the same hole and we will all be compliant with the new regulations. All other fish will be brought to the weigh tent in a bucket or cooler as usual to be weighed on the main scale. This way we don’t have to disqualify the big fish and the $15000 grand prize will go to the biggest fish caught on the day!

Ok. lets address the concerns:

Different scales and weigh methods: there might be micro differences in the way a handheld scale weighs a fish and this could effect the outcome. Maybe, but here’s the thing, on an average year there might be 3-5 fish that are over that 30” threshold caught, sometimes none. The differences in those fish is measured in pounds not in ounces (ie we’ll get one eight pounder, a ten pounder, a twelve pounder and a fourteen pounder. Micro differences in weigh methods on those fish aren’t changing the outcome. all the 1-5 pound fish where every ounce counts will be weighed on the same scale by the same judge

Why not Catch Photo Release, or measure every fish at the hole like Lac Du Bonnet does. There’s a few reasons, First: LDB Ice is a great event, you should definitely check it out. But, because of the way LDB drills their holes (in pairs) and the difference in the style of fishing (we’re fishing for pike that will dart around and tangle lines if holes are too close) and the # of competitors, our derby site is 3 times the size. We would need an immense amount of judges to effectively cover the derby site. When it comes to measuring fish, even on a standardized bump board, there’s a lot of variation (mouth open or closed, tail pinched or fanned can make a big difference) Now at LDB “Size doesn’t matter” and prizes are awarded based on random draws, time caught etc. So there’s no advantage to '“stretching” your fish on a bump board so it works perfectly for their format. That’s not our format, we award $60,000 + worth of cash and prizes to the 50 heaviest fish caught every year. Within the confines of the new regulations we believe this is the best way to do it.

Now if you’ve read this far you obviously think deeply about the rules so hopefully this makes sense to you. Please explain it to your friends who tuned out 2 paragraphs ago when they claim to have all the answers! We appreciate everyone's understanding, and we are looking forward to another great event and some BIG FISH winning some BIG CASH.

THANK YOU!

Falcon Lake Tagged Fish Contest- The end of an era

We regret to announce that we will not be tagging any more fish this year.

Since 2017 we tagged 6 fish a year for a total of 30 fish, 5 of those were caught by registered anglers and they took home $1000 each. Unfortunately all good things must come to an end and we’ve decided not to carry on with the tagged fish contest.

The good news is there’s still 25 tagged fish swimming around and we’ve decided to honor those tags in perpetuity at a value of $100 each! There will be no entry fee, every one is entered. Simply catch the fish by legal means and remove the tag, bring it to the Faloma Beach Marina and we’ll give you $100.

Good luck everyone!

We appreciate the support over the years and look forward to more exciting events in the future

2022 Falcon Lake Winter Fish-Off has been Cancelled

Due to the unpredictable nature of current Covid 19 restrictions, we are forced to cancel the 2022 Falcon Lake Winter Fish-Off. This may seem early to be making this decision to some, with 2 months to go before the event date. The current Manitoba outdoor gathering restriction is 250 fully vaccinated people. This event typically draws ~2000 people from all over Manitoba and Northwestern Ontario. This restriction seems unlikely to change substantially in the mounting surge of Omicron infections. We’ve put off this decision as long as we can but at this point there isn’t enough time to put together an event that would be up to our standards. We sincerely hope that next year this pandemic will be well in our rear-view mirror and we can host the best Falcon Lake Winter Fish-Off ever. Thank you to the St. Amant foundation, the towns of Falcon and West Hawk Lake, and all our sponsors for their continuing support through these tough times.

Stay Healthy, Go Fishing, See you next year.

Ian, Lindsey, Lachlan, The Falcon Lake Winter Fish-Off crew.

The 17th Annual Winter Fish-Off

Well thats it, I don’t really know what to say. The Falcon Lake Winter Fish-Off was cancelled due to Covid-19, but we still gave away over $60,000 worth of cash and prizes! We’re very proud to have raised $18,780.00 for the St. Amant Foundation! Thanks to everyone who watched the draw, thanks to everyone who offered kind words of support. Especially thanks to our sponsors who support us year after year. Lets do it again in 2021, March 20th, this time we’ll wet a line!

Scott Kerr was the winner of our $15,000 grand prize

Mike Nocei was our 2nd place winner and took home a new CanAm Outlander

Evan Paulley was our 3rd place winner and took home our AlumaCraft boat package

Every year we work hard to raise money for the St. Amant foundation. over the past 5 years we’ve raised over 60 thousand dollars. Much of that money comes from the on ice activities such as the silent auction, 50/50 bait. merchandise and food sales, the LOWBrewCO beer gardens, as well as a portion of our ticket sales. When we were forced to cancel the 2020 Falcon Lake Winter Fish-Off, the St. Amant Foundation was set to be the biggest loser. We believe that the charitable contribution of this event is of utmost importance. We recognize that our fisheries are a public good, and as such, events like this should do a public good. In a time when we’re all struggling with the effects of social isolation, the importance of supporting an organization that provides resources and support for people that struggle with social isolation every day comes to the forefront. With that in mind, The Falcon Lake Winter Fish-Off pledged to donate the proceeds of all ticket sales after the cancellation to the St. Amant Foundation. We’re very pleased to announce that we’ve raised $13,368.00 for the St. Amant foundation as a result! Add that to the money raised in the 50/50 and we get a total of $18,780.00 raised for the St. Amant Foundation this year!

The 17th annual Falcon Lake Winter Fish Off has been cancelled

THE 2020 FALCON LAKE WINTER FISH-OFF HAS BEEN CANCELLED

In light of the nation-wide uncertainty surrounding the virus, with schools, businesses and borders closing, and with all provinces urging all major events to be cancelled, we can’t in good conscience hold an event of this nature at this crucial time in the fight against a worldwide pandemic.

With people traveling from every corner of Manitoba, all over Canada and even the United States, hosting this event has inherent transmission risks that go far beyond ice fishing.    

Obviously there will be many people who are disappointed with this decision.  I can assure you that there is no one more disappointed than me. I sincerely hope that this decision comes to seem like an overreaction when this is all said and done. 

The contingency plan laid out in the official rules of the event that will be implemented. Our guaranteed prize list will be awarded in a live random public draw of ticket stubs on March 28th. Drawn ticket numbers will be posted on our website (winterfishoff.com) and our social media pages. More information on this to come.

For everyone who has hotels booked and weekends at the cottage planned, there are still over $20,000 worth off tagged fish in Falcon Lake! Ice fishing is a great form of social distancing… just not if you do it as a group of 2000.

For all the kids who missed out on 2 of Canada’s premiere ice fishing derbies this year due to circumstances beyond all of our control. Please stop by the Faloma Beach Marina at any point during the spring to claim your free spoon from our generous sponsor Pelican Lures.  

Frequently asked questions:

Regarding Refunds.

We Guarantee our prize pool, that means if 200 people or 2000 people buy tickets we still give away the prizes. To guarantee the prize pool and consistently provide a good event year after year we have to enforce a strict no refund policy. Otherwise people ask for refunds when the weather is bad and other unforeseen circumstances come up. This is unfortunately one of those circumstances. It is out of our control. These rules are published on our website, on every flyer and on the back of every ticket. As such we can’t break the rules of our own event. We have a guaranteed prize pool and we will honour it in the fairest way that we can. Thank you for understanding.

Second Holes: YES the second hole stubs will be entered in the draw. 2 tickets, 2 chances to win

Transferring holes and names not on ticket stubs: all ticket stubs will be entered, it will not matter if your name is on the stub or if the wrong name is on the stub. Ticket #s will be posted on line. If you have the matching side of the ticket you win.

We appreciate the support over the years, and are hoping for the health and safety of all Canadians in this difficult time.

16th Annual Falcon Lake Winter Fish-Off Recap

What can I say, the 16th annual was by far the most challenging since I took the helm of this ship. Here in the Whiteshell, as did most of Manitoba, we had a relentless winter. The snow piled up and kept coming. In the last week before derby day we had 2 major snowfalls and warm weather that created deep slush conditions throughout the derby site. Our team worked relentlessly to pack out the slush and push roads in to create a fishable area. Our efforts were rewarded the day before derby day with a brief cold snap that tightened up the derby sight and eliminated most of the slush. Our roads weren’t so fortunate though, everything we plowed flooded 8” deep with water that would partially freeze. Ultimately, we couldn’t get our weigh tent and other services into the middle of the derby grid. The best we could do was set up in a dry spot at the edge of the derby site….. which promptly flooded as soon as the tent was set up.

All was not lost though! As the sun rose on march 16th we were blessed with a perfect day for fishing. Wind was light and warm, temperature hovered just around freezing to keep the slush at bay. We were able to set up a weigh station and silent auction for the St. Amant foundation next to the weigh tent. Dannys Whole hog fought their way out to the sight to provide food. Dexter’s Mini Doughnuts set up at the entry selling coffee and mini doughnuts. Most importantly, the fish were biting!

All told 106 fish were caught with the biggest being Chans Candaras 11.40lb $15,000 fish.

Trudy Froese was our runner up with a 9.5 pounder that won here a new Can-Am Outlander!

Our Alumacraft Hidden weight was revealed to be 8.44 Lbs, unfortunately Andrew Roberton’s 8.56 pounder missed it by a hair. That fish claimed 3rd place though and Andrew took home an Alumacraft boat motor and trailer for his efforts.

All told we had over 1900 anglers on the ice including 200 kids fishing over 2600 holes. In total we raised $18,650 for the St. Amant foundation. With contributions coming from the Manitoba Bass anglers, Danny’s Hole Hog, the many donors to this years on ice silent auction and the Lake of the Woods Brew co beer gardens.

Dominik Rozwadowski winner of the $11,805.00 St. Amant 50/50, generously donated a portion of his winnings back to the St. Amant foundation.

I cannot express enough gratitude for all the anglers who came out to this event and endured less than ideal conditions. We can all share in the satisfaction of raising a ton of money for a worthy cause. Also to all the people who helped put this together, This really is an event put on by the entire community of Falcon Lake and in fact the entire fishing community. Its hard work packing slush, plowing roads, drilling 3600 holes, selling tickets, setting up the derby site, cleaning up etc. plus the thousands of dollars worth of silent auction prizes and on ice giveaways that are donated, it’s truly overwhelming to think about . There will be $2000 donated to the Whiteshell Community club on everyones behalf.

Top 50 fish as follows

Chans Chandara 11.40

Trudy Froese 9.50

Andrew Roberton 8.56

Chris Penner 6.88

Dale Shurck 6.82

Jason Bourgeois 6.20

Danny Schutz 6.14

Klye Marchun 5.72

Jesse Waterman 5.70

Michelle Harrison 4.60

Mitchell  Whitechurch 4.50

Mike Maksymchuk 4.16

Karl Gerrard 4.16

Chris Massart 3.98

Nancy Silander 3.84

Rob Maluk 3.52

Andrew Wright 3.24

Kevin Matskiw 3.18

Harry Granberg 3.10

Chris Longlass 3.08

Keith Flett 3.08

Darcy Nazar 2.80

Fanny Neufeld 2.80

Nicole Marynowski 2.66

Joe Campbell 2.62

Adam Tote 2.50

Cheryl Desjarlais 2.40

Michael Martins 2.22

Klyle Kiernicki 2.22

Andy Chartrand 2.12

Jess Gabb 2.08

Paul Grey 2.00

Bryce Croft 2.00

Rick McIntosh 1.98

Philip D' Auteuil 1.84

Jaime Chaulk 1.84

Ashley Yorke 1.72

Michelle Kavenaugh 1.70

Jaime Chaulk 1.70

Braden Dandeneau 1.68

Bill Wassenana 1.66

Matthew Vandel 1.60

Heinrick P 1.56

Kristen Everett 1.54

Tony Plifewski 1.48

Nicloe Mack 1.48

Doug Mack 1.48

Jodie Desharnais 1.46

Nedy Guenter 1.46

Clayton Scott 1.44

2018 Winter Fish-0ff Recap

The 15th Annual Falcon Lake Winter Fish on March 17th, 2018 of was one of our most exciting ever! We had over 1900 anglers fishing over 2500 of the 4000 pre drilled holes in our grid. For the first time since its introduction in 2013, the Hidden Weight was hit! Ben Gilby had a fish that matched the randomly generated 1.66Lb hidden weight # and won a brand new Alumacraft Competitor 205 with 200 Mercury Verado!  Andrew Robertson won the $15,000.00 grand prize for his 10.40Lb pike, and Rob Shaw took home an Alumacracft Jon boat with motor and trailer as the runner up.

We raised over $18,000.00 for the St. Amant Foundation which included an on ice 50/50 that went to Mary Jane Arenal for $11,000.00!

All considered well over $120,000.00 in cash and prizes were given away on the ice at the 2018 Winter Fish-Off. That's gonna be a hard precedent to live up to for next year but we'll give it a shot!

Ben Gilby with his Hidden Weight Prize!

Our 2018 Champion Andrew Robertson!

15th annual Winter Fish-Off raises over $18K for the St. Amant Foundation

We're very proud to have raised $18,340 in 2018 for the St. Amant Foundation

AlumaCraft and Mercury bring exciting new prizes to Falcon Lake Winter Fish-Off

This years Runner Up will go home with a new boat/motor/trailer from Alumacraft and Mercury!

*Includes 5hp Mercury Fourstroke 

Plus!

This years Hidden Weight prize is a Alumacraft Competitor 205 Sport with 200hp Mercury

                          Could this be the year somebody hits the hidden weight?

15th annual Falcon Lake Winter Fish-Off grand prize $15,000.00!

This Years Falcon Lake Winter Fish-Off will be held March 17, 2018 and because its our 15th annual we're boosting our grand prize to $15,000!  Theres over $100,000 in potential winnings, including $50,000 guaranteed cash and prizes, over $10,000.00 in tagged fish and a hidden weight prize valued at over $40,000.  

New Tagged Fish Contest Explained

New for 2017! The Falcon Lake Winter Fish-Off is putting on a Tagged Fish Contest on the same lake. We joined derby organizer Ian Young on the ice as he caught, tagged, and released three northern pike of varying sizes for the contest.

Congrats to Jordan Bekkering winner of our share and win facebook contest

Jordan won 2 Free tickets to this years Winter Fish-Off for liking and sharing our facebook posts. We'll be giving away another pair of tickets at the end of February to someone else who helps spread the word about the Winter Fish-Off. Don't forget to sign up to our email list to keep up to date on the latest news and for your chance to win an Eskimo Mako Power Auger!  

New for 2017 The YEAR ROUND Falcon Lake Tagged Fish Contest.

This year the Falcon and West Hawk Chamber of Commerce is putting on a tagged fish contest on Falcon Lake. They're putting up $10,000 on 6 tagged fish on Falcon Lake to add some extra excitement to fishing Falcon Lake. 

This contest will start at the same time as the Winter Fish-Off and go Year Round until all fish are caught.

Entry into the tagged fish contest will be $20 and contestants will not be eligible for the tagged fish prizes unless they have bought the ticket beforehand. However in order to kickstart the contest we're giving away free entry to the tagged fish contest to anyone who purchases a Second Hole or Kids ticket at the Falcon Lake Winter Fish-Off.

 With the help of the fisheries branch 3 Northern Pike will be tagged and released at the derby site in the weeks before the Falcon Lake Winter Fish-Off. Two will be worth $1,000, and one will be worth $5,000! These will be Fish local to the derby site so we're expecting one or all of them to be caught on derby day! To keep it going strong through the summertime 3 Smallmouth Bass will be tagged and released on the opening day of the open water season and be worth $1000 each!

That's 6 fish for a total of $10,000!

We're very excited about this addition to Falcon Lake and the added excitement it will bring to the Winter Fish-Off.