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