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!