10th Annual Falcon Lake Winter Fish-Off - March 16, 2013

[snipersam]

do people fish with tip-ups?

[Dr.Funk]

do people fish with tip-ups?

Sure do.

Alot of people now with the 2nd hole ticket are setting a tip-up and then using a jigging presentation on a rod and bouncing around the site.

[Hooked]

Gahhh wish I could've gone this year. Have fun everyone! Would be nice to hear someone on here winning the $50,000.

Good luck to all that enter!

[chinner546]

Stupid question but if I have 2 pail tags for 2 holes do indeed 2 pails or just put them both on one ?

[chinner546]

Oh and do worms fall under the no live bait rule ? Sorry guys just trying to keep things on the up and up ........new to this fishing thing

[MBRaz]

A silly question from a first timer, i'm bringing my wife (and about 100lbs of gear to keep her warm and happy).  How far is the parking area from the ice (i'm thinking I might need a second sled), and how much assistance am I allowed to give her without breaking the rules (landing fish, etc.)?

[sammy72]

Decent derby but I would not return until the Dj/announcer turned his volume down about 100% and talked about 1/4
as much.So annoying I couldn't carry on a conversation with somebody 3 ft away.Really thought the Dj was sitting on my lap screaming into a bull horn even though we were 100 yards away.Fishing for me is supposed to be somewhat a social outing but hard to fish or think with that annoying noise blowing out my ear drums.I understand some people feel this is entertainment in slow fishing but I will not be returning due to how annoying this was.I have no problem with no bites but when I have to yell to have a conversation for5 hrs straight doesn't seem worth the 80$ for 2 tickets and 160$ in fuel ,20$ for bait,etc. Updates on time,fish caught,is ok but honestly shut up ,let us relax ,converse and enjoy the day.Announcing so and so needs to bring your dads rod to the weigh station 7-10 times from 9am to 1045 am is brutal and to announce 14 times to take your shack down until after 11 instead of someone from the derby addressing the problem directly.Froze our ass off while others sat in shelters from 9 am on with very little repercusions except threatening over the p.a over and over again .Shut up and do something about it instead of annoying those of us that did follow the rules. This was supposed to be an enjoyable derby not a screaming match.Not bitter about the lack of fish just the lack of peace and quiet.Ruined it to the point we will not be returning again next year.

[Dr.Funk]

There was way less talking this year by the pa crew and he could barely be heard in the southeast portion of the derby site.

[sammy72]

Thanks for your input still disliked the pa lots.

[HighlandGlen Guide]

$160 in fuel!! Where did u come from??

[hunter-of-lunkers]

People need to read rules prior to going on the ice. No tents and no fishing till 11. Simple isn't it?

[sammy72]

We drove from pilot mound,left at 4am 660 km round trip big diesel truck  froze while others ignored the rules that were not really enforcedmost likely wont be back.

[mdemeyer]

I was in the northwest corner volume was not bad, alot less talking over the PA then previous years and was told to take down my shack by an official unless someone had a medical issue(which we didn't).we just laid it down flat. Had some first timers with us, they had a great time despite the cold. Looking forward to next years derby, we have always had a great time. Good Job Andrew

[holysmoke456]

Anyone know what the winning weight was??

[Dr.Funk]

Just over 12 lbs.

[MBRaz]

Looks like I didn't need answer to this one... no fish caught .  We will be back next year much earlier so as to get a spot farther away from the DJ's truck.  Was nice having the music playing, my wife had a great time in the tent with the heater and the Danny's Whole Hog, but we were only about 100 feet from the truck and ended up with ringing in our ears the whole way home due to the volume.  Wish that girl would just have brought her Dad's rod to the tent the first 4 times she was asked...

It was a good time despite the weather.  Nice job Andrew, we will be back.

[wood99]

Decent derby but I would not return until the Dj/announcer turned his volume down about 100% and talked about 1/4
as much.So annoying I couldn't carry on a conversation with somebody 3 ft away.Really thought the Dj was sitting on my lap screaming into a bull horn even though we were 100 yards away.Fishing for me is supposed to be somewhat a social outing but hard to fish or think with that annoying noise blowing out my ear drums.I understand some people feel this is entertainment in slow fishing but I will not be returning due to how annoying this was.I have no problem with no bites but when I have to yell to have a conversation for5 hrs straight doesn't seem worth the 80$ for 2 tickets and 160$ in fuel ,20$ for bait,etc. Updates on time,fish caught,is ok but honestly shut up ,let us relax ,converse and enjoy the day.Announcing so and so needs to bring your dads rod to the weigh station 7-10 times from 9am to 1045 am is brutal and to announce 14 times to take your shack down until after 11 instead of someone from the derby addressing the problem directly.Froze our ass off while others sat in shelters from 9 am on with very little repercusions except threatening over the p.a over and over again .Shut up and do something about it instead of annoying those of us that did follow the rules. This was supposed to be an enjoyable derby not a screaming match.Not bitter about the lack of fish just the lack of peace and quiet.Ruined it to the point we will not be returning again next year.

No offense but if your looking for a quiet and peacefull day of ice fishing, a derby with a few thousand people might not have been the best option?  Lots of places near pilot mound where you can fish and prob not be within earshot of anyone.

[sammy72]

Understand your point what I expected the derby to be and what reality is was quite different.There was no offense intended to the derby itself just not what I expected.Sorry if anyone was offended.

[Andrew Klassen]

Sammy, sorry to hear your experience at the derby was not what you were expecting or looking for. I'd like to take a few minutes to explain a couple things that were a little inaccurate about your post. The sound system arrangement was a different configuration used this year as suggested by the owner of the DJ service. He felt by placing the speakers higher, that he could extend the reach further across the derby site while also lessening the volume. I apologize if his idea did not work as expected. We did keep the talking down significantly over past years, however there remain some announcements that need to happen. Regarding the shacks, that was an issue for us this year. It began with an asthmatic child that was having issues so they erected a shack outside the perimeter to get things under control. Following that, the masses started popping them up. Despite the signs, reminders on the mic, and the very clear written rule, there are always some that are unaware.

We sent 2 workers out on machines to physically tell people to take them down while Jason was announcing it on the mic at the same time to ease the workload for the guys on machines. We did address the problem directly, and had to DQ 2 individuals. One for a shack issue, and one for fishing before 11:00am. We gave people a verbal warning, and if they violated the rules again they were out. There were repercussions to those who did not follow the rules, but I apologize if you were annoyed by the chatter over the mic. Sounds like you played by the rules (thanks for that!), so you would not have seen us taking care of things directly. That doesn't mean it didn't happen, it just means you weren't involved with it.

There is certainly no offence taken by myself or any of the other guys on here. Lets switch focus to some brighter things. The winning fish was caught by Trevor Iwankow and was a 12.00lb pike. There was a total of 70 fish caught, mostly pike with a few perch and one jumbo whitefish! Probably one of the greatest moments in the history of the FLWFO happened this year when 12 year old Derek Brunet's Early Bird ticket was drawn to win the $1000 first place early bird prize! I've never seen somebody so excited and it was a thrill to be there and award him the cash! Once again the second hole ticket proved to be valuable for one angler. Alex Warmut took both 45 and 50 place which happened to win him $500 and $1000 cash prizes respectively! The fishing started off consistent with fish coming to the weigh station every couple of minutes for the first couple of hours. At about 1:00pm the weather began to turn and really seemed to shut things down a bit. Many of the larger fish were caught within the first hour. Tip-ups once again reigned supreme catching the majority of the larger fish.

The $50,000 Hidden Weight was revealed at 2:00pm and turned out to be 10.05lbs. Unfortunately, nobody hit the mark, but the closest weight was Matt Smith's 10.94lb pike which won him a Frabill Headquarters 6 person ice shack in addition to his second place prize of the Canada One Travel vacation and travel voucher!

I will be posting pictures as soon as I receive them from our photographer. Thanks again to all the anglers who came out despite the weather to enjoy a day on the ice! Also a huge thanks to the drillers who popped out a ridiculous 3760 holes, and reopened them all in the morning. Unbelievable job to everybody involved!

Thanks to everybody for all your support and for helping us grow the derby into what it is today! I couldn't believe the crowds that came out regardless of the less than ideal weather conditions! Hopefully next year the weather will be a little closer to the seasonal norms!

-AK

[Auritus]

I had a bit of luck at this derby.  Got there just before 7 and picked an edge hole in about 15' of water  Caught a jack over 3lbs about half way in.  Not too many fish this year but still fun time.

[sammy72]

Thanks for your reply and and continued success in your derby Andrew,sammy.

[cuttlefish]

 
I had a great time, won a $10 Fishin Hole voucher for catching a tiny little Perch (I was the guy who you all laughed at as the Perch only just tipped the scale!)
Anyway I will be back to try and get something a bit bigger next year!
Great job Andrew and crew....have a few beers after drilling all them holes!

[Andrew Klassen]

Thanks guys I appreciate all the feedback and support! For anybody interested, the pictures were just posted on the website! http://www.winterfishoff.com/pages/photos.htm

Who's ready for open water??

Andrew