Dauphin derby

[big walleye]

Well what a day. All I thought of this morning was the weather we had last year during the derby. Well last years wind storm was a thing of the past. Today was simple beautiful. I believe the temperature went up to -3. No gloves day.   Well as usual little reel and I bought the early bird tickets and were in line at 6:30. Call us crazy but if you want to fish a certain spot it is best to get there early. Now waiting in line was interesting this morning. You get to really know people after standing in line with them for two hours. To the guy's from the Pas hat's off to you. man were these guy's funny. Great group. To the one guy that was intoxicated and pushed little reel so that he could go ahead of us well you know what I think of you. People that cannot handle liquor should stay home period. To his friends you guy's were a great group. Totally opposite of your buddy. Anyway let's talk fishing. Well the derby starts at 11:00 and guess what. 11:04 a girl that never fishes caught a beauty 3.5 lb pike. Way to go girl. Followed with many more entires. First hour 102 fish entered. First 15 minutes BW has a decent hit followed by another decent hit but no would he check his bait. Duh left it for a 1/2 hr to only realize I lost my bait. Little reel no bites yet. Well as 1:00 comes around and I am talking to little reel bam one great hit and the fight is on. Well of course my reel must act up and the drag is not working however there it is Mr. Pike. Routine grab the fish by the head and bring him out. Well slip  I lost my grip and down goes Mr. Pike and he also snaps my line. Well before this happens  little reel shoves his hand right down the hold and brings Mr. Pike back up and scoops him into my pail.  Now it is time to run this beast into the weigh station. Oh good god how far is this thing. I make it there after nearly taking out many Innocent anglers and it is now time to weigh it. In my mind I am thinking 4.5 lbs. darn water in the pail. It weighs in at 2.8 lbs. Hey better then nothing right. I really thought this thing has no chance in hell of winning. Well as the day goes by and BW is still catching his breath there is suddenly only 10 minutes left. As many are already putting their gear away I decided to try my other rod. I swear I feel a bite on the way down. No must be my imagination when suddenly bam another decent fish on. The fight is on. Line is peeling and anglers are surrounding my hole when i suddenly hear someone say I think he has a huge pike on. My eyes are now as big as the eight inch hole and what do I see come up. Not a pike,not a walleye or burbot but a huge tullibee. Well knowing this is not going to weigh more then my northern I pass it on to little reel. Your turn buddy. he runs it in like Ben Johnson in the Olympics. Turns out to weigh 1.35 lbs. Not bad . Now it is time to see what every one has won. Top prize goes to a pike weighing in at just under 7 lbs. Good enough for $ 20,000 and congrats to the fellow from Plumas. Great job bud. Well to my surprise BW does come in at the approx 30-40 place and wins a hummingbird fish locator. Right on. I am still excited over that. Little reel I owe you buddy.  Well the tullibee just finished from getting the last prize which was a Quad.  Hey one prize is better then nothing.

I had a great time with little reel , grumpymoe. Great company and great friends.

Also I got to meet reelmaster and his ice sculpturing girlfriend Jen. You two are great. I wish I could of spent more time with you. Totally awesome people that have strong ties to a great community Portage La Prairie.

To finish off I am very proud of myself for not having a heart attack running to the far east end and getting the hole that I wanted. man was that a run.

Great day great fun.

[Thriller]

Thanks for the report BW...very graphic...almost able to visualize it.  Way to go on getting something.

The hit and miss nature (along with my sporadic luck catching fish) of derbies is one thing that kind of keeps me from entering.  If it were a game of skill, I still wouldn't win, but I might stand a bit better chance.

[blue igloo]

Great report BW.....glad you won something for that marathon run 
Maybe that Nessie smooching works after all.....I couldn't bring myself to do it yesterday   

[grumpymoe]

WTG buds...yeah....it was an awesome day for a derby....still cant forget last year though....missed all the slush and water...the frozen trucks being pulled out with all 4 wheels locked up....the near total whiteout...no fish.... ....this year the concession stand was pretty handy....those flattened cheeseburgers sure hit the spot... ...ran/walked to the southeast corner of the grid and easily found a hole one out from the edge.....and run into Reelmaster and Jen.....and TH's uncle Release....and a bunch of great people from the Regina area....hats off to a fun day.....suprisingly saw quite afew walleye over the slot size....one guy gave his a big smack before the quick release....i dont think anyone was more suprised than the organizers seeing all the eyes that were caught....legal and over slot...i believe that well over half the eligible fish were eyes....heck...even one sucker was entered....all in all a great day!!!....here's afew pics from yesterday....Grump                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

[blue igloo]

Great pics Grump....maybe next year 

[big walleye]

BI next year I am planning on hitting two and possibly three derbies. 1. Crane River  2. Ebb and Flow " I met one of the organizers yesterday. Great guy."   3. Dauphin   and maybe even 4. Childrens derby at Rivers. My kids would love that one.

[blue igloo]

BW,  Has winning that fish finder turned you into a hardcore derby fisherman  
We'll meet someday 8)

[big walleye]

Ya now I am an addict. VLT fishing. No but if a 2.8 lb pike can win a finder can you imagine a 5 lb burbot. I llike derbies as I get to meet a lot of other anglers and learn the trick of the trade. Besides a few thousand would look good in my fishing account.

[blue igloo]

Good Luck in your future endeavours......maybe you can turn this into a career......sorta like a Babe Winkleman of Manitoba 

[big walleye]

Nope I think trophy has me beat on that one. Now I could start a show on how to lose fish or how to get skunked. Ac could star as one of my first guests. Sorry AC it was just so tempting that I could not resist.

[Thriller]

AC isn't the only one who can get skunked, he's just a bit louder about it.  I'd be interested in hearing more about the kids derby in Rivers.  I'm not entirely sure my kids would be interested, but they do enjoy some fishing and really get serious after the first hit.

[big walleye]

Hey thriller. The derby at rivers is held every year with a guaranteed prize for the kids. I will get more details for you. I think it would be great for our children. Next year mine are going for sure.

[Thriller]

Great...thanks BW.

[big walleye]

Now I have a fish story for you. At another mini derby that was held at rivers an angler felt an unusual tug on his line. So he set the hook and reel what he thought was a fish in. Well to his surprise a rod and reel came up. The line of that rod was however still in the water. As he was starting to reel it in he felt a tug. Sure enough there was a walleye on it. The walleye had swallowed the hook pretty deep but the judges said if the fish swims away he would still get a prize. He won $100.00 that day. Now is that a fish story or what.