We've Got The County Covered
We've Got The County Covered
Ridge with his winning Walleye. his 21.75inch winning Walleye tied him for first. His half of the walleye pot was $210
The Chinook Rod & Gun Club held its 4th Annual Fishing Derby this past Saturday. Originally the Derby was set to allow just 50 Anglers, but late notice from the MFWP came that they would be allowed to expand to 75 anglers beginning this year. The 75-angler limit will continue in the years to come. The turnout was fantastic with 53 entries being made.
By the time the Derby concluded there were plenty of happy fishermen. Final numbers of fish caught included 39 Northern Pike, 20 Yellow Perch and 13 Walleye. There were no Bass caught. Each winner for the longest fish in each category received winnings of $420. The Largest Northern Pike was 27.5 inches and was caught by Tyler Schaub of Havre. The Largest Yellow Perch was 10.75 inches caught by Willie Gilead also of Havre. There was a tie for largest Walleye at 21.75 inches caught by Mike Randall of Cut Bank and Ridge Mader of Havre. Mader was also the Derby's youngest entrant.
The purpose of the Derby was to raise money for the Chinook Rod & Gun Club Scholarship Program. Additionally, this year a Raffle was held to raise funds in conjunction with the Derby. When the numbers were calculated $330 was raised through the Ice Fishing Derby itself and another $765 was generated with the Ice Castle Raffle. Event organizer Joe Kennedy stated, "It's really two groups of people that made the Derby so successful and it would be impossible without them and that's the sponsors, and the anglers who participated this year despite the wind and in past years the cold. The sponsors really went above and beyond again this year just like they have in the past. The winner of Ice Castle raffle was John Berg from Havre.
Kennedy would like to remind anglers that they have until Feb 10th to submit their photos from the tournament, the dinner, or fishing with their door prizes for a photo contest the Rod & Gun Club is holding. Those who want to enter a photo can do so by posting them on their Facebook page and tagging the Chinook Rod and Gun Club in the Facebook post.
Kennedy noted an interesting interaction that occurred following the conclusion of the Derby festivities, "After the tournament several anglers went down to the Brewfest and were talking about the tournament and the club to one of the brewers. Tim from Meadowlark Brewing in Sidney seen my Rod and Gun Club gear and asked all about the club and what we did and then donated $50 out of his own pocket to go to the scholarship fund with the money we raised."
