Call of ice too much for some fishermen to resist

BIG LAKE — Even the NCAA Basketball Tournament couldn’t lure some of the Valley’s most die-hard outdoorsmen off the lake Saturday.

“What would I rather be doing than fishing?” mused Houston resident Gregory Travis. “Fishing. We fish year-round and that’s it.”

Travis was happily jigging his line through 4 feet of ice on Big Lake on a warm, sunny afternoon with fishing buddy Jim Wallace. The pair were among the roughly 200 who purchased tickets to participate in the first Big Lake Ice Fishing Derby. Sponsored by Sportsman’s Warehouse in Wasilla, the derby benefits the Big Lake Chamber of Commerce.

Even if there wasn’t a derby, they’d be on the ice, Wallace said.

“Yeah, we’d be out, but generally not on Big Lake,” he said. “Usually, it’s on Loon Lake, Marvel Lake or little stocked lakes. I came here for the derby, but I’ve fished here for many, many years and there are some nice fish.”

That was proven true about 15 minutes after dropping his line in the hole when Wallace pulled out a 25.75-inch Dolly Varden, which was holding at second place — behind Steve Totten’s 26.75-inch dolly — with several hours left in the derby.

“It’s just luck, being in the right place at the right time,” Wallace said about any secrets to landing the big fish. “I’ve fished this lake for 25, 30 years, so you get to know where the (good areas) are, and this has always been a good dolly hole for years.”

Other secrets include perseverance and good reflexes. He nearly lost his fish when it wriggled off the hook, but Wallace plunged his arm into the hole and snagged it back.

“I had to go diving,” he said.

“Yeah, he was up to his armpit,” said Travis.

The Houston residents also said ice fishing gives them a break from local politics and headlines coming out of city hall, a place Wallace said “is where all the turmoil’s at.”

Nearby, 26-year Palmer resident Dale Adler was patiently jigging his line. He came out for the derby, and said his spark for ice fishing is something new.

“This is honestly the first season I’ve ever ice fished,” he said. “It’s a good wintertime activity and a lot of people I know ice fish. One day a friend of mine says, ‘we need to go ice fishing,’ so I said OK. It’s a lot of fun, and you can’t beat today’s weather, and you have a chance to win some prizes.”

Along with cash prizes for first through third places for longest Dolly Varden and rainbow trout caught, participants can enter a raffle, said Chris Daw, fishing manager for Sportsman’s Warehouse and organizer of the event. Raffle prizes include a 2011 youth ATV from Big Lake Power Sports, a firearm from Sportsman’s Warehouse and a custom-made ice fishing rod from Two Rivers Rods. Nearly perfect ice fishing weather helped make the first derby “a great success,” Daw said.

“This is a good turnout for the first time, and oh, my gosh, you couldn’t ask for a better day for ice fishing,” he said. And the fish are biting. “We had five fish brought in in the first hour. … This is a good day at work right here. Sometimes I can’t believe I get paid for this.”

As the fishing manager at Sportsman’s, Daw is expected to have all the answers for fishermen.

“What’s the best lure to use? What’s the best place to fish?” are a couple of the most asked questions, he said. “For ice fishing on Big Lake, probably one of your better spots for dollies is by Saddleback Island. There’s a nice, deep trough over there.”

Whether they catch any more fish during the derby is just icing on the cake for spending a day in the Alaska outdoors, Wallace and Travis said. Besides, there are no limits on the stories fishermen tell.

By the time Wallace gets home, that 25.75-inch Dolly will have grown “to be longer than my arm.”

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.