Slippery ice fails to dim fishing enthusiasm

FINGER LAKE — As kids and their parents trickled in with buckets — or grocery bags or cardboard boxes — holding the fish they’d pulled through the ice, Kevin Weeks would crack jokes and take measurements Saturday.

“They look better stacked next to each other like that,” he told one kid, who’d brought in two fish for him to measure.

“Uhp! He just grew an inch!” he said as he subdued a particularly feisty fish.

“Well, you’ve got something to eat anyway,” he said of an entry that was big but not quite big enough.

Weeks was with outdoor retail giant Cabela’s, one of the sponsors of the 2015 Mat-Su Kids Ice Fishing Derby. The kids were all participants.

Hundreds of entrants showed up, driving cars and four wheelers onto the ice for the chance to win trophies and prizes. A concurrent raffle promised everything from ice augers to underwater cameras to a child-size four-wheeler.

All of this hoopla arrived in spite of relatively warm weather that left a thin layer of water atop polished, smooth lake ice. Crampons were a necessity rather than a luxury. Still, spirits on the lake were high.

Joey Miller and his sister, Katie Miller, took turns measuring fish at Weeks’ table. Their longest: 10.5 inches.

Their father, Robert Miller, estimated that Joey pulled in six or seven that day.

“No he didn’t!” Katie protested, teasing her brother. “He only caught like two!”

The Millers seemed to universally agree the derby was enjoyable, though Joey did get a little cold.

Also praising the derby was Jesse McIntyre, who was there with 7-year-old Mason McIntyre.

“It’s really slick out but it’s all for fun,” Jesse said of the conditions on the lake.

He said his family isn’t a big ice fishing family but they try to bring Mason out every year.

“We try to get him out to do some fishing,” he said. “It’s a self-confidence booster for him.”

Sponsors of the derby included everything from grocery stores to mechanic shops to restaurants, radio stations, newspapers, retail outlets and telephone companies. Ehmann Outdoors, as always, were the main driving force.

Raffle ticket revenue went to benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation. In addition to the derby, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game did an interactive stocking event, pouring fish into a hole in the ice.

Contact Andrew Wellner at 352-2270 or andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com.