By Carla Kolbe

Express Editor

MAYFIELD — The fate of the fourth annual Walleye Challenge Ice Fishing Tournament is expected to be learned no sooner than this weekend.

The tournament, scheduled Saturday, Jan. 28, on the Great Sacandaga Lake, is in question due to the late formation of ice on the lake.

For the first time in the tournament’s four-year history, stability of the ice is in question due to the unseasonably mild winter temperatures experienced locally until this past weekend. The Great Sacandaga Lake has since frozen over, and winter activity has slowly begun to pick up.

This Saturday, tournament initiators Lou Stutzke and Henry “Beaver” Ross will trek out on the lake at its most volatile location, Sinclair Point.

Stutzke explained Sinclair Point has the most lively water activity on the Great Sacandaga, as it is a point where the natural rivers meet, on route to the Conklingville Dam.

“If there is six inches of ice on Sinclair Point, there is most likely going to be at least 10 to 12 inches everywhere else on the lake,” he said.

Both Stutzke and Ross are expected to drill test holes in the ice and make their determination Saturday.

“Anything can still happen. It looks like we have some cold days predicted ahead,” said Stutzke, confident about making a ruling this Saturday because they will have the most current ice measurements, and will know the latest forecast for the coming week.

“If the ice is good and we have cold weather forecast, the tournament can be a go, but if the ice is marginal and above normal temperatures are predicted, we would have to cancel the ice fishing portion of the event,” Stutzke stated.

The tournament has become a major winter attraction for eastern Fulton County. According to the Fulton County Chamber of Commerce and Industry, only 611 of the 1,500 registrants for the tournament are from Fulton County, the rest are from other counties in New York state, as well as seven other states from as far away as Indiana.

There is no alternative date for the fishing tournament. The prizes consisting of eight power augers, eight portable ice fishing shanties, modular helmets, fish televisions, pack baskets, tip-up combo packs, snowmobile jackets, various snowmobile necessities such as oil and spark plugs, and countless other door prizes will still be given away. The $8,000 in prize money, normally given out to hourly winners for catching the largest walleye, will be randomly given away through a drawing.

The grand prizes are two new Kowasaki ATVs and a new Arctic Cat snowmobile. All prizes will be given away on Jan. 28, regardless of the fishing tournament status.

If the tournament does not take place, there will still be random drawings (by bracelet number) for all of the tournament cash prizes, door prizes, and two ATVs and snowmobile on Saturday, Jan. 28, beginning noon at Lanzi’s on the Lake, 1751 State Highway 30, in Mayfield.

You do not need to be present for the cash drawings or the drawings for the recreational vehicles. To claim any of the door prizes, you either have to be present or you have to pick up your door prizes by 5 p.m. Jan. 28 at Lanzi’s.

Once the tournament status is learned, the information will be available at www.recordernews.com and www.sacandagaexpress.com, as well as on their Facebook and Twitter accounts. The Fulton County Chamber of Commerce and Industry will send an e-mail to all available registrants, and post the decision on its Facebook page (Visit Fulton County, NY) and Twitter feed (SeeFulton-County) the same day.