For the Express
Despite the unseasonably mild winter weather, thousands made their way out onto the lake Saturday to partake or to simply enjoy the Fourth Annual Walleye Challenge Ice Fishing Tournament.
Put on by the initiators of the event Lou Stutzke and Henry “Beaver” Ross, the tournament turned out to be another success despite earlier concerns that the ice wouldn’t be thick enough.
But with nearly a solid foot of ice on top of the Great Sacandaga Lake people came out en masse for a crack at either the $1,500 in cash prizes associated with the fishing or the numerous raffles and give-aways that included a final drawing for two brand new Kawaski ATV’s and a new Arctic Cat snowmobile.
The cash prizes were awarded to the top three biggest fish caught each hour throughout the tournament. The the biggest catch overall went to John Breault of Warrensburg who collected a cool $550 and a first place plaque, which was something new offered by organizers this year.
Breault said the five-pound, two-foot long Walleye he hauled in was his first and that he planned to have it mounted.
“It’s the first one I ever caught,” he said while holding up his trophy fish. “I guess it was worth it to get up at 3 a.m.”
The first name pulled for the ATV’s and snowmobile was John Hladik of Johnstown who decided to go with wheels instead of skis.
“I never had a 4-wheeler before, but I got one now,” he said.
Scott Petrie, also of Johnstown, was picked out of the raffle second and nabbed the other ATV before Tim Rossi of Buskirk (Rensselaer County) got the final call and was given the Arctic Cat snowmobile.
The only minor snafu of the day happened when it was discovered the cash prizes were not on hand, like was done in years past, but Stutzke apologized to the crowd and said the money can be collected from the Fulton County Chamber of Commerce office in Gloversville on Monday morning.
He seemed pleased with the turnout, that included 1,500 registered fishermen for which there was a waiting list to get on, and the hundreds of others that turned out to root them on and vie for prizes of their own.
“Boy the fish came in this year,” Stutzke told the crowd gathered at Lanzi’s on the Lake. “In total there were 174 Walleye entered in.”
Stutzke also made another announcement that got a large cheer from the crowd when he said that money raised would go towards stocking the lake with Walleye by the Great Sacandaga Lake Fisheries Federation.
“It’s all going to stocking 11,000 Walleyes in the lake,” he said. “They will all be between six and eight inches, so we’re not talking about those little guys either.”
Don Wicksell, president of Kingsboro Lumber Company, Inc. and member of the Fulton County Chamber of Commerce said he enjoyed the event and was happy to see so many out despite the lack of significant snow cover.
“I think they scored more fish this year than last year,” he said. “It was a little wet on the lake today so there were a lot more 4-wheelers than sleds out there ... but what a great day, this is probably the biggest event in the county.”