5th Annual Morson Ice Fishing Derby deemed a great catch!

Ken Johnston
Editor

Great weather and a fairly good fish bite throughout the day made for the right ingredients for a successful 5th Annual Morson Live Release Ice Fishing Derby last Saturday.
136 anglers registered for the event and most reported fishing to be fairly good. Around lunch time the fish started biting and the weigh station was kept fairly busy.
Joey Dobransky of Rainy River topped the leader board for about an hour with a 3.8 pound walleye. He later had to share the top spot with Reuben Gibbins of Morson. He too caught a 3.8 pounder. The only serious challenge to the title was from Jena Andy who caught a 3.74 lb. walleye. Dobransky and Gibbins split the first and second place prize money to take home $150 each. Andy won a sunflower ice hut heater.
The top northern pike was caught by Lawrence Gibbins of Morson. It weighed 5.86 lbs. for his efforts he reeled in a $100 prize. Dan Furyk of Rainy River just missed first place with a 5.81 pound pike. He netted a $50 prize. Rounding out the top three was Vernon Roy with a 3.5 pound pike. He received a 45 piece lighted wrench set.
Catching the most perch of the day was Dean StPierre of Rainy River. He weighed in a bucket with 13 around lunch time and after lunch continued to catch them. By day’s end he had 23 of them. He received a rod and reel from the Morson Shopping Center for his angling efforts.
The Hidden Weight category saw a tie between Sharilyn Wood of Rainy River and Ken Southall of Big Grassy. Their weight was .74 lbs. and the hidden weight was .75 lbs. A prize package of ice fishing gear will be split between them.
For non-anglers there was cribbage tournament at the Morson Hall in the afternoon. Nancy Gate and Thelma Fadden came in first. Dorothy Coran and Terry Ashworth came in second and Ivonne Gouliquer and Val Pizey came in third. Pizey had the highest hand with 28.
One of the event organizers, Sheila Gate, said that turnout was up from last year and that overall they were pleased with the derby.
A total of 171 fish were weighed in. There were 67 walleye, 3 northern pike, 91 perch, six tulibee and 1 rock bass.