Biggest Morson derby yet!

By Ken Johnston
Editor

The weather was perfect and the fish were biting at the 11th Annual Morson Ice Fishing Derby Saturday.
People from across the district joined locals in a day of winter fishing fun. Early on it was clear that the fishing was going to be good with fish getting weighed in almost immediately after fishing started at 8 a.m.
Rainy River’s Harry Arnould held the lead for the first hour, with a 1.3 lb. walleye, but it would not be enough to take home the big prize on the day.
Ken Vogan of Sleeman, Ontario, landed a monster 7.26 lb. walleye to win $400. Coming in second was Darrell Mandamin with a 5.56 lb. walleye to take home $200. Third was Noella Mandamin with a 5.4 lb. walleye to earn a $100 prize.
Walleye champ Vogan must have rubbed some of his luck on his son Patrick. Patrick had the largest Northern Pike for most of the day at 2.14 lbs. But Morson’s Cindy Miller dethroned him with a 3.2 lb. Northern late in the day to win $250 first prize. Vogan won $100 for second. There were only two Northern’s caught on the day.
Catching the most perch was Terry Gill. He caught three and won a butane cooker.
The hidden weight was .88 lbs. Amazingly two people had that exact weight. Claude Seguin and Sharri Kreger both caught walleye that size and each won a gas can, a funnel and two litres of motor oil. Dale Gill of Fort Frances was likely kicking himself after he heard the hidden weight. He told the Record early in the day he threw one about that size back rather than taking it in to weigh in.
One of the event organizers, Sheila Gate, was very pleased Monday with the tournament. “It was the largest turnout we have had in eleven years and it was a beautiful day.” They had 191 anglers participate. They caught 119 fish, of which 107 were walleye, 10 perch and 2 northerns.
65 people attended the pancake breakfast in the morning and 80 the roast pork supper that evening.
Winners of the derby raffle were as follows: Aqua View fishing camera-Pat Handorgan, Sr.; Rod and Reel Combo-John Myers; and Afghan and cushions-Jeff Morrison.