Olsons win big at Morson ice fishing derby

Ken Johnston

It was a cold wintery day, but there were still 176 hearty souls that participated in the 6th Annual Morson Ice Fishing Derby.
That was a marked improvement from last year’s 136 anglers.
The number of fish caught was down slightly from 171 last year to 164 this year. However, the number of walleye caught was way up. There were 112 caught this year as compared to 67 last year. There were five northern pikes caught and 47 perch.
Early on Lesley Wood of Rainy River was leading the pack with a 2+ pound walleye. However around 2 p.m. she was edged out by Cindy Olson of Bergland who caught the biggest walleye of the day at 3.32 lbs. That earned her $200 in cash.
Phil Neil of Bergland, was also a contender with a 2.2 lb. walleye but he and Lesley were both bumped out of the top three when two anglers, Chelsea Miller of Morson and Mark Pentney of Bergland each weighed in 2.56 pound walleyes to tie for 2nd place. Miller won $100 in cash and Pentney won $100 in merchandise prizes.
Northern Pikes were hard to come by, but the ones caught were a good size. Jeff Olson of Bergland won $100 for his 6.48 lb. catch. In 2nd place was Dave Scott of Morson with a 5.52 pounder. He won $50. In third was Regan Arnould with a 3.8 lb. northern. He won a merchandise prize.
While she was eliminated from contention in the walleye category, Lesley Wood also had a run on perch. She caught the most perch, nine, throughout the day. She won a merchandise prize.
The hidden weight, 1.8 lbs., was won by ten year old Hillary Archie of Big Grassy with a walleye. She received a merchandise prize.
The anglers who chose not fish were busy playing cribbage at the Morson Hall. 26 players competed and coming in first was Chipper and Evelyn Bourre. They won $55. 2nd place, $25, was Mary Kearney and Bea Olinyk. 3rd place, $10, was Marg Bartell and Nancy Gate and the Booby Prize was won by Terry Ashworth and Dorothy Coran.