RANKIN INLET - Patrick Beardsall earned $600 a minute during the annual Rankin Inlet fishing derby this past week.

All eyes are locked on recreation co-ordinator David Clark, right, as he measures the entries in the cod category of the Rankin Inlet fishing derby. - Darrell Greer/NNSL photo

Beardsall, who turned 15 on May 25, took home the $6,000 grand prize for the biggest trout in the derby.

And the Grade 9 student admits to feeling a little guilty about winning so much.

Beardsall, it turns out, fished for all of 10 minutes during the entire derby to land the 109.1cm winner.

"I caught the fish while with my mom (Emily), dad (Ken) and brother (Craig) at Peter Lake," said Beardsall.

"I'm not much of a fisher, but I enjoy the derby every year because I like being out on the land and camping.

"Craig was fishing and I took over for 10 minutes while he put his parka on.

"He was a little upset I caught the big one while he was getting his parka."

Patrick is going to share the money with Craig.

He said even though he's not a big fisher, he likes the boundary on how far people can go in the derby.

"The boundary makes it fair for everyone, especially people who don't have enough money to buy gas to go that far or who only have a Honda.

"Many people don't have the skill to travel that far, too, and the boundary gives everyone a fair chance."

Patrick said taking part in the derby as a family is a lot of fun.

He said he was pretty relaxed just before his prize-winning fish came along.

"I was drinking a Coke when the trout bit my hook, so I took another sip of

my Coke and put it down before I started pulling up the fish.

"I started pulling really hard once I saw its head.

"I wasn't having any trouble at first, but it started getting really hard when it got closer to the auger hole and my mom had to help me.

"Its mouth was wide open as it was coming through the hole and it almost didn't fit all the way through."

Patrick has plans for the rest of his prize money, after sharing some with Craig.

He's going to do the smart thing with some of it, and what you might expect from a young Rankin male with the rest.

"I'm going to invest some and I'm going to use the rest to buy a new pair of hockey skates," said Beardsall.

"I haven't made up my mind on the brand yet, but I'm thinking about Reeboks."

Kevin Subgut, 30, finished second in the trout category and took home $4,000 for a monster fish he also landed at Peter Lake.

Although Subgut fished for a lot longer than 10 minutes during the weekend, he said his prize winner was the only really big fish he landed.

"There were six of us out at Peter Lake from Friday until Sunday," said Subgut.

"I caught that big one and we got about seven or eight smaller ones.

"When we were on our way back to town, I knew I was going to be in the running with a fish that big and I'm happy to finish second.

"I look forward to the derby every year, and I don't really care one way or the other if they have a boundary, just as long as there's good spring weather."

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