INUVIK
The inaugural Ice Fishing Challenge might have attracted far more anglers than fish, but that didn't spoil a good time had by all.

Amanda Park and Bobby-Lynn McAllister were obviously enjoying the fishing and the sunshine during the Arctic Ice Fishing Challenge on April 15. - Shawn Giilck/NNSL photo

There's an long-standing aphorism that says "the fishing is always good, even if the catching is bad." It looked as if the 100 or so anglers out for the derby on the evening of April 15 were subscribing to that notion because the catching was fairly slow, with only five fish caught.

They were all Northern pike, or jackfish, with the biggest around the three-foot (one-metre) mark.

Kara Skiffington would take the top prize with a pike around the three-foot (one-metre) mark.

"I go fishing here all the time," she said. "But you should see the jackfish you can catch some other times of the year... I could use this one for bait."

She said her grandmother owns a nearby camp, and that was why she was so familiar with the site and its fishing.

"I've been coming here for 28 years," she said with a smile.

The site was the East Channel at Airport Creek, about seven kilometres outside of town.

Onida Banksland said she was hoping to hook a passing coney or jackfish, and had her eye on some of the prizes, which included a 45-gallon drum of fuel.

"It's a beautiful day to be out, and my son really loves fishing. Every spring we go to Husky Lakes for our annual spring harvest, before the geese come, and that's all we do, fish all day long.

"We saw this derby was on, so we never ate supper, we just grabbed our gear and came out. We're hoping to have some luck."

Banksland called the derby a "good family event."

"Just look at all the families here. It's something different, and it's during the week, which is fine."

Shelly Hendrick said "fishing is what I do, all the time.

"I wanted to come out and fish and enjoy the nice weather. I'm looking forward to the spring, and this is about my favourite time of the year."

Like most of the other anglers, she was after jackfish, and possibly some whitefish and coney.

Jay Blakeston pitched the challenge derby to the Children First Society as a fundraiser, and then did most of the organizing.

"I've been up here for about three years and I noticed that something like (a derby) didn't seem to happen in the area," he said. "I moved up from northern Manitoba, and this is commonplace in the spring and later winter for the communities to have fishing derbies. So I thought this would be an opportunity to have an event for the community, and it's something that's sort of natural to everyone."

Northwind Industries Ltd. cleared the site of snow and ploughed out a parking area, Blakeston said.

They also pre-drilled some of the holes, while Blakeston finished the day of the derby.

Part of the appeal of the derby was that it allowed people who didn't have all the necessary equipment ta chance to participate.

"We wanted to make it as easy as possible for people to attend for people who might not have the gear," Blakeston said.

The water was less than 10-feet deep, which also simplified gear requirements, and the society was selling traditional jiggling sticks, as well as providing snacks.

An hour into the tournament, only one fish had been caught. That was a jackfish measuring just under 63 centimetres, pulled out by John Dempster.

Another had been lost at the hole by a second angler a few minutes before.

Blakeston laughed at the suggestion that it might be "the first fish wins it all.

"We'll see, but hopefully not," he added. "This is why it's called fishing, not catching."

The remainder of the fish were caught in flurries of activity, with Mae Cockney catching a decent-sized pike just as the horn sounded.

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