Smith Lake derby kicks off ice fishing season
With the holidays and hunting season behind us, its time to pull on the wool pants, grab your 5-gallon bucket and head for some early season ice fishing.
Smith Lake is the place to be this Saturday, when the Sunriser Lions and Sportsman & Ski Haus team up to sponsor the 34th annual Smith Lake ice fishing derby.
This derby caters to family fishing. Smith Lake is a great place to take kids because Smith Lake perch usually provide plenty of action.
Kids love to ice fish, but get bored quickly if action is slow. This years' late freeze-up should mean good fishing for the derby. Fishermen have reported good perch catches this past week and I've heard of one 9-pound northern pike being caught.
At this year's Smith Lake derby, some giant trout should be landed. No trout have been registered at the Lions fish derby for the last three years. It appears the recent introduction of pike into Smith Lake may have cleaned out the few trout that lived in this warm water lake.
But last month FWP stocked Smith Lake with about 150 lunker rainbow trout from the Arlee hatchery. Those trout weighed 6 to 12 pounds. Can you imagine the thrill when a kid hauls one of those monsters through the ice!
The good old boys at the Sportsman and Ski Haus have donated over $300 worth of prizes for this year's derby. Flathead Wildlife, a local sportsman's club, has donated an ice auger for the largest perch prize. Parson's Kubota has donated several nice construction equipment toys. Prizes will be awarded for the three largest perch, two largest trout, two largest pike and largest non-game fish.
But kids usually have the most fun with the three prizes awarded for the three smallest perch. Normally it takes a tiny 12-16-gram perch to win this event. A 16-gram perch is about two inches long.
A new addition to the Smith Lake derby this year is sponsored by the local Walleyes Unlimited chapter. While the name of this club suggests their interest is only walleyes, Walleyes Unlimited is interested in promoting all types of fishing, with an emphasis on warm water species such as perch, bass and northern pike.
Even though northern pike are a newer fish species in Northwest Montana, a recent angler preference survey by FWP indicated that more summer anglers went fishing for pike than any other species. Perch are the number one fish caught in Montana during the ice fishing season. So Montana anglers appear to like warm water fish species in addition to cold water species such as trout and salmon.
To promote youth interest in fishing, the local chapter of Walleyes Unlimited will give away free ice fishing rods and reels to the first 75 kids that land a fish at the fish derby on Saturday. Youth is defined as kids 12 and under.
Hourly door prizes mean you can win something even if you don't catch a fish. A warming fire and free s'mores (marshmallows, chocolate and graham crackers) are another hit with the kids.
Chili, chili-dogs, hot dogs, hamburgers, coffee, hot chocolate and other food will be available. Official derby hours are from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. You don't have to rise early because the perch usually bite well through the entire morning. The cost is only $3 for adults, $2 for kids and $6 for the whole family including grandpa. Profit from this ice fishing derby will be used to help support kid fish pond projects in our community.
So head for Smith Lake on Saturday, Jan. 8. It's a good place to work off some of those holiday calories and have a lot of fun with the family.