Ice is right for fishing championship

Ice is right for fishing championshipDate: 2007-02-15 Author: John SlykhuisHappy days are here again for the area’s fish hut operators and the guy with the biggest smile around is Canadian Ice Fishing Championship organizer Rocky Madsen.As frigid arctic blasts continue to thicken the ice from shore to shore on Lake Simcoe, Mr. Madsen is getting set for the two-day event based at the Lionshead Lakefront Resort in Jackson’s Point on Feb. 24 and 25.Two-person teams will fish for six hours in a designated area on the lake each day.“Registration is going really well now that we’ve got good ice,” Mr. Madsen said.Up to $50,000 in cash and prizes is up for grabs, in addition to various trophies, including the Georgina Cup —handed out to the tourney champions and the Jean Power Memorial Trophy for the top female angler.Jean was the wife of Beaverton resident John Power, a well-known outdoor writer and CIFC supporter.Last year’s champs were Leon Maloney of Hillsdale and Cam Moore of Aurora who collected the cup and $10,000.They’ll face some stiff competition from Simcoe ice angling masters including past champs John Benyik, Mike McNabb, Brian Joyce, Rick Rogers, Norm Joyce and top female threat Susie Pike.The trophies and prizes will be handed out after Sunday’s scoring at the resort.The cost to register is $260 per two-person team.The event features a major change this year with the first day dedicated strictly to perch.“I’ve had a lot of really positive feedback about that. People like it,” Mr. Madsen said, adding that will also make the scoring go more quickly and smoothly.The limit that can be caught is 15 perch, so the challenge will be to keep the biggest for the weigh-in at the end of the day.Day two is set for deeper water and bigger fish like lake trout, ling, pike, whitefish, walleye and bowfin. They will be scored 25 points for catching and 25 points for live release, plus one point per inch.Mr. Madsen said he is hoping the good ice will stick around for his big “Trap Attack” perch derby Sunday, Mar. 11 with a potential $24,000 payout.The 2007 Canadian Ice Fishing Championships will help to raise funds in support of the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Foundation, a non-profit organization working to help save the lake.The CIFC donated $1,400 to this cause last year.To register and for more information, visit www.cifc.org