Ice Fishing Contest Information and Prizes

Speaker 1 0:00

I have two wonderful guests today Katie from Destination Granby and Brittany from Kremlin Chamber of Commerce . They are here to talk about the ice fishing contest that they are hosting that are right around the corner . Katie talks about the Three Lakes Ice Fishing Contest that is happening January the 24th through the 26th , and Brittany talks about the Wolford Ice Fishing Contest , february 15th . They talk about what to expect that day , the prizes that one can win and so much more . So sit back and enjoy . Good afternoon , katie and Brittany . How are you , both of you ?

Speaker 3 0:53

We're doing well . It's cold , but it's the season for cold and we like that , that's right ?

Speaker 1 0:58

Yes , I agree , You're wanting it cold , especially for those ice fishermen that are going to be coming in the next couple of weeks . So , Katie , let's talk first about the Three Lakes Ice Fishing Tournament that's going to be happening on Lake Granby January . Oh , I'm already wishing July .

Speaker 3 1:24

I shouldn't do that January , the 24th through the 26th . What year is this ? So this is the 37th year and it's called the Three Lakes Ice Fishing Contest because it's actually on Lake Granby , shadow Mountain Reservoir and Grant Lake .

Speaker 1 1:35

So it's Three Lakes , because you can fish on Three Lakes , okay and tell me a little bit about the events , like how the dates start or how the days start , what happens um , what prizes are all of that fun stuff ?

Speaker 3 1:51

so the days start very early . Uh , fishing starts at 6 40 in the morning . But the contestants start arriving , uh , around five in the morning , start kind of getting their sleds ready , get their spots , get out to the ice . It's three days , so Friday , saturday and Sunday . Something that's a little bit different about this ice fishing contest is we're targeting a specific size of fish .

Speaker 3 2:21

Lake Granby has a pretty large population of Mackinaw , which are lake trout . So we're targeting Mackinaw that are around 19 inches . So we're not targeting trophy size fish in this contest . We really want to help manage the population or the overpopulation of that size of fish in our lake . So to enter a Mackinaw in our contest it has to be under 19 inches , which is a little untraditional for some fishing contests . So you can fish and enter fish in four different categories Mackinaw , under 19 inches , brown trout and that's going to be the heaviest brown trout entered . Rainbow trout and then a Grand Slam , which is a combined weight of four fish a Mackinaw , a brown trout , a rainbow trout and a kokanee , which some people are surprised that there are kokanee salmon up here in our water systems .

Speaker 1 3:24

Yeah , so what are some of the prizes that people can win ?

Speaker 3 3:29

So in the fishing categories you're competing for cash prizes and we give away a total of just about $27,000 over the course of the three days . There's youth categories . They can compete for cash if they have a paid entry . If they're not paid youth , they're competing for trophies and other giveaway prizes . And then all paid entries are competing for raffle giveaways and some larger packages . So there's about $40,000 of other giveaways this year .

Speaker 3 4:07

The grand prize is a Ski-Doo snowmobile . It's pretty sleek , cute little . I probably shouldn't describe it as cute , but a yellow snowmobile . It's kind of fun when I get to go shop for that . I don't really know much about like sport utility , like off-road recreational things , and I just trust the judgment of the professionals on that . But they Power World was really great and helped me pick out what they thought was suitable . So it's a snowmobile this year and we're really lucky with some of the sponsors and other partnerships that they send over some really great other recreational products . We've got a nice package from Shields that's got some great ice fishing equipment in it . But yeah , there's a lot of really fun prizes . I had a fun time with Credit Union of the Rockies putting together a youth angler package , so it's a prize package really tailored to a youth outdoors person that one lucky kid will get to win this year .

Speaker 1 5:13

What is the ages of the youth category ?

Speaker 3 5:16

So there's five and under there is six to nine , then there is 10 to 14 and then there's 15 to 17 .

Speaker 1 5:26

Okay , and what are their rates this year ?

Speaker 3 5:30

It kind of varied . So there was early bird rates which closed . That was for the first month that registration is open . That's typically some of our repeat contest participants there , like the early bird gets the worm type of thing . So that starts . Registration starts in October . They get out and they get their registration . But for the most part registration one day was sixty five dollars , two days was seventy five and three days was eighty five . If you prefer to pay with cash in person , it's $75 for one day , $85 for two days and $95 for three days .

Speaker 1 6:12

Okay , and where can people find out more information and register ?

Speaker 3 6:18

You can register in person in Granby at Granby Bait and Tackle , or Simply Outdoors , both local tackle shops on Main Street here in Granby . Or you can register online through the Destination Granby website , destinationgranbycom . Backslash events . And then it's Three Lakes Ice Fishing Contest . Okay .

Speaker 1 6:40

Katie , thank you Thank you . Let's go on to Brittany now with the Wolford Ice Fishing Contest , which is taking place February 15th . That is correct . And , brittany , how many years has that ice fishing contest been going ?

Speaker 4 6:55

So this will be our 28th year , so we're about a 10 years behind three legs .

Speaker 1 7:03

That's okay , though it's going strong , right ? Yes , it is yes , so tell us a little bit about how your fishing contest is going to work .

Speaker 4 7:13

So ours is a one day event . It takes place on the 15th at a Wolford mountain reservoir , um . We open the ice for all anglers at 6 30 AM , with drilling starting at seven . Last fish is measured at 3 PM and then we move on to all of our cash prizes and raffles . We have a big fish or tagged fish , so the first tagged fish brought to the tent is $2,500 . We have the top 10 biggest fish of the day each get money starting at $1,000 all the way down . We have a free kids category where kiddos 15 and under can come and fish with family and friends and they will get trophies and all sorts of different fun prizes . And then , if they want to , they are more than welcome to pay to fish and then they are eligible to win cash prizes as well . And then we have about $5,000 in raffle giveaways and then door prizes from local businesses , and then Shields participates in that with us and then , yeah , we just give away a ton of things about $20,000 in total of prizes and giveaways . Wow .

Speaker 1 8:23

And do you guys both of you do you find that you're getting a lot of people that have come year over year to your contest ?

Speaker 4 8:30

most of our fishermen have been coming for the entirety of the event . We see that this is turned into a generational event where we have grandpa , dad and then grandkids tagging along . So that's kind of where we and then we get newbies every year . But most of our people have been coming well , what about you , kat ?

Speaker 1 8:49

Are you finding the same thing for Three Lakes ?

Speaker 3 8:51

We've seen the same thing . I actually had a gentleman call the other day and he said he's participated since the first year .

Speaker 1 8:59

That's fantastic , well , and it really is a family thing too . That it's , you know , like you said , it's something that generations are coming out . But there's also things for if somebody in the family isn't a fisherman , there's other things in this county for people to do . So it is . It can be a family thing where the wife or husband can go off and go soak in the hot springs or go skiing or whatnot here in the county . Absolutely so , brittany , what is the cost of your ice fishing contest ?

Speaker 4 9:30

So our entry fee is $50 and then the day of it's $60 .

Speaker 1 9:35

Okay , perfect , and I know these are both big events for you guys and it really sells out the community when you have these , so you want to get people to register as soon as possible . And , brittany , where can they register for the Wolford ?

Speaker 4 9:51

Our registration is at crumlingchambercom , and then just under the events tab you'll see Wolford Ice Fishing and then you just follow all of the prompts through that , or you can call the chamber at 970-724-3472 , and we will help them out .

Speaker 1 10:06

That's perfect . So let me ask you each one other question . What would you say is the most unique thing about your ice fishing contests ? Putting you on the spot , oh man .

Speaker 4 10:19

I mean , I think the most unique for us personally is that mine is um . My family all comes out to help , including my mom , my kiddos , my husband sets up the event and then we have a great partnership with CPW that gets on the ice with us as well . They help measure fish and we just really have created this community on the ice . As cold as this event can be , it is one of my favorite events because it really does turn our reservoirs into a small community and everybody's really excited for each other . The camaraderie out there it's just the energy is you really have to be there to feel it , but it's a wonderful event . What about you , katie ?

Speaker 3 10:58

I mean , I can't say that . I've been to many ice fishing contests so I don't really know what's unique about ours compared to many of the others . But from what I've heard we at our kickoff party we do something called the frozen fish toss . I've never heard of that before . Fish toss , I've never heard of that before . But you're you're throwing frozen sucker fish kind of in like a cornhole style and you know it's unique .

Speaker 1 11:26

Yeah , I would say that that is unique , yes , okay , well , both of you , let's get those people out there . And it is really fun to be driving by both of the lakes Well , four of the lakes , I guess to those people out there . And it is really fun to be driving by both of the lakes Well , four of the lakes , I guess to see people out there and they really do turn into these like small little villages on the ice . It's really worth it , and people can come and get out on the ice too and go around and talk to the different fishermen , and I used to take my cross-country skis out . It was really fun .

Ice Conditions and Preparations

Speaker 4 11:56

Oh , absolutely , and also I'm excited to announce that Wolford is officially over 12 inches of ice , so we can take snowmobiles and four-wheelers on the ice , which is always our goal , and with the cold temperatures this week , I feel like Three Lakes is going to be fantastic with their ice conditions for next weekend .

Speaker 1 12:11

Absolutely . Yeah , we're going to get those below zero temperatures .

Speaker 4 12:15

Yeah , which everybody complains about , but it's really needed for these conditions .

Speaker 3 12:21

That was something this year we were definitely worried about . To be honest it was it was a late freeze , but we've had pretty optimal conditions the last few weeks and definitely this weekend will help help get us some some really great ice conditions for next week .

Speaker 1 12:36

Well , katie and Brittany , thank you so much for taking the time today . I know you both have a lot to do to get ready for these contests , so I look forward to seeing both of you on the ice . Yes , thank you , gaylene . Thank you , thank you .