Winter Derby

14th Annual Northern Pike Classic Results (2023)

Call us crazy, but with a snowfall warning and 45 km/h winds, we said to heck with it and went ahead with our derby at Lake Wahtopanah. Thank you to all dedicated volunteers and participants for coming out and enjoying the lovely spring weather!

Youth winners 17 entrants with 5 fish caught
The following each won a trophy, an ice fishing combo rod and reel plus $25 gift certificate from either Jo Brook Outdoors in Brandon or Still Water Adventures in Virden.
1 st place- Mason Hillis with a 67 cm northern pike
2 nd -Chloe Kent 60 cm
3 rd -Asher Vreeman 58 cm
4 th -Oliver Vreeman 57 cm
5 th -Asher Vreeman 55 cm
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Adults: Cash prizes 111 entrants with 32 fish caught
1 st place $1,000 Curtis Weibe 91 cm northern pike Rivers
2 nd $ 750 Mark Vreeman 85.5 cm Rivers
3 rd $500 Mike Moroz 82.5 cm Sandy Lake?
4 th $250 Stan Waldner 81.5 cm
5 th $200 Spencer Griffin 75 cm Brandon
6 th $100 Derek Wyton 74.5 cm (1130 hrs) Brandon
7 th $100 Maxine Yuhaha 74.5 cm (1203 hrs) Erickson?
8 th $100 Will Foster 74.5 cm (1314 hrs) Brandon
9 th $100 Casey Stafford 74.0 cm Brandon
10 th $100 Abby Mazier 71.5 cm
-Winner of the Strikemaster Electric Ice Auger raffle was Riley Boyd of Rivers. Thank you to sponsors R.W.Bait and Johan’s Construction Ltd. both of Rivers.
-50/50 winner of $190 was Mark Robinson
-Perfume bottle#1- Mike Moroz; #2- Mark Robinson; #3- Will Foster
Morningstar Metals apparel- hoodie won by Angela Roberts; thermal shirt- Tyler Spring
5 lucky anglers brought their fish in closest to hidden times throughout the day and were presented with $20 in Chamber Bucks from Rivers Chamber of Commerce:
Keith Howell (Virden), Cody Sonnenberg (Rivers), Spencer Griffin (Brandon), Will Foster (Brandon) and Tim Usunier (Brandon)
Thank you to our sponsors for this event- Jo Brook Outdoors (Brandon), Still Water Adventures (Virden), R.W. Bait (Rivers), Johan’s Construction Ltd. (Rivers), Morningstar Metals (Brandon) and Rivers Chamber of Commerce.
Check out the writeup on the front page of the Rivers Banner!

14th Annual Northern Pike Classic–March 11, 2023–See you there!

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14th Annual Northern Pike Classic (2022)

The annual Winter Derby for 2021 was cancelled due to Covid restrictions. Unfortunately, the 2022 event has been cancelled due to circumstances beyond our control. We look forward to a big summer derby.

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13th Annual Northern Pike Classic (2020)

March 14th on Lake Wahtopanah marked the day of our 13th annual Northern Pike derby.  With typical fashion we were presented with a slightly chilly day with winds in the afternoon.  With the smell of $3200 in prize money to be had…participants came from far and wide and battled the elements.  We had 215 adults registered along with 34 kids.  38 Northern Pike were recorded.  Largest fish was 79.8cm and smallest was 46.0cm.  Take home for the 50/50 draw was $290.  Other draws consisted of a framed Dueling Tigers trout print from the Fisheries Enhancement stamp and 3 spirit draws.   I can never say this enough and apologize for saying it over and over;  The Rivers and Area Game and Fish cannot thank you the participants, sponsors, and volunteers enough.

Adults:
1st – $1000 – 79.8cm – Timothy Usunier
2nd – $750 – 77.8cm – Rae Wiens
3rd – $500 – 75.0cm – Chris Greenaway
4th – $250 – 73.0cm – Brandon Radiator
5th – $200 – 71.5cm – Cory Burke
6th – $100 – 70.6cm – Matt Tower
7th – $100 – 70.0cm – Struth Construction
8th – $100 – 70.0cm – Micheal Elcock
9th – $100 – 68.3cm – Cory Burke
10th – $100 – 68.0cm – Bruce Wrightson
Smallest Fish – 46.0cm – Alex Kerr

Children:
1st – 54.2cm – Aivah Kennedy
2nd – Draw – Dexter Connolly
3rd – Draw – Brayden McKinnon

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12th Annual Northern Pike Classic (2019)

Lake Wahtopanah hosted the 12th annual ice derby March 9th.  There were 48 youths and 227 adults registered.  Wind was a little chilly but with the sun out it made for a nice balanced day.  Every year it seems mother nature throws something at us.  This year with the frigid temperatures and abundance of snow, it made for some deep drilling and rough travels.  There were a total of 34 fish caught this year.  Largest fish was 85cm and smallest registered was 41.8cm.  This year the club changed from giving out rod combos to a 6 pack random jig goodie bag.  I take no responsibility for any names that may be spelt wrong.  In the event of a tie in measurements placement goes by who measures in first.  Our derbies have been getting better and better.  This is only achievable by the continued participation of anglers and sponsors of the event.

Adult
Place Prize Name Location Size (cm)
1 $1,000 KEVIN WRIGHTSON OAK RIVER 85.00
2 $750 ABBY MAZIER FORREST 77.20
3 $500 DALE VREEMAN BRANDON 75.40
4 $250 JAKE MCCARTHY SASK. 75.40
5 $200 IVAN SOLOWAN BRANDON 73.60
6 $100 JODY TURNER 73.60
7 $100 GLEN BANANYSH 72.80
8 $100 JASON ROBINS 72.40
9 $100 KYLE FISHER 71.80
10 $100 M+M DRILLING RIVERS 71.60
Smallest TRAVIS FROESE DELORAINE 41.80
Youth
Place Tix # Name Location Size (cm)
1 14 OLIVER VREEMAN FORREST 57.80
2 3 CLAUDIA VREEMAN BRANDON 51.40
3 10 AYLA CHURCH BRANDON 46.80
Smallest AYLA CHURCH BRANDON 46.80

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11th Annual Northern Pike Classic (2018)


March 10th, 2018

It was a beautiful day for a derby on Lake Wahtopanah (River’s Reservoir). Mother Nature kept the temperatures on the warmer side, some sun would have been nice.  The morning consisted of an overcast day with very little wind.  In the afternoon wind started picking up bringing in colder temps, but by then the derby was over and people could warm up.

A combined total of 328 participants braved the snow covered lake in search of that elusive Northern Pike.   Out of those we had 241 adults and a WHOPPING 87 youth.  33 fish were registered. Smaller than average number of fish caught.  That is why it is called fishing and not catching.  It seems that fish were being caught all over the lake and not one particular “Hot Spot”.  Three of the prize money fish were caught by some of our derby sponsors.  Kudos to them for helping sponsor the derby then to win some prize money back.  Again this year we gave out $3200 for the top 10 lengths.  There were other various prizes which included a beautiful framed Northern Pike, 50/50, and perfume draws.

I apologize if any names are spelt wrong.  I am at the liberty of copying other people’s writing.  In the event of a tied length the person who measures first gets position rights.

Results of the derby

Adult
Place Tix # Name Prize Size (cm)
1 21 M&M Drilling $1000 77.20
2 66 Michael Elcock $750 71.20
3 6 Super Thrifty $500 70.00
4 85 Rae Wiens $250 69.60
5 63 Mark Vreeman $200 69.20
6 113 Scott Young $100 68.80
7 187 Wade Turner $100 68.60
8 138 Wade Struth Const. $100 68.40
9 93 Ric Wieler $100 68.20
10 241 Les Gray $100 68.20
11 147 Eric McArthur Case/Bucket 66.40
Youth
Place Tix # Name Prize Size (cm)
1 1 Ben Anderson Trophy/Game Console 68.00
2 27 Kyle Beatty Trophy/$25 Jo Brooks 57.80
3 33 Oliver Vreeman Trophy/$25 Jo Brooks 56.60
4 65 Xzander $25 Jo Brooks 52.80
5 51 Maria Vreeman $25 Jo Brooks 45.40

10th Annual Ice Fishing Derby 2017
-Rebranded to the Northern Pike Classic-

The Rivers and Area Game and Fish held their tenth annual Northern Pike Classic held on March 11th. The association has moved to a pike only derby to ensure the survival of deep water perch and walleye that used to be caught in previous derbies.  It was a little colder this year with harder driving conditions on the lake.  That still didn’t keep 155 adults and 37 youth from participating.  Out of the 192 competitors 33 pike were measured.  This is the second year now where the association has made the prize money a little more attractive.  Over $3200 in prize money given away with top prize being $1000.  Wade Turner won the $1000 first place with a length of 83.2cm.  A special draw for pre-registered ticket holders consisted of a 4 hour Red River guided fishing trip. This prize was donated by Josh Haisell Outfitting which was won by Dreena Tegg.  Please have a look at his webpage by clicking on his name on this page and book your next cat fishing excursion.  Competitors also had a chance to win various donated gift certificates, massage packages, fishing kits.  Our local member and acting chef Richard English operated a mini canteen of hot dogs, burgers, and warm drinks.  This time of year always has its challenges.  Year before we struggled with above average temperatures which created flood waters on top of the ice, this year was colder temperatures and more snow leaving travel difficult.

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9th Annual Northern Pike Classic
Presented by Rivers and Area Game and Fish Association

Despite the scare of early ice melting conditions 162 adult and 28 youth (12 and under) gathered on Lake Wahtopanah March 12th.  There were a couple of changes the association made for this years derby.  There was the elimination of the $10,000 tagged pike cash prize and eliminated prize categories for walleye and perch.  Instead cash prizes totalling $3200 were awarded for the top 10 northern pike lengths.  70 pike were registered.

Adults-Cash:                                                                                       Youth Trophy:
1st-$1000-84.8cm                        6th-$100-80.6cm                           1st-62.2cm
2nd-$750-82.8cm                         7th-$100-77.4cm                           2nd-60.2cm
3rd-$500-82.4cm                          8th-$100-74.4-cm                          3rd-57.6cm
4th-$250-81.4cm                          9th-$100-74.2cm
5th-$200-81.2cm                          10th-$100-67.8cm

One thing the association loves doing is giving to the youth.  All youth participants received a goodie bag containing a fishing rod and reel combo, jig and tail, colouring book, and tape measure.
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