Ice comes and ice goes, but fun’s the constant
By Beth Kramer ekramer@stmedianetwork.com February 12, 2012 7:44PM
Patrick Angell of Lake Villa fishes on open water off Thristy Turtle's docks. No ice this year made ice fishing a little rough and attendence low on Sunday. | Joe Shuman~for Sun-Times Media
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Updated: March 14, 2012 8:11AM
There wasn’t much ice, but that didn’t stop the 52nd annual Ice Fishing Derby and Winter Festival from happening Saturday and Sunday at Channel Lake in Antioch.
The Northern Illinois Conservation Club runs the annual event as its major fund-raiser, according to NICC president Laura Golonka of Antioch.
Typically, Channel Lake is filled with shanties and ice fishermen during the fishing derby. This year, what ice there was clearly wasn’t thick enough to support shanties.
Still, people fished off the docks there, and others entered fish in the derby that were caught in other waters that are part of the Chain O’ Lakes.
“This event would never be canceled. We’re the longest-running derby event in the state of Illinois,” Golonka said.
A crowd of a “couple hundred” usually attends the event. There was about a quarter of that this year, Golonka estimated.
“No matter what the conditions are, we’re here. There’s no reason to cancel but a lot of people thought we would,” Golonka said.
In a typical year, an average of 20-30 fish were turned in for weighing per hour. This year, there were 30-40 fish weighed in for the entire weekend.
Still, father-and-son teams like Steve and Dyllan Herrington of Ingleside came out to the derby.
Dyllan, 10, caught a 36-inch catfish out of Channel Lake on Saturday and then bested himself Sunday with a 37.25-inch catfish. Like most at the derby, the Herringtons catch and release.
“I think it’s more luck than anything else. He (Dyllan) was the only one to get a bite (Saturday),” Steve said.
He and his son have been ice fishing since before Dyllan could walk, he said. It’s a chance to bond, relax and get off the couch.
He said they don’t like to miss the derby because they like to support NICC.
NICC was founded in 1961, before the creation of the Department of Natural Resources and the Forest Preserve District, Golonka said.
“We were ahead of our time. We saw a need to preserve the waterways,” Golonka said.
NICC purchased 63 acres of property in Antioch in 1985. It’s called Acres for Wildlife and has ponds, creeks and wetlands — perfect area for preserving plants and animals.
Proceeds from the weekend event will maintain the land and also fund scholarships for students pursing conservation-related careers.
NICC is looking forward to next year’s Ice Fishing Derby and Winter Festival.
“People mark this on their calendar. They look forward to it because it brings friends and family here,” Golonka said.
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