On a cold, beautiful Saturday morning, 144 anglers came out to compete in the Guiho's and Viilars Bay Resort Ice Fishing Tournament.
As the day started warming up, more anglers began showing up to register to try their luck at winning one of top three prizes.
During the day, many pike were weighed in, but it wasn't until the end of the day when things really started to get interesting with a series of nice pike being brought in.
In a very close tournament, Rick Drouin brought a 34.75-inch pike in that helped him clinch the first place prize, an 8' x 10' completely finished ice hut valued at approximately $4,500.
Second place, a $500 prize sponsored by Co-Operators Timmins, went to Lucie Jacques with a 34.25-inch pike.
Third place angler, Jennifer Hopkins brought in a 34-inch Pike that helped her walk away with the MS 180 Stihl chainsaw donated by Stihl Canada and Guihos.
Winner of the 50/50 draw was Brigitte Lalonde who took home $390.
Just before weigh-in, Lisa Scott Chartrand was on the lake selling 50/50 tickets. According to Lisa, someone told her go turn left instead of right which, unfortunately, swamped their Kawasaki Teryx in three feet of slush.
Special thanks go out to the Connaught Fire Department for helping Clint get the side-by-side out. This allowed Lisa to catch a ride back to weigh-in and help with the remaining presentations.
Also thanks to Lisa and Bert for taking care of the end of the day, Matt Arrigo, Gabriel and Anthony Fragassi, Steve Gresko, Dan Villars, Villars Bay Resort and the Venture Centre for the additional prizes. Also to Bev and Jim, Dave Groulx and everyone else who made the event run as smooth as butter.
Eastlink was on hand to tape an episode for Fish On with local host and Guhio Saw Sale and Marine Lund pro staffer Paul Ethier. A trailer of the show should be coming out soon so watch for it on the Fish On face book page.
Guiho's and Viilars Bay Resort would like to thank all the anglers that came out and local media for making this tournament a huge success as it raised over $6,500 for the Local Sea Cadets and Project Love.
