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The Leader-Herald/Bill Trojan

Hank “Beaver” Ross, an organizer of the Walleye Challenge, holds a walleye during the event at the weigh-in station at Lanzi’s on the Lake in Mayfield on Saturday.

The Leader-Herald/Bill Trojan

Clifford Douglass of Canajoharie uses an ice auger to drill a hole for fishing during the Walleye Challenge near Lanzi’s on the Lake in Mayfield on
Saturday.

The Leader-Herald/Bill Trojan

Mike Kuczek of Tribes Hill takes a close look at the records board near the weigh-in station on the lake during the Walleye Challenge on the Great Sacandaga Lake on Saturday

The Leader-Herald/Bill Trojan

Glen Henry of Mayfield operates his Kubota all-terrain vehicle on the frozen lake.

The Leader-Herald/Bill Trojan

Christopher Douglass of Canajoharie sets a tip-up on the ice.

Fishermen angle for top prize
at Walleye Challenge

By JOEL DiTATA, The Leader-Herald
POSTED: January 31, 2010

Hank “Beaver” Ross, an organizer of the Walleye Challenge, holds a walleye during the event at the weigh-in station at Lanzi’s on the Lake in Mayfield on Saturday.

MAYFIELD - The weather conditions on the Great Sacandaga Lake were windy and cold, but that didn't stop hundreds of contestants from coming to the lake on their snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles for the second annual Walleye Challenge on Saturday.

"You either love ice fishing or you don't," Clifford Douglass of Canajoharie, who has been ice-fishing for more than 60 years, said. "It's a sport of its own."

The event was sponsored by The Great Sacandaga Lake Businesses Association and the Fulton County Regional Chamber of Commerce & Industry. It was primarily organized by Lou and Nancy Stutzke of Route 30's Fuel-n-Food and was the brainchild of Hank "Beaver" Ross, from Ross' Bait Shop in Hagaman. Prizes of $550, $300, $100 and $50 were given out each hour for the heaviest, second-heaviest, third-heaviest, and fourth-heaviest walleye caught, respectively. The contest lasted eight hours, from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

It attracted fishermen from Pennsylvania, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut and New Jersey.

"This is a wonderful event for all of Fulton County," chamber President Wally Hart said. "All of the money spent on this event went into Fulton County, people are out having fun and everything turned out great."

Organizers of the event had distributed more than 3,000 fliers advertising the event. Tournament organizers had to turn away more than 300 people who attempted to sign up after the 1,500 slots had already been filled. Even with the large amount of participants, fishermen praised the tournament's coordination.

"The event was organized very good," Steve Santamaria, who won first place for the first-hour time slot, said. "I fish out here all the time and this competition was something special to be a part of."

Lou Stutzke said credit for the event was due to 50 to 60 different people. He praised the state Department of Energy Conservation for allowing municipalities around the lake to plow their boat launches, and also the towns of Northampton, Mayfield, Broadalbin and Edinburg for plowing them to allow contestants easy access to the lake. Stutzke also thanked all of the local businesses that contributed to the prize pools. Lastly, he went on to thank the most important contributers to the event - the participants.

"If it wasn't for you guys there would be no contest," Stutzke said to the crowd. "And for that, I thank you all."

Mike Dennie and his 10-year-old son Jason, from Gloversville attended the contest for the second consecutive year.

"I'm glad they did this event again," Mike said. "It really gets everyone excited to go out and catch fish."

Not all aspects of the contest were fishing related. Organizers raffled off two all-terrain vehicles and a snowmobile as well as power augers and gift certificates to local bait shops. All three of the vehicles were tax free while the winners only needed to fill out paperwork. There was a table on the deck of Lanzi's on the Lake serving hot dogs and chili and also a line containing hungry participants. Others stopped by to admire the biggest fish caught during the day as they swam around in a tank.

Brent Phetteplace, Brian Macveigh, and Richard Claus were the three winners of the snow machines. Todd Jansen of Scotia, who has been fishing for more than 30 years, caught the tournament's biggest fish. His fish weighed in at 8.45 pounds.

"It's unbelievable," Jansen said shockingly. "I'm just super happy."

Even though according to the National Weather Service, the temperature with the wind chill was 2 degrees, Beaver Ross didn't seem to care.

"It's fun," said Ross. "It's ice fishing - it's supposed to be cold."