The25thPikeIceFishingDerbyIsNowOnefortheBooks

OnSaturdayFebruary11th,over700anglers hittheiceinthehopesofreelinginaprizewinning fish at the Rotary Club of Chapleau Pike Ice Fishing Derby. Although the weather was mild, the wind was blustery and provedchallengingtoourintrepidanglers.

Althoughtherewasnotruckdrawthisyear, the prize lineup most certainly made up for it. Roughly $80,000 in prizes were up for grabs and whenallwassaidanddone,thereweresomevery happy anglers! Perhaps this prize lineup was responsible for the many out of town anglers that participatedthisyear.

Hereareourprizewinners:

· 8thPlace $500–SpencerSmith

· 7thPlace $1000–AndreDoyon

· 6thPlace $2500–Jean-LouisNicol

· 5thPlace $5000–IanLaughland

· 4thPlace $7500–KeithCorstonJr.

· 3rdPlace $10,000–GuyParadis

· 2ndPlace $15,000–WillieDesrocher

· 1stPlacePolarisRanger1000SidebySide –MaxBertrand derbywinners!

Long Term Forecast

In honour of the 25th derby, two mystery prizeswereawarded.Thefirstmysteryprize,a2.5 hp Mercury outboard motor, was won by Dustin Bigras. His 3.27 pound pike was the closest to the mystery weight of 3.25 pounds. The second mystery prize, a Stihl battery operated chainsaw donatedbyTraceyWetzlfromExitRealty,waswon by Larry Moore. Larry brought in a 25 inch pike which matched our mystery length. There was also a prize awarded forthereturnoftheflags.

Thursday High -11 Low -23

Friday High -12 Low -14

Saturday High -2 Low -8

Sunday High 0 Low -5

Monday High -5 Low -21

Tuesday High -13 Low -22

Bobby Moreau was the lucky winner of a $100 giftcardfromJ&BCycle andMarine.

Congratulations to our

We can't put on a derby of this size and this quality without volunteers and the Rotary Club of Chapleau would like to thank them. Thanks to our knowledgeable volunteersattheweighinstationwhomeasure, weigh, and inspect the fish that are brought in: Craig Montgomery, Richard Beaudoin and Chris Pratt. Thank you to our snowmobile patrollers: Nancy Bass and Fred Donivan from the Chapleau Snowmobile Club, as well as Rob and Jake Sanchioni. They made sure that our anglers were OK during the derby and safely off the ice when it ended. We would also like to thank the Conservation Officers from the MNRF, Melissa Fairbairn and Eric Caron, as well the members of the OPP SAVE (Snowmobile, ATV and Vessel Enforcement) Unit from North Bay, along with someofourlocal OPPconstables,whomadesure that all followed the rules and were safe when out andabout.ThankyoutotheTownshipofChapleau staff and workers that have helped us during the derby. They are top-notch people. Thank you to Rick Labbe from JJAM FM who helped us keep peopleuptodatewiththelivebroadcastsduringthe derby.Lastly,wewouldliketothankRBC,Collins Home Hardware and Home Furniture, and NAPA ChapleauAutoPartsforsellingderbyticketsonour behalf.

Proceedsfromthederbywillbereinvested inourcommunitysothatChapleaucontinuestobe a fantastic place to live. So what does the Rotary Club of Chapleau do with the proceeds from the derby?Well,overtheyearswe'vedonatedtoallthe schoolsincludingyearlybursaries,we'veprovided $10,000 as seed money for the splash pad at the waterfront. We've furnished two rooms at the Bignucololongtermcare,wepurchaseda$17,000 patient lift to transfer patients in and out of ambulances, we donated $10,000 towards the purchase ofanewultrasoundunit,we'vedonatedtoourlocal clubs such as hockey, gymnastics, figure skating andskiingsothatouryouthcanpracticesports.In the past, we've also donated proceeds from the derby to the not for profit organizations in town becauseweknowhowdifficultitistofundraiseand this is but a small piece of what Rotary does for Chapleau. If you want to help make Chapleau a betterplace,considerjoiningRotary!Reachoutto aRotarianformoreinformation.