48th Annual Chain O' Lakes Ice Fishing Derby and Winter Festival
February 9 & 10, 2008
http://www.lakeonline.com/nicc/derby_information.html
Update 02-19-07

Steve Herrington of Ingleside holds up his catch at the Northern Illinois Conservaton Club annual fishing derby held on Channel Lake in Antioch. Herrington caught a flat-head catfish that measured 36.25 inches in length. (Amanda Schwengel photo)

2008 Derby results and winners:

http://www.lake-online.com/nicc/derby_results.html

Fishing derby goes on despite weather
By STEVE PETERSON - speterson@nwnewsgroup.com

ANTIOCH – The cold weather did not stop hundreds of ice fishermen from dropping a line and putting up a shanty on Channel Lake for the 48th Chain O’ Lakes Fishing Derby.Tom Olandese of Fox Lake was hoping to do as well as he did last year, winning an award for crappie caught.

Olandese, 55, didn’t win, but said he has been coming to the Northern Illinois Conservaton Club event for 25 years.

“I come with my son, who is three and one-half and caught a fish last summer on Lake Marie, a walleye,” he said.

NICC members stressed the family nature of the event, with some parents involved in the event since its beginning in 1960 to youngsters fishing today.

The difficult weather has had an affect on the sport.

“With all the snow, it is not as accessible to get to the lakes as usual,” Tom O’Connell said.

A food drive, kids games and cash and prizes worth $3,000 were all available at the Feb. 9 and 10 event at the Thirsty Turtle in Antioch.

“I have been the fishing judge for 15 years and a club member for 24,” Peter Poli said.

“It is great to see the looks on people’s faces. We have families who have been coming here for three generations.”

Organizers said the food drive went well. The donations went to Open Arms Mission in Antioch.

Kids games and the conservation cafe were back for the weekend.

A group of anglers were on hand from Algonquin, Spring Grove and Round Lake.

“It is still a good event; you get to fish with others,” Paul Jay said.

For more information, call NICC at 847-395-NICC, or visit the Web site, http://www.mynicc.org/.


Ice shanties, fish retreat
Biting cold leaves 'em nibbling at Chain O' Lakes winter derby
February 11, 2008
By DAN MORAN DMORAN@SCN1.COM

ANTIOCH -- There are fish tales and then there are tales about fish. The first one is too good to be true, and the second is what Steve Herrington -- and multiple witnesses -- experienced Saturday and Sunday on the Chain O' Lakes.

On Saturday, just before the close of business on the opening day of the 48th annual Northern Illinois Conservation Club Ice Fishing Derby and Winter Festival, Herrington hustled to the fish-judging trailer off Channel Lake with a monster catfish that measured 36-and-a-quarter inches.

He released the catfish into Channel Lake on the north end of the Chain, then came back out Sunday to his shanty on Pistakee Lake, a good seven miles to the south. Around 11 a.m., he came back to the trailer with another giant catfish, put it before the judges and the measurement was read: 36-and-a-quarter inches.

"That can't be the same fish at all," said Peter Poli, who has served as the Derby's head fishing judge for the last 15 years. "I watched him release (Saturday's) out here, and he caught this one on Pistakee."

If it was the same fish, it came from the planet Krypton, because Sunday was not a fit day on the Chain for man nor beast. While some 400 people headed out Saturday to drop a line in seasonal weather, Sunday dawned with below-zero temperatures and a steady wind whipping across the ice from Alberta.

Poli said the fish were affected just as much as humans by the weather's turn of events.
"(Saturday) was a good day for everybody, and then the cold front came through," said Poli, snapping his fingers, "and it shut off."

"There were 40 shanties out on Pistakee Bay yesterday," Herrington said.

"And today?" Poli said.

"Two," said Herrington.

Out on the Channel Lake ice, Brent Seifert of Prairie Grove echoed that analysis. "Yesterday, it was crowded out here," he said, surveying about eight shanties. "Today, there ain't nobody."
But if the early bird gets the worm, the hardy angler gets the fish. Among Seifert's group, Jarrod Fires of McHenry went into Sunday afternoon with the largest largemouth bass, and their largest bluegill was also holding up in a tournament that awards $1,450 in prizes in 10 categories.

Conservation Club president Bonnie Letich said Sunday's conditions probably weren't the nastiest in an event that dates to 1960 and has seen just about everything.

"It's been a while since we had it this cold, but we've had some years where it was colder than this," said Letich, bundled in an extra-large snowmobiling suit. "For the last 10 years it's been a turn of the wheel -- we never know what we're going to get. I remember last year, about a week before, we were praying to the ice gods."

The ice wasn't a concern on Sunday. After auguring a hole about 50 yards offshore in Channel Lake, Fires measured the thickness at 16 inches. "You could drive a semi out on this."
For those merely walking out onto ice swept by wind chills of minus 20, it was all about the layers.

"I've got three layers of pants going on right now," said Christine Hartley of Antioch. "And I've got Under Armour, a long-sleeved cotton shirt, a fleece hoodie -- you've got to have a hoodie."
Hartley added that another secret if to wear boots that welcome two pairs of socks.

"These are about the best boots I've ever had," she said, "and they're about a half-size too big for me."

Once you've made the decision to go out and fish on a day that most of the world stays inside, it's all about looking on the bright side, as Tom Giaimo of Lake Villa demonstrated.

"It is a little cold this morning and a little windy," he said. "But thank God the sun is out."

Big fish and big fun found at NICC derby
February 14, 2008
By FRANK ABDERHOLDEN fabderholden@scn1.com

As I drove down Route 173 in Antioch and Channel Lake came into view, my heart rose as I glimpsed a good 100 ice shanties dotting the snowscape for the Northern Illinois Conservation Clubs's 48th annual Ice Fishing Derby.

This was how I remembered the event, which has been hampered in past years by fickle weather.

"Even though it was cold the fishermen had fun," said Bonnie Letich of the NICC.
On Saturday is was a little slushy, but Sunday's drop in temperature hardened up the surface and only the hardiest ice anglers came out.

The biggest fish (there were no musky or weed wolves-northerns caught) of the tournament was a catfish just over 36 inches caught by Steve Hetington of Ingleside. The smallest catfish was 18 inches caught by Rhonda Seibert of Waukegan.

Other nice fish include a walleye just shy of 25 inches caught by Mike Hucker of Burlington, Wis.; a 15-inch bass caught by Tim Martin of Round Lake; a 9-inch perch caught by Vince Sleep of Spring Grove; and the smallest fish caught was a 4-inch bluegill/sunfish/rock bass caught by Charles Maze of Fox Lake, who also won last year's smallest fish.

This year's auction of a football signed by Green Bay Packers was a big hit and went for $350. "I think it was bid up because it could be Brett Favre's last year," said Bonnie.

The NICC's next event is the pine tree give away the Saturday before Mother's Day. They usually hand out between 100 to 150 trees for free. If you want more than one they ask for a donation to cover some of the costs of the 12 to 14-inch trees.