The CIFC 2013 has new ice fishing championship team
The 19th season for the Canadian Ice Fishing Championships were held off Lake Simcoe's Jackson Point in Georgina to crown a new team as Canadian Champion Ice Fishing anglers in 2013.
Friday night’s meet n greet was held at the Georgina arena to go over CIFC rules, regulations and sign in.
Forty eight two person teams competed over two days in both shallow & deep water challenges.
Perch were the targeted species during Saturday's event just north east of Jackson Point. Water depth ranged from 14 - 20 feet in the fishing zone.
The 8am start had decent weather with good ice conditions and low wind.
Conditions got windier across a frozen Lake Simcoe as the day progressed towards the 2pm deadline.
Teams members with ATV and snow sleds checked into the entry point at Bonnie Boats for gear and bait regulations at first light. Actual fishing could not begin until 8am.
Each 2 person team had to catch 15 perch in total plus keep them alive for release after weigh-in at 2pm. Any bait could be used with no more than four hooks allowed. Only one rod per angler was allowed and team members could only be up to thirty paces apart.
Day one perch fishing started off fast with many anglers catching their quota. Most however decided to go after those jumbos and live released many of their smaller catch. The perch started to shut down on the easy bite around 8:30 am and catching a limit after that stretched all the anglers arsenal of tips and tricks. Numerous teams failed to catch a limit by the 2pm shutdown.
Day two started out with great weather as anglers proceeded three kilometers off Lake Simcoe's shore to the big fish zone. Three times the area as the previous perch zone. Depths ranged around sixty feet.
Most anglers hugged the perimeter of the zone marked off by blaze orange cones. Two lines were allowed per angler and again only up to thirty paces apart was permitted. Many of the larger pop up hut had both anglers huddled inside with two holes drilled outside.
White Fish, Lake Trout were targeted by most anglers with various typical set ups of jigging or tip-ups. White Fish were caught by a few anglers and many marked fish on the electronics.
Youngest angler was Teshaun Tran at 13 and the oldest at 90 was Joe Montgomery who never missed a tournament.
Team 47 Chris Hiltz caught largest fish if the day, a 34 inch Lake Trout worth 134 points.
They also caught they biggest perch as a team
Team 24 had two White Fish for a total of 188 points. Fifty for the fish, fifty for a live release and one point per inch. Two Ling were also caught by Calvin Perry later that morning. This propelled them into the lead which they held onto to win the CIFC.
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