Sue Backstrom may well lay eyes on another gigantic pike like the one that was yanked out of a hole last winter during Nolalu’s ice-fishing derby.
Bone-chilling temperatures of the last few days make it fairly certain the village’s annual derby will go ahead as planned in the first week of March.
“It was -33 (C) out here (Monday morning),” Backstrom, who is the derby’s main organizer this year, said on Monday. “I imagine there’s two feet of ice (in area lakes) for sure.”
The ice-fishing event, now in its 33rd year, attracted 180 entrants in 2024, despite the winter being unusually mild that year.
Over March 8-9, prize-seeking anglers will drop a line in a variety of frozen area lakes, including Arrow, Whitefish and Northern Lights.
Participants who bring their catches to Nolalu’s community centre for weighing pay a modest fee — $3 for adults and $2 for children.
Last year’s whopper of a pike tipped the scales at nearly 23 pounds.
“You come for weighing and hope (your fish) doesn’t get knocked off the board on the Sunday,” Backstrom said.
Derby fees help offset the cost of prizes, while raffle proceeds support the Highway 588 community centre, which depends on donations to operate.
Meanwhile, not everyone has been thrilled by the current deep-freeze that’s settled in across the region.
Hearst provincial police set up a temporary warming centre inside the detachment’s conference room on Monday afternoon, while the municipality dealt with a town-wide power outage linked to the extreme cold.
“Do not use propane appliances or generators indoors,” police warned.
“These devices can produce dangerous levels of carbon monoxide, which is odourless, colourless, and potentially fatal.”
Environment Canada is calling for more teeth-chattering weather today.
The mercury was set to plunge to -36 C in Thunder Bay on Monday night, reaching a high of only -21 C by mid-afternoon today.
The normal high for the city at this time of year is – 9 C.
For more information about Nolalu’s ice-fishing derby, Backstrom can be contacted by email at sbackstrom24@gmail.com.
