Soda Springs annual Winter Carnival fishing derby
January 23rd, 2006 by Fishing admin
Soda Springs event lures anglers : Fishing derby featured trout up to 12 pounds
James Giles, 7, and his brother Joe, 4, stare in amazement as Doug Foss weighs a fish caught with their grandfather Pete Mottishaw Saturday morning at the Soda Springs annual Winter Carnival fishing derby. Journal photo by Joshua Duplechian.
POCATELLO - With more than 500 lines in the pond, the trout didn’t stand a chance Saturday at Soda Springs’ Winter Carnival fishing derby.
It seemed nearly everyone who cast into the icy water took home a lunker.
Maria Tucker, 26, of Pocatello, caught a 4-pound rainbow on her first cast.
“I caught it with a worm and power bait,” she said, adding that it felt strange fishing in January.
Tucker drove to Soda Springs from Pocatello through a snow storm Saturday morning with her father, Rich, and a group of others.
Pointing to a stack of fish lying in the snow at their feet, Rich Tucker said he was having a good time. The biggest was a whopping 8 pounds.
Doug Foss, Clear Springs Foods Hatchery manager, said he released about 2,500 fish - all between 3 and 12 pounds - into the pond for the event. As of 1 p.m., the largest one caught was 10 pounds, 10 ounces, but the derby didn’t end until
4 p.m. The biggest catch of the day won a $300 prize.
Foss said the event got its start 16 years ago when a group of locals suggested he stock a nearby reservoir for an ice fishing derby. Foss told them he couldn’t do it, but he could stock the pond. The rest is history.
Unfortunately, he said while most participants were following the rules, he saw some anglers snagging the trout with bare hooks.
“We’d appreciate it if, in the future, people would all use bait,” Foss said.
Tyler Kunzler of Ogden, Utah had no problem with the rules. In fact, he said that he had caught eight trout by mid-afternoon following them.
The largest of them was about 4 pounds.
Kunzler said he and a group of friends stayed in Lava Hot Springs Friday night. They spent the evening soaking in the hot pools, then got up bright and early for fishing in Soda.
“It’s great,” Kunzler said. “I love it. It’s a yearly event for us.”
By Casey Santee - Journal Writer