Bitter Cold Doesn’t Stop Day One Of Big Lake Ice Fishing Tournament Still Cold Open

Our January cover story was on the popular Still Cold Open ice fishing tournament at Big Lake in the Mat-Su Valley.

The tournament, which runs on alternating weekends until it finishes up in late March, started in crazy weather last weekend. “We are off and running with growth again this season!” tournament director Jerrid Hixson tells us. “Tight competition at the top in the Pro division with absolutely brutal opening-day conditions.”

Hixson said the weather for that first day of fishing saw temperatures dipping down to -37 degrees! But the Hook Hustlers team of Matt Weaver and Justin Dombrowski took the early lead atop a crowded leaderboard.

“The top three teams outcompeted last years’,” Hixson says, adding that five-time champions Fish Reflections (Caleb Hughes and John Hughes), sit in fourth place but just six points out of the lead.

Here’s a look at the top of the standings after that miserably cold opening day last weekend. We’ll update the standings throughout the tournament’s duration.