Ice Fishers Brave Brutal Cold As Big Lake’s Still Cold Open Wraps Up

In February, when we profiled the long-time successful ice fishing tournament, the Still Cold Open Ice Fishing Classic , tournament director Jerrid Hixson told our correspondent Tiffany Herrington that the weather conditions can sometimes affect but spoil the spirit of the competitors in that event that took place over several weekends. Sure enough, as the tournament wrapped up on Sunday in the Mat-Su Valley’s Big Lake, the tournament entrants were dogged in the final day of fishing despite the conditions.

” This last weekend is the coldest in tournament history with (minus 24-degree) brutal conditions and tough fishing,” Hixson tells us. “These teams are dedicated and Alaska tough!”

Here are the final results.

Congratulations to the top three finishing teams:

Professional Division

1. Fish Reflections (Caleb Hughes, Josh Hughes)
2. H.O.A. Fishing (Chris Foster, Angela Foster)
3. Knot Today (Dustin Peltier, Mike Nabulisi)

Recreational Division

1. Fancy Snowmachine Club (Patrick Duncan, Christian Middlestead
2. Catchin a Buzz (Gordon Prater, Daniel Poteet)
3. Cranking Hoggs (Guy Johnson, Aiden Bush)

Here are some more photos with the top winners in the tournament.