Large Brown Trout Wins Longest Fish in Ice Fishing Derby

John Welch with his winning trout

The Sheridan Rotary Club’s Second Annual Ice Fishing Derby at Lake DeSmet on Saturday, Feb. 26, was a huge success. It was a warm, sunny day and the cold snap the week before froze the ice deep, making it safe to be out on the lake.

A good crowd of fisherman were set up on the ice, all trying for the longest fish, and to catch one of the 200 tagged fish released in the lake on Thursday.

Members of Sheridan High School Interact Club, Rotary International’s service club for young people ages 12 to 18, sold hot dogs and hamburgers, and even delivered the meals out on the ice to the fishermen.

The prize for the longest fish went Buffalo fisherman John Welch who caught a brown trout that measured a whooping 29 1/2 inches. Welch said this about his day on the ice. “It was fun. It was a real surprise to catch him. I’m pretty happy about it. I’ve been ice fishing all my life, around here and all over.”

Welch was awarded $1000 and was eligible for the $25,000 prize. In order to win, the last two digits of the fish’s weight needed to match the pre-selected two digits. The last two digits of John’s fish was 82. The winning digits were 39.

Dave Alden, Sheridan Rotary Foundation Board and of Tegeler and Associates Insurance, the main sponsor of the event, talked about this year’s derby.

The derby ended with 374 registered anglers. Fish caught were perch and trout but no walleye or kokanee salmon were turned in. No one turned in a tagged fish.

In addition to Welch, David Magee took home the $300 second place in the trout category with a 25 1/2 inch fish, and winning the $200 third place was a 21 1/8 inch trout, caught by Ty Dysart.

In the perch category, Brian Wille, won both 1st and 2nd place with one fish measuring 12 1/2 inches and one measuring 11 1/2 inches. Thirdplace was won by David Mcguirk, with a 10 inch perch.

One aspect that was added to this year’s Ice Fishing Derby was a raffle for a 15 minute helicopter ride over the lake. The Switzer helicopter was piloted by Don Oakes of Casper. The lucky raffle winner was Dave Alden.

There were over 100 door prizes, many donated by Rocky Mountain Discount sports in Sheridan.

Rob Forister, of the Rotary Club said, “There were people from Sheridan and Johnson Counties, of course but people also came from Gillette, as well Billings and South Dakota.”

The Sheridan Rotary Club event raised over $25,000!