Out-Of-Town Fishermen Win Lions’ Perch Derby
 | Author:
Nancy Marks
Nancy Marks: MT43 News Secretary and News Editor |
Out-Of-Town Fishermen Win Lions’ Perch Derby
MT 43 News Staff Reporter
Two out-of-town men pulled in big perch two weeks ago and brought home the bacon at the annual Lions’ Club Perch Derby held at the Silos area on Canyon Ferry Lake. Total payouts for the event were $2,947 Saturday and $3,792 Sunday.
Don Jones of Manhattan and Matt Pederson of Butte tied for the largest perch. Robert Chandler of Bozeman came in third. They all landed a perch that weighed over one pound. Paul Johnson of East Helena caught the largest walleye at 1.50 pounds.
Townsend’s Bentley Hoppe tied for second place in the child division along with Holden Steinmetz of Helena with fish weighing three-quarters pounds. First place went to Blane Luly of Belgrade.
Lions Club organizer Kim Kondelik heaved a sigh of relief when the cold weather hit the last week of January, allowing for good ice and sunshine on the weekend. She said the crowd was larger than expected. Saturday 238 adults and 31 children bought tickets. Sunday there were 48 teams of three people. “ Everyone had a great time and helped each other,” she said, “ Several people helped build bridges across various pressure ridges.”
Townsend men Sam Deschene, Jacob Spurlock and Dustin Graham placed second in the Sunday team event. First place went to Don and Michael Jones and partner Dan Pluth of Belgrade with a catch of almost eight pounds of perch.
Kim wanted to thank the ladies who helped make the event run smoothly and say how much she appreciated the contributing sponsors including Bobert’s Tire & Glass, Bob’s Supermarket, Commercial Bar, Helena Eagle Beverage, Fishtale Tavern, Gusto Distributing, Mint Bar, Mountain Country Coors, Mountie Moose Bakery, Silo’s Junction Bar & Grill, Silo’s KOA and TB Diner.
Steve Sautter with Smoothbore Enterprises, LLC donated a custom ice rod and Flanagan Klunder & Associates donated the winners’ plaques.
Statistics are as follows:
Adult Perch Saturday: 1st place: 1.24 lb perch -Don Jones, Matt Pederson tie; 3rd place 1.21 lb – Robert Chandler. Largest Walleye 1.5 lb – Paul Johnson. Child Perch Saturday: 1st place –.76lb perch - Blane Luly; 2nd place tie .75 lb perch – Holden Steinmetz, Bentley Hoppe; Child Walleye .59 lb – Cameron Anderson; Child Wee Fish: .29 lb fish – Bentley Hoppe.
Sunday Team Event: 1st Place Team with 7.83 lbs of perch was Don Jones, Michael Jones and Dan Pluth; 2nd place with 7.78 lbs was Sam Deschene, Jacob Spurlock and Dustin Graham; 3rd place with 7.68 lbs was Eric Horne, Scott Horne and Michael Williams of Helena.
Article Images
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PhotoCredit: Photo Credits: Townsend Lions Club
Image 1 Caption: Sunday Derby first place winners Don Jones, Michael Jones and Dan Plath.
Photo Credits: Townsend Lions Club
Image 2 Caption: Susie Hedalen and 4th grader Tory Barnhart of Bozeman holding a perch.
Photo Credits: Townsend Lions Club
Image 3 Caption: Belgrade student Blane Luly won first place in the children’s division. Here accepting his prize from Lioness Kim Kondelik.
Photo Credits: Townsend Lions Club
Image 4 Caption: Lions Perch Derby Organizers: Back row left to right: Leann Coffman, Mary Kondelik, Angie Wintrow, Patti Hamm, Sandi Booher. Front Row: Kim Kondelik and Tina Larson.
Photo Credits: Townsend Lions Club
Image 5 Caption: Sunset on Saturday at Canyon Ferry Reservoir.
Photo Credits: Townsend Lions Club
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