That was the case again, as bright blue skies and warm sunshine greeted competitors on Saturday and then chilly, but by no means frigid winds were prevalent on a Sunday that saw a combination of slush, water and slippery patches of ice make for tricky ice fishing footing.

Although the weather may see changes over derby weekends, two things always remain constant when it comes to the Colby Classic, which was hosted by the Saranac Lake Fish and Game Club for its 42nd straight year. The derby has always been geared toward family fun, and it traditionally brings back many of the same faces each year on the first weekend in March.

The derby offers prizes for salmon, trout and perch caught in Lake Colby, and northern pike taken on area lakes and ponds spread across the North Country. Prizes are awarded to the top three finishers in both adult and youth divisions, as well as anyone who catches one of the 15 tagged fish that are stocked each year prior to the derby by the New York state Department of Environmental Conservation’s hatchery in Lake Clear.

Colby Classic Chairman Rocky Nogales said this year, participants came from near and far, and noted more people were fishing on Saturday while soaking up the sunshine.

Saranac Lake’s Curt Staves smiles while peeking out of his fishing hut on Lake Colby Sunday morning. (Provided photo — Lou Reuter)

“It was crowded, and we had a lot of people who stayed and wound up sleeping on the ice overnight. It was really a beautiful day,” Nogales said. “This derby is a relatively small derby and a relatively local derby, but we had a lot of returning people who came from out of town and out of state this year. We had a group come out of Pennsylvania, a group from Rochester, Massachusetts, and some folks came from Maine.”

Nogales added that there were even some folks who traveled from Texas to take their first shot at the sport of ice fishing.

“We had a nice treat with a family that came from Texas,” he said. “They found a local guide who got them registered in the derby and they fished for pike. This was their first experience. Frankly, this family had never walked on a frozen lake before. If it holds, they had a pike on the leader board.”

Members of the Durfee family, who hail from Tupper Lake, have been fishing in the Colby Classic for going on three generations. While they haven’t had the best luck in terms of scooping up prizes in the past, this year turned out to be different. On Sunday, Nate Durfee captured a tagged splake, which weighed in at 3.66 pounds and netted him a $200 prize sponsored by Saranac Lake businesses Wayne Darrah Auto Body and Casier Furniture. The splake was the only tagged fish caught in this year’s derby and is a unique hybrid that requires breeding a female lake trout with a male brook trout.

Nate’s 16-year-old son, Knaullyn, then came through to win the adult trout division with a brown trout weighing slightly less than two pounds.

Derby chairman Rocky Nogales records a catch brought in Sunday morning by Malone resident Shaylyn LaRock, who captured second place in the youth trout division. (Provided photo — Lou Reuter)

“I started bringing Nate to the derby when he was two, and this is a first,” said Nate’s dad, Art “Pops” Durfee.

“This is something we love doing,” Nate added. “After almost 40 years of fishing, this is the first time we had success like this as a family. We always have fun, we catch fish, but this time, we have two nice fish – prize winners.”

Bob “Soot” Zatorski is another longtime participant in the Colby Classic on a stretch spanning about 30 years. He plays host to a group of former lacrosse stars that travel from the New York City area each year for the derby. He joked that when the group comes up, the pressure is on, adding that the pressure is anything but stressful.

“Usually, eight to 10 guys come up from Westchester, and they have been coming for 18 years. They say, ‘Bobby, find us a spot where we can go.’ Most of the guys are looking for pike. When you have that many people, you have to disperse your tip-ups. You have 10 people and they each have six tip-ups. That’s 60 tip-ups, so you need a big area of ice.

“We try to mix it up and go to as many places as we can, depending what the climate gives us. This year, the guys are staying at a place on Lake Clear, fishing right out the back door,” Zatorski continued. “We have fished everywhere from Upper Saranac, Follensby, Lower Saranac Lake, Kiwassa, Kushaqua, we even fished one year on Colby itself.”

Members of the Durfee fishing party enjoy their experience on Lake Colby Sunday morning. From the left front row: Jessica Wood, Art Durfee and Jenna Lester. Back row: Zach Durfee, Tony Longo, Paul Jano and Nate Durfee. (Provided photo — Lou Reuter)

As of Sunday morning, Zatorski said his group didn’t have a lot of success in terms of pike, although they did bring three lake trout up through the ice on Saturday, with another day of fishing in front of them.

“Some of these guys are all-Americans, or just lacrosse coaches,” Zatorski said. “Starting on Tuesday of this week, practice starts for high school in New York state, so this is their last hurrah. It’s their last weekend when they’re actually able to get away, mix it up a little bit and catch a few fish, eat, party, have a nice time.”

There were 197 entries in the 42nd Colby Classic ice fishing derby, which included 45 boys and girls in the youth division. Trout, salmon and perch caught on Lake Colby were judged by weight, while northern pike prizes were awarded based on length. The top catches in each category are as follows:

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Youth

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Trout — Owen Morehouse (1.11 lb.), Shaylyn LaRock (.716 lb.).

Perch — Owen Morehouse (.60 lb.), Ciara Rivers (.536 lb.), Jordan Harvey (.498 lb.).

Pike — Elliot Burgess (34.5″), Sandy Gorgas (31″), Violette Celaya (27.75″).

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Adult

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Trout — Knaullyn Durfee (1.70 lb.), David Wilson (1.32 lb.), John Duprey (1.07 lb.).

Perch — Kevin Magee (.642 lb.), Murphy Stringer (.624 lb.), Cedar Rivers (.62 lb.).

Salmon — Alec McLean (5.73 lb.).

Pike — Dave Reandeau (37″), Blake Darrah (34″), BJ Riley (33.5″).