A nearly 23-inch-long catfish was the biggest fish caught this year at Saturday’s 66th-annual Northern Illinois Conservation Club Ice Fishing Derby in Antioch.
Fish caught during the competition were brought to shore, where they were measured at the Turtle Beach Marina by NICC volunteers.
The Valentine’s Day ice on Channel Lake was about a foot thick for the 130 registrants.
In recent years, the ice was not thick enough to safely support the weight of ATVs, but on the day of this year’s derby, anglers were able to drive their vehicles and grill on the ice like the event was one big tailgate party.
Children skated and tried to catch fish with their hands by the pier. The walkability of the ice was doable if your boots had enough traction, but regular footwear seemed to work if you walked on the crunchy areas of the ice. One cyclist biked across the frozen lake.
The weather was partly sunny and more than 50 degrees.
“Couldn’t pass up today, weather’s perfect,” said regular tournament angler Brian Conzen of McHenry, who brought in bluegill for measuring.
David Battershell of Antioch carried a yellow bucket of white bass to shore.
“So you can win small fish, and big fish, and species too, so that’s why I got a whole bunch,” he said. “The fishing’s pretty good.”
Battershell said he participates, “to have fun, support Lake County and fishing, and just show people that you can have fun in the wintertime ice fishing.”
The NICC tournament is a fishing tradition with a goal to encourage interest early in children, and to introduce ice fishing to interested adults, NICC President Leonard Dane said.
“We need to really help promote getting youth into the sport, whether it’s fishing or any outdoor activities, to keep these kinds of events going,” Dane said. “That’s why we do them, to get the kids and children and more people involved.
“Get youth involved in the outdoors because there’s not as much activity going on with youth in the outdoors,” he continued. “Getting them out in the wild is gaining an appreciation for nature.”
Longtime tournament participants Mike Holstrom and Marty Dschida, both of Antioch, support newcomers to the sport. Their group sat on folding chairs outside in a circle where multiple fish were in a mound in the center. No tent here.
Holstrom and Dschida look for people needing an ice tent and instruction. The philanthropists will drill holes with their pro device and lend equipment to deserving anglers.
“We’re looking for people who don’t have anything, and we just enjoy it,” said Holstrom, who grew up along the Chain O’Lakes. “It’s what we do. Pay it forward.”
On this year’s menu for Holstrom’s and Dschida’s group was the grilled hind quarter of venison plus a gallon of chili. Anglers could stop by to enjoy food and beverages with neighbors.
“Everybody’s invited,” Holstrom said. “If you’re out here braving the weather, whoever comes around is invited.”
One other extended family and friends group, in their 17th year of participation, also grilled venison. Their deer came in the form of brats made into sausage by a Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, butcher.
“We harvest our own meat,” Brian Osowski of Antioch said. “We get ours in Wisconsin mainly.”
By midday, the fishing haul for the group was “two baby fish,” Osowski said with a laugh. “There’s been a couple of years where we had no ice whatsoever, and one year we didn’t fish at all. Most of the time we’re out here to be together.”
Father and son duo Dan and 9-year-old Aaron Osowski of Carol Stream checked inside a blue tent where fishing holes had monitoring equipment.
“I think it’s a really fun sport,” Aaron said.
Inside the cabana, people could order food and buy tickets for the meat raffle, or to win gift baskets and prizes set on long tables, many items with Valentine’s Day themes.
Jordan Marcelain of Winthrop Harbor was the meat raffle emcee at a fishing derby considered to be the kick-off to their 2026 fishing season.
“Who doesn’t need more meat in their freezer?” Marcelain said. “All the money we raise from this event goes to different events,” to keep, “conservation going in Lake County.”
Bob Huebner of Antioch won a jar of pickles in the meat raffle and said, “It’s like winning an Olympic gold medal.”
