Big fish take top two spots in Hardwater Classic

It didn’t take long to catch the fish to beat. And it didn’t take long to beat it.

Ten minutes into the Hardwater Classic Ice Fishing Tournament Saturday, Kelly Lofberg of Hallock reeled in a 5-pound, 3.3-ounce walleye.

“I could tell it was a nice fish,” said Lofgren, who was fishing with his dad, Lorne Lofberg of Bemidji. “I was surprised it was a walleye.”

Lofberg figured he was likely to win the top prize of $1,000 for biggest fish.

“I already spent that money in my mind,” he said.

He didn’t have much time to savor the glory of having the biggest fish. Within 15 minutes, it was over as Nate Hurlburt of Bemidji caught a 6-pound, 4-ounce walleye, which stood for the top prize.

“I could see there was a lot of commotion when he caught that fish,” Lofberg said. “I thought, ‘Damn, that’s a big fish.’”

Seventy-five yards away, Hurlburt said he was taken by surprise when he reeled in his winning walleye, especially after he had seen Lofberg’s fish.

“He came walking by and I said, ‘God, that’s a big fish,’” Hurlburt recalled. He congratulated Lofberg and went back to his own fishing.

A bit later, he said he figured that fish would be the winner

“Not even two minutes later, she stuck it,” he said of his walleye. “I said, ‘Oh my god.’ Everyone was looking, and I said, ‘Are you kidding me?’”

Both Hurlburt and Lofberg were fishing their holes outside, but many people brought portable fish houses to the tournament, held near the Nymore boat landing.

“This is a good fishing area,” said Bryan “Beef” Sathre, one of the organizers of the tournament. “We wanted to tie it in with the Sanford Center.”

Depths ranged from 12 to 40 feet, Sathre said.

Nate Pochardt of Bemidji and Jaxon Staehnke of Pinewood had good luck in their fish house, catching about 25 fish in the first couple of hours. The largest was a 1.6-ounce perch caught by Staehnke. It was one of the first 50 fish caught, so it won a prize. Last year, Pochardt noted, anglers didn’t even catch 50 fish.

Staehnke’s biggest fish was about a three-quarter-pound perch in the 16-year-old’s first tournament experience.

“Now he’s going to think you always catch fish at a tournament,” Pochardt joked.

It was colder than the unseasonably warm days the region has had lately, but there was no wind to speak of on the overcast day with light snow.

Hurlburt said the change in the front is likely to have gotten the fish moving, as people were catching more fish than in previous years.

“It’s a gorgeous day,” said Bob Walker as he sold a Stittsworth brat. He said people were hungrier than last year, when the temperatures were lower.

“I’m a good friend of Corey (Stittsworth) and I come up here and do the brats with him,” he said.

Stittsworth was weighing the fish for the tournament and Andra Vaughn recorded the weights. Vaughn said the two biggest fish caught Saturday were the two biggest for the four years the tournament has been held.

Jacob Kuhn, 11, of Bemidji, was the only one in his family to catch a fish.

“He outfished his parents,” said his mom, Lisa Kuhn.

Jacob, who caught a 1-pound walleye, is an “avid fisherman,” in both winter and summer, said his dad, Greg Kuhn.

“He’s the only kid I know who can catch largemouth bass in Minnesota off a dock.”

About 500 people registered for the tournament, said Jake Bluhm, coordinator of the catch-and-release event. Bluhm is director of annual giving for athletics at Bemidji State University.

“It’s fortunate we have good weather,” Bluhm said. “The wind’s not too bad and the ice is OK. We have good conditions.”

With all the canceled events happening in the region because of warmer temperatures and lack of snow, “It’s great to have the event on the day we scheduled it for,” he said.

BSU football players cut about 2,000 holes in the ice at 9 a.m. Saturday.

“We’re very thankful to them,” Bluhm said.

The proceeds from the tournament go toward athletic scholarships for BSU.

More than $20,000 in prizes were awarded.

Not everyone at the tournament caught a fish.

Brothers Al, J.B. and Terry Thorson came up empty-handed, but they were in good spirits.

“It’s lousy for us,” Al said. “We haven’t had a fish yet, not even a perch.”

The good part is that they’re giving something to BSU athletes, he said. Al and J.B. both worked at BSU. They live in Bemidji and Terry lives in Brainerd.

“We’ve got to support BSU athletics,” Al said.

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