Q-Tip: Walker Lake fish derby

The big annual President's Day Weekend Fishing Derby is set for Feb. 19-20 at Walker Lake, located just north of Hawthorne.

The 2000 version promises to be a little bit different than previous derbies held at Walker Lake.

There will be $3,250 in cash awarded to four lucky winners.

Those four cash prizes will be:

- The heaviest fish: The heaviest cutthroat trout caught in the derby will win a lucky fisherman or fisher woman $500 in cash.

- First, second and third place in a Blind Bogey: First place in the Blind Bogey will take home $1,500, second place will win $750 and third place wins $500. Those cash prizes will be awarded to the closest matching combined weights of two trout submitted by an angler during the contest. Each angler will have the option of submitting two trout on Saturday or two on Sunday or one on each of the two days. The weights of his/her two trout will be added together. Then, the three combined weights that come the closest to matching three, pre-selected weights in the blind bogey category will win first, second or third place.

Note: The up-coming President's Day Weekend fishing derby rules are very different from those used for the recent Thanksgiving Day weekend derby. That derby featured large, cash prizes for the heaviest stringers of cutthroat. In that derby, the "heaviest stringer of fish" rule opened the door to the possibility of cheating by unscrupulous anglers. They could have taken advantage of that opening by combining their catches with fish caught by others to produce the heaviest stringers.

The adult registration fee in this derby is $30 per person. It includes two days of fishing, a collector's Fishing Derby pin and a ticket for various raffle prizes.

The youth registration (11 years and under) fee is $10 per person. The youth category offers a $100, $75 and $50 U.S. savings bond for the top three winners.

The official fishing hours for the derby are: 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday.

All Nevada fishing rules and regulations apply during the two-day contest.

To enter as a contestant, you will need to provide the necessary registration fee, plus your name, mailing address, city, state, zip code, and telephone number.

If you would like to compete in the derby, here's some information that might be useful:

- The Bureau of Land Management campground at Sportsmen's Beach charges an overnight camping fee to use those facilities.

- There is no fee for launching your boat at the Sportsmen's Beach Boat Ramp.

- Personnel from a local Search and Rescue Unit will be available to assist anglers in launching and retrieving their boats at that ramp on both days of the derby.

- Shore fishing has been best at Sand Point, Sportsmen's Beach, in front of the "Cliffs" and along the southwest shoreline.

- Bait fishermen have been successful fishing on the bottom with red salmon eggs, rainbow or Captain America Power Bait or inflated nightcrawlers.

- Spincasters have been using yellow/red dot, yellow/black dot, green/black dot or Fire-Tiger No. 2 TOR-P-DO lures or frog-colored Super Duper lures.

- Boaters have been trolling in the deeper water between Rock Point and Sand Point, in front of the Cliffs and on the southwest side of the lake. They have been trolling with lures on downriggers, about 25-50 feet deep in water that is 60-80 feet deep.

- Trollers have been scoring with Fire-Tiger, frog or silver-colored Flatfish or Kwikfish lures. They have also been trolling pearl-colored Apex lures, Triple Teaser lures or various colored No. 3 TOR-P-DO lures.

The derby is sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce.

To register in the derby, write to: Mineral Council Chamber of Commerce, P.O. Box 1635, Hawthorne, 89415 or call them at (702) 945-5896.

For information, call Bob Tompkins at the Gun and Tackle Store at (702) 945-3266 or Ed's Bait and Tackle Store at (775) 945-2525, both in Hawthorne.