Dudoward The Winner of “brutal” Blue Knuckle Derby 2010
The 2010 Blue Knuckle Derby lived up to its reputation on Monday.
Regular fishermen on the North Coast are fairly rugged when it comes to handling whatever mother nature has in store for a typical fishing day. Heck, even in the summer the waves in Hecate Strait or Dixon Entrance can be beyond unforgiving.
And yet, there were a lot of shivering bodies inside the Moose Lodge Monday night when it finally came time to dish out the prizes at the 18th annual Prince Rupert Lions Marc Desi Desautels Memorial Blue Knuckle Derby after a day of fishing in conditions that could only be summed up in one word: brutal.
“It was brutal,” said Jeff Carlson, owner of J&E Tackle, and a charter operator who has fished in at least 16 of the Blue Knuckle derbies (also pictured on the left in the photo above). “But it wasn’t the worst.”
The problem was that everyone was reminiscing — and perhaps comparing — the 2010 edition to last year, when the derby played out under record-breaking warm temperatures, sunny skies, and calm waters, to the point where many anglers commented the weather conditions on December 27, 2009 were better than what fishermen sometimes had to deal with in the middle of the summer.
“Last year was unbelievable,” said Rodney Proskiw, Lions member and MC for the event. “When we hit the water, it was 14 degrees and everyone was in T-shirts.”
Fast forward to 2010, and all those wonderful memories from 2009 had been replaced with a simple sense of survival: avoid hypothermia, get the fish, get back to shore, and go inside for warmth.
“It’s waiting and preparation,” said Proskiw. “Once the fish bite, then you’re full on, there’s no hesitation. Your fingers release, and you just go. You can’t go into a lull.
“Winter’s not like summer fishing where you can get 10 or 12 fish. If you hook it up, you better land it, and you’ve got to be sharp. And you’re in shallow water, so when those fish bite, you’re not 60 or 70 feet down, it’s only 12 feet behind the boat.”
Perhaps the only person not complaining about the cold was Raymond Dudoward (pictured on the right in the photo above). Two of the biggest fish at the derby were caught in his group, and he snagged the biggest at 10.56 kilograms (23.28 lbs). Yet, even as he accepted his first place prize of $1,000, he could not stop shivering, despite the fact he had been indoors for over an hour.
“You just try to be patient,” said Dudoward, who has only fished in four Blue Knuckles. And he was adamant that 2010 was indeed the bluest knuckles of them all. “It was a miserable day, but we caught that fish about three o’clock. It’s pretty tough out there.”
Second place went to another member in the same boat, as Marty Dudoward won the second place prize after catching a fish that weighed 7.96 kg (17.55 lbs). Steven Ryan, meanwhile, caught the third biggest fish with a netted weight of 7.08 kgs (15.61 lbs).
But the day truly belonged to Raymond Dudoward. “It was a good day,” he said, between shivers.
Besides, the Blue Knuckle, invented by its departed founder Desi Desautels, was given its name for the specific reason of dealing with nasty weather, and Carlson pointed out that there have been outings much worse. He remembered one year when a pea soup fog settled over the area, and everyone competing in the derby basically had to stay close to shore.
And of course, one year the weather included a good old-fashioned North Coast wind storm, meaning the majority of the fishing was done off the dock, as it was too dangerous to head out into the water.
Clarence Nelson, who has fished in the derby since day one, shrugged at the weather conditions. After all, he’s witnessed it all, and Monday’s conditions were just another day to him. “We’ve had much worse days when it was snowing,” he pointed out. “Yeah, it was cold, but not that bad.”
But on a day where it was cold, and anglers had to deal with snow, then hail, and the odd gust of wind, Proskiw was fairly blunt that 2010 will be remembered as one of the coldest. “This year, it was three degrees, it was hailing, it was snowing … it was ugly,” he said.
Last year, 250 tickets were sold for the derby, but in 2010, more than 300 tickets were sold, meaning that the Prince Rupert Lions Club raised in excess of $6,000 for local charities, the bulk of which will be donated to the Salvation Army.
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