After a brief pause, the winter Ice Fishing tournament was back in action at Devil Creek reservoir, where dozens of tents and huts dotted the frozen landscape, and scores of anglers did their level best to secure one of the hourly $200 prizes for the largest fish, as well as the event-wide prizes that topped out at $1,500.  All things considered, it was a nice day for ice fishing, with a reasonable breeze and light snowfall throughout the afternoon.  

In the past, the tournament was under the guidance of Bret Felter, who oversaw the the many fervent ice fishermen who flocked to Devil Creek in the winter.

Pinnacle Recreation and Sunrise Summit Resort are excited to bring the event back, and want to make it an ongoing part of their year-round efforts to make Devil Creek and Oneida County destination spots for recreation during the summer heat and the winter chill.  New facilities have been added to the site, making it a more fully outfitted destination for recreators.  

Cris Schulz, Trevor Schulz, and Robert Packard were stationed on site as representatives of Sunrise Summit.  Acknowledging the legacy built by Felter, Cris Schulz explained that “we’re just trying to continue on the fantastic success and loyalty that Bret has built over the years. He’s been a great friend and mentor to us.”  His son Trevor agreed.  “We’re excited to be continuing this tradition,” he stated. 

Brett Jones served as the official judge for the event.  His company, Jones Sportfishing, is based in American Falls, and runs ice fishing events all throughout the state in the winter months.  “We wanted to get the biggest hammer we could to come be the judge,” Cris laughs.

Schulz stated that registration had been great.  “We had a lot of early registration, then momentum built and we ended up with even more.  It’s fair to say it exceeded our expectations.”

There were right around 160 registered participants.  Many family members and friends were also in attendance for the event, so the number of people on the ice was much higher.

The reservoir itself contains rainbow and cutthroat trout, bass, and kokanee, though the tournament itself was a limited to rainbow.  

“In the future, in the summertime we plan to have a bass tournament or two.  Malad High School is one of the only high schools in the state that has a bass fishing team.  We want to encourage new people to come into the sport, and then maintain their interest.  There are schools in Utah that offer scholarships to bass fishermen.  Fishing is a great family pastime.”

In addition to the bringing in outdoor enthusiasts to the area, Cris Schulz stated that “We want to encourage and help the fishing groups here in southeast Idaho in their central mission, which is conservation, to help preserve and sustain the asset that brings us all together in the outdoors.”

Sunrise Summit works with Fish and Game on a daily basis.  “Shout out to Patrick Kennedy of Fish and Game,” Schulz said.  “He’s been a huge supporter of Devil Creek and Sunrise Summit as a fishery.”  Over the year, Fish and Game has stocked Devil Creek, as well as other bodies of water in the area, with thousands of fish.  According to Schulz, the number is around 12,000 over the last eight months.  “Nine to twelve inchers,” he added.  “And they’re interested in doing so because anglers are seeing a lot of success here.”

“We’re not only planning to preserve the numbers, but even work with Fish and Game to enhance those numbers and bring in even larger, healthier fish,” Schulz continued.  “We’ve been fortunate enough to partner with the Malad Valley Irrigation company, who is committed to the recreational mission of the reservoir. We have a relationship that allows us to invest in the longterm infrastructure up here.  We’ve put in a new camp and marina store, as you probably saw, and we can now provide supplies to people who are entering into this great recreation state.  We honestly feel that Malad is the doorway to outdoor adventure as you come into Idaho.  We really do.”

“We are excited to be able to expand our paddle sports here.  We actually offer a whole fleet of kayaks, paddle boats, paddle boards, for people to enjoy so they don’t have to pack their own stuff around.  We also have motorized rental boats for pontoons and fishing here, and those are right on the water, so you don’t have to have a truck to bring it.  You can just come in here and do the paperwork—we are a state sponsored and certified livery, which allows us to give training to those who want to use watercraft at the reservoir and experience life on the water safely with their family.”

“All of which is to say, we’re trying to provide as much access as possible to the recreation here as possible,” Trevor added.

Sunrise Summit also works closely with the State Boat check station to combat the invasive mussels (quagga and zebra) that can wreak havoc on waterways.  Director Cole Morrison invited the staff of Sunrise Summit to invasive species training to make sure they are up to speed on the issue.  Vessels will be inspected and certified on site.    

The Fire Department was on hand during the event to assist with measuring the catches, and provide any medical expense that might be needed, and everyone involved in the event was clear to credit them for their support and amazing help.

As the seasons change over, we’ll check back in with Sunrise Summit and bring you further updates.