ABOVE: Charlie Schaefer and Mark Paskey set up their sled at Steve Pierce Memorial Park in Fairmont on Friday to walk out and fish on Budd Lake.

FAIRMONT – On the heels of a down year, the 10th annual Fairmont Lakes Foundation (FLF) Inc. ice fishing tournament looks to take advantage of the recent cold front.

FLF Board Member Jim Utermarck said the weather is shaping up decently for the Jan. 25 competition.

“The low on Saturday is 13. It should be a good day for people to get on the ice,” he said.

Because of the oddly warm weather last winter, only 101 people competed in the previous year’s tournament. Utermarck said they were lucky to even have the tournament then, but are looking for a full crowd this year.

“Our limit this year is 150 and we hope to hit that,” he said. “It’s all set up with the DNR for 150 people. We’ve signed up for a higher limit in the past but usually, there isn’t more than 150,”

There will be two competitions, one for game fish like bass, pike and walleye, and one for pan fish. The object for both is to get the biggest fish possible. All Fairmont lakes are fair game as long as people are safe. Utermarck said there is still open water in some places, despite the recent cold snap.

The biggest change this year is a switch to cash prizes. In both competitions, fifth will get $50, fourth $75, third $125, second $250 and first $500. The biggest walleye and pan fish will also get $100. In previous years they had given equipment prizes but found a problem.

“It gets hard because some people already have the prizes they win,” Utermarck said. “We already do the spring competition as cash prizes so we brought that over here. We thought we could get more people if it was cash instead of equipment because ice fishers already have equipment.”

They’ve also done away with the yellow bass competition, where people competed to see how many pounds of yellow bass they could catch. Utermarck said it had not gone the way they hoped last winter, but it will still be there in the spring.

Check-ins and registration will run from 7 to 8:45 a.m. at the Gomsrud Park shelter house, and the official tournament will start there at 9 a.m. Weigh-ins for fish will start at 1 p.m. and prizes will be given out after the weigh-ins. Utermarck has a few goals he wants to meet.

“I hope we get 150 people,” she said. “I hope no one goes into the lake, people should be safe. I hope everyone has a good time and it encourages them to continue coming out in the spring and summer, too.”

Online registration is open until 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 22. Pre-registration can also be done at Sommer Outdoors Bait Shop. The sign-up cost is $35. Proceeds from the tournament support the group’s mission of enhancing the quality of Fairmont’s lakes, increasing awareness of the lakes and preserving the quality of them.