By Rob Potter
WHITE LAKE — February 25, 2011 — On Sunday afternoon, Joe Milk of Roscoe was presented with a trophy and put on the official crown and robe for winning the Sullivan County Conservation Club’s 26th annual King of the Ice Contest on White Lake/ Kauneonga Lake.
Milk became the King of the Ice for pulling in a 25 1/2-inch pickerel which weighed 74 ounces for a total score of 99.5 points. And by wearing the crown and winning the $500 grand prize, Milk carried on a family tradition.
Back in 2005, Joe Milk’s nephew, Ryan Milk, was the King of the Ice.
At Sunday’s contest, which began at 6 a.m. with low temperatures and bone-chilling winds and continued until 3 p.m., Joe Milk was fishing with his nephew Ryan and Lester Milk, who is Ryan’s father and Joe’s brother.
“It was great fishing today,” Joe Milk said. “The three of us fish together every year [in the contest].”
This past autumn, Lester Milk took a nice buck during the regular firearm deer hunting season and entered it in the Sullivan County Democrat’s Big Buck Contest. He is looking forward to fishing with his son and brother in the 2012 King of the Ice event in the hopes of becoming the third family member to earn the King of the Ice crown.
While Joe Milk is the new King of the Ice, there were several other winners at the event, which included 305 men, women and children trying to catch a big fish.
For the first time, the contest featured a youth division. Like the adult division, the youth division had first, second and third place awards for five categories of fish: crappie, perch, pickerel, trout and walleye.
Those youth division winners were:
Crappie: 1. Jacob Puzio, 36 oz., 16.25 inches, 52.25 points
Perch: 1. Jacob Puzio, 36 oz., 16.25 inches, 52.25 points; 2. Adian Krzysztofowicz, 14 oz., 12.75 inches, 26.75 points; 3. Jesse Rhyne, 13 oz., 12.25, 25.25 points
Pickerel: 1.– Jacob Puzio, 40 oz., 22.75 inches, 62.75 points; 2. – Dakota Miller, 27 oz., 20 inches, 47 points; 3. Adian Krzysztofowicz, 26 oz., 19 inches, 45 points
The winners in the adult categories were:
Crappie: 1. Jen Temple, 21 oz., 13.75 inches, 34.75 points; 2. Walter Jollie, 21 oz., 13.25 inches, 34.25 points
Perch: 1. Daniel Rose, 19 oz., 12.5 inches, 31.5 points; 2. Walter Jollie, 16 oz., 12.25 inches, 28.25 points; 3. Walter Pirog, 15 oz., 11.75 inches, 26.75 points
Pickerel: 1. Allen Decker, 47 oz., 22 5/8 inches, 69 5/8 points; 2. Ryan Milk, 42 oz., 21 inches, 63 points; 3. Walter Pirog, 39 oz., 21.75 inches, 61.75 points
Trout: 1. Allan Nanu, 30 oz., 18 inches, 48 points; 2. Bob Orr, 28 oz., 16.5 inches, 44.5 points; 3. John Coupe, 19 oz., 14.5 inches, 33.5 points
Walleye: 1. Randy Caruso, 26 oz, 16.25 inches, 42.25 points
The awards ceremony also included a 50/50 raffle for $674 and drawings for three prizes. The first prize was a Browning shotgun, the second prize was an ice fishing package and the third prize was a hand auger.
On behalf of the Sullivan County Conservation Club officers and members, President Aaron Finley thanked all of the anglers for entering the contest and the many area businesses which donated prizes and sponsored the event.