Carlos native wins Ice Challenge

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Chad Malvin of Carlos was the big winner at the Ice Fishing Challenge on Lake L'Homme Dieu on Saturday afternoon as his 3.91-pound northern stood the test of time.

Malvin, 23-years-old, said he caught the fish about a minute after the tournament started. He didn't even have his line all the way down when it latched on.

"I knew it was a big fish," he said. "And I knew it was going to break my line. About 30 seconds after I got the head up, it broke my line off, and I grabbed it right behind the neck and pulled it up. I knew it was a big fish."

After registering it, Malvin had to play the waiting game. His dad, Dave Malvin, spent a lot of time in the weigh-in tent checking the leader board over the next three hours.

"He was keeping me posted," Chad said. "I came in myself, into the tent and made sure I was still number one. I’m just very excited that I’m top fish."

Malvin was fishing with a jig and large shiner minnow. He said he spends quite a bit of time ice fishing in the area, but usually not for northerns. He changed that approach knowing that a northern is what it would take to win the challenge. He just never figured it would be him posing with the $20,000 check at the end of the day.

"Not at all," Malvin said. "I was absolutely out here to have a good time. I didn’t think in a million years that I would have the luck to win the tournament...I’ve got a family to take care of, so I’m going to pay a little bit of the mortgage off. I’m going to take care of the family, so it will be a good deal."

He won the top prize against a field of a little more than 1,900 anglers. Chris Strassen of Marshall took second with a northern weighing in at 3.285 pounds and Allen Wittrock of Alexandria was third with a northern weighing 3.185 pounds.

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