Catching a winter whopper

ELDRED, NY — Anthony Wingert of Monticello holds the largest pickerel caught at Eldred’s annual ice fishing day held on Saturday, February 24. The pickerel measured 28 inches and weighed close to seven pounds. Approximately 100 people came out to try their luck at catching some of the county’s largest species of pickerel, crappie and yellow perch on 80-acre Steges Lake.

Steges Lake is used primarily during the spring and summer for bass fishing. The Eldred Preserve’s ice fishing event is the only time the lake is used during the winter months, and helps weed out the high populations of pickerel and pan fish that could threaten bass populations if not controlled.