Big Fish.... It’s always about who can catch the biggest fish. But changes in fishing regulations in this province will mean you’ll see some operational changes to the Russell Lions Prairie Walleye Classic.

The main change is that anglers are no longer allowed to possess a fish over 45 cm. This, says Kevan McCarthy who co chairs the Russell Lions Prairie Walleye Classic alongside Ritchie Davidson, means that the traditional weigh in on shore will not happen for any fish over 45cms.

So what about the much sought after Big Fish prize? The money that was traditionally allocated to the Big Fish Prize, McCarthy said, will be redistributed over the top ten tournament prizes which, based upon a full slate of 120 boats are: $25,000 and trophies for first place, $8,000 and two Hummingbird Helix 7 MSI G4 locators and trophies for second prize, $4,500 and $1,000 in Russell Video Pro Fishing Gear and trophies for third place.

From there on down, 4th place is $4000, $3,250 for 5th place on down to $1,250 for the 10th place finisher. As the release stated, the committee members are not a big fan of the catch and photo release method, saying that the traditional “in person” adjudication of the fish is much preferred.

“Catch photo release, in our opinion, has too many variables that we simply don’t understand at this time” McCarthy and Davidson said in the release on their Prairie Walleye website.

Check the full story in this week's Russell Banner!