Photo Courtesy of John Christensen, president of the Lake Benton Sportsman Club. Corey Swenson, of Storden, winner of the big fish with his 23.5-inch, 5-pound walleye, at the sixth annual Lake Benton Sportsman Club Ice Fishing Tournament on Saturday. More than 900 fish were caught by 725 participants.

LAKE BENTON — More than 900 fish were caught during the sixth annual Lake Benton Sportsman’s Club Ice Fishing Tournament Saturday, but nothing compared to Corey Swenson’s big prize.

Swenson, of Storden, caught the biggest fish of the tournament – a walleye 23.5 inches in length and weighing 5 pound walleye.

Tournament officials were not surprised by the large amount of fish caught during the tournament because of the turnout of 725 participants.

Kassidy Emery, a first timer to the tournament from Porter, said her group had been at the tournament since 8 a.m.

“I thought it was good turn out. All of us caught something. It wasn’t anything exciting, but it was nice to get something, a couple bites here and there. It was definitely worth it for our first time, “ Emery said.

Emery came with friends Shyian Davis and Krystyna Scheler from Porter and Canby, who were also attending the tournament for the first time this year.

“It was better than Canby. I saw a lot of fish go up there, so that was good, “ Scheler said.

John Christensen, president of the Lake Benton Sportsman Club, said the tournament was started to give something new for Lake Benton to do.

“Our open water tournament had previously ended, so we started doing a winter tournament to see how it would go. We just wanted to do something to get more kids involved. I don’t know how many kids we have this year, but last year we had over 150 kids, this year more than for sure,” Christensen said.

“It was fun, a lot of people,” Kade Moffitt, of Pipestone, said. He was one of the many youths at the tournament.

“(We caught) a couple fish each. We registered a couple fish a piece and got a prize or two,” Tim Rustad said. He was with Moffitt at the tournament.

Christensen said meetings start in September and go until June or July to put the tournament together.

“We start in September putting it together, getting all our permits and going around and getting everything from our sponsors,” Christensen said.

Many sponsors, such as, Dakota Angler, Borch’s Sporting Goods, and Barrels and Arrows donated prizes for the raffle drawings and weigh ins.

“We have ton of kids’ prizes to give away. That’s our main thing, is to get the kids out here and get them involved,” Christensen said.