There were big ones, small ones, colorful ones, ones with huge kype — the lower-jaw “beak” that male salmon sport.

“A whole smorgasbord of them,” hatchery Assistant Manager Doug Peck said.

Of the fish, 18 were tagged with small plastic lines marking them as prize-winners for the 41st annual Colby Classic Ice Fishing Derby this weekend, on March 1 and 2.

Peck said the most rewarding part of his job is seeing kids catching big fish.

State Department of Environmental Conservation Fish Culturist Ben Coolidge dropped a brown trout from the DEC’s Adirondack Fish Hatchery into Lake Colby on Monday. The Colby Classic Ice Fishing Derby is next weekend. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

Derby co-organizer Rocky Nogales is hoping to see plenty of kids at the derby. This year, kids fish for free.

All entries for children 15 and under have been sponsored in honor of Saranac Laker Joey Boyle, who died unexpectedly in January. He was 32.

Nogales said an anonymous donor who was close with Boyle wanted to sponsor fishing for kids, as Boyle was an avid fisher and had been since he was a child.

“He was always out here at the derby,” Nogales said. “The only pictures I’ve ever seen of him, he was with a fish … usually on ice. He was one of those special souls.”

“Our hope is that this sponsorship could give a child — someone who might not have the had the chance — a shot at entering the Classic and maybe even finding their own passion for fishing,” the donor said in a statement.

State Department of Environmental Conservation Fish Culturist Ben Coolidge dropped a rainbow trout from the DEC’s Adirondack Fish Hatchery into Lake Colby on Monday. The Colby Classic Ice Fishing Derby is next weekend. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

Registration before the day of the derby can be done at Woods and Waters or Blue Line Sports in Saranac Lake. There will also be registration day-of at the beach house. Rules for all types of fishing, and other derby information, can be found at tinyurl.com/euvezxa9.

Each tagged fish is worth between $100 and $500.

There are $200, $150 and $100 prizes for the three largest adult catches; $100, $75 and $50 prizes for the three largest kids catches and a grand prize of a fishing charter with Irish Raider Outfitters.

There are a couple of rule changes this year. Organizers will be weighing trout, perch and salmon for the winners, instead of measuring for length. Northern Pike caught in surrounding waters will still be measured by length.

Fishing will also start this year at 6:01 a.m., before sunrise on Saturday, and run through the night, with fishing available through the end of the derby at 3 p.m. Sunday.

State Department of Environmental Conservation Fish Culturist John Herrman dropped a brown trout from the DEC’s Adirondack Fish Hatchery into Lake Colby on Monday. The Colby Classic Ice Fishing Derby is next weekend. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

“They’re gonna have two sunrises and one sunset,” Nogales said

Previously, fishing was held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday.

He said they changed the time because a lot of the hardcore anglers like to start right before sunrise since that’s when the bigger trout and salmon are active.

If a fish is caught after-hours and the beach house is not open, the contestants will have to keep it alive overnight. The beach house is open 6 a.m. to 5:45 p.m.

Nogales and Saranac Lake Fish and Game Club member John Skiff said this year, the ice is much better on Lake Colby. Last year, the warmth brought standing water on top of the ice. On Monday, the snow wasn’t very slushy.

State Department of Environmental Conservation Fish Culturist Ben Coolidge dropped a brown trout from the DEC’s Adirondack Fish Hatchery into Lake Colby on Monday. The Colby Classic Ice Fishing Derby is next weekend. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

Peck said the hatchery employees enjoy supporting the derby. Their work is largely funded through revenue from state fishing licenses and federal taxes on sport fishing gear. Peck described a symbiotic relationship between anglers and fish culturalists.

Adirondack Fish Hatchery is the only hatchery for land-locked Atlantic salmon in the state.

State Department of Environmental Conservation Fish Culturist John Herrman dropped a brown trout from the DEC’s Adirondack Fish Hatchery into Lake Colby on Monday. The Colby Classic Ice Fishing Derby is next weekend. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)