Fishing, family, food, fun and fellowship

There are three types of people in the world of ice fishing: people who ice fish recreationally, fishermen who habitually head out to the lake ...

Then there are the Hytreks.

If you look towards Saratoga Lake while driving down Highway 130, you may see an ice fishing hut resting on top of the frozen lake. Chances are, Vince Hytrek will be in that hut with a line sinking into the frozen lake.

"Every year, his hut is out there first and he'll be out there last out there," Vince's wife Kimberly said. "You'll see Vince out there pretty much every day."

Vince, who works as a fishing guide during the summer, spends a large portion of his winters in the 1,200 pound ice fishing hut. Kimberly works at Hack's Tackle in Saratoga. Fishing is more than just a hobby for the Hytreks, it's a large part of their family.

In fact, the ice fishing derby this weekend is a chance for all of the Hytreks to get together and fish. Though most of their family lives in Saratoga, extended members travel as far away as Cheyenne.

Some of Kimberly's and Vince's grandchildren have been at the ice fishing derby every year of their life.

"To us, it's all about the 'Fs': Fishing, family, food, fun, fellowship-what more could a person ask for? That's what the derby is for us," Kimberly said.

The Hytreks all have a job during the annual ice fishing derby. Vince drops a line into the lake, Kimberly takes her wagon and wheels out all of their food to the hut and the kids all play in the snow. Last year, some of the younger Hytrek kids built a giant snow sculpture of a fish which drew a lot of attention.

The Hytreks not only love getting together with their family during the derby, but they love what it does for the town of Saratoga. As the Saratoga representative of the Carbon County Visitors' Council, Kimberly loves how it benefits the town's tourism.

"It's a big draw for the entire county. People come from all over the nation for this derby," Kimberly said. "(Fishing) is a big part of our tourism. Tourism is what sustains us-our guides know this river."

Despite winning several theme competitions, in all their years participating in the Fishing Derby, the Hytreks have yet to pull in "the big one."

Vince said he's "caught a 24 inch Rainbow (Trout) two days before the derby once. Then during the derby: nothing. If I do catch one, it's a quarter-inch smaller than one someone turned in a few minutes earlier."

"It (isn't) all about the fishing. Some guys are out there just because (they're focused) about the fishing. I don't want to get to serious about the fishing, it has to be fun for everyone. And we try to make it fun," Vince added.

So while fishing might be a large part of their lives for the Hytreks, family and fun comes first during the fishing derby.

"We all just get together and had a big family gathering and fish. It's just a fun time," Kimberly said.

Join the Hytreks and several other anglers from around the nation at the 31st annual Saratoga Ice Fishing Derby, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. this Saturday and 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday at the Saratoga Lake.