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Russian team wins World Ice Fishing Championships

WAUSAU — The Russian team took gold in the World Ice Fishing Championships in central Wisconsin this weekend, with the United States taking fourth.

Eleven teams from around the world competed Saturday and Sunday on Big Eau Pleine Reservoir near Wausau.

The U.S. team took fourth, after winning the gold medal in 2010 at Boom Lake near Rhinelander. It finished 11th last year in Kazakhstan.

The top U.S. finisher was Chad Schaub of Michigan. Schaub won his section and weighed the most fish (0.676 kilograms) on Sunday to place third overall.

Competitors, who competed on approximately half-acre zones on the ice, were ranked based on the order of finish in their zone and the total weight of panfish and rough fish caught. Game fish were not allowed.

Toni Stenberg, of Finland, won the 2013 individual gold medal and Sergei Bolyakhin, of Russia, took the silver.

Overall, Finland took second and Lithuania took third. Ukraine was fifth, Sweden was sixth, Kasakhstan was seventh, Mongolia was eighth, Poland was ninth, Estonia was 10th and Japan finished last.

Myron Gilbert, of Brooklyn, Mich., has been on Team USA for four years, and took the gold during the 2009 championships in Rhinelander. He said his team struggled Saturday to find its footing, and couldn't pull through Sunday to take the win.

"This is a chess game; positioning is everything," he said.