WADDINGTON – Unseasonably warm weather has forced organizers to cancel the Northern Pike Challenge for the second consecutive year.

The event was set to kick off Saturday in Waddington.

This is bad news not only for anglers who participate and the communities that benefit from the influx of visitors, but also for fish populations, according to Mike Gagner of the St. Lawrence River Walleye Association.

Gangner says the event is the SLRWA’s largest fundraiser and supplies nearly all of the money used to stock the St. Lawrence River with walleye.

“With regret, the 2017 Northern Pike Challenge has been cancelled. Mother Nature once again is bringing higher than average temperatures. Safety is SLRWA's first and foremost concern. We hope to see you in 2018,” a cancellation notice on the association’s website says.

In the spring of 2010, volunteers successfully incubated and released 10,000-plus walleye from a newly built portable hatchery and maturation pond. SLRWA now has two ponds and continues to stock fish for the St Lawrence River, but Ganger says raising the fish from fingerlings is an expensive task.

“It costs a lot of money and the Northern Pike Challenge is how we fund that,” he said.

Gagner says the benefits of the organization are three fold. He says the association runs fishing tournaments to bring in anglers and promote the sport. Those anglers frequent local businesses and restaurants and the money raised by the tournament is used to restock the river.

The St. Lawrence River Walleye Association's goal is to enhance the St. Lawrence River fishery and promote tourism in Northern New York State by building a 5,100 square-foot research center, which will house a hatchery and visitors center.

Anyone interested in joining or aiding the SLRWA can get in touch by visiting http://www.stlawrenceriverwalleyeassociation.com/