Put the St. Paul Winter Carnival’s recently revived ice-fishing contest back in cold storage.

The “World’s Original Ice Fishing Contest,” held last year on White Bear Lake after a 27-year absence, won’t happen during the 2011 Carnival as earlier planned because of a money crunch, event organizers said.

“The group we contracted with just wasn’t able to do it this year,” said Beth Pinkney, head of the St. Paul Festival & Heritage Foundation, the group that puts on the Winter Carnival. “It’s a bummer and a disappointment, but you just pick up the pieces and move on.”

The contest featured tens of thousands of dollars’ worth of prizes last year, including a four-wheel-drive truck.

Organizers hoped to attract 4,000 to 6,000 people in 2010, but far fewer folks showed up, according to participants.

Dave Praschak, head of the shuttered contest, could not be reached for comment Friday.

During its heyday in the early 1970s, the contest attracted up to 10,000 participants onto the lake.

Barry Henriksen, commander of Keep-Zimmer VFW Post 1782 on White Bear Lake, said he has seen fewer events on the lake so far this winter and, as a result, fewer revelers passing through his lakeside club.

“We’re disappointed, obviously,” he said of the canceled contest. “We would have liked to have the ice-fishing contest for some extra business.”

Henriksen blamed a still-cold economy for the dearth of frozen fun on White Bear Lake.

“People just aren’t shelling out the money,” he said.

His wish for the rest of the year?

“We just hope there’s going to be more water in the lake with all of the snow and rain,” Henriksen said.

The “World’s Original” contest isn’t the only ice-fishing tourney to run into difficulties in recent years.

In Forest Lake, the Rainbow Ice Fishing Contest was canceled four times since 2002 because of warm weather and was abandoned in 2007.

A replacement event in 2008 — Fishapalooza, hosted by VFW Post 4210 — was called off in 2009 because of a lack of prize sponsors. It is on again this year, slated for Feb. 26.

The St. Paul Winter Carnival runs Jan. 27 through Feb. 6 and still will feature some angling — an ice-fishing expo on Lake Phalen from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Jan. 29.

More information is available at winter-carnival.com.

John Brewer can be reached at 651-228-2093.

Copyright 2011 Pioneer Press.