Newspaper Page Text
Cover Story
Winter
fishing in the
frozen North
Spectacle omlce
Alan Wroolie, 14, sits on an upturned
plastic bucket in the middle of frozen Gull Lake near Brainerd,
Minn. (pep. 13,718), and drops his baited hook into a coffee can
sized hole in the 2-foot thick ice. “Just a hook and a hole," Wroolie
says. "It’s about all you need to ice fish.”
Every minute or so Wroolie lifts die tip of his pole up, then
allows it to drop down a foot or two, hoping die movement of the
bait—a large shiner minnow'—attracts a fish in the deep dark
water 30 feet below. Mostly, though, lie just sits and waits, watch
( ing the thousands of other contestants in the world’s largest ice
fishing tournament.
Last January, Wroolie and nearly 10,(XX) anglers paid $45
each to take part in the 15th annual Brainerd Jaycees Ice
| Fishing Extravaganza, a three-hour tournament in which
iL participants endured subffeezing temperatures and
Kgt bone-chilling winds for a chance to win SISO,(XX) in
Kj: cash and prizes.
“This tournament gives people who’ve never
tried ice fishing a chance see how easy it is." says
Bob Slayhaugh, president ot the Brainerd
; J, 1 Jaycees, who host the event and fund local
clwriries with proceeds West had i
vear-olds catch fish here
Danny Ball, 10, patiently waits
for a bite on frozen Gull Lake.
Sarah Dano, of
Brainerd, Minn.,
displays her catch.
Diehard anglers tolerate the bitter weather because fishing is a way
of life in die frozen North, and hefty prizes provide an incentive to get
off of the couch and wet a line at hundreds of ice fishing tournaments
across the country each winter.
At the Brainerd tournament, anglers who catch the 150 heaviest
fish win prizes ranging from fishing gear to a new pickup truck.
Some contestants travel long distances to attend the festive event where
people grill brarwursts, toss footballs and stand in line at one of the 40
food tents before a cannon fires a firework shell into the air signaling
the start of the spectacular fishing contest.
“We live in Oklahoma, so we don't do much ice fishing,” says
Wroolie, wearing winter boots borrowed from a cousin. “My family
and I drove all the way from Konawa—it’s 908 miles —to visit rela
tives here and go ice fishing.”
“It gives us a reason to get up North and get outdoors," says Alan’s
dad, Dennis. “We’ve come here for eight years. It’s about the
Page 6
Nationally, 2.6 million anglers
spend time ice fishing each year,
according to the American Recre
ation Coalition.
by STEVE
LANGE
Photos by
Ken Klotzbach
Wintertime sport
Ice fishing is a popular winter
pasdme from Alaska to Maine, and in
every state in between where freezing
temperatures turn water into ice thick
enough to support die weight of an
angler, his gear, a shelter and maybe
even his pickup truck. Depending on
the location and the weather, the spar
can commence as early as October and
continue as late as April.
“People ice fish for the same rea
sons people climb die Grand Tetons
or hike through the desert," Slay
baugh says. “It’s communing with
nature, and nature, up North in win
ter, is cdd.”
•American Profile