# 18th Annual Ice Fishing Extravaganza



## waterwolf (Oct 15, 2003)

The 18th Annual Ice Fishing Extravaganza will be held Saturday
January 26th on Gull Lakes Hole in the day bay, 9 miles north of Brainerd.

This is considered the worlds largest Ice Fishing contest with an average of over 10,000 fisherman and women.

The event starts at noon and runs until 3 pm

Cost is $35 before January 1st and $45 after that.

Tickets can be bought at local businesses in the Brainerd area, or online at
www.icefishing.org

Some of the prizes are two new boats, nine atv's, and a new Ford F150 4x4.

All proceeds go to local charities. Over 1.5 million dollars has been raised since 1989.

The Brainerd Lakes chapter of Delta Waterfowl will be on the ice helping out in the weigh in area.

Any ?? feel free to ask.

Taylor


----------



## Chuck Smith (Feb 22, 2005)

I will be up there. Don't know how much fishing I will get done. Since last year I was kinda Tipsy after about 1 hour into the contest. But it is a great time.


----------



## NDhunter14 (Oct 17, 2007)

Where is Gull Lake?


----------



## waterwolf (Oct 15, 2003)

> Where is Gull Lake?


Nine Miles north of Brainerd, MN


----------



## MallardMayhem21 (Mar 8, 2006)

Have always wanted to attend but havent made it yet. Might have attend this year sounds like one heck of a time on the ice. I have heard that they shuttle you to the lake. Is this true? Where do you park?


----------



## Madison (Mar 1, 2002)

I'll be there again this year for sure!!

With the snow Brainerd has recieved so far this year, how are the ice conditions looking so far?


----------



## BigDaddy (Mar 4, 2002)

> With the snow Brainerd has recieved so far this year, how are the ice conditions looking so far?


In a word...."funky". I was in MN over Christmas, the ice is weird. Lots of the state got some cold weather early and then got quite a bit of snow on top of it. Then they had some freezing rain and additional cold weather. My brother in Pelican Rapids told me that the the ice if full of good and bad patches, and I can attest for that myself. The auger even acts weird as it eats through hard and soft spots.

A pickup went through the ice near Alexandria on a lack with 15 inches of ice. Nobody can figure it out. Be careful.


----------



## snow (Dec 7, 2007)

The ice in central MN is poor,no exception's except small bodies of water.Atv traffic is limited because of all the slush.

The reason for the poor ice is the top several inches is frozen slush,"white ice" very brittle and scary.


----------



## waterwolf (Oct 15, 2003)

> I have heard that they shuttle you to the lake. Is this true? Where do you park?


Yep, you can park at BIR (Brainerd International Raceway, 7 miles north of Brainerd) and there will be 50 buses running from 8 am until 5 pm.



> With the snow Brainerd has recieved so far this year, how are the ice conditions looking so far?


Where the contest is being held, the ice will be good. We received 9 inches of snow in the first batch and 4 in the second round. Hole in the day bay was not frozen during the 9 inch snow. Reports of 10-13 inches right now with a month to go, should be fine.

Last year at this time we had 6-7 inches. It's a week later this year to help firm things up.

Taylor


----------



## waterwolf (Oct 15, 2003)

Quick update:

The ice conditions on Gull Lake have improved with this last round of cold weather. A consistent 14" throughout the contest area exist and with the weather they are predicting for the weekend we should have close to 17"-18" by Jan. 26th. Which would be 2-3" more than the last 3 years.

Meeting with the sheriff on the ice in the next few days to confirm depths.

Hope to see you there.
Taylor


----------



## waterwolf (Oct 15, 2003)

Wow just met with the sheriff and there was a minimum of 17" throughout the contest area.

May need to get the extensions on the augers this year to get all the way through.

Sheriff will be giving the permit tomorrow.

It's officially a go.

Tight lines


----------



## fargojohnson (Oct 17, 2005)

If you go to Brainerd to get to Gull Lake you will go to far.

Take Hiway 210 to the town of Baxter head North on 371. Look for parking at BIR can't miss this place its really big and you will see just about every car pulling into it. Just reamber to fish the outside edge of the fishing area.


----------



## gjz (Aug 11, 2006)

i am new to these things what do you knead to bring couple of poles and a bag of bait? if i order the tickets online do they have them there when i get there, any info anyone can give me would be great


----------



## fargojohnson (Oct 17, 2005)

If you dont have your tickets yet just get them down there. Just about every where you go they are selling them. They even sell them right on the ice. Bring about 3 poles set up with different lures/colors/size. White is always good on this lake. You will need 6-10 minnows "go big" shinners are whats going on right now. I always change my minnow every hour unless it is really active. Find the outside edge of the area for a good chance at the fish coming in from the lake. Also find a lake map and study the fishing area and find a spot before you go. You can go online and find the webpage to this thing and they will tell the area that you will fish. Well I have nothing else to tell you good luck and let me know how you did. 8)


----------



## waterwolf (Oct 15, 2003)

> if i order the tickets online do they have them there when i get there, any info anyone can give me would be great


You can still order online, but will need to pick them up at the info booth, which is in the center of the contest.

I would recomend this since the ticket lines on the ice can get rather long. As mentioned above tickets can also be purchased off ice anywhere you see the banner.

gjz-Pm to you


----------



## JNedved (Jan 24, 2008)

this really sounds fun, what kind of fish do u catch there?


----------

