2015 Brainerd Jaycees Ice Fishing Extravaganza - Questions

[Jmnhunter]

depending on your depth a marcum and vexilar are worthless as others have stated, we had all 3 last year and the only one that was worthwhile was the Hbird; but it maybe worthwhile for checking depths prior to fishing...

[blackice25]

How is the lake travel out there? Can I get over to hole in the day from Koobs or Ernies areas easily with the truck? I'll be out there Thursday- Sunday. Thanks

[pegleg]

How is the lake travel out there? Can I get over to hole in the day from Koobs or Ernies areas easily with the truck? I'll be out there Thursday- Sunday. Thanks

I wouldn't recommend going from Ernies. Very high pressure ridge from the eastern shore north of Love Lake stretching all the way across to south of Sandy Point. I drove from Koobs to 371 landing a couple weeks ago with no issues. Don't know what it is like now. Personally I would go out of Grand View. Very nice landing and not steep like Koobs.

[bluewater2]

We are coming up Friday morning , we go out of the public access buy the hole in the day bay.What is the grandview lodge access fee and where is that located.Sounds nice.

Thanks for the info

[pegleg]

We are coming up Friday morning , we go out of the public access buy the hole in the day bay.What is the grandview lodge access fee and where is that located.Sounds nice.

Thanks for the info

Grand View doesn't charge anything for access. If you are coming from the south, go past 371 landing to the 1st stop light. Cty Rd 77 and take a left. Go about a mile and you will see GV on the left. Can't miss it. As you go in stay to the right and you will run right into the landing. You are only about a mile from the fishing tourney once you hit the lake.

[bluewater2]

Thank you

[MNSlaunch]

I'll be helping at center ice for the Youth Ice Olympics from 10-12, stop by and say Hi!

The Youth Ice Olympics is a free event that educates and entertains children while they're waiting for the Extravaganza to begin. There are stations designed to teach children about ice fishing- and we hope the start of a lifetime of enjoyment with the sport of ice fishing.

[irishwalleye]

Thanks for the ice updates and other additional info. Here is another question, will my Marcum LX5 be useful or will there be too much interference? Please no Chevy/Ford or Marcum/Vexilar comments, stick to the subject of "interference".

Actually, you can use your Marcum with some success during the contest as I have many times. Here is what I do. I use all of the ducer cable. Use the narrow beam setting and the zoom. You will get interference but you will be able to see your bait and fish. I've been successful in both 20 and 40 feet of water and with models as weak as the LX-1.

It won't be anything like using it without interference but they are usable.

[centralmnguy]

Just a heads up there is a huge pressure ridge out on gull that runs pretty far. The guy from sportland bait shared a picture and info on it on fb. Be sure check it out before traveling across gull this weekend and be safe.

[VTX1800Shanty]

Exactly the info I was looking for on my LX5. Thank you.

[icefishinmike]

This is a little off topic, but from everyones experience on Gull, specifically Gull, what seems to work better for hard water eyes, Shiners or 4-5 inch suckers?

I know i have had good luck with suckers on other lakes but have never tried on Gull. Found that Shiners havent been my ticket for the past two years on Gull. Anyone have any experience trying suckers?

[JP Z]

To throw a different wrench in your gears I've done best with Larger Rainbows

I'm assuming you mean with tipups or under a float and the like. Generally Shiners have produced better for me.

[icefishinmike]

I'm sorry yeah I meant rigging with a Tip up. I have never tried Rainbows out there, maybe its time to give it a whirl!

[JP Z]

When you can get the decent sized ones they seem to be more hardy. Better than shiners and only a bit less than suckers.

[Hester]

Anybody have results from today?

[PierBridge]

http://www.brainerddispatch.com/news/366...ng-extravaganza

http://icefishing.org/leaderboard/index.htm

[PierBridge]

Owatonna man wins truck at Brainerd Jaycees $150,000 Ice Fishing Extravaganza.

Anthony Welch of St. Paul thought he had the Brainerd Jaycees $150,000 Fishing Extravaganza grand prize fish in the bag.

He literally did have it in a plastic bag within the first five minutes of the contest, which started at noon Saturday on Gull Lake's Hole-in-the-Day Bay. The 3.67 pound walleye he lured in with a minnow head on a buckshot hook stood as the top fish for much of the three hour contest.

But Steven Baumgartner of Owatonna had other plans.

Not having any luck in his original spot at about 26 feet of water, he told his buddy he was going to move to shallow water. As the clouds rolled in and the anglers moved out, he felt he had a chance on the edge of the boundary.

Baumgartner dropped his pink glow plug hook down the hole with a shiner on the tip. In a moment, he knew he was in for a ride.

"He hit the hook like a ton of bricks," Baumgartner said.

Baumgartner reeled up a 6.73 pound northern pike within the last 15 minutes of the event with cheers from the thousands of onlookers as he passed by.

"I just wanted to get it in," Baumgartner said. "I could hardly run."

Standing at the results board just after 3 p.m., he still had tears in his eyes from all the excitement.

Then he found out he was the winner of the new truck. He chose the GMC.

"I can't cry anymore — all the water is gone," Baumgartner said as he was named the winner. "We all come here to catch the biggest fish, I was just lucky enough to catch it."

This is the first fish that Baumgartner has caught in the tournament, though he's been coming for the past 10 years or more, he said.

This was the 25th anniversary of the Brainerd Jaycees event. With temperatures hovering above 30 degrees, a record crowd was expected. The current record stood at over 13,000 contestants. No official count was available at the time of publication.

Proceeds from the event go to over 40 charities in the Brainerd lakes area. The event is run completely by over 350 volunteers. In 25 years, the event has raised over $3 million.

[landscaper]

Any update on how many people made out to the contest?

did they drill more holes this year?

Thanks

[JP Z]

They are usually really slow in getting info out. So we don't know how many folks or how many holes were drilled. Hopefully in the next day or so they will get some more info out there.

[Hawg]

Another great job Jaycees. Thank you.

[VTX1800Shanty]

I haven't heard the attendance but someone mentioned that they increased the number of holes drilled from 20,000 to 35,000. I don't know if this accurate or not, but if it is, wow... that's a lot of holes.

[laker1]

Curious,are all prizes donated 100% or do the JC's purchase some or pay like half price?

[VTX1800Shanty]

Good question... 13,000 people @ $30 (early price) or regular price of $45 is about $500,000. And that's at one ticket per person. Traffic control and other costs are probably significant. It was/is definitely a well coordinated event.

[dalden27]

LOST: rod bag and 4 rods during/after the extravaganza. Can describe. Please message me if you've found them.

[BoxMN]

We caught a lot of fish, all small perch (total of about 13-14), and we saw the winner catch his pike. The holes were really close together this year, you could tell they drilled many more than normal. More people were out deep, the folks up shallow had their pick of holes, more so than usual, and could jump around easy if they wanted to.

Everything went great, had a great time, talked to many nice people. Wish one or two of the perch would have been bigger, but hey, we caught fish My brother was a first timer and had a blast, said he is in as annual event - we told him wait until we do't catch fish, the temp is -5 and the wind is 20-30! haha!

We sure enjoyed the warmth!

[campbob]

First, thank you to all who complimented the Jaycees and to those who particpated. I've been involved at various levels since the beginning and can't stress how big of a business this has become. The logistics are difficult to plan and carry out. especially since everyone is a volunteer and has regular jobs to work around. About 1/2 of the prize value is sponsored. Other costs like traffic control, tents, heat, advertising and promotions are other major expenses. Nobody gets paid for working on the committee or giving up such valuable time from their friends and family. If you enjoyed the contest and if you see a JC please give them a pat on the back. Better yet, if you are under 40yrs old and would like to get involved, PM me and I'll hook you up with some members! You won't regret it!

[landscaper]

Thank you Brainerd Jaycees!! Had a great time this year! can't wait for next year!!

The guys at work asked me….

What do they do with the Strikemaster Augers after they drill the holes?

Thanks guys

[eyeguy 54]

Drone

[JP Z]

Landscaper, I believe those are the augers that they give away as prizes? Otherwise I think they sell them at a discount.

[Hawg]

The prize augers were brand new in the box according to friend that won one. He was told SM has a bunch they take around to contests for the hole drilling. I always thought those were the prizes too.