Nearly 10,000 people descended on Minnesota’s frozen Gull Lake in January wearing their warmest hats and winter coats to compete in this year’s Brainerd Jaycees Ice Fishing Extravaganza.
The annual event offered the thousands of anglers and their friends and family members the chance to win several grand prizes, including the Catch of the Day Prize Giveaway and a Random Drawing Raffle.
Back in 1991, the Brainerd Jaycees organization had a desire to create a project that would rally locals around a noble cause, raising money for charity and providing opportunities for personal growth. Never did they imagine that the project would grow to become the biggest ice fishing contest on the planet. In recent years, the event has raised $150,000 for charities annually, as well as over $1 million in revenue for local businesses.
The tournament takes place on Gull Lake’s Hole In The Day Bay, 15 miles north of Brainerd. The locale takes its name after Chief Joseph Hole-In-The-Day. The lake isn’t as big as some of the neighboring ones, but still, there’s always that awe-inspiring feeling when you’re standing on such a massive body of frozen water.
There have been as many as 20,000 holes in the ice drilled for the Extravaganza – all done by the hardworking volunteers. It takes just four hours to drill all these holes, but a whopping 20 thousand volunteer hours go into making the whole event.
According to fishingbooker.com; dailymail.co.uk. Source of photo: internet
