This year’s cold spell made it an incredibly successful 41st Annual Ice Fishing Tournament. Fishermen, fisherwoman, and fisherkids from all over the U.S. made their way to Devils Lake this past weekend to see if they could catch some big fat perch, walleye, and northern. With temperatures being around 9 degrees on Saturday, there was little worry about ice melting or breaking.
Volunteers got up not so bright and early to drill over 5,000 holes in the ice that those in the tournament would use. Over 25,000 tickets were sold for this year’s tournament. People from Devils Lake are always at the tournament. People also come from Fargo, Minnesota, South Dakota, and even sunny Florida.
Over 2,940 people braved the cold temperatures and even colder 35 mph winds Saturday, Jan. 25 between 1 and 3:30 p.m. 164.76 lbs. of fish were caught. That included 19 perch, 21 northerns and 124 walleyes.
Congratulations to everyone who participated in this year’s tournament. Whether you caught something or nothing, making it out to the lake and hunkering down to fish in the extreme cold is an exceptional feat. The Journal hopes everyone comes out again next year for some more great fishing!
