And the FREE Guide Trip Winner is…!

Drum Roll Please….!

Registered Member # 410 AKA Big Dad… AKA Mike Donahoe!

Big Dad, you and a guest of your choosing have WON! Congrats! James Holst will be contacting you shortly to make arrangements for your night of fishing on Mille Lacs and we all look forward to seeing all the photos and reading about your evening on the water. Tell us, who’s your lucky partner going to be?

To all that entered, we thank you for your participation. We wish we could have sent everyone on this trip, would have needed one HECK of a boat, but don’t get discouraged, we’ll be hosting another give-away soon. In fact, the next give-away is a HUGE crankbait pack from Pradco featuring an assortment of Rattlin’ Rouges, Bombers and Grapplers! Look for that announcement and details on how to get involved shortly!

Congrats BIG DAD! I’m sure it will be a FANTASTIC time.
Hopefully there won’t be hard water by then. This weather is getting cold to fast.
Again Congrats and have a great time.
ps. if you cant make it my number is 867-5309

Congratulations Big Dad!!Hope you catch some real trophy fish.We all will be looking forward to the pics.Good luck and safe trip.

Thank you! should be a blast! Working on a partner – haven’t made final contact yet
Hint: I invited a dead bunny hat along

Congrats Big Dad. Good luck up there.

Gator Hunter

Congrats Big Dad. There will be quite a few of us from the web site fishing up there during the full moon weekend. Maybe we all can meet up for breakfast at one of the local establishments the morning after?
Dino

Let me know where you all want to meet. I’ll be there.

Gator Hunter

Nice phone number Jenny!!!

Congratulations Big Dad! If you’ve never fished with James before, you’ll soon know why so many wanted to go on this trip! Have a great time!

Congradulations Big Dad !! I look forward to meeting you on the 11th and I’m sure we will have a great time.

congrats BigDad, i’m sure you’ll have a blast .

hey James, i’d just like to make a suggestion for any future giveaways. instead of just having a random drawing, make it some kind of contest…..bill had a good idea of having people guess when his 2000 post would be…..something like that. you’d have to be creative to think of something for people to guess about, but i bet we could all come up with a few ideas.

examples: score of the next Vikings/Packer game, wieght of the biggest fish you guys catch on the 15th, first day the temp. drops below zero, stuff like that….

i just think it would be more interactive and fun then just drawing out of a hat (or what ever you drawed out of). just a suggestion.

Enjoy your trip! Nice work James!

Well we may do both. I can tell you this, the method we used will remain the standard for the majority of the give aways.

And here’s why… I want all people here to get involved in these give aways. I know we won’t get “all” so we went with an entry method that was as simple as possible. And I must add this, I spent HOURS over the last 10 days or so, so did Dave Koonce, helping new users to make it through the account set-up process to make that ONE post. What is unbelievably easy to some is new and confusing to others.

But back to those alternatives… to really get people involved we can’t limit ourselves by asking them to enter their largest fish caught on the 15th? Why? What percentage would even fish the 15th and then how many would catch a fish of the species we were looking for and then how many would be able to or have the equipment (digi camera, scanner, etc.) to even substantiate their entry? Going this route we go from 300 entries to 6 if we’re lucky. How interactive or intersting is that? The devil is ALWAYS in the details.

Thanks for the input. It is appreciated.

Oh yeah, it was a small cardboard box.

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congrats BigDad, i’m sure you’ll have a blast .

hey James, i’d just like to make a suggestion for any future giveaways. instead of just having a random drawing, make it some kind of contest…..bill had a good idea of having people guess when his 2000 post would be…..something like that. you’d have to be creative to think of something for people to guess about, but i bet we could all come up with a few ideas.

examples: score of the next Vikings/Packer game, wieght of the biggest fish you guys catch on the 15th, first day the temp. drops below zero, stuff like that….

i just think it would be more interactive and fun then just drawing out of a hat (or what ever you drawed out of). just a suggestion.

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<<Oh yeah, it was a small cardboard box. >>

Ah, that’s why I didn’t win… I’m too big to fit into a small cardboard box.

You can bet I’ll be keeping my eye’s peeled for the next drawing! (I’ll either loose weight or hope for a larger box) Thanks for the 1 in 300 (ok, 1 in 295) chance at a great fishing trip. This is the best fishing site on the web!

Darn right it is! Thanks for the kind words. We have guide trips to give away, tackle packs that will blow you away and a couple St. Croix rods! We’re going to space the give aways out and try to keep them timely regarding seasons. I foresee these give aways becoming a permanent part of this site and will likely grow much beyond what we see now. And you’re right, a FREE 1 in 295 chance at a killer prize is pretty good odds!

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But back to those alternatives… to really get people involved we can’t limit ourselves by asking them to enter their largest fish caught on the 15th? Why? What percentage would even fish the 15th and then how many would catch a fish of the species we were looking for and then how many would be able to or have the equipment (digi camera, scanner, etc.) to even substantiate their entry? Going this route we go from 300 entries to 6 if we’re lucky. How interactive or intersting is that? The devil is ALWAYS in the details.

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i think i made a mistake in my wording on that one. what i ment was to have everyone guess the weight of the largest fish YOU AND BIGDAD catch on the 11th (not 15th, my bad) .

i do completly understand were your coming from though. you probably wouldn’t get as much participation in a contest like that as you would with just a drawing like this. i’m suprised more people didn’t sign up for this drawing. with so many registerd user and only about 300 put their name in the hat. where was everyone else

I thought 300 people with the ability to make that trip with 2 weeks advance notice was awesome! I mean I did stipulate that the trip could NOT be transfered to a 3rd party or be rescheduled. So already I’ve cut out anyone who has plans for a Saturday night in 2 weeks from the start of the contest. Plus then you have all the “out of the immediate area” folks from all over the united states plus international visitors that likely couldn’t afford to make the trip even if the guide fee was not an issue.

Again, the devil’s in the details!

James,
Yes, last minute travel arrangements would have been a pain .. but, worth it!!! its only 840 miles (if you’re a crow) …. and, I did put my staff on notice as soon as I entered (“your surgery will just have to wait, cause I may be going fishing”) …..well, it was only dental surgery … nothing life threating ……. but ….

since you and Dustin and Dean and Steve and everyone else has “infected” me …. I’ve got a new 18′ nitro and lots of tackle …. but then, since I did have some problems with the 150 merc, I just finally got to do the engine break-in this weekend …. and, with gust to 30, the couple of times I did try to jerk a spoon …. well, all I did was loose spoons …. but …… its running better now … passed 55 gps (sometimes gotta get through some shallow water is a lesson I brought home from wisconsin) …… but, I expect it to loosen up a bit more ….. and I’ve surely got a few years of good fishing left in my twilight years.

Boy, is my wife mad at you guys! ….. hehe, teasing, she said, “yep, you do need a hobby”…..

rambled on long enough …. just…. Congrats to Big Dad …. you are a lucky man …. do me a favor – toss ’em back, or, send me a few to drop in my local lake for brood stock!

Thanks, guys, for the welcome, for the lessons …. for the new hobby.

Barry

congrats,

i want to see pictures.

shane

Congratulations– BIG DAD !!!!
hope the fish are chomping all night long. of course we expect a long detailed fun report to make us feel even more envious, with lots of pictures. have fun and make sure you stay warm. Jack.

Oh the ENVY!!! WAY TO GO HAVE FUN

Had the honor to fish the the full moon bite on Mille lacs.
Hey Big Dad thanks for taking me along..
It was a great time.
James great job as always.
Dave great to meet and spend time with you in the boat.
Top Notch..First Class.
Good company
Fish stories
Clear skies
Full Moon
The right Crank

Big Fish

James picked us up just south of Garrison. at 7:00 pm.
After his day of seminars in the twin cities Gander store.
Wow it is nice to see a young guy so full of energy.
We drove out onto the lake, into the setting sun..
When we arrived at our first spot. There was already 6 to 10 boats. James gave us our rods with the right cranks and we pick up a fish on the first pass.
We never boated a fish under 22 inches and managed a couple just a wee bit under 30 inches.
We fished Three or four different spots and the next thing you know it was time to come home.
Wow I got ta tell you, that was the fastest night I have ever had.
Thank you James, Dave, Mike..
This was one fantastic Trip..and this old boy hasn’t been up past Midnight in a long time…

Thanks Guys hope to see you on the water again soon..

glad to see you had fun, good fishing, good stories. it is amazing how good company can make time fly. nice fish also. glad to hear about how much fun you had.

shane

Now thats a pic of a happy fisherman if I’ve ever seen one. What a way to spend a night! Great going guys. Keep them pics comin. Thanks, Bill

Here are couple of pics I had on mine – I know James and Dave Koonce also have a bunch – WHAT A BLAST
Thank you!

I was thinking about how it went for you with the rain and wind coming through on Sat for us. I am glad to see that it went so well.
As said before keep the pics coming.
James again… you da man

Sounds like you guys had a great time. Friends, fins, and grins that is what it’s all about.

Gator Hunter

Guide Trip Give Away follow-up report can be accessed by clicking on the link below.

http://www.in-depthangling.com/forums/lake/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=reports&Number=68127&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=93&fpart=&vc=

Congrats you lucky dog.