Fundraising?

The IA DNR put a project together to stock and tag 3000 6-7″ wipers here in a local lake that attracts a ton of tourism. They requested $4500 for the project but fell short of their funding – I’m not sure by how much. They have installed PIT tag readers and a gate at the spillway to track any fish that will be lost over the dam, which has been a huge problem in the past. Sounds like they are stocking the lake regardless but very disappointing to hear they don’t have the funding to gather the data with the tags.

I am involved in a local club with a paid membership that will be contributing a small amount to the project.

Wondering if anyone has suggestions/creative ideas how to raise additional funding so they can complete the project as needed.

Sound off….

Sell cookies?

Have your club offer free guide trips with a donation to the tagging effort. If you got everyone in your club together for one Saturday and advertised it around the lake and online, I’d imagine you’d get a lot of the locals and/or tourists who frequent the lake who would like to get a “free” half or full day of fishing from some who are more familiar and successful on the lake. You could even make it a little tournament, with donations from lake area businesses as the prizes.

I like that idea BigWerm. Would be cool to have a tournament on the lake with entry fees going 100% to the project but with smaller businesses around the area donating gift cards that makes it worth it to enter the tournament. The lake is about 900 acres and is an incredible fishery… but the fish are very hard to catch at the same time, hence the effort the DNR is putting forth to gather data.

I helped them pull gill nets this spring and there were 5 walleyes over 13# from 27.5″-28.5″, and several in the 10-12# range. None of the fish had been tagged before. Pics attached.

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Did you say the project involved “wipers”, white bass/striper hybrids?..or is that a local term for walleyes?? Just wondering? Massive walleyes BTW.
BigWerm’s suggestion is your best play perhaps. Just allow time for whatever license/permit application process and non-profit status stuff. If you did get donations from local businesses, raffle tickets could be added to your game plan.

Yes the project involved wipers.

I included the pictures of the walleye to convey the quality of the lake and the potential it has to breed large wipers as well…

dem sum piggies

Gun Raffles are quick profit generators. I’m assuming you are a 501C3. Tournaments can produce but take a few years to generate enough participants. A 50/50 jar at the local bar is good for a couple hundred bucks.

you should have kept one of them 13# and charge people $20 to have their picture taken with it in their own boat… you’d make that ca$h fast !!!

Joel VandeKrol wrote:

Yes the project involved wipers.

I included the pictures of the walleye to convey the quality of the lake and the potential it has to breed large wipers as well…

You didn’t answer the ?. Whats a wiper?
Is the wiper a natural species to the system?

hl&sinker wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Joel VandeKrol wrote:</div>
Yes the project involved wipers.

I included the pictures of the walleye to convey the quality of the lake and the potential it has to breed large wipers as well…

You didn’t answer the ?. Whats a wiper?
Is the wiper a natural species to the system?

Wipers are a stocked hybrid between a male striped bass (either palmetto strain or sunshine strain) and a female white bass. They fight like no other fish and do not reproduce. State record in IA is just under 20#.

Here’s a picture of a 10# that my buddy’s lil bro caught last week on the river.

I have hooked up to a few while pulling cranks but have not been fortunate to land one in the double digits. They will make your reel scream, almost like it got wrapped up in the prop.

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