And I hope he refrains from having kids so he doesn’t pass on the defective gene.

Sorry to say, but it is canceled. We just couldn’t make it work financially.

It’s sad because we were always able to sell a lot of raffle tickets, which all went to charity. Close to $100000 in 3 years. But as you may or may not know, raffle ticket money can not go to help with the bottom line of the operations of the contest. State law.

Each of the 3 years we were 100 to 400 tickets short of breaking even. That’s all we were looking for when we started running this contest was to at least break even. It was a lot of fun to organize something that big, but you can only get kicked in the nuts financially so many times before you throw in the towel.

Because of the overwhelming demand and a slow server last Friday, the $35 ticket special has been extended until Feb 5th.

Me and Ferny are headed up to the brainerd contest 6am tomorrow. Ain’t nothin’ stopping us!!!

Quote:

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If the tournament is in a structured area, just hold the fish up over your head and run screaming and yelling up to the weigh station. (Usually get cheered on all the way up by the crowd.)

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I think that’s the only way to get your fish to the weigh in station.

One of our sponsors, Recycled Fish, will be handing out tournament bags at the Forest Lake Fishapalooza contest.

Don’t forget. Tickets are $35 until Jan 29th. Then the price jumps to $45.
So buy early and save $10!

Added Philips Distillery to our list of sponsors.

They’ll be giving away thousands of bottles of Ice Hole Schnapps and UV vodka.

Be sure to stop by their tent at Fishapalooza.

We’ve added to our prize list. The raffle now has $10,000 for first place. We moved the 8 x 16 Ice Castle Fish House to 77th on the contest prize list.
This puts us over the $180,000 mark. The largest ice fishing prize package in the world!

walleye_chaser80. There’s probably a good hundred people or so that are coming from your neck of the woods. Just need to keep checking.
As for the contest, bring your pike gear. Your going for big fish, or a not so big fish if your trying to win the Skeeter , and most fish caught are northerns. A tip up with a nice shiner will do the trick.
If you catch a fish, put it in a bag or bucket with some water and high tail it up to the weigh-in tent. They’ll have you fill out a weigh-in slip, weigh your fish, and your ready to go back out a try for a bigger fish.

See ya out there!

Yup. They’ll be there.

Brian,
If this is still going on? If so, count me and my nephew in.

Thanks,

Loogie

New story in the Pioneer Press about the new contest.

Opps!

Here is it.

Story by Chris Niskanen

Forest Lake has lost one big ice-fishing contest but landed another.

The victim of thin ice and debt, the Golden Rainbow Ice Fishing Contest is gone for good, but two Forest Lake fishing buddies have scheduled a replacement.

The Fishapalooza Ice Fishing Contest, set for Feb. 16, is the brainchild of Jim Woods and Dan Luger, avid ice anglers who didn’t want to see Forest Lake without a major ice-fishing contest.

“We were actually sitting in a fish house having a cold beer when we thought of it,” Woods said. “Our theory was to keep a big contest in Forest Lake.”

For more than two decades, the Golden Rainbow Ice Fishing Contest was one of the largest ice-fishing contests in the nation, attracting up to 8,000 people to Forest Lake, which had hosted the event since 1987.

But after poor ice conditions forced four cancellations since 2002, organizers decided to scrap the event. Its sponsor, the Hopkins Area Jaycees, planned to hold it this winter in Grand Rapids, Minn., but the group faced large debt after last year’s cancellation. The Jaycees decided to give up on the event entirely.

Woods and Luger formed a corporation with a new sponsor, the Forest Lake VFW Post 4210. Fishapalooza is scheduled three weeks later than the Golden Rainbow event in hopes of avoiding thin ice.

Woods, a truck driver, said he is hoping for 10,000 entrants and wants his event to compete with a Brainerd contest that bills itself as “the world’s largest ice fishing contest.”

The

Brainerd Jaycees $150,000 Ice Fishing Extravaganza attracted more than 10,000 anglers last year, organizers say. It is scheduled for Jan. 26.

The Hopkins Jaycees bought the Golden Rainbow contest in 1995 from Bert Momsen, of Woodbury, and used the event as a fundraiser.

The prize money was good – up to $100,000 in cash and prizes and a first-place prize of a new pickup truck for the largest fish. Anglers also won prizes in a popular raffle.

Thin ice forced the contest’s cancellation in 2002 and 2003, and again in 2006 and this year.

Earlier versions of the contest were held on other Twin Cities lakes. The origins of the name trace back to when organizers released tagged rainbow trout and gave prizes to anglers who caught them. The Department of Natural Resources made the practice illegal to discourage indiscriminate releasing of fish.

Fishapalooza will offer prizes and cash worth $130,000, including a new Ford pickup for the largest fish caught. Other prizes include a new all-terrain vehicle, fish houses and fishing equipment.

Woods said Fishapalooza will be a fundraiser for the VFW post, which supports a variety of charities, including the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Helping Hands Foundation. Tickets are $30 until Jan. 27, when they become $40.

Chris Niskanen can be reached at [email protected] or 651-228-5524.

Fishapalooza information: icefishingforestlake.com or 651-249-1091

Nobody likes a nark…. except for me. If you witness someone cheating, tell a contest official. It’s in your best interest.

Ferny has made me aware of some mods and clean up of sharp edges on the clips that are suppose solve jamming problems.
I’ll try’em and let you know how it goes. Maybe I can polish this turd and make it shine.

Ferny has made me aware of some mods and clean up of sharp edges on the clips that are suppose solve jamming problems.
I’ll try’em and let you know how it goes. Maybe I can polish this turd and make it shine.

Hey Riveratt,
I’m not assuming it’s a POS. I own one, and it IS a POS and it IS a cheap gun. I didn’t expect much for $149 and that’s what I got… not much. It does go bang 85% of the time, so for the price, I like it.

Hey Riveratt,
I’m not assuming it’s a POS. I own one, and it IS a POS and it IS a cheap gun. I didn’t expect much for $149 and that’s what I got… not much. It does go bang 85% of the time, so for the price, I like it.

I love my Hi Point 9mm! It jams once in a while. The first round out of each and every clip stove pipes. The accuracy is second to none. I can keep a 23 inch group at 15 yards!
Other than those minor flaws, and of course the horrible fit and finish, it’s a great gun.

I love my Hi Point 9mm! It jams once in a while. The first round out of each and every clip stove pipes. The accuracy is second to none. I can keep a 23 inch group at 15 yards!
Other than those minor flaws, and of course the horrible fit and finish, it’s a great gun.

Thanks for setting this up Brian. One hell of a good time.
So when’s the next Multi Round Live Fire shoot? Tonight?

Thanks for setting this up Brian. One hell of a good time.
So when’s the next Multi Round Live Fire shoot? Tonight?

Opps! Count me in at 5:30.

Opps! Count me in at 5:30.

Count me in!

Count me in!

I’ll be hitting Forest lake this Saturday. Was out there tonight to check ice. The SW bay on lake two has 5 – 6 inches. There were two guys out there with tip-ups. Got two flags and one pike while I was there. Lake one still has some open water in the middle, but is about 4 -5 inches on the south side. There was a 4 wheeler out there with three guys fishing the 17 foot hole. A little thin for a wheeler in my book.

They are open every day from 8am to 4pm from now to the end of deer hunting. If you go to their web site (oakdalegunclub.org) they even have a $5 off internet special coupon you can print out.

They are open every day from 8am to 4pm from now to the end of deer hunting. If you go to their web site (oakdalegunclub.org) they even have a $5 off internet special coupon you can print out.

Neighbor brought over some smoked silvers a few weeks ago. I was hesitant on tring one, but when I did, wow they were good.

Went out Monday for a few hours and all I could catch were a half dozen pesky 11 and 12″ crappies.