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Extravaganza weekend is a busy time of year for Walleyedan
Outdoors Columnist During the weekend of the Brainerd Jaycees $150,000 Ice Fishing Extravaganza I booked all my fish houses to a group that comes up every year. They do as much partying as fishing and left behind quite a mess. Next year I'm not sure I'll rent to them.
Pre-Extravaganza e-mails and phone calls filter in months ahead of time. By mid-week before the big day all heck breaks loose. Everyone wants information and they want it now. The official Extravaganza web site, www.icefishing.org, has almost all the information people need, but I answer a ton of questions. I enjoy it. I talk to people from all over the country.
On the Friday before the contest I did radio interviews with radio station in Detroit Lakes., They were pretty cool. I hung with them for awhile, then went onto Gull Lake with Mark Innis and Chuck, "The Traveling Guy." We fished for about an hour-and-a-half and saw a few walleyes on the underwater camera that didn't want our mid-morning minnow snacks.
Chuck was impressed with the whole set-up. He also liked the Sno Bear. Mark was content, too. After our short try at fishing we went to S & W Bait and Tackle to see all the happenings. It sure is entertaining to watch all the different folks come in to get their bait. The traffic never stopped. Truck after truck pulled into the parking lot. What an awesome sight. A salesman came in looking for the owner, Sherree Wicktor. I asked if I could relay a message to her. He handed me some literature about his products and then asked, "Is it always this busy around here?" I had to laugh.
Then it was on to The Lodge, where I did a short talk to families from Central Minnesota Dental Society. Lots of kids. I wish I would have had my pet walleye to help me entertain them.
At Grand View Lodge's pre-Extravaganza party I met Dave Goltz, a former pitcher for the Minnesota Twins. I also met ice fishing legend Dave Genz. I should have asked Genz for his autograph. I'm positive I already have Goltz's. I've been a Twins fan as long as I've been a fisherman - in other words, since I was born.
After the party I went back to S & W to make sure things were ship-shape. Then it was time to get some sleep.
And how was my luck at the Extravaganza? Well, I'm still driving my same truck, my wife still has the same amount of cash in her wallet (not much).
I hope all of you had a great Extravaganza experience!
WALLEYEDAN Eigen can be reached at (218) 839-5598, walleyedan@brainerd.com or www.walleyedan.com
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