Sports
The fishing contest must go on
Tyler Ohmann
03/19/2013
The Bottineau Jaycee’s held their annual fishing tournament from noon to 4 p.m. last Saturday at Lake Metigoshe.
Despite cold temperatures and a stiff wind 78 competitors hit the ice to try and catch the biggest northern pike, walleye, perch and bluegills.
“It was better than I expected with the weather and the cold,” said Jeff Smith, one of the Jaycees coordinating the event, said of turnout. “There were not a lot of fish caught.”
This was a big change from a year ago. The tournament took place on March 10 last year, the Bottineau area’s first 60 degree day. Wind chills this year measured below zero.
But the cold wasn’t the reason for a lack of fish according to Smith. He said that might have been due to the fact that the deep snow on the lake made it tough to get around on the ice.
“The biggest concern was that it was tough getting around the lake,” Smith said. “People couldn’t get to where they needed to fish with all the snow around the lake.”
The biggest fish of the day was the nine and a half pound northern landed by Tim Brekke.
He and his crew were fishing with tip-ups and he landed the big fish nearly by accident.
“The tip up wasn’t up, they were all down and I just felt it, and I noticed there was a lot of line out,” Brekke said. “I was pulling up the line and pulling up the line and Jason told me that the other tip up had gone up, so I went over to that one because this one wasn’t doing anything.”
Brekke then realized that the line from the tip up he was previously at had gotten caught on the tip up that went up. He also then realized that the fish was still on the line.
“He had a lot of time to swim around, because he had probably 30 feet of line out in six feet of water, but he didn’t tip up the tip up,” Brekke said. “I was just checking the line.”
When he did feel the fish and see it for the first time, he was sure happy to see one that big.
“It was sure interesting to see him come into the hole,” Brekke said. “I was prepared to dive in after him.”
Brekke said he usually doesn’t come out on the winning end in tournaments.
“This is the first thing I’ve ever won,” Brekke said. “I was saying it this morning that I never win a thing. I guess I can’t say that anymore.”
Another fisherman that came away with a big prize was Taylor Milbrath of Bottineau. Milbrath landed a .7 pound bluegill to take second place and win a fish finder.
It was the first bluegill that Milbrath caught in his entire life.
“This the first bluegill I had every caught,” Milbrath said. “I always fish for walleye, perch or northern.”
He said that the fish he caught was pure luck.
“It was the only fish I caught all day,” Milbrath said. “My dad and my dad’s friend caught a few, but this is the only luck I had all day.”
He said when he first landed the fish, he wasn’t sure whether or not to go and weight it in.
“I had never caught one, so I didn’t know what size would do it,” Milbrath said. “They were yelling at me to go turn it in. It was a good adrenaline rush.”
Smith said that, although many fisherman come for the prizes, the majority come for a good time. Milbrath was no exception.
“It was a lot of fun,” Milbrath said. “It’s fun to come out and fish and do something different.”
The second and third place winners in the northern category were Travis Nelson (2.90 pounds) and Craig Martin 1.93 pounds. There were no walleye’s caught, so they raffled the winners off.
The top bluegill of the day was a .73 pounder belonging to Matt Seykora. Third place belonged to Craig Martin at .67 pounds. In the perch category it was Craig Dolbeare bringing in a whopping .36 pound fish. Second place belonged to Wyatt Johnson, who hauled in a .29 pound perch.
Raffle winners included: Chops Carlson, rifle; Rick Gustafson, $500 cash; Stu Carlson, GPS Unit; Cody Clemenson, $100 gas card; Andy Freeman, print and James Pollard, Turtle Mountain Speedway family pass.
Proceeds from the tournament go toward the fish cleaning station that is located on the south side of Bottineau near Mattern Meats.
The Jaycees would like to thank all the fisherman, sponsors and volunteers that help make the tournament a success.