An Icy Sight To Behold: 35th Annual Brainerd Jaycees Ice Fishing Extravaganza

I saw a man wearing what appeared to be a bike helmet with the head of a very dead 10-point buck perched on top.

I saw a man in a full-fledged Chewbacca/Sasquatch get-up wander into a vendor booth and strike up a casual conversation as if nobody was going to notice his outfit.

I saw another grown man wipe out three times, each spill drawing a chorus of cheers and groans from on-lookers, while running across a frozen bay at Gull Lake, located in the heart of Brainerd, Minnesota, in an effort to register a fish he caught at the weigh-in tent before the competition came to an end.

Above all the moments and interactions I witnessed on the ice at the 35th annual Brainerd Jaycees Ice Extravaganza this year, nothing eclipsed the spirit of community, camaraderie and charity that was on display on a day when it would’ve been much easier to stay home and do a puzzle or sit by the fireplace. Or both. Instead, more than 11,000 people converged on Hole in the Day Bay for the latest installment of what is billed as the largest charity ice fishing derby on earth.

Yes, I said 11,000 people. All gathered in an area the size of a few football fields. The holes were drilled in a series of grid patterns. People lined up before dawn to claim their hole(s). Vehicles were staged in make-shift parking lots on the ice, in fields near the lake and shuttle busses brought competitors to a launch site from where they trudged out to the competition area, many pulling sleds loaded down with gear and supplies for the day.

It was as if members of Bills Mafia had followed me to Minnesota and set up a day-long tailgate party.

As a colleague said while surveying the scene from near the outer edge of the competition area as the wind-driven snow belted us in the face, “Dude, I don’t care if we catch a fish today. Just look around here. Look at all these people. This is what it’s all about.”

And then I had some world-class, deep-fried cheese curds and I wondered if those were what it was all about.

Indeed, it was a sight to see. And it’s probably the only time you’ll witness participants in a fishing tournament in such close proximity to each other and not snipe back and forth about who was there first or where they can stick their tip-up.

This was an event I’ve had circled on my fishing bucket list for some time. Some anglers want to tangle with a goliath grouper or a triple-digit tarpon. Others desire to fly fish a freestone river in Montana for brown trout. Both sound like epic adventures, but the Brainerd Jaycees Ice Extravaganza—in the heart of a typical Minnesota winter—was something I wanted—needed—to experience.

I was immediately struck by the organization and coordination on and off the ice. The Jaycees are an entirely volunteer-run organization so pulling off an event of this size and scope is no small feat. It’s truly a community collaboration with support coming from all angles.

“We couldn't do it without the support of the community,” said event co-chair Sheena Ziegler. “They’re truly our best partner. Between Fire and Rescue to the sheriffs to local police to the Reichert Bus Service and MnDOT, there are so many moving parts. We try to strategically plan to make sure we are doing our best to make sure everything works.”

This year’s competition area had to be altered due to a massive ice heave across the bay, but officials were able to work around it to ensure the safety of everyone. The bay was covered in roughly 24 to 25 inches of ice, which was the thickest Ziegler recalls in her 15 years of involvement with the event.

While traditionally, Gull Lake is the regular destination, this was the first time the event returned to Gull Lake in two years after sketchy conditions in 2024 turned it into a hybrid derby across other lakes in the region.

“This year was incredible to be back on ice,” Ziegler added. “It was humbling to have 11,000 or so of our best friends back with us.”

And those friends came from all over. Five different countries were represented. The grand prize of a new pickup truck from a local dealer was captured by Minnesotan Siena Romine, whose 5.85-pound walleye stood up as the big fish of the day. For those wondering, she was fishing over 15 feet of water and was using a Northland Buck-Shot Rattle Spoon.

On a day when a stiff northeast wind brought a wind chill that hovered between Nope and WTF and the real feel was hovering near zero, the conditions were challenging. To top it off, a snow band settled over the area for the duration of the event. That didn’t stop the fish from biting, though. There were 752 fish weighed in during the three-hour competition, a mix of walleye, perch, northern pike, tulibee and rock bass accounting for the top 150 prize-worthy catches.

Even if your flasher or sonar wasn’t lighting up with fish, somebody was getting bit somewhere. How could you tell? Once it was lines-in at noon, you’d hear distant—and sometimes nearby—roars of cheering indicating someone had a caught a fish. Then it was off to the weigh-in tent located in the center of the action to get it logged and see where it placed you on the leaderboard. No fish was too small. Prizes were given to the top 150 fish based on weight and a 0.18-pound walleye was good enough to earn Damon Ewald a new four-wheeler in 150th place.

Ziegler said this year’s event was larger than in recent years in terms of participation, which bodes well for future Ice Extravaganzas, obviously weather permitting. She said it’ll be a few weeks before the final tally of proceeds earmarked for Confidence Learning Center, the event’s main benefactor, is known but no doubt it’ll build on the already $3 million that’s been donated since the Ice Extravaganza’s inception.

“Not a whole lot surprises me out there,” she noted. “One thing that never surprises me is the camaraderie out there among the contestants. There are some serious fishermen out here but most everyone out there is there to have a good time.”

I saw that—and can’t wait to see it again next year.

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