By Steve Weisman
All week I worried about what the weather would be like for the fishing outing/tournament at Camp Autumn on Saturday. Even through Friday night, wind chills were double digits below zero and there was a ground blizzard as the strong south winds whipped up the loose snow. I wondered just how many would brave those type of conditions. How would the portable ice shelters even stay in one spot!
But Saturday morning came with temperatures pushing the upper 20s and the wind was down to a manageable 10-20 mph. It was then that I knew the benefit for the scholarship program to help bring kids to Camp Autumn in the summer was going to go off without a hitch.
By the 9 a.m. kickoff, over 50 anglers were already fishing for crappies, bluegills, bass and channel catfish. As I arrived about 10 a.m., cars were parked all the way to the road. It was a pretty long walk from the camp headquarters to the west end of the lake, so I was happy to get a ride down to the fishing action by one of the many volunteers that spent the day shuttling people who did not have ATVs or side-by-sides back and forth from the headquarters to the lake and back.
As I surveyed the fishing scene, I asked Adam Lybarger, director of Camp Autumn, if he was pleased with the turnout. “Most definitely. We’ve had over 70 pre-register, and I know that other individuals and families are going to come out here for a while.” Lybarger estimated over 100 people would be participating in the event. By the end of the day, that number reached over 120 participants!
So, this was a catch and release tournament with prizes for the top places in each category…how do you keep track? It actually was pretty simple. First off, each individual angler was given an orange flag on a wire. When a fish was caught, a flag was to be raised. Then, a member of the Iowa Great Lakes Fishing Club (wearing yellow reflector vests) would go over there with a measuring tube to measure the length of the fish. When that was done, the angler would then take out an official piece of paper with types of fish typed on the paper and a spot to put the length of each individual fish measured. That was then initialed by one of the club members. At the end of the contest, each participant would add up the total length of their five best fish in each category and the results were used to determine placings.
Although there was competition, it was really about people enjoying each other out on the ice. Lybarger had a fire going in a metal fire pit so that “kids”, both young and adult, could have a toasted marshmallow any time they wanted. At about noon, members of the club provided a fishing clinic that included information about safety on the ice, fishing equipment and even a fish cleaning demonstration.
According to Lybarger, “As a camp director, one of the best parts of the day for me was watching how engaged and how much fun the kids who attended the Kids’ Fishing Clinic put on by Terry Thomsen, President of the IIGLFC, had. Many of them had never been ice fishing before and got to learn about ice safety, various species of fish, and how to clean fish, along with a little fish anatomy lesson too!”
Extra portable shelters were set up for people that did not have shelters of their own. Spare rods, reels spooled with line and tiny ice fishing lures tied to the end were available for anyone that did not have any fishing gear. Bait-wax worms, silver wigglers and minnows-were also provided. IGLFC volunteers would then help people get set up in the shelters and ready to fish. All ages were there-even young parents with toddlers. What a great way to learn about the sport of ice fishing, and there was no fear of not knowing what to do. Volunteers were there to make everybody feel at ease.
As the morning wore on and people began to get chilled, IGLFC volunteers transported coffee and hot cocoa provided by Black Earth Java down to the lake so everybody could stay warm.
By 2 p.m., the fishing wound down and everybody headed up to the Camp Autumn Center to learn the results of the tournament and for prizes to be handed out. At the same time, Grace United Methodist Church of Spencer provided a warm chili lunch!
Winners of the tournament divisions include the following: Dan Groen, largest bass (61.5”); John Rus, largest crappie (60”)’ Kraig Pool, largest bluegill (33.5”); Seaver Weber (13” crappie) and Hudson Degroot (12.5” crappie) the Kids’ winners.
Paul Daniels, IGLFC board member and volunteer for the event said, “It was a privilege for our club to be part of today’s Camp Autumn Ice Fishing Tournament. Adam and all the volunteers put on a tremendous event with well over 120 registered participants. Thanks for everyone’s support!”
According to Lybarger, the day could not have gone any better. “We are so thankful to everyone who came out to support Camp Autumn through raising awareness for our program and money for our scholarship program to help bring more kids to camp this summer! It was more than we could have hoped for our first ever event of this kind, and we could not have done it without all of the help and support from the Iowa Great Lakes Fishing Club and the rest of our sponsors for day: Oak Hill Outdoor, Stan’s Bait & Tackle, Fisherman’s Factory Outlet, Bobber Down, No Limits Outdoors, Sweeney’s Farm & Home Center, Northwest Bank, HyVee in Sheldon, Black Earth Java and Grace United Methodist Church in Spencer. In total, we handed out almost $1,000 worth of prizes between our tournament categories and door prizes for the day, all donated by our sponsors!”
Terry Thomsen, president of the Iowa Great Lakes Fishing Club (IGLFC) and the board had organized everything. From the most dedicated and die-hard angler to those who had never had an ice fishing pole in their hand before, all had a great time on the ice. “This is one of the goals of the IGLFC. We want to get more people involved in fishing. Camp Autumn is the perfect place to do this. It’s easy to get to, the lake isn’t very large, and it has a lot of nice fish in it. We were glad to be able to partner with Adam and Camp Autumn with the goal that all free will donations would go directly to scholarship money for the summer camp for kids. Thanks also all of the sponsors.”
