By Steve Weisman

What a week it was for the competing teams on the North America Ice Fishing Circuit as they prepared for Sunday’s tournament on West Okoboji’s Emerson Bay. First, they were hit with a blizzard on Friday that dumped over six inches of snow whipped around by 20-30 mph southeast winds. Next came Saturday’s brutal windchills with 25-35 mph gusting to 45 mph northwest winds creating a ground blizzard and -20+ degree wind chills.

Finally, as the teams lined up for the morning gear check and subsequent release, they were greeted with early morning sub-zero temperatures and a biting wind chill caused by the steady 10-20 mph northwest wind. By tournament’s end at 1 p.m., the temperatures barely broke zero. Not great conditions, but when you’re running a tournament with teams from five states, and they all arrived before the snowstorm struck, you go with it.

So, commencing at 8 a.m., the 22 two-person teams spent five hours working to capture the top place at the Okoboji qualifier. The first place winning team was the team of Ben Lutterman and Stuart Rogers from southern Minnesota with a 16-fish limit weight of 9.77 pounds good for a check of $2,000. They also tied for the Big Fish award with a .77-pound bluegill. The team of Matt Pifkin and Jaime Kujawa from Iowa also weighed in a .77-pound bluegill.

Second place went to the team of Aaron Berg and Matt Thayer from Wisconsin with a 16-fish weight of 9.21 pounds. The third place team of Chad Schaub and Anthony Rodriguez from MI brought a 16-fish limit of 7.96 pounds to the scales.

Although Sunday was only two days after the blizzard and the teams talked about how neutral the bluegills were, 18 of the 22 competing teams brought 16-fish limits to the scales. The top three teams all indicated they caught at least 40 bluegills during the five-hour tournament. Unlike last year’s tournament when the water was stained, this year the water was clear, and the teams could sight fish if they wanted. Most teams interviewed mentioned how neutral the bluegills were and how long they would sit in front of a bait until they would commit.

Top presentations

The winning team spent their day sight fishing. According to Lutterman, he and Rogers spent most of their time in 10-11’ of water by the boat ramp. “We hopped around a little, but mostly stayed within 50’ of where we started.” They used 2 mm gold Fiskas tipped with one red silver wiggler. Both live in southern Minnesota, so they spend a lot of the winter chasing down Okoboji bluegills.

According to Berg, he and Thayer fished Okoboji for the first time. “We came in late Thursday night before the snowstorm hit.” While the next two days were brutal, they were still able to find several spots that held nice bluegills. They chose to fish two spots in Little Emerson and found their best fish in 9’ of water. “We sight fished by down viewing with our cameras.” They used two-pound test mono and fished tungsten Disco Ball 3 mm jigs.

According to Rodriguez, the day didn’t start well for the third place team. “We had just gotten checked in, and we looked at the front of our ATV, and there was no auger. We had left it at the motel. So, we drove back to get it and returned just in time for takeoff. Of course, we had to go through check-in again!” Undaunted, the team of Rodriguez and Schaub went to work in about 10’ of water off the boat ramp and ended up with their 16-fish limit good for third place. They used two-pound test mono and fished tungsten 2 mm jigs.

Saturday morning, the NAIF (SIF) high school qualifier kicked off the tournament weekend. The team of Cooper Kennedy and Grady Beekman from Nebraska won the tournament with a 16-bluegill weight of 4.34 pounds. Their big fish was a .52-pound bluegill.

About the NAIFC

The NAIFC Tournament Series qualifying season begins in January and lasts into March, with the NAIFC Tournament Series Championship Invitational this coming December.