The invited guests showed up!

   What if they held a fishing contest - and the special guests showed up?

That was the case Saturday, as Big Lake’s Little Hold on Big Lake drew hundreds of anglers - and several dozens of fish.

   Whereas in past years, a few fish would dot the leader board; Saturday, 65 were hauled through the holes and registered.

   Made for a lot of excitement.

   Winner of the contest for the adults was in doubt until just five minutes remained, when Brian Willcame rushing to the tent with his catch.

   It was a 2.5 pound northern and took first prize.

   “He was so excited,” said Contest Chair Samantha VanSteenwyk. “He sprinted up to the tent.”

   For good reason. First prize fish netted him a check for Will.

   Will’s catch overcame a 1.16-pound northern caught by Collin Cogley of Delano at about 1 p.m.

   There was action all day long, starting with the kids fishing tournament at 10:30 a.m. An estimated 300 kids took part, the first 100 in line getting a rod and reel from Ausco Design and Marketing of Monticello, directed by Jason Kisner.

   “He put together the kids fishing tournament,” said Craig Johnson, co-chair from the sponsoring Big Lake Lions Club.

   “We hope to keep that going,” he said.

   An estimated 600 were on the ice for the Noon to 3 p.m. tournament. Reason for the big catch has been the proliferation of small-size walleyes in the two lakes over the past four years. Stocking efforts, supported by the Big Lake Community Improvement Association, Cargill and the City of Big Lake, are making a different in fishing action.

   Though still too small to keep, the walleyes are creating the intended action.

   “Mostly small walleyes,” Johnson said, in response to a breakdown of the fish coming in.

   “And not one fish died,” he said. “All were healthy when released.”

   (Anglers are reminded to return all walleye to the waters as soon as possible after catching them. The majority of them, still under a pound, aren’t large or old enough to  have their own little fish.)

   Remainder of the fish caught were northerns and sunfish.

   And the fish came from all corners of the tournament space. 

   “Real shallow or real deep,” Johnson said. Depths of the water ranged from eight to 23 feet.

   And the ice thickness, a concern during the weeks leading up to the tournament, didn’t turn out to be  a concern. Sixteen inches of ice covered the lake. All cars were parked at the adjacent Lakeside Park or across the street in the former A&W lot. It worked out well, as the tournament site was moved a little closer to the park launch area.

   The size of the kids fishing tournament caught the tournament sponsors by surprise.

   “It was a cute success,” said VanSteenwyk. “We didn’t expect that many kids to show.”

   Courtesy of a number of businesses and service groups, there were a lot of donations to the tournament.

The Sno-Cruisers Snowmobile Club was there, along with Lupulin, selling their home-made beer, Coborn’s, Russell’s on the Lake, El Loro restaurant and Pizza Pub. Big Lake Hardware Hank was there with bait and snacks. H2O helped with the hold drilling, including a set of 20 to dig holes at 7 a.m.

   The Lions Club had probably 30 people on hand, helping with parking cars, security, checking in fish and other details.

   There were lots of great prizes for tournament participants, including $2,500 in cash prizes, Eskimo 2-man fish house and propane auger, Big Buddy Heater with propane tanks, snow suit, Grand casino package, Magnum auger and others.

   Kids tournament prizes include wireless headphones and a slew of fishing buckets, tackle, tackle boxes and poles.

   Tournament organizers expect about 650 tickets were sold. Proceeds, as always, go back to community activities.

   Below, adult winners of the fishing contest - :

- Brian Will - 2.49lb Northern; Collin Cogley - 1.16lb Northern; John Michaelis - .80lb Walleye; Brandon Chambliss - .24lb Perch; Mark Hanson - .21lb Perch; Mark Hathaway - .211b Perch; Andy Waslik - .20lb Perch; Josh Pilaiski - .20lb Perch; Tom Newman - .19lb Walleye; David Chambliss - .19lb Perch; Tyler Adamski - .19lb Walleye; Luke Segner - .17lb Walleye; Bruce Bordwell - .17lb Walleye; Nick Gunther - .14lb Perch; Steve Pieri - .14lb Perch; Justin Wood - .14lb Perch; Jason Lankki - .13lb Walleye; Matt Thies - .13lb Perch; Tom Cremin - .12lb Walleye; Mike Powell - .12lb Walleye; Dale Aachnewitz - .12lb Walleye; Colton Olson - .11lb Perch; Joe Wasilk - .11lb Perch and Amber Lankki - .10lb Perch.

Kids Winners of the fishing contest:

Tyson Newman - .20lb Walleye; Evan Lee - .13lb Perch; Dawson Remer - .12lb Walleye; Austin Zane - .10lb Walleye and Matthew Aubart - .02lb Northern.