February 10, 2014 at 5:10 p.m.
Hodag Park hosts hundreds for 38th Lions Club Fisheree
Cold, snow don't stop the fun
Hodag Park hosts hundreds for 38th Lions Club Fisheree
The event was the 38th annual Rhinelander Lions Club Fisheree and Winter Festival on Boom Lake, headquartered at Rhinelander's Hodag Park.
A large snow load on Boom Lake may have contributed to a lower than usual turnout. Travel across the ice proved difficult for many in the days leading up to the event.
However, there was plenty of ice and a network of plowed roads and hundreds participated.
Adult and youth (11 and under) anglers competed for prizes during the two-day tournament. Northern pike netted the biggest prizes.
Adult anglers were awarded $500 each day for the longest northern, $200 each day for the second longest northern and $100 for the third longest northern.
Additional cash prizes were awarded for walleye, perch, crappie and bluegill. Anglers under 11 were awarded merchandise in their bracket.
Catching the $500 northerns were Brad Gerdes, with a 29 7/8-incher Saturday, and Dan Denton, who caught his 30 1/4-inch pike Sunday.
Saturday
Saturday started out with below-zero cold, but would warm to the mid-teens under a bright sun. The fishing didn't necessarily heat up with the sun.
Fishing reports varied for the tournament, but most anglers reported slow fishing and fish that were running on the small side.
Al Oleinik, Rhinelander, said he didn't find much action.
"It was pretty slow out there," Oleinik said. "I had my daughter, Paige, out there with me and we caught a few bluegills out deep on Bass Lake, but it was pretty slow in general."
He said there wasn't much size to the bluegills they did manage to catch. Oleinik said he was going back out Sunday, though.
He noted lots of ice and lots of snow.
"The ice is good. It's good there's roads plowed everywhere out there," he said.
Jake Peltier, Rhinelander, was fishing with his three-year-old son, Thomas, Saturday. He and Thomas reported small fish.
"We didn't catch much. Little dinky bluegills, but nothing to place," Peltier said.
Thomas did get in on the little bit of bluegill action they had, Peltier said.
Mark and Easton Senoraske of Rhinelander simply enjoyed the weekend.
"Kind of slow. It was good in the morning ... [Easton] got one northern. He was fishing, I wasn't," Mark said. "We had a lot of activity around us. One of the people in our group caught a 29 1/2 - good for second place for the northern group here."
That lucky angler was Alex Hann.
"Beautiful day. The sun was out, the wind stayed down for a little bit. Good times, good food, good people. That's what it's all about," Senoraske added.
Jim Werner of Germantown was fishing in Peggy's Slough. The action wasn't scintillating, but a few fish cooperated.
"A little slow," Werner said. "We got some fish; some bluegills and some northerns. It was good - it was a good day."
Werner was fishing with a crew of six. They caught a few fish worth bringing in to register, he said.
Rhinelander youth Dominic Belongia had some excitement Saturday. He got what he was looking for with mere minutes of fishing time left.
"I caught a northern - it was 23 1/2," Dominic said.
Dominic topped the kids division Saturday with his catch.
"I got first place and I got a brand new lucky tip-up," he said.
Dominic was fishing with his dad, Brandon, and his friend, Eric Treder.
Rhinelander's Ryan Hanson caught two northerns Saturday. The bigger of the two pike, a 26 1/4-incher, was just 1 5/8 inches short of making the board.
Hanson enjoyed the day on the ice, including the warm sun, and pointed out that he easily out-fished all of his companions - who collectively caught two fewer fish than he did.
Fishing hours were 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., but many kept lines in the water later Saturday, fired up their grills, and kept the celebration going at numerous ice shanties.
Sunday
Sunday started out a little warmer than Saturday, but temperatures topped out a few degrees colder.
The fishing reports were mixed, but it was generally hard to find fish, especially bigger fish, according to most anglers.
To many, the slow fishing did not matter.
David Werner and Drake Schneider of Eagle River fished an area well away from the landing Sunday. Werner said a friend showed him how to get to the spot.
"We had some flags, caught a couple northerns - nothing worth registering, but we had fun," Werner said.
Werner and Schneider were fishing with a group of eight and the group saw some success.
"We had a couple of fish on the board [Saturday]. One of the guys, he took third place in the northern, which is pretty decent, and today I think he was in third place for about an hour ... and that was the biggest fish we caught."
Nicholas St. Pierre and his father, Matt, fished Peggy's Slough Sunday. Nicholas saw some success in the youth division there. He secured both the first and second place spots for perch.
Unlike many, they had plenty of action.
"We caught - what do you think we caught? 150 bluegills?" Matt asked his son.
"Pretty much," Nicholas agreed.
Matt described the bluegills as "tiny," but noted Nicholas was on the board for a while with a "gill of about 7 inches" Sunday.
After a no-walleye day on Saturday, there were a few registered Sunday. Bruce Cline of Rhinelander was one of those lucky anglers.
"One flag, one walleye," Cline said in summary of his fishing Sunday.
The 22 5/8-inch walleye Cline pulled through the ice was good enough to top the category. He was using a sucker for bait and caught the fish about 2 p.m.
"We were jigging and we caught some small perch - nothing big. That was the only good fish we caught all weekend," Cline said.
Tony Haug and John Zierden of Rhinelander were fishing together Sunday.
Zierden caught a 10 15/16-inch crappie that was tops in the adult standings for a while. It was eventually beat out by Mary Wales' 11 1/4-incher.
"One northern - we were crappie fishing," Haug said. "It was cold and freezing up and all of that."
They were employing tip-downs for the crappies. Zierden noted that fishing was slow and difficult.
"I'm not sure if it's the winter; I'm not sure what," Zierden said. "And you can't be mobile. There's so much snow, you can't drive ... unless you have a snowmobile. But then you've got so much gear. But we caught a few fish. Less [Sunday] than [Saturday] - just tough conditions."
"The holes were covered in ice quick," Haug added.
Each day, in the adult division, the top three northerns earned $500, $200 and $100 respectively; $25 each was awarded for the biggest perch, crappie and bluegill and; $50 for the day's biggest walleye.
Saturday adult winners
Northern:
1. Brad Gerdes, 29 7/8 inches.
2. Alex Hann, 29 1/2 inches.
3. Ed Saal, 27 7/8.
Panfish:
Bluegill: Julio Ridgely, 8 5/8 inches.
Crappie: William Grill, 11 5/16 inches.
Perch: Jeff Reidenger, 9 3/8 inches.
Saturday kids winners
Northern:
1. Dominic Belongia, 23 1/2 inches.
2. Megan Brown, 23 1/4 inches.
3. Kyah Hanold, 22 1/8 inches.
Crappie:
1. Kyndell Taylor, 10 15/16 inches.
2. Kyndell Taylor, 10 7/8 inches.
3. Garrett Younker, 9 1/16
Bluegill:
1. Madison Frankenberg, 8 1/4 inches.
2. Luke Taege, 7 1/2 inches.
3. Luke Taege, 6 15/16 inches.
Perch:
1. Luke Taege, 7 7/8 inches.
2. Luke Taege, 7 5/8 inches.
3. Ethan Bandow, 7 1/2 inches.
There were no walleyes registered in either division Saturday.
Sunday adult winners
Northern:
1. Dan Denton, 30 1/4 inches.
2. Scott Biesik, 26 3/4 inches.
3. Gavin Cook, 25 5/16 inches.
Walleye:
Bruce Cline, 22 5/8 inches.
Panfish:
Bluegill: Jason Cordy, 8 13/16 inches.
Crappie: Mary Wales, 11 1/4 inches.
Perch: Chuck Beam, 7 5/8 inches.
Sunday kids winners
Northern:
1. Kyah Hanold, 26 1/2 inches.
2. Lillian Treder, 23 1/2 inches.
3. Madison Frankenberg, 22 11/16 inches.
Crappie:
1. Halie Stefonek, 10 3/4 inches.
2. Kadyn Taylor, 10 7/16 inches.
3. Ethan Bandow, 10 1/4 inches.
Bluegill:
1. Noah Wolter, 8 1/8 inches.
2. Noah Wolter, 7 1/2 inches.
3. Madison Frankenberg, 7 7/16 inches.
Perch:
1. Nicholas St. Pierre, 8 1/2 inches.
2. Nicholas St. Pierre, 7 7/16 inches.
3. Lulu Spencer, 7 3/8 inches.
There were no walleyes registered in the kids division Sunday.
Broomball and Hodag Snow Dash
This was the third year that the fisheree was expanded to the Lions Club Fisheree and Winter Festival and included two non-fishing events - broomball and a snowshoe race.
The broomball tournament was held Saturday. Five teams participated and Bucketheads Sports Bar and Grill won for the third consecutive year.
The YMCA hosted the Hodag Snow Dash, a 5K snowshoe race, at Hodag Park on Sunday. There were two classes: the 5K open division, which was timed, and the Family Tromp, a non-timed division for those wishing to take the course at a more leisurely pace.
Coming in first for the men in the open division was Kyle Rogers. Megan Wagner was the top finisher for the women.
Craig Turk may be reached at [email protected].
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