Park Rapids American Legion Fishing Derby 2022 by Park Rapids Enterprise

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n o i g e L n a c i r e Am y b r e D g n i h s i F

A special supplement to

Published February 2, 2022

FISHING DERBY 2022

2 | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2022

More than $125,000 in prizes offered this year Tickets are on sale for the 23rd annual Park Rapids American Legion Fishing Derby. And best of all, it marks the return of the icefishing contest on Fish Hook Lake. Unsafe ice conditions forced the cancellation of the 2020 fishing derby – for only the second time in the event’s history. COVID-19 restrictions meant there wasn’t an ice-fishing contest in 2021 either.

One ticket equals two chances

The $40 ticket is available at American Legion Post 212, from Legion members and from authorized vendors. Tickets also can be ordered through mail. A check or money order may be sent to the American Legion, ATTN: Fishing Derby, P.O. Box 143, Park Rapids, MN 56470. Along

with your check, include a note with a name, address and phone number for each ticket. The stub part of the ticket will be filled in for you and your ticket will be mailed to you. Tickets are limited to 5,000. They will be sold on the ice until the tournament begins. “Ticket sales rebounded nicely. We’re actually only about 57 tickets behind last year’s sale at this time,” contest organizer Dave Hanson said. “We hope they continue to take off. Of course, costs are up, especially over three years ago, so we have to sell more tickets in order to break even now.” Hanson said they hope to repeat last year’s sales, where only a handful of tickets remained. “It was essentially a sell-out,” he said.

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Anglers can return to the ice for the 2022 Park Rapids American Legion Fishing Contest, like they last did in 2019.

FISHING DERBY 2022

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caught, is an Ice Castle fish house provided by Smokey From Page 2 Hills Outdoor Store. In the raffle, the grand prize is a $30,000 gift Unlike other fishing certificate to Park Rapids contests, each ticket at Ford. The Legion and Up the Park Rapids event North Sports teamed up to provides a chance to win offer a gift certificate for both fishing awards and Polaris side-by-side. raffle prizes. The fishing contest is A limited number of open from 1 to 3:30 p.m. “extra hole” tickets will on Saturday, Feb. 5 on be sold on the ice for Fish Hook Lake, with the $10 each. winners of 71 raffle prizes Three grand prizes being announced at 3:30 More than $125,000 in p.m. on the ice. cash and prizes will The gates open at 10:30 be awarded. a.m. No pre-fishing will Cash prizes range from be allowed. $5,000 to $100 for the 10 There will also be a biggest fish in each of four warming tent. Portable fish divisions – bluegill, sunfish houses are not allowed. and crappie; northern, Parking and shuttle walleye and largemouth service is available from the bass; perch; and rock bass. Legion. Shuttle service will Grand prize, for the start running at 10:30 a.m. Patrolling the perimeter 20th-largest contest fish

d o o G k c u L AT THE

FISHING DERBY

of the fishing derby in case of emergencies will be Hubbard County Sheriff’s deputies, the Mounted Posse and local first responders. Boy Scouts will provide refreshments, along with Blue Line BBQ and Three Bears Food Truck. Sons of the American Legion will serve breakfast from 7 to 11 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 5, followed by a Post 212 Auxiliary fundraiser lunch beginning at 11 a.m. Official results of the fishing contest will be announced at 5 p.m. the Park Rapids American Legion. The event wraps up with the Fisherman’s Ball at 8 p.m., featuring the Midbros, a live acoustic band. “They know how to play just about anything. They put their own sound to a lot of it – anything from the classic rock area they have covered. They have new songs in their repertoire, too,” Hanson said. For official tournament rules, a full list of prizes or other information, visit Enterprise file photo parkrapidsamericanlegion. The Knights of Columbus turn the derby catches into fresh fish fillets for com or call 732-3360. senior centers.

Good Luck at the Fishing Derby!

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4 | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2022

FISHING DERBY 2022

Ice fishing from a limousine? Why not, eh? BRAD

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

Vaughn Murray's limousine fish house sits on the Canadian side of the Rainy River near Rainy River, Ontario, and across the river from Baudette, Minnesota, on Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2022. Contributed Photos / Vaughn Murray

Murray’s limo fish house, which is parked within casting distance of his dock, has four holes and electric heat fed by a long extension cord he runs from an outlet on his dock. He’ll rent the limo fish house for $100 a day (Canadian funds) and calls the venture “Fu-ken-eh

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“And so that’s how it all happened,” he said. “I knew what I was going to do — make a fish house out of it and rent it out, eh?” Murray went to work on the limo during a recent cold snap, using a reciprocating saw with a metal-cutting blade to cut four holes in the floor. He then scrounged four pieces of 10-inch diameter PVC pipe for hole inserts. The inserts accommodate 8-inch holes in the ice. “You can fish four people in there, and it’s not crowded by any means,” he said.

Because the limo runs, getting it onto the ice was easy, Murray says. “There’s a road just 200 feet east of my house that goes right down to the river, so I plowed that and then plowed the ice to the spot off the end of my dock,” Murray said. “To get it down from my house here to where it’s parked on the ice, you’re only looking at 500-600 yards, eh?” The limo is banked with snow to keep out the wind and covered with reflective safety stickers, along with stickers advertising

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sale at the time, but that all changed when the neighbor sold the property, and a friend who worked with Murray on the railroad bought the place. “I was over there seeing how he was fixing up the house and he said to me, ‘Do you want a car?’ and I said, ‘What car?’” Murray recalls. “He said, ‘that limousine,’ and I said, ‘well, how much do you want?’ “He said, ‘Just get it out of my yard.’” The limo still runs, so Murray didn’t even have to pull it home.

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Available for rent

Limousine Ice Fishing.” The name, of course, is a play on words of a popular, though somewhat colorful Canadian phrase that can’t be used in a family newspaper, Murray says. “It’s not swearing,” he said; not how he spells it, at least. A retired railroad conductor who spent 35 years with Canadian National Railway, Murray, 71, said he wanted to buy the limousine five years ago from a neighbor who had it sitting in his yard. The limo, a 1994 Lincoln, wasn’t for

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son-in-law rented it for me on Sunday (Jan. 16) to some of his friends who wanted it, and I’ve got probably a half a dozen calls from guys who want to rent it. “I think it’s going to be a big ‘go.’”

Northern Convenience

RAINY RIVER, Ontario — At first glance, the big white Lincoln covered with stickers and parked on the Canadian side of the Rainy River across from Baudette, Minn., might appear to be badly stuck in the snow. A closer look would reveal a different picture: A limousine-turned-ice fishing house. Wheeled ice fishing houses are all the rage these days, but a fish house that’s actually a working limousine takes the wheelhouse concept to a whole new level. Just when you think you’ve seen everything. The limousine fish house is the brainchild of Vaughn Murray, a Rainy River resident whose creation has been turning heads since it showed up on the ice of this Minnesota-Ontario border river earlier this month. A recent Facebook post with photos of the limo fish house has been shared more than 500 times and had more than 600 views in its first 12 hours, Murray says. “I think I’ve got something going here,” Murray said Jan. 18 in a phone interview. “My

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FISHING DERBY 2022 and I’m not going to lie to you. In 32 years, I’ve probably caught 15,000 walleyes off my dock – not in a boat, off my dock,” Murray said. His biggest, he says, weighed 15 pounds. “Between 5 and 15 pounds, I bet you I’ve caught 3,000 of them that big,” said Murray, who also guides on Lake of the Woods near Morson, Ontario, as an occasional retirement gig. “Like spring and fall, the fishing is just crazy.” Murray, who played on a Bemidji old-timers hockey team before the pandemic, said American anglers have been especially enthusiastic about his limo fish house Vaughn Murray's limousine fish house has electric heat and four holes. The after seeing the recent interior will accommodate four anglers comfortably, Murray says. Facebook post. Entering Canada remains a bit of the whole outside of the spot, Murray says, a process, requiring full car with stickers from especially in the spring vaccination and proof From Page 4 anybody who wants to and fall. of a negative Covid test advertise, eh? Murray has an 8-by-8taken no more than 72 foot shack on his dock he various local businesses. Good fishing spot hours before crossing the A Chicago Blackhawks The river is 16 to 17 feet calls his man cave. Even border. Until that changes, flag waves in the breeze deep in the spot where the on nasty spring or fall attracting U.S. anglers will days, Murray says, he can be a challenge, but Murray behind the back bumper. limo is parked, about 400 watch his line from the “If a snow machine yards downstream from says he also is encouraged comfort of the man cave comes along the river, he’s the railroad bridge and by the response he’s on his dock. going to see the safety the adjacent bridge that gotten from Canadians to “I’ve lived in Rainy River his limo fish house. stickers before he sees connects the communities all my life, but we bought the car,” Murray said. of Baudette and Rainy If this goes well, Murray says, he’s got an even this place 32 years ago, “I’m going to decorate River. It’s a good fishing

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bigger limo waiting in the wings to add to his fleet for next year. “Like I say (to people), ‘You ever fish out of a limousine?’ No, nobody’s ever fished out of a limousine,” Murray said. “So I say, well, this will be a first, then.” Fishing’s generally slower in the winter than in the spring and fall, he concedes, but if you’re

fishing from the heated comfort of a limo, who cares, eh? The novelty is part of the attraction, Murray says. “I think a lot of people just want to say, ‘Hey, I’m fishing in a limousine here,’ and then (send photos) to all of their friends,” he said. For more information, contact Murray at (807) 861-0303.

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FISHING DERBY 2022

6 | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2022

Community fish house ready for anglers Thirteen years ago, the Park Rapids chapter of the Minnesota Darkhouse and Angling Association (MDAA) purchased a community fish house thanks to generous donations and sponsors. Located at the Fish Hook Lake public access, the heated facility is available at no charge. Anyone wanting to reserve a fishing time may do so by stopping by Northern Bait at 614 Main Street in Park Rapids and reserving a slot.

The morning fishing slot is from 8 a.m. until noon and the afternoon slot is from 1 to 5 p.m Monday through Saturday. On Sundays, the fish house is open from 1-4 p.m. The person signing up to use the fish house must have valid driver’s and fishing licenses, and anyone under 18 must be accompanied by an adult. Scout troops, church and veterans’ organizations and families have utilized the fish house in the pas. There is

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Several fish species that could be caught during the ice-fishing tournament. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources provides some information about some of the most common fish in the state’s lakes.

Shannon Geisen / Enterprise

The Park Rapids Community Fish House has joined the fishing village on Fish Hook Lake. no stove for cooking, but some people bring a sack lunch or snacks to enjoy while fishing. The Darkhouse and Angling Association is a non-profit organization. Members hold a fundraiser and silent auction to

raise most of the $3,000 needed annually to keep the fish house open. This money covers liability insurance, heat and other expenses. For more information, call MDAA president David East at 255-3040.

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You’ll find this voracious predator in nearly every Minnesota lake and stream. It’s one of the easiest fish to catch because it so willingly bites lures or bait. And – big or small – they’re one of Minnesota’s most fun fish to catch. The quickest way to tell a northern pike from a muskie is to note that the northern has light markings on a dark body background, while muskies generally have dark markings on a light background. A foolproof method is to count the pores on the underside of the jaw: the northern has five or fewer; the muskie has six or more. Northerns also have rounded tail fins, compared to the pointy tail fins of a muskie.

Good Luck at the Fishing Derby!

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SPECIES

caught and kept is about 14 inches long and weighs slightly more than 1 pound. The walleye is named for its pearlescent eye, which is caused by a reflective layer of From Page 6 pigment, called the tapetum lucidum, that helps it see and feed at night or in murky water. To ensure that lakes produce enough walleyes to keep up with growing angler demand, the DNR protects habitat, limits the catch through regulations, and stocks fish where natural reproduction is limited and other desirable fish species will not be harmed. In recent years, the DNR smallmouth bass. And don’t forget rivers like the Missishas also instituted special regulations that protect medi- sippi. um-sized walleyes on several lakes to increase the average Largemouth: This is one of the scrappiest fish that size of walleyes that anglers can catch. Sunfish swims. An increasing number of anglers throughout the Minnesota has several sunfish species, but the most state are learning that largemouth bass, with their jolting popular with anglers are the bluegill and the pumpkinstrikes and wild airborne leaps, are an exciting fish to seed. catch. And increasingly, Minnesota is becoming nationalThe bluegill, Minnesota’s largest and most popular sunly known for its largemouth bass. fish, is found in about 65 percent of the state’s lakes and Largemouth bass look similar to their close cousin, the many of its slow streams, including the backwaters of the smallmouth. Often they are found in the same waters. To Mississippi. tell the two apart, look at the closed mouth. If it extends back beyond the back of the eye, the fish is a largemouth. If it goes only to the middle of the eye, it’s a smallmouth. Crappie Rock: Stout and heavy in comparison to the sunfishes Crappie are some of Minnesota’s most popular fish. and crappies, the rock bass has red eyes and brassy flanks Though the walleye is the state fish, crappies and bluegills are caught most often. Crappies bite readily and pro- with black spots. A large rock bass measures about 10 duce sweet-tasting fillets. There are actually two types of inches and weighs about a pound. The rock bass prefers crappies: the black and the white. They are tough to tell boulder and sand bottoms. It eats small fish, insects, Walleye apart. Both travel in schools and feed on small fish and crayfish and other invertebrates. The walleye is the most sought-after fish in Minnesota. aquatic insects. Smallmouth: Sometimes called a “bronzeback” for its Its thick, white fillets, handsome shape and coloring, and brassy brown hue, the smallmouth is one of the strongest elusive nature make it the ultimate prize among anglers. Bass Each year, anglers in Minnesota keep roughly 3.5 million More than 2,000 Minnesota lakes support self-sustain- fish for its weight. Many anglers who hook a 2-pounder ing largemouth bass populations. More than 500 support will swear it’s twice that big until the fish is in the net. walleyes totaling 4 million pounds. The average walleye

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