You
Please tell me, who
are you to help me fill in
the form for a man into a woman?
One of you guys can probably help me
real quick.
So.
$20.
$20!
What's that for?
I didn't know that before.
That's a great idea.
Is there a new one?
Yeah, there's so much.
There's so lot of it.
It's okay.
Here we go.
How are you doing?
That's what you have?
Well, that's what I wanted to buy.
Oh, that you have.
So, the fishing wrap is $300.
$300 for the general.
That great?
Well, they're all sold out.
Yep. They're all out yesterday.
Really?
I want to buy some of these.
$20 more and you get there.
So is this just
for the normal person?
This is for the regular person.
So 20 bucks for those.
For those out.
I just want to get another.
We don't have to separate money.
They have an extra 20 here.
How many tickets do
they have?
A thousand?
I don't know what it was.
Should be six,
yep. Back to six, yeah.
Green stuff, the bomb stuff goes in
there, and you keep the other stuff
in there.
I'll do it over there.
I don't want to stop you from
sailing it over.
I think you need more guys than
me.
And no girls this year.
There's money over there!
Oh, there's a couple.
She handles the money.
They were hiring, you know.
Alright, thank you.
You should, you're much better with
the taste than we are.
It probably cooks.
Yeah, you gotta wait for the food to
come out of here.
Well,
these are all, those are all the
green tickets. Oh, those aren't, one
ticket? One ticket for every single
one of these.
At least if it's there, it's at all.
Wait.
You
We always get off the boat.
So, we're out.
We're out! We're right in there.
Right. One day we jumped
on a lift.
Show right in there.
Thank you very much.
And spin it to your heart's content.
You as well.
It is getting full.
It is full.
All right.
So crazy, you're really breaking
drumsticks.
The band must have been off the hook
last night.
I take all vets and their families
up in Alaska, so I go do these,
a lot of these big fishing contests
and stuff.
And I've got a fake 20
pound walleye, and
I've got the whole drill and stuff
so people take the picture for a
donation.
I mean, if you hold it right, it
looks like you just pulled it out of
the water. Okay.
Well, we'll be here, so if someone
does it, then we'll try and grab
that. Alright, yep.
Ready when you guys are.
Okay.
I guess, give me sort of
the background on the decisions that
led up to this. Obviously, you've
held this on this weekend for a long
time, right?
Yeah, we have, um...
We don't necessarily ever have good
ice historically.
We've canceled events in early
February, late January,
this weekend, twice now.
So leading up to the event, we had
great ice conditions.
We were out there last
weekend, for sturgeon spearing,
it was amazing.
I met with some local people and it
was the best conditions we ever saw.
We watched that continually
deteriorate.
So Wednesday night, we all met at
Paynes Point.
We got together with the local
fishing clubs and their
road plow chairmen, and we discussed
ice conditions throughout the
system.
After that meeting, board directors
for Bad Lambaga went to another
facility to discuss this
and if need be vote.
And we did that,
and collectively as a group decided
it just wasn't a good idea to bring
all the people from out of town to
send them out there in those
conditions. We weren't comfortable
with it.
When you talk about coming from out
of town, how big of a draw is this?
Oh boy, we get a few
provinces from Canada,
west coast, east coast.
So it's not just the Fox Valley.
No, it's majority upper Midwest
people, ice fishing people, but
yeah, we get 25,
28 states and multiple provinces.
And so is it a liability issue
or is it just more of like safety
thinking like you would hate to be
responsible or think someone thought
it was safe to go out there,
especially if they're not local?
Yeah, no, it's not a liability
issue. We cover that and we watch
that, but it's a,
I think it's a values issue.
I mean, just in good faith we
can't send them out there in
conditions that they're
uncomfortable with.
Plenty of people are comfortable.
The local people are comfortable,
they know the lake, they every inch
of it.
But people that don't, it's kind of
an odd lake, we've got a lot of
reefs, it shallow, the ice
conditions go fast there, so you may
have two feet and a hundred yards
away you have none.
Of ice.
So it just it's not not
great for people who aren't from
here.
So, you talked about the
unique conditions of the water here.
We've also got rivers coming
through, and then you add in the
weather we've had.
Is it wind with those, or what are
all the combinations that led to
that ice going, deteriorating so
quickly?
Yeah, no, it wasn't wind.
When the ice is that thick, we don't
get a lot of wind issues.
But yeah, we have, we
take the Fox River watershed and we
take the Wolf River watershed.
They both join in on the Upper River
Lake, Lake Budemore.
So we've got snow melt from up north
and we don t have runoff here.
We didn't have much snow this year,
but that's coming on the Fox river.
It's deteriorating that ice from the
bottom up. We're essentially a giant
river system, river in, river out.
So yeah, We're deteriorating from
the top and the bottom at once.
So yeah, it was kind of the perfect
storm to deteriorate that bad in
four days.
So, but you said this isn't the
first time you've had to cancel, is
it just, you never know?
We don't know, we've canceled events
in late January, early February,
like I said, and
we were certain that we were ready
to go and it was gonna be great.
We had the waste stage set up,
tables were ready, scales were
calibrated,
and we disassembled all that
yesterday.
So from, I guess, a disappointment
standpoint, is it frustrating for
you to, like, you've gone to all
this work because you want to host a
great event and give people the
opportunity to come here?
Well yeah, I mean we're all anglers.
We're competitive anglers, we're
recreational anglers that's what we
like to do, that's why we have these
events.
So yeah, it's disappointing but
we pivot and we make the best of it.
And the back end of this seems like
everyone's going to still have a
good time, right?
Oh yeah, the tent was packed last
night. The community always supports
us. So that was fantastic.
They came down and filled up the
tent and we were happy to see that.
We weren't sure what to expect.
The last time we canceled, we had
about three and a half weeks to
prepare and we had two days this
time. So we didn't know what to
except yesterday and it's been
great.
How has the bike been out here this
year?
Yeah, the perch bites been great out
there.
Winnebago always takes care of
itself. And sometimes it's white
bass, sometimes it is perch,
walleyes. But yeah, it's been a good
season out there
So when we go along here,
we see people ice fishing out there.
It's likely they know where it
is safe.
Oh, absolutely.
That's the local people.
Sturgeon spearing season is still
open. They're still out there.
The fishing clubs are still
maintaining the ATV Bridges Forum.
You're going to see people out there
no matter what.
Talk to me, this is about
walleye, what is it about wall eye
through the ice? How is that
different for you or for other
fishermen versus open water?
Well walleye through the ice is
changing, like everything with the
new 3D sonar imaging
and whether it be live scope
or active target whatever they're
using out there, it's
been a game changer in the winter
just like the summer but
Winnebago is just a great walleye
fishery. It takes care of itself,
we have amazing upriver spawning
grounds.
I think everybody around here would
agree that that's the key to it,
that's a key to success on this
system and it's as good of a fishery
as I've ever seen.
I've been here my whole life and it
seems as good as when I was a kid.
I mean, what is it?
Is it still a thrill when you get,
you know, like, oh, that's why,
right?
Yeah, absolutely.
Yeah, when you're ice fishing, you
got a rod in your hand. You're not
trolling and just grabbing rods.
And so, yeah, it's you set the hook
on a walleye and it's it's a great
feeling.
I guess I know we're going to talk a
little more what this does in the
community, but for you is
this is this like a now a long haul
to wait until open water healing
because that is kind of what happens
this time of year right there's that
stretch or
It is, yeah, I mean, I fish
competitively. So we start south
in the United States.
So we'll be at it in about three
weeks.
But yeah, it's gonna be five
or eight weeks before we get on the
water up here.
But the rivers will open up first,
right?
Absolutely
And so people will be out there as
soon as...
Yeah, as soon as they can get a boat
in the river, you'll see the boats
going up and down.
Anything else you want to add about
the events this weekend along
those lines?
No, not really.
I mean we're gonna keep going here
today. We're gonna pull our raffles
at between four and six o'clock
tonight and thank the community for
supporting us and we're
going to prepare for next
year.
Good to see you.
Just say and spell your name and
give your title with the
organization.
Yep, Jim Erdman, J-I-M-E-R-D-M
A-N, Board of Directors,
Battle on Bago.
Alright, that's all we needed.
Awesome. Thank you.
But yeah, no, we,
yeah, we've fished a lot of
tournaments against each other.
I mean, he just kicked his
butt.
He would say it the other way.
That'd be good.
I'm ready when you guys are.
Okay. Oh, hold on.
We can take it if you need to.
That's Duchar.
He's bringing me buckets.
I'll turn it off so it doesn't
do that again. It'll ring 10 times
otherwise.
Alright, you can just talk to me.
Walk me through some of the
logistics here.
How many years, how big,
what do we got here?
So Battle in Baguio has been, this
is our 19th year as
a tournament.
Started out very small and
it's grown to what it is today which
is the world's largest ice fishing
tournament.
So we're on the right track.
How did it come to be?
I mean, was it just people needed
something to do when they weren't
waiting for the open water?
It actually started in
Rotary and they were trying to
come up with a fundraiser and
Glenn had came up with the idea of
an ice fishing tournament because
they're all outdoorsmen, we like to
fish, we like the hunt, we do things
in conservation and
the first event had about
300 people and it was very small
and simple and it just blossomed
from there and it grew
exponentially.
So how many entrants would you have
had or did you have lined up?
So, on a good year,
there's good ice, there are a lot of
variables, Mother Nature plays a
huge factor in this, but on a Good
Year, I think our
largest fish entry was
over $11,000
and as far as fish
tickets sold in the area
of $12,000 to $13,000 per
year. Wow, that's a lot.
That's a LOT. It's a lotta anglers
and anglers come from all over the
country.
This year we have people coming from
Manitoba, even though there's not
fish and they're
What is it about ice fishing?
I mean, ice fishing, I know there's
multiple species, we're talking
about walleye specifically, but I
mean what is it about that that's so
different and unique of like a way
to get out there and experience
that? Yeah, so...
I think the soft water fisherman and
the ice fisherman are a different
breed. I know a lot of them do both,
but somebody has their favorite,
right? So there's guys that I enjoy
soft water fishing better.
There's guys I enjoy ice fishing.
I think it's more of a challenge.
There's a lot more hole hopping,
jumping around, finding schools,
doing that sort of thing. It's more
a challenge, and I think that
appeals to a lot anglers.
And I mean, what is it, I mean it's
Wisconsin winners, like you gotta
find something to do.
You have to find something to do and
this is what we have.
We have a huge, you know,
our fishery here on the Lake
Winnebago River system, which would
include obviously Buttemore,
Winniconte, Poygon, and all the way
up through Fremont and north of
that, even on the Wolf River, is
such a good fishery and the walleye
population has just been growing
and it's so much fun to fish them
that I think it just draws
the people in.
So what's it like when you have to
make that call, that like...
It's a tough one.
You sit down as a board of directors
together and we speak with
the different local fishing clubs
that run the landings,
the bridges.
Obviously we've got to watch Mother
Nature.
She had a great winter going for us
all year and in the last minute
she decided it was going to be
very warm for the last eight days
coming up to it and the ice just
turned for the worst and
we believe we made the right call
for the safety of all the anglers.
I mean it's kind of crazy, a month
ago it was 40 below.
Yes, and it was
awesome ice.
You could have been driving
anywhere.
And right up until the last day,
it was good enough.
I used to take UTVs and ATVs, and
now it's just got a little sketchy.
So what what will you still be
happening here? We got the tents
party still going on?
Yeah, so our Friday night event,
which we had last night, it
turned out great.
We had huge attendance.
We have a band on Friday nights.
Come in, they party,
and people come from all over
just to enjoy the festivities and
not just the fishing.
So this is more like a Friday night,
it was more of like a community
night. And then on Saturday,
we do the tickets, the raffle
tickets, and then as we draw those,
the tent's full again, because
everybody wants to win something.
We give away some pretty good
prizes.
Yeah, I saw that prize board and
like the truck.
Pretty good. Yeah, yeah.
So so we give away a
truck on the fishing raffle side and
we give a way a truck on the general
raffle site and then UTVs,
ATVs,
a lot of cash prizes.
So it's pretty exciting for people.
So how much money is raised and
where does that go?
So each year is a little bit
different as far as I mean stapling
a number together but we
raise
let's use this number over the
course of I'll use 18 years because
we haven't done this yet we're at
about 2.7 million dollars that
we've given back into kids and
conservation and that includes
high school fishing teams learning
how to fish it might be
empowered Dream hunts.
If a city needs a
handicap boat ramp or a dock,
we're more than happy to assist with
that. Local fire departments, we've
assisted those in funding
some of their projects that have to
do with ice fishing and ice rescues,
because we do have enough ice
rescuers, whether it's during our
event or a different event, but we
have to keep everybody safe.
So when you have a situation where
the ice goes out in the middle
of February,
do people talk about like, oh, it's
climate change or things are
different or they just go, it's just
that's what it is.
It's just the way that it is.
We're standing outside right now and
it's 24, 25 degrees.
My eyes are watering, my hands are
frozen.
Next weekend, I'm guessing
people are gonna be driving on the
lake again with UTVs and ATVs and
not worry about it.
So it's just, this year was
a bad luck week.
And in the course of 19 years,
we have had to cancel the fishing
portion three times.
So I don't blame it on climate
change, I blame it bad luck.
It's just, I mean, it's weather,
right?
It is Wisconsin.
Stick around. It'll change, right?
Yeah, I mean, it's not the first
time that people have seen a warm
spell in February and then you've
got snow through May.
Yeah, we had such cold weather and
then once it warmed up it stayed
warm and now we're going to have a
cold spell again.
So are most people that have been
invested that were excited for this,
I mean, are some of them still fishing
and they'll come back in?
There are, yes, there are
some that, and they ask the
question, well, can we still fish?
Absolutely, you can fish.
We're just not sending anglers out
because of the safety and we don't
want to have that on our
plate.
So yes, there's still several that
have gone out fishing and enjoyed
themselves there. And then they come
to the tent and enjoy the
festivities afterwards.
You can still get the best of both
worlds. Yeah, it's probably not as
crowded out there. It's probably
It's probably not as crowded out
there, no.
Alright, um, I mean is it still
fun or is like overall does this
have a tinge of disappointment for
you?
Well, obviously we love to see the
fish come in, right?
We love to the anglers come in and
talk about what they caught and say,
because when we do our fish, it's
not the biggest fish wins the
biggest prize.
Our prizes are scattered throughout
our prize list, as you saw on the
board, that you
wanna get 1,000th place, or you
wanna 2,000 place, or 1,500
place, because those are better
prizes than first place.
So we don't want any cheating, we
don't want any of that, so you catch
what you catch and then you move on
from there.
But you're still going to have a
good time. This will still be a good
weekend.
Yeah, we have a blast and
the people still come in and they
have fun and they enjoy themselves
and and they do,
they do have fun.
And everybody has fun.
All of us as volunteers, we enjoy
every minute of it.
Alright, so you can cancel that
part, but we still have to discuss
it and we still win the party,
right?
Bellembego is a destination.
That's what we like to refer to it
as. People come from
we've had 19 different states.
We've had Hawaii,
Alaska, California, Arizona,
Maine, Rhode Island, New
Jersey. Now we have Manitobans
coming in.
I mean just people coming from all
over so it's a great time for
everybody.
Can you say and spell your name and
B-U-R-T, S-T-A-M,
and Bell and Beagle Board of
Directors.
All right, that's all we need.
We'll let you get inside.
Perfect.
Yeah, you know when the landings are
green, they beat the piss out of
them.
I'll just strap that in here.
Thank you. No problem.
The height going underneath the...
Here we go.
We'll launch it.
I'll drive full.
What's going on here?
Get her on dry land, I'm happy!
Over here
I am really getting anxiety, like
my fricking lungs are really,
like...
Cough!
Look at that fucking thing, you
don't think I think I'd fucking
swallow this?
I breathed in a piece of
foam,
some foam insulation,
and it fucking came and went right
in my eye.
I actually couldn't get it out, it
went down.
That wind yesterday,
I thought it was a trailer.
Oh yeah, wait, you're gonna,
we 12 people on this thing here.
Oh, it's gonna be a great video,
yeah.
So two people on a snowmobile, two
people in sleds.
We borrowed our other machine out
to somebody else, brought his kid
up, so he's out in the middle of the
road.
You walked out here?
Like two miles.
It's going to be, he said it, he
lied. It's not going to PBS, it's
going to be making fun of fibs.
Here's all these jackasses that.
Come from Illinois.
This is the modern version of like
a Oregon trail.
You go across the river.
See our track sled that we have we
had like six guys and six sled and
we're just ripping out there because
the track sled you stand up
Yeah.
And it rips you out there, it's
pretty good.
But we borrowed it out just to a
buddy yesterday who was out there.
I'm gonna get down.
So if you stick those up, you're
gonna get more room in there.
I'm leaving them down until we get
out there though, because last
throw, I guess, we're going down.
Yeah, I fucking lost it.
I knew something was going to pop
out as soon as he hit that.
Seems like it.
You guys are waiting for your fourth
guy to park it somewhere?
Yeah. Yeah, he's coming up.
Are we dampening your time?
No, no, no. We're just.
No, no, no we're just we're gonna launch
a drone at some point We thought
maybe once you're out there, we'll
follow you out there with a drone
Well, we're going out there.
Yeah?
Going three miles.
I have no idea where it's at.
I'm here for the, you
know, I'm 65 enjoying the ride,
you know what I mean? I feel like
I'm a kid riding on the back, you
know.
Thank God I could still do it.
Uh-huh.
Any room back there?
Thanks for watching, I'll see you
next time.
We're not going to get our faces.
I think they say it was
I didn't hear you.
Holy cow!
It's a good size.
Yeah.
It's not a record.
It's just a big fish, you know.
More often than not, they measure
county.
Okay, yeah.
There were some mediums in the
stretch of the track, but it was
very difficult to see where they
were standing.
Right, it's like a dinosaur.
If we could just maybe
Is that thing coming towards us?
Uh, what?
I think so.
So,
not that thing.
I think so, right?
I can live with it.
Oh, is it not?
I thought it was!
Maybe it's that movie.
It has not moved since I've been
looking at it.
Why do I feel like it's just getting
closer and closer?
We can do this.
Can you hear the click?
Yeah, yeah,
that's a little unnerving, right?
The other one's close to it.
That's funny.
God, that'd be fucking hypothermic.
That'd be cold.
So here we go the rest of the day.
Jack I'm done
I feel like, oh no, we've got more
shooting to do!
Here's how you hit record and here's
how to change the battery.
Now you're freaking me out man, I
don't want to be over here.
If this thing is, I'm not
worried. Well, if the vehicle's
going over this, have it causing a
pressure to open that up.
Great. You can see where the
ripple is.
Cybertruck.
Cybertrucks? Coming out here?
Yeah, it's the part next to us.
Hold on, hold on one second.
Okay, I think we're good
I can do it to you on purpose.
I had a good one.
What are you thinking?
I'm thinking I gotta keep looking
and my wife told me I can't buy
anything today.
No?
I was on the boat that I had to
sell, so...
No, we haven't.
Yeah, but you got the right boat to
sell.
All right.
You know what I mean?
Like I said, I like my boat,
I mean it is older, but
I know that the value is stable.
That's it, you know.
You don't like it, it's not...
I sold a nine-year bullet in
one week.
I'm a nine-year-old man.
Nine-year-old boy in one week.
Had a 2017 Triton fish hunter,
and it sold in one week.
I mean, mine's over 11, but
that 18 and a half foot boat is a
perfect instance.
A lot of people looking for it,
you know, so.
I gotta force it.
That's, you know, like the big thing
and having like
tracks, you don't have the tracks on
there. I mean those are those are my
ride horse are gonna be on the
bullet right there.
So, I mean, I bought my boat, so
I would not have turned
it the way that I saw it.
Like, there's rod holders drilled
into the dental.
I'd rather have trapped.
I want to be able to do it.
Yeah, but, you know...
Yeah, but that's it, the
fit and finish, and what I like
is we're going to have a light spoke
on the side,
then my downriggers will fit on the
back track, then we're gonna run
a 13 and a 10 on the
front, we're run a crack controlling
motor so the light spoke will be
right into the trolling motor, I
don't have to worry about extra
cables or that.
So should I
be cautious, because I've always run
a corded trolling mortar, but
That foot control is just as quick,
you saw how quick it works with your
hand, that's how quick the foot
control works.
I don't think I've ever, I've never
put my foot in one, I usually...
See, I am a pedal guy, so
I like to ride with each hand.
So, you know, that's the difference,
isn't it?
I use the clamp
out of my final contour and I set my
speed and like even with the new
Quest you can do a drift and it'll
control you like so like I like I
don't have to worry about this I
just want to do and then I'm
And that's it, like
with the cover here, so I'm going to
run a double HD,
which allows me to balls
out, which just allows me to
put it down so I won't have all
those rams.
And then I can bring it up another
foot to see it because, you know,
I'm going to be up there a lot
because I, you know.
Well, depending on what I'm doing, I
mean, I like to fish lot of
shorelines, clinical shorelines.
So I usually fish out the back of
the boat. I'm usually looking for
boats with dirt.
With having jump seats, I'm never
going to have the other two seats in
and I can take four people out with
no problem.
So that is a great selling point.
Plus.
I've been a windshield guy.
I like my windshield, I like to
drive fast, because if
I take a buddy and we each
take our kid, whatever, I
can take four people but still only
have two seats in the boat.
I don't want to make seats around, I
don't want to get there.
Well that's it, those Wave Pros,
I've been smooth moved with
springs so that's going to be a
whole different, it's going to be
smooth, my wife isn't
going to have the springs bounce
around, so,
awesome, well
that's why I'm running a
Warrior. I mean, you just look at
the finish, you look down the lines
and everything, that's what,
you know, it is beautiful.
And like, the cap is just one
thing, when I felt the cap all the
way around, I was like, so much
water can get in there into your
bins.
Good enough?
Yeah.
Well we bought some tickets, I
usually don't because usually I'm so
busy with seminars.
You're sorry about all the pictures.
Yeah.
I love ice fishing out here, I mean
to me, you know, I've
ice fished Lake Winnebago for
the last three, four years, I
haven't even left Lake Winniebago's
system to fish, and I love fishing
panfish, you now.
I've ice-fished since my
daughter was born, she's 12.
But my in-laws went to Florida
so I don't know that.
I fished the dogs.
Yeah, I appreciate it.
I really liked it.
I like that.
I don't know, it's hard to get
excited about ice fishing when I go
down low.
Catch you.
Oh gosh, I just got back,
you know, from the Caribbean, but I
totally agree.
But, do you agree, last year was one
of the best years of lolly fishing
out of Ago?
July?
August? I mean, we had great
fishing all year long.
My wife likes to troll, hence the
ride holders, but me, I
like to jig them up.
The only thing my wife wants is
to look at a bobby.
Look at what? A bobby, which is
fine. I like bobber.
But if you're bobber fishing, you
can do other things too.
That's what I like about like
the racks here.
Bobber rods are going to be on one
side, jigging rods, and trolling
rods in the compartment.
You know because I have all that
opportunity because you know what if
I'm jigging I'm going to have a
couple bobber rods out the back.
You catch so many fish on
there.
I've seen it follow along and not
commit, but a minute or two later
it's going to bother us.
Oh, that's Isaac over there.
Isaac, you know, that one PWS
tournament, him and Max,
they were catching a ton of wall
lights open with
their bobber. Oh yes, yes,
like with the bobber, I think.
So, do
you have any questions?
Yeah, only if they were cheaper.
Yeah, the one thing about
Warriors, they're built
in Minnesota, but
the same people
are working on your boats.
They could all ride a little tang
and everybody gets the same
one.
So you don't have to worry.
Is it a Monday or a Friday boat?
These are the best of the best.
I watch a lot of Tom Woolley and
Larry Smith and they
say nothing bad about us.
It is, I ran
Triton for a long time and now I'm
going to be in a Warrior and I live
right here. I'm gonna be a couple
miles from here.
I think that this will be the
ultimate dream for me if I can
afford it.
Yeah, that's the one thing, you
know, you just get what you can and
you work your way in.
Because I remember, I remember when
I was your age and I was like, okay,
what can I get?
And then, okay now what can i
get? And just work your way up.
But when you're able to get out on
the water and do this
stuff, because I still have a 16 and
a half foot aluminum craft, you
don't tell her, and that's what I'm
going to be using to fish the rivers
and that for the first month or two.
You also, you know, little boats are
just as good as big boats.
Learn how to use them.
Just have one good piece of
electronic and have a good trolling
motor. You have those two things.
Any boy is going to be a great boy.
38?
Yeah, my father, I was 16 and
a half.
The one thing I did say because it
is 2005 and one year I didn't
get a big boat because they didn't
have it ready. So I had to run a
little boat.
I just told my little boat, I'm
going to be really nice to it now
for the rest of his life.
Because I know how he probably
feels.
Yup, yup.
Yeah, we got a Minkota
throw on it.
I just put a Helix 8 on
a Mofator for him last year.
Oh yeah?
How did you get into fishing?
Dad's been fishing forever.
So your dad got you into it?
Yeah.
Wow, that's nice because see my
parents didn't but I had a buddy and
me and my buddy we fished from when
we were 10 years old all the way
till we were like 23, inseparable.
Once we got our driver's license a
little 12-foot boat went on top of
the car, motor was in the back and
we were fishing Lake Michigan but
you know it was just a fun and
so I have a non-profit so I teach
kids and families fishing, I teach
adults fishing and
you know next week I'm going to to
get a sports show doing all that.
You know, it's just fun to see all
these kids and potentially get a
twinkle in their eye where they
want to join what we do,
but potentially they didn't have a
dad or a grandpa or uncle that did
it.
Yeah, I've been fortunate enough to
be fishing since I was six months
old. Six months?
Holy man!
Dad brought me out on the ice for
the first time. There's a picture of
a northern land on a sled over the
top of me.
That is so cool!
See, I didn't hear...
That and that's why you know I think
I do what I do because
you know maybe there's others and
it might just be the way the family
is but if their
grandpa fishes if their uncle fishes
I said hey
ask them tell them you want to
go fishing if you like what I just
taught you and you want go fishing
they'll be glad to take
you I know that right it's
fishing fun alone No
so much, but.
You got company, isn't it great?
A slow fishing day, you get to
really know your friend or
your dad probably better than you
did before you entered the boat.
Cool.
Well, hey, it's always
here.
I know I was like that.
I was always dreaming.
When can I get to the next level
and do that?
I know it ain't now,
but sometime in my lifetime I'd
like to be able to back the stone to
water and say I own this.
You will.
Just work, work hard, that's it.
That's the biggest thing I tell
kids.
Make goals, you know, put that goal
out there and then work towards it.
Well, hey, great seeing you.
Nice to meet you. Thanks for coming
along.
How do you think they...
But when you have
the pipes and brackets, that's
typical work.
So when I saw it, it's good.
You can see the
top flint really going like that.
And our pipes are very similar
to this, except I've got
them down into the lathe,
and then the bottom into the solid
sand.
But if you do something like this...
Right, right on.
Oh, nice.
Thank you very much.
What is that, what is it?
It's um...
Here you go.
I just, yeah, I don't feel like
the wires.
Yeah, I don't even know if that's
what's happening.
If we can use it like this,
that's going to be my take on it.
Yeah, good one.
Yeah.
A year ago,
the fishermen needed a rescue from
an ice truck that had floated away
in the bay.
They went out
fishing and all of a sudden choked
off and spoke.
That's not dangerous.
I was in school as a kid.
I was very, very, uh, I was just
stuck on ice.
I just, I just didn't understand.
And, like, period.
I didn't know what I was trying to get
at most. I just couldn't understand
it.
Come on, boy, come on, man.
Is that the actual wrapper on the
floor? Is that?
Yeah.
Sixteen years
Well, hope you enjoy it
There's a lot better chance of
getting something with these, but
there's a much better chance of
getting a bigger brand.
Thank you.
Can I help you with something,
please?
Yes.
Yeah, the fishing one is forty
apiece and three for a hundred.
The regular one is twenty apiece,
six for a 100.
Thank you.
Bye, buddy.
Oh buddy of mine.
Get in there, get in there.
Get him!
Alright everybody, I want to make
sure you get your
raffle tickets.
Make sure you get over there.
3.30 is the cutoff.
Not 3.31, 3.33
is the cutoff,
so get over, maybe
go over and see the volunteers in
the bar. They love to sling beer,
and they're good at it.
Can we turn the music down
a little bit?
Excellent, thank you.
Thank you everybody for coming.
Thanks for Bat-Lon-Bago.
Appreciate y'all being here.
Just a couple of announcements
before we get started.
Every year we do a dream hunt, show
you guys where some of the money
goes, some of of the donations that
we make.
So I'm going to turn it over to Wade
Gullickson and Todd Schmidt from
the conservation club
to talk about what happened this
year.
Thanks Todd.
I'm Wade with the Conservation Club.
For 12 years and over 20
kids we've been able to
do this event with Battle on Bagel.
We partner together.
We find a recipient like my
good buddy Noah here.
We teach them how to shoot a gun,
take them out to the range and we
go to a place up in Irma, Wisconsin
called Little Lakes Memories.
Beautiful ranch that
is designed for people
with disabilities and veterans only
at that hunt there.
Oh, it was a crack shot,
put two in the bullseye right away.
I thought it was just luck the first
time, but he proved me wrong.
Then when the deer showed up,
he did exactly what we talked about.
He did a perfect shot and
obviously he got himself his
first big buck.
Would you like, he hasn't seen his
deer head yet since the day he got
his deer.
So want to see what your deer looks
like, Noah?
Turn around.
Thank you everybody.
Appreciate you guys.
Have a good day.
Nice job, buddy.
How about that?
That's what it's all about.
All right, who wants to win a truck?
All right, a little housekeeping, so
please pay attention.
If you win a prize and you're here,
and you are sober enough to walk
over to see Crystal over there,
and you have your ticket stub,
and a driver's license, or any other
photo ID, you can go over
there waving
her arms, and down there for Crystal
to claim your prize.
So we're gonna get started here
pretty quick. We wanna thank all our
sponsors, including our title
sponsor, Mills Fleet Farm.
Sorry, it's Fleet Farm, Fox Valley
Metrology and everybody else.
Thank you guys for coming.
We're gonna have Pat Kelmerton
and Les come on up and
do some
giving away.
Thanks, Pat.
YOU'RE LAYING HEE-
All right, hey, first
and first, boss, welcome.
Well, come on, welcome!
Alright,
so obviously this year is a little
different right without the fishing
and everything else safety was
number one concern we're
all here having a good time beers
going crazy just keep drinking let's
have some fun right
little thing about the
the raffles here with the fishing
raffle it's going to be a little bit
different than normal right so
usually the fishing raffle is
kind of staggered all over
the place.
The way that this is gonna be,
because this is a raffle coming
through and a drawing raffle,
we have to go by the price
of the value of the
prize, right?
So the first couple are gonna be all
the big ones.
So everybody is going to be
included. Everybody is in the
bucket. Everybody has the same
chance.
We are going to go from the
highest value to the lowest
value, right?
But there isn't really any low
value. Every one of these prizes are
fantastic.
All of our sponsors stepped up.
Everybody, everything
is good, right?
So with that being said,
Battle on Bagel, final raffle prize
list of the 2026,
we are going to get rolling.
The very first prize of
this with everybody in this bucket,
which we appreciate everybody's
patience and everything else coming
through, I'm not quite sure
who wants to win
a truck.
That was pathetic!
Who wants to win
a 20-25?
Four, yeah, two,
one, thank you!
Oh, Yvara!
All right,
2025 for an F-150 or
$50,000 cash,
who can use that?
You
Alright, well let's find out
who is going
to go home with
a choice of a 2025 Ford
F-150 or
$50,000
cash!
Oh, the suspense is killing me!
Anybody need another beer before we
do this?
Yeah! Alright, we'll wait a little
bit. Go ahead.
Prize number one,
2025 Ford
F-150
or $50,000
cash.
Jeff!
MILKY!
Jeff Bilkey, are you here, Jeff
Bilke?
That's right there.
Jeff Milken from Appleton,
Wisconsin.
You have a big choice, my friend.
2025 Ford F-150,
$50,000 cash.
Congratulations, Jeff.
Let's go!
Oh, we got a little bit, come on
buddy, come ooooon!
2026, number one prize winner.
What do you think, boss?
Un-fucking-believable.
Congratulations, buddy.
All right, we're going to keep this
ball rolling.
Congratulations. Not to take
anything away from that, right?
Congratulations.
But I'm not
quite sure if you see this prize
list or not, but you know what
number two is?
Congratulations!
17-75,
Lund Impact!
Mercury 150!
17-70, LUND Impact
with Mercury 150.
That's a sign.
There we go!
Again, we're going to be coming
down through the top prizes so
everybody's in there.
Here we go.
I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!
Not quite sure who
wants to go fishing
this summer.
But I tell you what, if there's
a germy...
I just did it on purpose.
Alright, here we go, Jeremy!
Jeremy Buck from Jackson,
Wisconsin, you are going
to be floating around in
a 1775 Lund
impact, congratulations!
I like beer, by the way,
just throwing it out there,
just in case you guys
didn't know, I do like beer.
Alright, $10,000
cash!
You guys are not very good at
writing.
Alright, Nash.
Nash, you're going to have to go
back to school on writing, man.
Nash Herbst.
Nash Herbest.
$7,000 cash.
Congratulations, Nash!
A couple more of the kids
might be up here.
All right, so.
Okay, well, Kansas White
Town, do you like the heart
of the CMS White
Town?
John Brewer from
Arsene, Wisconsin, you are the
winner.
He has won a Whitetail E-Rykel
on, a TNF Whitetails.
Okay, number six, another whitetail,
G. Archie Hunt with CNS
whitetails.
That's it.
Oh, yeah.
Congratulations, Bob.
Okay, number eight
is another three-day
waterfall, a hundred and two,
against the CNS Whitetails.
And this goes to...
Damien Beck.
OK, up next are Turkey Hunts.
We have two of them.
Kansas Turkey Hunt for two from
CNS Light Tales.
Anybody want it?
All right, Tom
Zunker from Eagle, Wisconsin.
You just won a grand prize.
Oh yeah, Tom.
All right, we got a lot of augers to
give away.
So we have a Jiffy model,
60 electric, 8 inch auger,
courtesy of Jiffey.
We got about a dozen of them are
gonna give away!
Thank you for everything.
Anthony,
open your word from
Cedar Grove, Wisconsin.
Anthony, Open your
word, something like that.
Cedar grove, Wisconsin
Alright, number 22, another auger.
Brad Hall, you want an 8x jiffy
auger, Brad Hall.
Number 23, we have another
8-inch auger.
Go, J.P.!
Michael Witt.
Michael Wett and Jackson, we want an
auger!
Number 24, you guessed it,
the 8-inch Sparger from Jim.
Step links,
Kavinsky is the last name for Oscar
winning. Thank you.
Jared, Rodgers will be with you.
They got your number.
They'll be able to hold you.
You want an order?
All right, number 25, we have
like four more augers.
Okay, Chris Chesky, new one, an
8-inch auger.
I mean, a lot of holes, bro.