Somerset Youth Athletic Association

February 26th Somerset, WI The 2011 7^th annual Bass Lake Ice Fishing Contest is now one for the history books. The day was quite chilly for the end of February with a high of just 8 degrees and continuous snow, but not chilly enough to stop the 1400 anglers who all had their eyes on the grand prize, the 2010 Dodge Ram 1500 4x4 Pick up.  As is always the case when a high pressure ridge brings in a drastic cold front the ice fishing proved challenging, at 3:00 when the final horn sounded only 70 fish had been registered in the adult division and the big ones eluded all.  The largest fish of the day was a mere .64 pound perch caught by William Booth of Rochester, MN yet it was big enough to win him the truck!  For the rest of his life MR. Booth will have a fish tale that few people will ever believe.  The unusual challenges of this year’s contest were numerous starting with the closing of the lakes only public landing by the Wisconsin DNR which resulted in all contestants having to park offsite and be shuttled to the lake.  Upon inspection on Friday morning it was revealed that at 2” the ice at the landing was still unsafe for the contestants to traverse so a 30’ wooden bridge was designed and built in place over the thin ice.  Contestants came from throughout the Midwest but also from places as far away as New Mexico, Saudi Arabia and even New Zealand. All in all it was another great contest the brats were hot, the beer was cold, and the prizes were many.  The Somerset Youth Athletic Association would like to thank all of the volunteers, contestants and sponsors who made this year’s contest a huge success. For more information visit www.basslakecontest.com.

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