Catch Big Fish and Big Prizes at the Ice Fishing Challenge

Here in Minnesota we embrace the winter. It holds lots of beauty along with providing plenty of outdoor recreation and fun. Luckily for the Alexandria area there are things to enjoy both inside and outside. There are countless ways to enjoy the outdoors, like snowshoeing, cross country skiing, snowmobiling and downhill snowboarding/skiing (find info on all the winter activities here). To seek some fun indoors you may want to try an afternoon at the award winning Carlos Creek Winery, bowling and arcade at Garden Center Lanes, some shopping at the Viking Plaza Mall or Downtown Shops, or a delicious meal at one of our many restaurants. However, with 351 lakes in Douglas County alone, it’s no secret that ice fishing is excellent here! Ice fishing is in full swing in the Alexandria area and many anglers have already had lots a good luck on the ice. Coming up soon, with the Sertoma Ice Fishing Challenge on January 31^st, you can have luck hooking a good fish and hooking a huge prize in the process!

The Sertoma Ice Fishing Challenge is in its 15^th year and is known for the GREAT prizes that competing anglers can win. As many anglers know, there is much pleasure in getting out in the great outdoors and catching fish. Just being outside is reason enough to plan a fishing trip, and simply just catching a fish is enough of a prize for the efforts. However, with the Ice Fishing Challenge, there are 50 prizes up for grabs for the 50 heaviest fish. Species of the fish doesn’t matter. How good are the prizes? There are too many to list, but take a look at some of the big ones below:

 

 

A total of over $35,000 worth of cash and prizes will be given out! If that isn’t enough, there is also a raffle that will hand out over $9,000 in cash! The raffle tickets can be purchased for $5 each at the event, from a Sertoma member or a few days prior at Christopherson’s Bait Shop in Alexandria. You do not have to be present to win the raffle, which will be drawn around 3pm on January 31^st. At this point you may be asking how to sign up and register for this event, right? It’s easy! Tickets can be purchased ahead of time for $35 per participant at the website, Christopherson’s Bait or Elden’s Food Fair. If you wait until the day of the tournament the tickets are $40 and can be purchased at the event beginning at 8am. For a complete list of prizes and to register, visit their website.

On top of all those great prizes, Explore Alexandria Tourism will also give out four $25 gift certificates for Downtown to 4 lucky people who share their photos on social media using the hashtag #ExploreAlex. Whether you post it on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, use #ExploreAlex and we will find it and put your name in the drawing! Plus, there will be free wifi available on site from Gardonville so sharing your photos will be super easy!

 

 

This will certainly be a great weekend to visit Alexandria! Also going on that weekend is The Winter Spectacular snowmobile races. This is another very exciting event to attend, so check out our blog about it for more information. Book your lodging soon for this busy weekend, and see you on the ice!