02/13/13 On Sunday, February 10th twenty-one teams from Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin, made their way across the ice on the south end of Lake Maxinkuckee in Culver to attempt to catch 8 large bluegills and 8 large crappies. At 1:00 the teams brought their fish to the shore where they were placed in 5-gallon buckets and tagged with the teams contest number and loaded in a trailer and hauled to the Culver Vandalia Depot where they were weighed and recorded. The largest fish was caught by the team of Brandon Newby and Ryan Wilson with a Crappie that weighed 1.02 lbs. and their 11 fish weighed 4.65 lbs., enough to be declared the winners of the North American Ice Fishing Circuit Qualifying tournament.
Despite a lack of “good ice” the NAIFC Qualifying ice fishing tournament was a success.
Twenty-one teams and several local fishermen filled the banquet room Friday evening at Lakeshore Grille as Brandon Newby and Ryan Wilson, 2012 National Champions along with two other pro’s discussed scouting a lake, baits and different rods and spring bobbers.
Saturday morning found the Culver Beach Lodge overflowing as the Cabela’s Kids Camp provided ice fishing instruction for the kids. Jack Baker, President of the NAIFC stressed that safety was the #1 priority when it comes to ice fishing. Jack emphasized that kids should never go on the ice without an adult. Jack and his daughter Greta then discussed baits and technique. Since the ice was not safe for the kids to go on, several of the pros were on hand to work with the kids using jigging cylinders. At the conclusion of the camp over 150 ice rods courtesy of HT Enterprises were given to the kids.
The event was sponsored by the Culver Chamber of Commerce and Marshall County Tourism.
