2010 Fishing Contest Final Results

The Final Results are in for our year long 2010 Fishing Contest.

All Oak Haven Guests qualify. It costs nothing to enter. We track the year's "Top Ten" of nine different species. Our contest is by length, not weight. We encourage guests to have a digital camera and to take several photographs of big fish (on a measuring devise) and to consider catch and release. All of these fish were either measured by myself or a clear photo was accepted.

We have now completed three consecutive years of tracking our guests fishing success.

WALLEYE: After finishing 2nd in 2009 with a 28 inch Walleye, Eddie Houi of Rockford, IL. came back to win the 2010 Walleye Championship with a nice 28 1/2 incher. As you might expect, Eddie is a popular guy in our brochure! Mike Hoffman was 2nd at 27 1/2 inches. Our Top Five Walleyes landed in 2010 were all 27 inches or longer. (Eddie's 28 1/2 incher ties Dave Lemke's 2008 Lunker as the biggest Walleye in our contest's three years)

CRAPPIE: Steve Blakstad of St. Paul won the 2010 Giant Crappie Contest with a 14 incher. Tammy Moore and Dave Beber finished tied for 2nd at 13 3/4 inches. Our Top Ten Crappies were all over 13 inches. (Our largest Crappie in three years of this contest was landed by Duane Weaver...a 14 1/2 incher in 2008)

PIKE: Jeri Walling of Omaha landed our Big Pike of the year at 34 inches. The fish was netted by her Husband Charlie. Second place went to Walt Okerlund of Cedar Rapids, IA. at 32 1/4 inches. Jeri's Pike and Walt's Pike can both be seen in our new brochure. (Our three year record belongs to Koby Lund with his 41 1/2 inch Monster Pike that he landed in 2009)

MUSKIE: Seth Hoeppner had never been to Oak Haven before 2010. He came here from Cedar Rapids with his Dad, Roger to do some Largemouth Bass Fishing. Seth's Bass lure was inhaled by a 44 1/2 inch Muskie....his first Muskie ever. Our second place Muskie was a beautiful 41 incher landed by Kevin Daas from Hugo, MN. "Hoss" can now enjoy this fish even more as it adorns the cover of our new brochure. Seth's Monster can be found just inside the brochure. Todd Schumacher landed a 36 inch Muskie and Juel Wagler landed a 27 1/2 incher. Several smaller Muskie were landed but not reported for the contest. (Mike Hoffman holds our three year record with the 46 inch Muskie he landed in 2008)

LARGEMOUTH BASS: All of our 2010 Top Ten Bass were between 20 inches and 18 1/2 inches. The Top Six were dominated by guys from Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Rick Martens and Roger Hoeppner vacation here together, twice each year. In June, Roger grabbed 1st place with a 20 inch Bass. When they returned in September, Rick landed a 20 incher! So we ended 2010 with a tie for first place. In September, Roger's son Seth landed his 44 1/2 inch Muskie, plus a 19 3/4 inch Largemouth Bass. Our 6th place Bass was landed by Andy Burns, who located a bunch of Bass but had to try different tactics to pull them out. (The Biggest Bass we've seen in our three years running this contest was Ed Hoyle's 20 3/4 incher back in 2008. Rick Martens landed a 20 1/2 that same year.)

ROCK BASS: In July of 2010, Abby Houliston landed the Biggest Rock Bass entered into our contest in three years at 12 1/4 inches. Abby's picture can be seen in our new brochure. Second place went to Aidan Smith at 11 5/8 inches. Third place was a tie between Al Dalziel and Roger Hoeppner at 11 1/2 inches.

BLUEGILL (Includes Sunfish/Pumpkinseed): George LeMay was enjoying a September vacation here with a bunch of his buddies from Eastern Iowa when he landed the biggest Bluegill we've seen in three years. We thought 10 inch Bluegills were impressive. George's 10 5/8 incher was a beauty. In August Lisa Balagot landed the 2nd biggest we've seen in 3 years, a very nice 10 3/8 incher.

PERCH: Again, the biggest we've seen in three years was landed in 2010. Bruce Moore and his Wife Laura visit from Creve Coeur, Illinois. In late July Bruce brought in a 12 3/4 inch Perch. Second place was a 4-way tie at 12 inches.

BULLHEAD: J.P. Nixon vacationed here in late June and took the lead with a 14 inch Bullhead. But he has to share that 1st place title with Bruce Moore....who landed a 14 incher in July. Don Weaver landed a 13 3/4 inch Bullhead...Larry Brockhon and Eve Dobson each landed a 13 1/2 incher. (The biggest Bullhead we've seen in three years was landed by Mike Hoffman of Rockford, IL. in 2009....a Monster 16 incher!)

Our newest brochures were printed in early December 2010. It shows 64 pictures of our guests in 2010. (Don't be fooled by brochures with ten year old pictures) If you want us to mail you a brochure, just give us a call.

Our Fishing Contest is a lot of work and it's not for money. But it certainly does one thing...it allows our guests to remember; they can land a 1st place fish...on the last day...on the last bite.

One of my favorite comments by our guests is...."Mike, I need you to measure a fish."