Big Brothers Big Sisters Jig-It icefishing events

[bassman72]

One fish was caught at the Escanaba Jig It today. It was a perch that was 4.5 or 4.6 oz.

[IM MuskyTime]

Bummer to hear the action was slow in Esky. Regardless, I'm sure many of the people had a great time and they were definitely supporting a good cause.

We had great results as far as the amount of action at the inaugural event here in Iron Mountain. Literally hundreds of fish were caught and the leader board was moving constantly throughout the 3 hour tournament window. Looking forward to next year and hoping to build on what we put together this year. 1st place winner was Bradley Osterman of Norway. Thanks to everyone who came out, and thanks again to Chris and the other sponsors who helped us get the word out on Jig It!

---Benji

[breeze]

Sounds like I will end up going to Iron mountain next year.The location it was held in Escanaba at the Marina is not my idea of very well place to hold a tournament.I am sure a lot of us feel the same way.

[Swamp Rat]

Does anyone know what size fish won the Iron Mountain Jig-it tournament?

[IM MuskyTime]

Yep, sorry, probably should have posted that. The winner was a perch about 8 oz. caught by Bradley Osterman of Norway. There were several pike and bass caught as well, but the pike were just short and the bass are obviously out of season and couldn't be registered. There are some nice pike in the lake and I was surprised we didn't get any legals registered. As I was walking around, I did see one lost at the hole that may have taken the money.

No trophies, but it's definitely an action lake for perch at this point. (We are in the first year of our walleye restocking program, so hopefully they will be able to make an impact because there is definitely a predator shortage and the lake is extremely popular year round.) The great news for us was that the action was fast and furious, as I expected it to be in the area we set up. Made for a lot of fun sorting through all the fish and the kids had a great time in their area as well.

As far as the Escanaba event, I wouldn't get discouraged with the tournament. I'm not a part of organizing that event, but I worked with the organizers for ours, and I'm sure they will make adjustments (location, etc.) to make sure people enjoy themselves. They tried something different and it just didn't go as planned this year. Regardless, there were 30-40 prizes handed out ranging from the $3,000 first place check to gift certificates, etc., and none of the prizes are junk or trinkets. I hope the people who were disappointed in the fish catching results of this year's Esky Jig It will continue to support the event next year. I'm sure it will improve and that payout is hard to beat in a winter fishing tournament.