A crowded and wintery Lake Ann looked somewhat like a Bruegel painting on Feb. 7, with hundreds of dark, winter-coated festivalgoers foregrounded against a bright white freeze with hundreds of also-dark holes poked down into it.
The scene was the ice fishing contest during Chanhassen’s 33rd Annual February Festival, or FebFest.
One saw sites that would have stretched even Bruegel’s imagination: a select few “Snowga” participants Warrior I-ing and II-ing in puffy winter garb, old and young zipping around on a small rink, two strategically placed fires to warm one’s hands, men and women rushing through the crowd, their hands clutching slippery fish, careful not to slip themselves on their way to the weigh-station.
In addition, there was Jenga, cornhole, steaming burgers and baskets of cheese curds, janky credit card readers that purportedly required awkwardly hand-warming freezing credit cards to read, hoping it would work this time, and it did. There were horse-drawn hayrides, and, to top it off, one four-wheeled concession stand cruising the fishing ground perimeter, hawking ice-cold beer.
Asked whether he was getting any bites on the beer, the concessions driver said, “We are, yes. We’ve got a lot of participants. Mostly hot chocolate though.”
What this says about Minnesotans, to him: “They’re very hearty, and they love their beer.”
In addition to these sights were many sounds. An emcee could be heard, broadcasted across the ice from the DJ booth, self-admittedly and very apologetically “butchering” prize-winners’ last names.
Also, if an attendee stayed for the entirety of the scheduled three-hour event, that attendee would have heard songs from every genre and generation: country, rock, pop, “Surfin’ Bird” by The Trashmen, the Doobie Brothers’ also g-dropped title “Long Train Runnin’”, and “Mr. Brightside” by the Killers, for example.
“Screw this song,” one voice said that could be picked out among a group of young festivalgoers. “It’s so overplayed.”
The central feature of Chan’s FebFest was, as always, its ice-fishing contest. Thousands of dollars in competition prizes would be awarded for the 50 biggest catches of the day. (And thousands more dollars in door prizes would be awarded to a lucky 50 for nothing but walking through the nominal door.)
Mike Mevissen, for example, a FebFest first-timer, walked away with first-prize in the ice fishing contest and a new Vexilar FLX-18 Pro Pack II Fishing System.
Todd Carlson, who was recognized during the award ceremony as a local legend, earned second-prize and the Strikemaster Lithium 24V Ice Auger that was used to drill the contest holes.
Third, Luis Barberena, who lives in Chaska but is from Nicaragua, took third, leaving with a Kenal XT Thermal Fish House.
Barberena was, at one moment during the contest, one of those who could be seen running, big fish in hand, to the weigh-station, landing himself high up on the leaderboard.
“It feels amazing,” Barberena said, moments after his third-place fish was measured and weighed. “I almost moved from the hole I’m at, but my friend over here said to stay! And there you go!”
What special tricks Barberena brought to the contest? “Just patience.”
The City of Chanhassen and civic organizations must be recognized, of course, for enabling this one-of-a-kind winter event. The Chanhassen Lions Club took responsibility as the official fishing contest marshals. The Chanhassen Rotary Club provided concessions, hot and cold. The Riley Purgatory Bluff Creek Watershed District hosted an information tent, with snowshoes available for those who wished to have a go. And Chanhassen’s Boy Scout Troop 330 sold bait and s’mores stuff, pre-snapped roasting sticks included.
The neighborly spirit that pervaded this year’s FebFest was plainly stated in the ice fishing contest’s few rules: Fish must be alive to be eligible, catch-and-release per DNR regulations, and, emphatically, only fish YOU catch are eligible. No sharing fish!
How’s that for Minnesota nice?
