March 25th 2023 was certainly one of the coldest ice bowls in club history. Morning temps of 12 above with a breeze straight out of the North made very cold conditions. Nonetheless 14 hardcore bass fisherman showed up to have a little fun for our annual Ice Bowl derby on Lake Nelson. The field included 5 teams who competed from a boat and 2 teams fishing from the bank. Thankfully Lake Nelson provided good fishing for both groups!

Taking home top honors were Colton Blomberg and John Lancaster whose best 5 bass totaled 88 inches, they also took biggest bass honors with a 20.25 inch beauty! Taking home second place and doing it all by fishing from the confinements of the shores of Lake Nelson was team James and Brayden Francis of Minot with a total length of 76.75 inches with a 17.5 inch bass anchoring their best 5. Coming in with a very close 3rd place finish that boasted a 75.5 inch limit of 5 was Matt Schnieder and Matt Rose.

During the “spill the beans” portion of our event the top 3 winners shared what they caught their fish on. Bass were caught early on crankbaits and then as the tournament went on the bass seemed to prefer something small like a ned rig with a very precise finesse presentation. Listed below are full event standings, see you all at our official season kick off event on April 22nd at Lake Nelson!