Wintercade Ice Fishing Contest

The 15th annual Wintercade Ice Fishing Contest is coming up on February 8th on Lake Ripley in Litchfield. The 1500 twenty-dollar tickets have already been selling quickly.

Daniel Lease says they ran out of tickets last year around January 1st, so you will want to find a Wintercade Committee member or stop in to the American Legion, Muddy Cow or Running’s soon and purchase your ticket. He says the event helped them raise $19,000 last year and over the first 14 years, they’ve raised over $172,000 with half of that going to veterans organizations and half to other organizations, and they get feedback regarding what groups could benefit from the funds they raise.

Lease says they would like to thank all of their sponsors, many of whom donate the more than $8,000 worth of door prizes that are given away during the contest, and the Fire Dept. which sets up a concession stand on Lake Ripley on February 8th. He says they will not be having the remote locations for the contest this year – it will all be held at Lake Ripley, and they will be awarding cash prizes for several categories of fish, including $100 for the 15th perch that is caught.

James Mickelson says the ice is already about a foot thick on Lake Ripley and they get help from the football team and wrestling club with drilling the holes for the contest and from the Boy Scouts who help clean up afterwards. He says your $20 ticket qualifies you for the drawing of several cash prizes, and for the top prize which is a Bobcat UTV from Farm Rite Equipment of Dassel.

Mickelson says commemorative Wintercade t-shirts will be available for sale beginning this Thursday at the American Legion in Litchfield for $20. For more Wintercade details, find their page on Facebook.