The Ultimate Learning Experience
Two weeks ago we had the privilege to host the 1st Annual Ultimate Fishing Camp sponsored by Lund Boats and Chase on the Lake. This idea of the Ultimate Fishing Camp became a reality back in August of 2015 with a phone call to Jason Oakes, the director of marketing for Lund Boats. What was once an idea put on paper back in a winter meeting with Jeff, Toby, and myself became a reality when Jason Oakes said, “lets do it!”. It is that moment I realized we had to knock this one out of the park and the to do list of items began to pile up. Lining up pros, creating a schedule, advertising, boat shows, social media, and the list went on and on.
As the winter of 2016 turned into the spring, we began to get more and more participants. The goal of the event was 20, and we didn’t quite make that goal, but we did get 14 for the first event. Everyone who signed up was incredibly eager to rub elbows, talk fishing, and experience three days of fishing with some of the greatest fishing minds in America. We had participants as young as 13 year old young man who just recently caught a 51” and 46” musky on Lake Vermilion before coming to the Ultimate Fishing Camp. As we all found out he was a pretty good “stick”. We also had aspiring tournament anglers, as well as anglers just looking to their level of knowledge and fishing success to the next level.
As the event approached, the anxiety grew to make sure we crossed all of our T’s and dotted all of our I’s. The Lund Pros and Participants were eager to get to Leech Lake, put their Lund Boats in the water, and wet a line.
Guide with attendees and some nice walleyes
This was not just a walleye event, although that dominated much of the discussion, Lund Pros Billy Rosner and Ryan DeChaine covered largemouth bass, pike, and musky. Meanwhile Lund Pros Ted Takasaki, Perry Good, Tony Roach, Scott Glorvigen, Tom Neustrom and Toby Kvalevog all were ready to teach the campers everything they wanted to learn about becoming a better walleye angler.
The 3 days consisted of on the water fishing with assigned Lund Pros in the morning and then the afternoon were on the water seminars where each Lund Pro’s Boat was turned into an interactive on the water and hands on classroom. Topics ranged from power fishing for walleyes, setting up a trolling set up with multiple planer boards, knot tying, tying spinners, fine tuning your electronics to catch more fish, boat control, and much more! What could be taught in a classroom with a powerpoint was transformed into the ultimate hands on learning experience. Throw in a Thursday on the water classroom with Lowrance Electronics, one might say the notebooks of the campers were full of plenty of fishing and mental notes to use when they hopped into their boats back home.
Young Angler heading out bass fishing
The evenings were relaxed and meant for story telling. We kicked off the event with none other than Mr. Walleye Gary Roach. As I listened to Gary speak that evening and tell his stories about how he has seen fishing transformed from his first ever Lund boat and flasher to where we are at today. I could not help but look around the room and realize the impact that Gary has had on the fishing industry, but also each individual in the room. Talk about a great way to start off an event!! The next two evenings were highlighted with stories and Q and A in a round table format. (If you have a Facebook account your can see our replays of the the Q&A Sessions on our LOA Facebook page) Campers had the opportunity to ask the round table of 4 Lund Pros a question about anything. Many laughs were had as well as so many things put into perspective. Many at the event said, the round table featuring Ted Takasaki, Perry Good, Scott Glorvigen, and Tom Neustrom was something that you had to be there, or tune into Facebook to truly appreciate what these four men have done in their careers. It was truly an unbelievable experience.
Throw all of this together with the opportunity for the campers to be in the finest boats on the market. Whether it was the Lund Glass and Aluminum Pro V Models, the Impact, or the 1875 Bass Boat, campers had the opportunity to see the performance and fish ability of these boats. Trust me, Leech Lake showed her angry self on Thursday with winds blowing up to 35mph, and the Lund Boats and anglers stayed drive and were still able to fish.
Mission accomplished with a nice bass!
And you think that was it? I don’t think so. Chase on the Lake knocked it out of the park with incredible lodging, outstanding food, and accommodations all week long. We could not have done this event with Chase on the Lake being a gracious sponsor and event host.
Nearly 10 months of planning went into a one week experience. But as we said our goodbyes on Friday at lunch. The smiles on people’s faces, the hugs and hand shakes, and the testimonials given by the campers and pros at the end of the event made those 10 months all the worthwhile. Any time you put something like this together, there are many move pieces that have to move in sync to make it go smoothly, and as we prepped for the event and worked during the week it was fun to watch everyone enjoying the sport they love! The passion between the Pros and Campers was evident and whatever hurdles that had to be crossed to make this event run smoothly were easily jumped over because of this very thing…the passion for fishing!
The list of thank you's is long but here we go….
Lund Boats and Jason Oakes, Ryan Sproule, and Tony Kolker. We couldn’t have done this without all of your leg work and input.
- Chase on the Lake
- Swansons Bait and Tackle
- Cody Roswick and Berkley
- Rapala
- Gander Mountain
- Reeds Sporting Goods
- Excel Outdoors
- Lowrance Electronics and Dan McGannon and Chris Meyer
Lund Pros
We couldn’t have done it without them sacrificing their time away from guiding, their tournament schedules, and other matters. That list again was
- Ted Takasaki
- Perry Good
- Toby Kvalevog
- Tony Roach
- Ryan DeChaine
- Billy Rosner
- Tom Neustrom
- Scott Glorvigen
- Lindner Media and Productions
- Rawfish Media
Well that is a wrap for the 2016 Ultimate Fishing Camp. We will be working on dates for the 2017 Event. This is going to be something you are not going to want to miss out on or miss telling people about. It is going to fill up fast this next year. The Ultimate Fishing Camp you might say was truly the Ultimate Fishing and Learning Experience!
