After analyzing the numbers, the Park Rapids American Legion concluded that their annual ice fishing derby is not financially viable.
Ron Pierzinski, the Legion’s new commander, and Kasey Krautkremer, the former commander, told the Enterprise that it would be nearly impossible to break even with the joint event.
“The main reason is that the cost of everything is going up so much. To attract people, we have to spend over $150,000 on prizes just to get them in the door,” Krautkremer said. “We don’t want to keep raising the prices for our fishing derby because people don’t want that anyway.”
The Legion ultimately only collects about $1,000, Krautkremer said. “It’s not worth it.”
Krautkremer met with employees of the Park Rapids Chamber of Commerce. After examining the financial situation, they agreed that the derby was not feasible, he said.
“After COVID, all the numbers went up,” Krautkremer continued. Trying to get a pickup truck for the grand prize last year was “crazy. The cost of doing that is insane.”
The fish house is also an expensive reward.
There are fewer and fewer donated fishing and raffle prizes, “because no one has the necessary cash to donate something cool. Everything is in short supply,” he added.
The 2025 Derby would have been the 26th anniversary of the Legion’s involvement.
Pierzinski said, “This is a wonderful thing in the community. There is no doubt about it.”
Very few American Legions in Minnesota sponsor fishing tournaments, he added. “We were the second largest, after Brainerd’s.”
When the Brainerd Jaycees Ice Fishing Extravaganza was postponed for a week, Pierzinski pointed out that it was competing with the Park Rapids Derby.
Big companies are supporting the Brainerd competition, Krautkremer added. “We do everything ourselves with the help of the community.”
The Legion has considered other ideas, but Krautkremer said it would be a big financial risk.
“I know the community always sees the amount of people on the ice and in the Legion, but I don’t think they realize how much money we have to invest to make it all possible – drilling holes, clearing snow, putting up signs. All of those things add up,” he said.
Pierzinski noted that the lack of volunteers has also taken its toll.
“It has to be reasonably profitable,” he concluded.
Enterprise staff researched newspaper archives to find the history of the Park Rapids Community Fishing Tournament.
The very first ice fishing contest in Park Rapids was started by the Lions Club in 1962. It was held on February 4th at Fish Hook Lake. Tickets were $1 each “and included one hole for fishing.”
The thermometer dropped to minus 36 degrees in 1985 when holes were being drilled for the first annual Park Rapids community fishing contest. It would be the first of eight successful derbies hosted by the Park Rapids Eagles Club, which ran the event until 1992.
The ninth and tenth annual Park Rapids Community Fishing Contests in 1993 and 1994 respectively were jointly sponsored by the Park Rapids Jaycees and the Park Rapids Rotary Club.
After a four-year hiatus, the Otto Hendrickson Post 212 of the American Legion again hosted one of Minnesota’s largest fishing contests in 1999. Anglers and lucky ticket holders vied for $110,000 in prizes this year and headed to Fish Hook Lake on February 6. It was the Park Rapids Community Fishing Contest’s eleventh annual event, but the Legion’s first annual derby.
