I Competed in The World's Largest Ice Fishing Competition with No Experience

Thousands of people gather every year to compete in the world's largest ice fishing competition in a little place called Minnesota. Minnesota. Oh yeah, don't you know. We sure love it when it's cold. They gather with a simple goal, catch the biggest fish and take home the top prize, a brand new pickup truck.

But what if there's someone among them who has actually never ice fished before, and in fact, has never even fished at all? Maybe this person has always wondered what the appeal of ice fishing is, and why anyone would choose to sit out on a frozen lake in brutally cold conditions just to go fishing. How would this outsider fare against locals who have been ice fishing their whole lives? Would this person be out of his mind to think that he has any real shot at catching the winning fish?

Who is this person, you ask? It's me, and I'm about to find out. Okay, so I just touched down in Minnesota. I have 48 hours until the competition. Here's everything I know so far. The competition is on a lake in Brainerd, Minnesota, a couple hours north of Minneapolis. About 10,000 anglers from all over the country come to compete in this event. Prizes are determined on the weight of the fish, and it goes out to the top 150 competitors. And these aren't small prizes we're talking about here.

The top winner gets a brand new truck. Two years ago, a 13-year-old took home the grand prize, couldn't even drive it home himself. So, guess what? Anything can happen. But before I catch the biggest fish, I literally need to learn to catch a fish. So, I have 12 hours to go from complete beginner to competition ready.

Okay, we just walked out on a frozen lake. This is my first time ever on a frozen lake. The goal today is to just catch something. I hear that there's some sunfish under here, and we just got to catch one. I, of course, had no idea what I was doing. Fortunately, I had a guide, my cameraman Simon's savvy 15-year-old brother. He was more than happy to show me the ropes. Side note, he's also the reason we have all this sick drone footage, so shout out to him.

So, this is a handheld ice auger. You want to make sure the hand that is on the top stays steady so that you drill a straight hole, and then basically you spin that bottom one. There we go. Now, I got to get back out, huh? Oh, yeah. Look at that. That is one down.

Wait, there is more? Yeah, we got to draw multiple to check the depth in different spots. I thought it was one and done, dude. I thought it was one. So, by the way, they do make gas and electric power doggers, but we intentionally got you the old-fashioned hand power dog. Bring it in, bring it in. I'm a purist, okay? I don't play around with that minor technology. I want to get to the core of the sport.

Update, we drilled three holes. I am not going to lie, that is exhausting. I get why. Modern technology. Tom is going to be buying the electric auger soon. Yeah, I forget what I said about the purest stuff. Go electric, I am done. Oh my gosh. Okay, I want to check our depth. What are we looking at here? We got a little cylinder device that tells us our depth. And a little bit about what the bottom is looking like. So, why do you do this?

You want to fish at certain depths for sunfish. Okay. What depth are you trying to hit? I'm hoping for like 11, 12 feet. Okay. After checking our depth, we picked out the hole we wanted, and then it was on to setting up the ice house.

Ooh. Camo, come on now. Oh, this thing. Should I hold this middle part up? Oh, okay. So, we had the holes drilled, the ice house set up, and now it was time to get cozy in the house and catch some fish.

Come on in. That's right, yeah. Yeah, no wonder the drilling was so hard. Dang, bro. Look how deep. Yeah, that is pretty, a lot of ice. Okay, we are in the ice house. Time to bait up axe worms.

Is this your first time putting bait on a hook, or something like that? Yeah, I am almost a little bit embarrassed to admit that, but yeah, I think this is the first time I have ever baited a hook. So, what is a wax worm?

Um, it is just a different type of worm. Why wax? Because I have done, like, worms that I have just dug up. Those are just night crawlers. Okay. What do you think? Alright, and then you just drop it in? Drop it in, that is right.

Alright, where to fish at? Where the fish at? All right, how deep do you want it to go? So, right now, the thing is in your bowl, so you'll be able to see your line as your thing as it goes down. Right. So, you want it to be like six inches off the bottom. Let it down further. So, the red, or is the red the bottom? That is, that's beyond the bottom. Right here is the bottom. Okay, now. Right here? Yep, so bring it a little bit above that.

And now, you want to just do slight movements. Okay. There you are. See that little yellow line? Okay. The last step for ice fishing, wait and see if I catch a fish. Here we go. I'm catching a fish.

Tom needs to catch a fish. I didn't come out here to not catch a fish, I'll tell you that. So, at this point, I'd flown hundreds of miles. I drilled the holes, I did all the hard work, and I finally dropped my line in the water.

But then it was time to learn the hardest part about fishing. Patience. What's the usual amount of time you wait? How long does it take? After waiting a long time with no action, we decided to move to a different set of holes we had drilled in hopes of some better luck.

I think this is the spot. So, we've been out on the first lake for two hours now. Very little action. Tom is asleep, or at least nearly there. Things are not looking good. Wake up, wake up, wake up. And then I'll cut to when you catch a fish. That's actually not all that matters. Wait a second, wait a second. It's still on, I think. Yes, it's still on. Come on, come on, come on. Yeah! Let's go, yes!

Yes! Put it really close to the camera so it looks huge, dude. On the scale. Ow! Ow! Stab me. Shoot, boy. Okay. Oh, yes. First first. Thank you, buddy. Give him two kisses. Love you, my boy. Be free. Oh!

Now you know what it feels like. I am not going to lie. It is kind of a rush. I know. That is kind of a rush. I get it. Now he gets it. I think I get it. I think I am ready. Look at me, so full of joy, so full of confidence, holding my very first fish. Depending on how close you hold to the camera, it's pretty big. But I'm going to need a fish a lot bigger than that to win this competition.

What I really have my sights set on is some walleye, and for that, I need a bigger lake. I already ran a bigger lake. Time to take it to the next level. Time to catch some walleye. If I had to guess, we're probably talking negative 10 right now.

I didn't think time across America would be this cold. We're at undisclosed large lake location. We are now going after the real prize, walleye. It is what we are going to be fishing for tomorrow when I win my truck.

We are fishing for dinner tonight, so if we catch some good stuff, we are going to eat it. Now that I have caught one fish, I am hooked. You are an ice fisherman now. I think I am officially an ice fisherman. Yeah, that makes you an ice fisherman. You catch one fish, I did it.

I think I had a little nibble. So, we settled back in the ice house to continue my training for the big day tomorrow. We were on a new lake with the hopes of catching some bigger fish. Oh, I thought I got a bite. I thought I had a bite.

Now, you might be sensing a recurring theme here. Ice fishing requires a lot of patience. And I'll admit, after not catching anything for a while, I did get a little bit distracted. Thank you. I'm going to take a quick sunset laugh. I'll be back for the fish.

Tom, what are you doing? This is a fishing video. How are you getting distracted like this? We have to catch dinner. I am out of here. Get back to fishing. Alright, we will get back to work. Alright, here we go. The walleye are asking for me now. We are good. We just have to lock in. Alright, playtime is over. It is time to catch some fish.

So, the fun was over. It was time to get back to the task at hand. Oh, gosh, dude. Desperation hours. Desperation hours. The sun is setting. We have caught nothing on the big lake. You caught one on the small lake. One on the small lake. A little baby bluegill.

Okay, hey, don't insult my fish. Please? It is my first. You are a respectably sized bluegill. Thank you. I thought it was respectable. And we came out here to try to catch some walleye. Yep. We are trying to catch dinner and... No action so far.

Might leave hungry. How do you feel about tomorrow, Tom? Well, you know... Maybe we're getting too big for our britches after the first one, because we're like, oh, dude, I got this thing. We caught it. Now we're out here to the big boy lake. Nothing. I feel like that's just kind of the ebb and flow of the ice fishing life. There's probably a deeper lesson in there somewhere about patience. You have highs and lows.

Valleys and mountains. Everybody loves an underdog story. That's right. And we have a big one, because I have literally never fished before today. No one can say we didn't try, okay? We tried to get dinner, it didn't work.

So, who knows for tomorrow? I can't believe how beautiful Minnesota is. You look up at the moon. It's like breathtaking being on this lake. Unfortunately, we had no luck and went home empty-handed. My hope was we were simply saving all our luck for the next day.

The day had finally arrived. It was magical. It was like a small city on the ice. My competitive spirit compelled me to seek out advice on how to snag the prize-winning fish. So naturally, I started bugging the locals. Alright, I'm here. What's your name, sir? Austin. Okay, Austin. You've been drilling these holes? Oh, yeah. How long have you been drilling holes for? Since about seven. Here's the deal. I fished for the first time ever. Oh, okay. I caught a bluegill not to brag.

So, I need some tips. What are the tips today for me to score a fish? I'd put minnows. I'd probably go right under the dorsal. Just find the bottom and go maybe two feet, three feet off the bottom. I need your tips. How can I catch a fish today? How do I succeed?

Patience. Once you get one, run. Run. Just always run. Do you have any tips for me to succeed in this tournament? You've got to put your line in the water. Line in the water? Yep. Patience? No. No patience? Just beer. Just beer. Okay. What do you love about Minnesota? This. Ice fishing. It's my thing, yeah. Do you have any tips for me? Bait is interesting around here. Ask everybody what they use for bait, because I've heard about roast beef sandwiches and hot dogs and all sorts of crazy things around here.

You're in this competition. I'm sorry, glizzies for bait? Like, am I being played right now? Turns out, this is actually a real thing. This is Sheena Ziegler. She's in charge of a small army of volunteers that make this event possible. I'm here with Sheena Ziegler, and you are responsible for this event, is that correct? This year, I am, yeah. How many years have you been involved? This will be my 14th year. We are the largest charitable ice fishing contest in the world.

We have a main benefactor, which is Confidence Learning Center. It's an outdoor recreational camp that provides opportunities for children and adults that have cognitive and physical disabilities. And they get to experience outdoors like you and I do. So, actually, I work there, oddly enough. And we get to take them tubing and rock climbing and zip lining and fishing and all of the great things that we all get to enjoy outdoors without any limitations.

After learning more about the charitable aspect of the event, I felt especially glad to be a part of it. But now competition time was nearly upon us, and it was time to lock in. Okay, so the competition starts in 15 minutes. We've got our hole prepared. We're going to throw some bait on there, drop it in 15 minutes. Cannon's going to go off, and it's fish on. I feel pretty good. I think we're going to get something, but we'll see.

It was not a big one. They said they could have given me a bigger one. That's the winner bait right there. That's the one. That's the one. That's the truck. Nice. Then, the national anthem played, the cannon was fired, and it was time to start fishing. So, the competition was officially underway, and within minutes, people around us started catching fish.

Right, anything is possible. While I tried to catch a fish of my own, cameraman Simon went to the weigh-in tent to capture the excitement and chaos. If you're lucky enough to catch a fish, you put it in a bag or bucket, you run it over to the weigh-in tent, it gets weighed and registered, and then live released back into the wild.

Chilly excitement started to die down, and the cold settled in. No action for me so far. Having a little mid-competition chilly break. How are you feeling so far? I feel cold. Yeah. You cool down pretty quick when you're not moving. I believe in you, Tom.

Anything can happen. Anything can happen. With about 20 minutes left in the competition, something strange happened. I reeled in my line and realized my entire hook was gone. How did that happen? Earlier, I remember being told that northern pike have extremely sharp teeth and can actually bite right through your line.

I started asking myself, had I just missed the truck winning fish? Well, with only minutes remaining, I quickly dropped down another line in case that fish was still lingering beneath the ice. Five minutes left, let's go. I spent my whole life on a lake, frozen and non-frozen. Who taught you how to fish for the first time?

Well, he just walked in here, my dad. He taught me how to fish. It is family bonding time. It is really just a great experience to connect and have fun together. Who taught you how to ice fish? My dad. What does that relationship mean to you? The world.

To me, it brings people together. It brings family together, making memories. Lots of stories get told about that one fish we caught that one time. Who taught you how to fish? My daughter. Your daughter's on stage? Yes. She's in the tournaments, and she does it through the school, and so she's highly educated, and so I learned from her. What does that relationship mean, doing it with your family, that kind of culture?

It's everything. That's what the Minnesota life is all about. So, how long has your family been a part of this event? Well, my dad chaired it in 1998, and he was a large part of the event for close to 20 years. My mom as well, and now it's passed down to me, and this is my second year on the committee. What was the original answer? Just to bring the whole community together and share the love for ice fishing that we all have.

It is nice to see all the money goes to non-profits and good things, and it is good to see how many volunteers and how many people really come out here just to kind of give back a little. My organization, we are a camp for people with disabilities, and I mean, all of these people show up just to come and help. I mean, that is awesome. When you fish in a competition, you typically see somebody look at you and be like, oh, come on, why can't I catch a fish?

Here, everybody cheers everybody on. When you catch a fish, and the whole crowd uproars and cheers you on as you're running into the weigh-in tent, there's nothing like it. It's absolutely incredible. As time was running out, it started to become apparent that I wasn't going to catch a fish.

But with less than five minutes left, I looked over to see two young girls sprinting towards the weigh-in tent with a massive fish. Oh, yeah, look at that thing. And just as promised, the entire crowd, many of whom had not caught anything, began cheering with excitement for these young anglers. That's a buzzer beard.

And maybe that was kind of the point. Sometimes, you don't catch anything, but there is a thick camaraderie in the air between Minnesotans. They embrace the cold, it unites them, and they refuse to let it stop them from having a good time out in a frozen lake. This strange sport fills their family time and creates lasting tales and memories that they cherish for years. And if you're crazy enough, they are happy to share it with you, too.