6th Annual Carp Festival Committee Report

The 6th Annual Pardeeville Carp Festival was once again a great success. There were many events that contributed to that success. One of the main ones was the Pardeeville Lion’s Club Catfish Fry held as the kickoff to a fun weekend. If you attended, you’ll know what I’m talking about. It was delicious and very reasonable. There were antique cars on display that were enjoyed by many as they finished eating.

During the Catfish Fry the Bow Fishermen were registering their boats and preparing to start fishing at 8:00 PM. This year we had 9 boats participating. They were able to harvest 153 Carp and several other rough fish. They didn’t harvest as many fish or the largest fish as the hook-n-line fishermen did, but they did harvest the smallest. Louis Holms harvested a 4” carp with a bow and arrow. The next day, Saturday, everyone was out in force. We could see tents or awnings in various places around the lake where people were fishing.

Another fun event was the awarding of the prizes. Our merchants and businesses were very generous in their contributions and we on the Carp Fest committee thank them for that. We would also like to thank the Pardeeville Lakes Management District for their offer of $1.00 bounty for each carp turned in. This played a huge part in helping us reach our goal of removing as many carp as possible from our lake. People were forming teams and competing for the prizes. One team even had t-shirts that had “Team Lantern Lodge” emblazoned across the back and “Pardeeville” across the front. As a team they harvested 136 fish and walked away with first prize for the most fish caught with hook-n-line. Mike Rabuck held first place on the Leader Board for a long time with his fish that were harvested from Spring Lake, but was finally overtaken by “Team Lantern Lodge” at the end. The team of Luger/Solis came in third but harvested the largest fish, a 34’ lunker from Park Lake. Two bicycles were donated by Bob Wentworth.

We decided to create a 7 to 9 year age category and give one away each day to someone between the age of 7 to 9 years old. Saturday, Ryan Fenske, 7 years old, turned in a 29 7/8 inch carp and Sunday, Tommy Swenson, 7 years old, turned in a 16 inch carp. They appeared to be very happy with their bikes. By the time registration closed on Sunday, a grand total of 700 carp were harvested.

I would like to express my appreciation and heartfelt thanks to everyone who was able to volunteer and help make this a fun and worthwhile event. It’s great to know that there are so many people in a community that are willing to work to make an event like this both fun and productive. Respectfully submitted,

Don Spence, Carp Festival Committee Chairman