Elk Mound ice fishing team competes in state meet

Not everyone around Elk Mound is aware the school has a club ice fishing team, but for the past two years there not only has been a team, they have competed in the Wisconsin Interscholastic Fishing Association state tournament. Last year’s team with five members was sixth in the meet, and with 10 members this year, they placed 17th of 53 teams.

 Due to poor ice conditions both years, the state meet was the only one the team had a chance to compete in, with this year’s contest being held on Shawano Lake near Shawano. Points are scored by the size of a specific number of panfish and gamefish caught by team members between 7:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m.

Team members included Dakota Bedell, Brandon Redwine, Justin Erpenbach, Blake Rosenthal, Logan Bergh, Jamison Rubenzer, Dylan Curry, Hunter Adleman, Alana Plaszcz and Brook Plaszcz.

“Each of the kids have their own niche in fishing,” coach Todd Adleman said. “The Plaszcz twins have superb tip-up skills, and they caught two northerns and a 17-inch walleye. Dakota Bedell caught his first northern on a tip-up as well as a 22-inch walleye. Hunter Adleman caught the last northern on a jig pole. I took on the base camp with the kids for the tip-up fishing. Ed Bergh, another coach, took a couple of kids in all directions for the panfish, trying to kill two fish with one stone, so to speak. We had a lot of luck, I believe. It was great to see all the kids come together for a cause,” he added.

Tim Lambele originally started the team, according to Adleman, while Bergh and himself are avid anglers who both have kids that love to fish themselves.

“It is something a parent can do with their kids as a sport as well as a life lesson,” he said. “We as parents have a very limited time to spend with our kids until they fly the coop and do their own thing. I have talked to a lot of people regarding this program and all I have heard from them is ‘I wish we had this as a kid’ so I encourage kids to take advantage of it,” he concluded.