Minnesota Bound Crappie Contest nets 1.23-pounder on Lake Minnetonka

Blue skies, light winds and hungry fish greeted more than 2,000 anglers Saturday on Lake Minnetonka, where about 1,800 crappies were weighed by anglers competing in the annual Minnesota Bound Crappie Contest. ¶ "It seemed everyone caught crappies," said Minnesota Bound television host Ron Schara. ¶ Top prize — a Tracker boat and trailer rigged with a 25-horsepower Mercury outboard — was awarded to Richard Kalgren of Chanhassen. Kalgren was first to register a .82-pound crappie, a fish that hit the scale at the contest's exact preselected "secret weight." ¶ A second fish weighing the winning poundage, or fraction thereof, also was registered. But Kalgren's was first to be weighed and was declared the winner. ¶ The biggest crappie of the day was caught by Chris Maas of Maple Grove. He hooked a 1.23-pound whopper on a wax worm in just 1.5 feet of water. ¶ "The fish was in the shadiest place it could find, between a dock and a boat," Maas said. ¶ The Junior Division champion was Tysen Soto of Carver, who landed a 1.21-pound crappie. ¶ Contest hours were 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. The headquarters was Lord Fletcher's Old Lake Lodge on Lake Minnetonka.

Dennis Anderson