Memories Made Guide Services First Crappie Tournament Benefiting Healing Patriots
On April 22, 2017 Memories Made Guide Service (MMGS) based out of Apple Valley, MN held their first Crappie Fishing
Tournament on Lake Minnetonka. They sold out field of twenty boats, 40 anglers came out for a picture perfect day of fishing to help raise money for the newly established nonprofit organization called Healing Patriots. Anglers congregated on the boat docks of Lord Fletchers Old Lake Lodge in Spring, MN to register and recieve a small gift bag prior to the tournament start time of 7:00 am.
Mike Ferrell of Memories Made Guide Service passing out swag bags for the anglers before the tournament begins.
The owners and operators of MMGS Mike Ferrell and Alie Witthans stated the tournament sold all the available spots in just a week from announcing the tournament. Mike Ferrell states, “At first, the tournament was going to be a friendly competition with fellow industry anglers. After our invitation to be involved with Healing Patriots, we switched gears and had a quality purpose to raise funding for our organization. The tournament was a total success. It was small, but the quality was astonishing. We are planning our 2nd Annual Crappie tournament for Healing Patriots in 2018.”
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Prayer before the tournament begins.
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Mike and Alie waiting to start the tournament.
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And they are OFF!
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And they are OFF!
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Mike weighing each teams' fish.
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Alie marking each teams' results.
Tournament Raffle Benefiting Healing Patriots
Minnesota and Wisconsin companies and small businesses donated items towards a raffle that would benefit Healing Patriots.
The Results
At the conclusion of the tournament, anglers had a fantastic day catching 174 Crappies for a total combined weight of 75.5 pounds and 134 Crappies were safely released back into Lake Minnetonka. The tournament winners were the team of Clatyon Kettering and Ryan Hyua with a total weight of 7 pounds even, and they also scored the largest Crappie of the tournament at 1.3 pounds. 2nd Place finishers were the team of Al Bunn and PJ McDeid with a combined weight of 6.2 pounds, and 3rd Place was the team of Adam Griffith and Tony Olson with a weight of 5.1 pounds.
Memories Made 2nd Annual Crappie Tournament
The 2018 MMGS 2nd Annual Crappie Tournament will be held back on Lake Minnetonka on April 21, 2018. If you are interested in participating or being a sponsor for this event, please contact Mike Ferrell at [email protected] or call 952-992-0083. Thank you to Mike and Alie for their support and we look forward to seeing everyone again in 2018!
