On Friday, Jan. 16, 2026, Brainerd Jaycees Ice Fishing Extravaganza chair Sheena Ziegler and Crow Wing County Sheriff Eric Klang walked onto Gull Lake's Hole-in-the-Day Bay and measured 17 inches of ice in the contest area. "We checked the depth of the ice for the Jaycees' fishing contest, and we have more than enough ice to have this event," Klang told the Brainerd Dispatch. With the sheriff's office permit in hand, the 36th annual contest went ahead 15 days later, on Jan. 31.
That January walk across the bay is the part of the Extravaganza most people never see. It's also the part that decides what kind of contest the rest of us get. The 2027 contest has a date, a time, and tickets on sale. Whether it happens on Hole-in-the-Day Bay, and in what form, depends on how the ice measures in January.
February 6 is on the ticket, and the bay gets its say first
The Brainerd Jaycees have set the 2027 Ice Fishing Extravaganza for Saturday, Feb. 6, from noon to 3 p.m. on Hole-in-the-Day Bay. If it follows the 2026 contest, it will be the 37th.
Tickets are already moving, and November is the cheapest month to buy. According to the Jaycees' ticket page, tickets cost $45 at every Fleet Farm location from Nov. 1 through Nov. 30. That price is in-store only. Starting Dec. 1, Fleet Farm sells them for $60 right up to contest day. So anyone buying this week at the lower price is buying more than two months before anyone has drilled a test hole in the contest area.
The Jaycees' posted official rules are still the 2026 version, and they don't name a minimum ice thickness. They put personal safety on each contestant and give the event director authority to change, delay, suspend or cancel the contest in significant weather. The prize list also leaves room to change how prizes are handed out if the format changes. In other words, the paperwork expects that the bay might not cooperate.
Three winters, three different answers from the same bay
The last three contests show how much the ice check can change.
- 2024: not enough ice, so the contest spread out. Warm weather left Hole-in-the-Day Bay without adequate ice, and the Jaycees switched to a hybrid format for Feb. 3. Anglers fished lakes across the Brainerd area, logging catches in the FishDonkey app, while event staff worked the access points. Lakeland PBS reported ice depths of nine inches that winter. That year's hours were also different, running 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- 2025: back on the bay, moved closer to shore. The 35th annual contest returned to Hole-in-the-Day Bay on Feb. 1. An ice heave pushed the fishing area closer to shore, and according to the Brainerd Dispatch, the rest of the contest stayed the same.
- 2026: a clean green light. The Jan. 16 check found 17 inches, the sheriff's office issued its permit, and the contest ran in person on Jan. 31. First place went to Thomas Johnson of Brainerd for a 5.63-pound walleye caught in 48 feet of water, and his prize was a truck, the Dispatch reported.
Each of those years carried the same name, the same organizers and the same bay on the poster. Each one ended up with a different setup, and in every case the ice decided it in the weeks before contest day.
How the Jaycees kept the 2024 contest alive
The 2024 decision explains why a bad ice year hasn't meant a lost contest. When Hole-in-the-Day Bay couldn't safely hold the crowd, the Jaycees spread the contest across the region and kept their own people on the ice to help anglers. Chairwoman Katherine Thoennes described the thinking to the Brainerd Dispatch:
"We decided to pivot into something that we think is going to be fun, and still bring people into the Brainerd lakes area."
The Dispatch separated that hybrid year from the 2021 contest. The 2021 event went fully virtual because of the COVID-19 pandemic, while 2024 changed because of conditions on Gull Lake. The 2024 contest still raised about $60,000 for local charities, according to the Dispatch's preview of the 2025 event.
The hybrid format also kept the contest's main purpose intact. Lakeland News on PBS reported that more than 30 organizations received proceeds from the 2026 contest. Jaycees officials put the event's total contribution to the Brainerd Lakes Area at more than $3 million, a measure of overall community impact that is separate from the amount donated. The Dispatch noted that proceeds go to the volunteer groups who help run the contest. When the ice falls short, those groups still need a contest to work.
Why the bay matters so much on contest day
When Hole-in-the-Day Bay holds, the contest packs one spot with a crowd the Jaycees describe as "10,000 of our best friends," as Ziegler put it to the Dispatch in 2026. The weekend reaches the shore too. In 2025, the Jaycees held a free '90s-themed kickoff party the night before at Zorbaz on Gull Lake, 8105 Lost Lake Road in Lake Shore, with a silent auction, dancing, will call and ticket sales.
The hybrid year spread anglers across many lakes instead, so the January check also decides whether Gull Lake gets that crowd and that party for the weekend.
Planning around February 6
Here's what's posted so far for 2027, plus what earlier contests suggest:
- Contest window: Saturday, Feb. 6, 2027, noon to 3 p.m., on Hole-in-the-Day Bay.
- Cheapest tickets: $45 at Fleet Farm stores, in person only, Nov. 1 through Nov. 30. The price goes to $60 on Dec. 1.
- Buying online: Tickets ordered through the Jaycees' online shop are mailed through Jan. 12. Tickets bought after that are picked up at the white Info Booth at center ice on contest day.
- Local outlets: Cash Wise Liquor at 513 B St. NE in Brainerd and 4092 Edgewood Dr. in Baxter, Corner Store Depot at 12857 Co. Rd. 18 SW, Mid-Town Depot at 321 Washington St., S & W Bait and Tackle at 18900 MN-371, and Wild Rice Depot at 9360 Wild Rice Rd.
- Arrival: Gates opened at 8 a.m. for both the 2025 and 2026 contests. The 2027 gate time hasn't been posted yet.
- Ice check: The Jaycees and the Crow Wing County Sheriff's Office measure the bay before the contest. In 2026 that check came on a Friday in mid-January, about two weeks before the contest. Whatever that check finds will decide whether 2027 looks like 2024, 2025 or 2026.
The rules posted on the Jaycees' site are still labeled 2026, so watch icefishing.org for updates as January gets closer.
Gull Lake winters run on its ice, from Hole-in-the-Day Bay to the private docks along the shoreline. If you're thinking about a cabin or year-round home on Gull Lake, or getting a lake property ready to sell, Polovitz Group knows the shoreline in every season. Start your lake-home search or market your property with our team.
