“After the past couple years of wind and cold, this is exactly what was needed,” stated a press release from the organizers. “The crowd was evidence enough that everyone was ready for the fishing to go on. Participants from as far away as Poland were on Gull Lake trying to ‘catch the big one’ in hopes of winning $200,000 in prizes.”

Among them was Minnesota native Steven Baumgartner, who said he had not been planning to attend the ice fishing event, but was lured in by the practically balmy temperatures. It was fortunate for him that he did so, especially after he won the tournament’s grand prize of a GMC pickup truck after reeling in a 6.73-pound northern pike just 15 minutes before the competition ended. The icing on the cake? It was Baumgartner’s first fish in the contest more than a decade after he first attended the competition.