BLC January Newsletter

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January 2026 BLC Newsletter

Meetings are the 2nd Tuesday of the month, 7pm @ the Nisswa American Legion

New Location

Hello Everyone,

I hope you all had a great holiday season. With the new year among us, comes a new year of fundraising for both our chapter along with the National Muskies Inc. The main fundraiser that National Muskies Inc has is their yearly calendar. You all should have received yours by now, this is a voluntary contribution. All funds raised help support chapter youth, fisheries, and research.

The Sportsman's banquet tickets are now available. It's the 22nd annual, and we are holding the event at Cragun's Pine Ballroom again this year. We limit the ticket sale to 160 with only 25 youth tickets. The youth tickets go fast so if you are interested in bringing some kids along make sure you purchase soon. Each kid with a ticket has a chance at winning a lifetime fishing lic. This is our chapter's main resource for funding. It helps with everything from supporting area youth fishing teams, helping with Leech Lake Telemetry Study, and it also helps purchase pit tagging equipment for area DNR offices. All things that make muskie fishing better in Minnesota.

We just got word that the 2026 Gil Hamm will be held on the Eagle River Chain in Wisconsin. It is hosted by the Bemidji Chapter. Our chapter will pay for the entry fee for fishing in the Gil Hamm. You would have to pay for lodging and so forth. We are looking at putting a few teams together. It is a very laid back event, perfect for all ages. The last two years I have fished it with my 8 and 10 year old boys, and we are fishing it again this year.

With the cancellation of last month's meeting, where we usually do a food/toy drive for Christmas we will only be doing a food drive this month, to help local food shelves. We will be having our yearly Christmas party (rumor has it there are a few meat packages from a local meat market to win). Chapter elections will also be held at this month's meeting. The meeting is next Tuesday in case anyone needs a reminder.

Fair Chase and Tight Lines

Levi Stifter

January 13th Meeting -

Christmas Party & Chapter Elections - 7:00 p.m.

Food donation suggestions:

Canned veggies
Rice
Dried beans
Coffee/tea
Spices (salt, pepper, garlic powder, etc.)
Baking items (flour, sugar, powdered sugar, etc.)
Cooking oil
Boxed milk
Quick and easy meals (chow mein, canned soup, hamburger helper, manwich, etc.)
Dish soap

Even if you aren’t able to join us, please consider making a donation to a local charity and give back to YOUR community.

Meetings are open to the public and FREE to attend! Chance to win various prizes from lures or maybe a rod in our meeting raffles. Come to hear and share fish stories and more. One random door prize drawing for those in attendance. Bring your friends!

* 2nd Tuesday of the Month - Nisswa American Legion - 7 pm *

January 13th

Monthly Meeting - Christmas Party and Chapter Elections

February 10th

Monthly Meeting - Guest Speaker - TBD

March 21st

22nd Annual BLC Sportsman's Banquet

2026 BLC Board Elections

Postponed from last month, it's that time of year for our 2026 BLC board nominations and chapter elections. If you would like to be considered for a spot on the 2026 board, it's not too late. Reach out to any board member or hit reply on this email to let us know. If you have any questions, we'll be happy to get those answered for you as well. If you are a BLC member, you meet all the requirements. It's always great to have new voices on the board to help bring new and fresh ideas to the things that we do.

BLC 22nd Annual Sportsman's Banquet

March 21, 2026

The Brainerd Lakes Chapter is excited to be planning for the 22nd Annual Sportsman's Banquet. And tickets are now available on the BLC website!

Buy Tickets Here

We have sold this event out for 4 consecutive years since it was moved back to Cragun's. Buy your tickets early so you don't miss out before they're gone!

Photo Request

We're looking for pictures! If you have fish pictures from the 2025 season, we would love to see them. Muskies are great, but it can be any species. And bonus points for pictures of kids with fish! We are starting to collect these now for our slideshow that we have playing at the banquet in March.

Please send photos that you would like to have included to Levi at levistifter1@gmail.com

Jeff Young Memorial Muskie Shootout

October 3-4, 2026

It's never too early to start planning for our annual tournament! The Jeff Young Memorial Muskie Shootout will once again be heading back to Agency Bay Lodge on Leech Lake. Agency Bay Lodge has been a great partner for us and they help us put on a great event. He hope you will be able to join us on October 3rd and 4th this year. We plan to open up registration the last week of January.

2025 Final Release Standings

Final Release Standings

Congrats to the winners of our 2025 release contest and to ALL who caught fish in 2025!

2026 Gil Hamm Chapter Challunge

The 2026 Gil Hamm Chapter Challunge will be held on the Eagle River Chain in Eagle River, Wisconsin from August 26th to 28th. The winning chapter each year has the honor of hosting the following year. And the Bemidji Cass Chapter will be the host this year. Chapters can put together as many teams as they would like to fish (up to 6 anglers per team) and this cost is paid for by the chapter. You'll be responsible for lodging and there should be announcements soon on some discounted rates at the host resort. Stay tuned for more details!

Bump Boards for Sale

As a board (no pun intended) we made the decision to invest in some new bump boards for the Jeff Young Memorial Muskie Shootout that we hold every fall on Leech Lake. We did this to add both the chapter and shootout logos to the boards. But we also wanted to support an operational bump board company in Muskie Bumper. The original bump boards for the Shootout were from T's Tackle and they have not been in business for a number of years now.

So that means we have a bunch of bump boards that we need to find new homes for! Are you in need of one for yourself or know someone that is? These are all in excellent condition, with the majority still looking essentially brand new. And we are selling these for just $70 each. A similar bump board purchased brand new will cost over $120. So this is a great deal and they will be first come, first served.

We will have a few available at each of our monthly meetings until they are gone. If you would like to reserve one to make sure we have one for you at our next meeting, just respond to this email to let us know.

Discounts for BLC Members

The BLC has worked hard to grow our list of sponsors. And we have partnered with several of them to bring you discounts through their companies. As a BLC member, you can get discounts through the following BLC sponsors.