GOLDEN VALLEY, Minn. - It is no longer Minnesota's best kept secret. Hollywood has discovered what many of us already know, the Eelpout Festival in Walker is a must see winter event.
WHEN:
February 16-19, 2012
WHERE:
Chase on the Lake
502 Cleveland Blvd.
Walker, MN
The International Eelpout Festival, a tradition steeped in angling through lake ice for one of the ugliest bottom-dwelling fish is often viewed as a slice of pure, unadulterated cold-weather Americana.
Entering its 33rd year, the festival attracts roughly 10,000 participants and visitors to Walker, Minn. (pop. 1,500) for three days every February.
Always a spectacle, last year the festival drew national attention from The Tonight Show w/Jay Leno when an 8-person crew from the top-rated talk show spent the entire weekend in Walker. The festival, in turn, provided so much revelry that the crew ended up producing a 2-part series about the long-held traditions of this infamous creature affectionately called "The Pout."
(Copyright 2012 by KARE. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)