08/19/2026
Our fishing team team had another amazing year!
We finished our competitive fishing season with the heart O Lakes championship event, we chose to fish Big Stone Lake. Fishing hours from were 730 to noon. This creates a very tight window to arrive in battle Lake by 2 PM, a risk worth taking allowing us more practice time on home water!
Our Student Anglers and boat captain’s put in a tremendous amount of time and effort preparing for the event and working to locate fish.
Saturday, August 8 ended up being a beautiful day with little wind.
Our three boat captains, and nine Student anglers who were chosen by angler of the year points were:
Captain Josh Dozak, Blake Fuhrman, Teagan Cardwell, Gabe Dozak
Captain Jason Murphy, Zander Murphy, Greysen Zych, Zander Mohs
Captain Pat Peyton, Ashton Nordly, Emmitt Rikimoto, Mike Dozak.
The bite was tough, but working as a team we managed to come up with 51 points, enough for a fifth place finish of the 20 teams competing at the championship event. The Pike bite was on fire- we caught 5 Pike over 33 inches. Blake Fuhrman caught his personal best and largest fish of the entire event of 42 1/2 inch pike, even earning him a local news interview on WDAY!! Large bluegills and bass filled the remainder of our card.
We were also thrilled to have one of our teams earned the league’s highest honor: Angler of the year for pod 3- awarded to Blake Fuhrman and Gabe Dozak! -tying with another team from Fergus Falls earning 65 points across three events (the league excludes one event)!!
Our team finished off season with an in-house tournament on Big Stone Lake Sunday, August 9 followed by award ceremony located at the Graceville gun club.
This year we will award 14 anglers a high school letter - these are achieved by a combination of team participation, leadership and participation in fishing events outside of those offered by our team.
We recognize Student Anglers:
Allen Anderson
Teagan Cardwell
Blake Fuhrman
Gabe Dozak
Carver Schmidt
Emmitt Rikimoto
Greysen Zych
Ashton Nordly
Dalton Jipson
Mike Dozak
Natalie Summerfelt
Chandlar Ehlers
Kinley Berger
Zander Mohs ( La Que Parle school)
In housing angler of the year:
First place - Blake Fuhrman, Gabe Dozak, Teagan Cardwell (Winning Vocelka custom fishing rod)
Second place- Zander Murphy, Zander Mohs, Greysen Zych ( RLvNT sunglasses)
Third place- tie between two teams: Ashton Nordly, Dalton Gibson, Emmitt Rikimoto, Easton Olsen, Mike Dozak( $100 Thorne Brothers gift card).
This also wraps up the heart O Lake’s virtual tournaments:
Taking first place in the walleye category is Gabe Dozak with A 30.25 in walleye. Easton Haugen is also recognized for a 10 1/2 inch blue gill.
We would like to take the times to recognize all of the community businesses and individuals who have provided us with financial support, allowing us to offer these opportunities to Student Anglers!!
We are tremendously grateful to the 14 members of the community who were willing to volunteer their time and resources to get our kids on the water for these events!
Jason Murphy, Eric Rikimoto, Gary Leclair, Pat PEYTON, Dean Peyton, Robbie Schmidt, Brody Morrow, Josh Dozak, Bryan Peltier- Mauer, Scott Rixe, Nick Lehman, Tony Berger, Ladd Sumerfelt and and Tucker Weigman!! There willingness to provide transportation for our anglers, and the time spent mentoring is appreciated beyond what our words can express!
We would like to recognize L&D hardware of Wheaton- Ladd and Becky Summer- for their support and willingness to provide bait for all of our events throughout the season!!
In addition, we would like to recognize Scott Bauer and the Graceville gun club for their partnership and allowing use of their facility throughout the season!!
Thank you to Econo foods and Willie Supervalu for your donations of food and beverages for our team hosted event!
Joe and Danielle McLain- thank you so much for volunteering your time and creating such amazing food!!! For the second year in a row!!
To all of the businesses who sponsored our team we appreciate your generosity ~ your generous donations have provided our Student anglers with educational opportunities, equipment, prizes, and support!! Opportunities like these would not exist if it weren’t for your support!
Pye Barker fire and safety
L&B hardware
OAHS
Wheaton Drug
Bauer Ag
Zych meats
Zych trucking
Raguse bus lines
Traverse Sportsman’s club
Toqua Sportsman’s
Lake Traverse Walleye Masters
Graceville gun club
Headquarters bar
Kibble equipment
Women anglers of Minnesota
Essentia health, Graceville
Graceville sports boosters
Lake Valley dental
Ballhagen electric
Lehman Farms
Frandsen bank
Dillon‘s Lawn & landscaping
Conroy Eye Care
Schmidt’s Landing
Gate City Bank
Murphy Seeds
Ricks Plumbing heating and air-conditioning
Peasants Forever
Traverse electric
Ottertail power Company
Our preseason meeting is planned for October 24 in Graceville at 6:30. We encourage anyone who is interested in learning more about Student angling to attend, we would also welcome anyone who would be interested in serving as a Boat Captain to contact coaching staff or attend our preseason meeting!!
Thank you to the community for the support and another wonderful season!! looking forward to next year!
Tight Lines!
Border West Fishing Team
