Organizers cancel International Eeelpout Festival on Leech Lake - St. Paul Pioneer Press

WALKER, Minn. — In what would have been the 41st year of celebrating the notoriously ugly fish, the International Eelpout Festival has bid an unexpected adieu to upcoming plans for a 2020 bash in Walker, leaving its fate uncertain.

Jared Olson, the organizer of the festival, announced the cancellation on the event’s official Facebook page Thursday morning, citing “an impasse on lake enforcement” with Cass County as a primary reason for its indefinite postponement.

“Because we are the only permit holder required to supply services and clean up, and are not allowed to control the lake, the economics no longer work,” the announcement said.

On Dec. 31, the Pilot-Independent in Walker reported changes to the event, detailing that “the festival (could not) justify the cost of conducting activities on the water, prompting the festival to move all commercial and vendor activities to land.”

The festival, which was scheduled for Feb. 20-23 on Leech Lake, faced additional setbacks leading to its cancellation, including the omission of its fishing contest.

Only recently, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources reclassified the eelpout from a rough fish to a game fish, which would make contest rules too difficult for promoters to accommodate.

Eelpout are an eel-like bottom feeding fish also known as the burbot. The DNR describes the eelpout as looking “like a cross between an eel and a catfish. It has a long body with smooth skin and a single whisker under its chin.”

The International Eelpout Festival was one of northern Minnesota’s most famous outdoor winter gatherings. The event routinely drew more than 10,000 people to the three-day festival.

Along with the ice fishing aspect, the festival had been known to feature an eelpout fish fry, eelpout rugby, eelpout curling and the Polar Pout Plunge. Held on the ice, the festival was also widely known for its party atmosphere, featuring ice bars and portable camps.

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Organizers cancel International Eeelpout Festival on Leech Lake - St. Paul Pioneer Press
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