The Event In a Nutshell...

The inaugural Ron Schara Minnesota Bound Invitational is an elite bass tournament. The event is set for July 31 - August 2, 2008 on Gull Lake in Brainerd.

Events will kick off the morning on Thursday, July 31 with a youth/observer event. The competing anglers will take a break from their tournament preparations and take a youth and a registered observer out for 4 hours of fishing. The competing anglers will provide instruction and guidance to their youth and observer partners.  The morning of fishing will be followed by a lunch with members of the Hall of Fame.

The highlight of the week will be a banquet the night of Thursday, July 31, honoring members of the Minnesota Fishing Hall of Fame. All participating anglers and observers will be invited. Most members of the Hall of Fame will be in attendance and there will be plenty of opportunities for socializing, autographs and pictures.

In addition, the Hall of Fame will conduct a silent auction with lots of great prizes including guided fishing trips with members of the Hall of Fame and autographed memorabilia. Money raised will go toward the non-profit Hall of Fame.

Tournament competition will get underway on Friday morning with the top anglers in the state competing for over $75,000 in cash and prizes. Weigh-in will start at 3:00 PM on Friday and Saturday, with the award ceremony immediately following the conclusion of the weigh in on Saturday.

The tournament will feature a unique pro/observer format which means each competing angler will have an observer with them in the boat for each day of competition. The observer will not be allowed to fish or assist the angler in any way. This will result in the purest form of head to head competition in bass fishing today, while allowing the observer a chance to be a part of this great event, as well as the opportunity to learn first hand from the best bass fisherman in the state of Minnesota.

There will be activities going on throughout the day on Friday and Saturday including casting competitions for the kids and a chance to meet Ron and Raven. All events will be at Cragun’s and will be free and open to the public.

Ron has partnered with the Minnesota Federation of Bass Anglers (MFBA) to provide the event management for the Minnesota Bound Invitational. Rick Pelletier, President of the MFBA, will serve as event coordinator and tournament director. Rick is a long time tournament competitor and organizer and his accomplishments include being the first Minnesota Federation angler to qualify and compete in the Bassmasters Classic.

Joining Ron and Rick on the Tournament Committee for the Minnesota Bound Invitational are Mark Fisher and Scott Bonnema., both well known and respected tournament anglers on a local, regional and national basis. Mark and Scott are the originators of the idea for this event and brought it to Ron to make it a reality.

Mark is the Director of Field Promotions for Rapala as well as the co-host of the radio show “Bear Facts and Fish Tales” which is broadcast on Sunday nights from 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM on KSTP 1500 AM.

Scott is the owner and President of North Star Imaging, a locally based manufacturing company. North Star Imaging will be sponsoring the Thursday night banquet honoring the Hall of Fame members. Additionally Scott was a member of the Fuji Film Pro Fishing Team for over 8 years and is now a member of the Rapala Pro Fishing Team.