Final qualification of the Top 10 anglers to fill positions on the USA Ice Fishing Team who will move on to compete in the 2025 World Ice Fishing Championship (WIFC) will take place 17-19 January 2025 on Tamarack Lake, MI.  The US National Ice Fishing Championship is held at the same venue as the World Championship, just one month before the lake is closed awaiting the arrival of international competitors for the XXI WIFC.

Eligible competitors for the US National Championship consist of the 2024 USA Ice Fishing Team who travelled to Mongolia, as well as the anglers who competed in the 2024 qualifier tournaments. Anglers who want to familiarize themselves with the techniques are welcome to come and view the tournament. “There are a lot of good anglers in the US who have previously competed in North American Ice Fishing Championship (NAIFC) events”, says Coach Gilbert, “that can learn the techniques required to compete at the World Championship level.”  

The Nationals will be the inaugural “No Kill” competition in the U.S., with a final run through of the catch, cull, and weigh-in process using the Clam C560 Thermal Hub as weigh stations. Once competitors catch their fish, they are placed in buckets tagged with the competitor’s number and transferred to the scale in the weigh-in tent, then immediately returned to the lake through a hole in the ice inside the tent, ensuring low mortality.

Three weeks after the XXI WIFC, the Open Championship for the 2026 team will take place in Rhinelander WI, March 6-9, 2025, starting with a meeting at Holiday Acres, the headquarters for the event.  “Gladys at Holiday Acres has been taking care of the USA Ice Fishing Team since the 2010 WIFC was hosted in Rhinelander where Team USA took the Gold.” says Freshwater Fishing Director, Mike McNett.

To sign up for the event click here: SIGN UP HERE. The top 10 anglers will be chosen for the 2026 WIFC, to be hosted by Sweden. Dates for the XXII WIFC are TBD.

The XXI World Ice Fishing Championship (WIFC) will take place on Tamarack Lake in Lakeview MI 11-16 February 2025, with competition days on Saturday and Sunday from 10:00-13:00. A full itinerary of the week can be found here https://usangling.org/ice-fishing-worldchampionship-2025/