Anglers casted off for a cure again for the Kolar Toyota ALS Fishing Tournament and raised over 280,000 dollars for ALS care and research.

The fun kicked off Friday evening at UMD with registration. Fishing began Saturday morning on Island Lake.

Todd Lauer was out there. “I’m feeling great about it. I think we’re going to be in the winning boat,” he said. He’s an ALS patient who is proud to support the tournament and other Never Surrender efforts.

“The ultimate goal is to make it so my children and your children don’t have to deal with this disease,” he explained.

Lauer told us he was excited to use a special rod and reel from Northland Adaptive Recreation, to help make things easier.

People have volunteered their pontoon boats, to make sure folks with ALS or who have other mobility needs can get out on the water.

“We are thrilled that Never Surrender included us in this. We want to do our part to make sure folks with ALS have opportunities, and this is one example of it,” Eric Larson shared. He’s the program manager for Northland Adaptive.

Anglers also had a virtual option, they could fish from anywhere and upload their catches.

Plus, the tournament coincided with the start of musky season.

Tournament director Blake Kolquist said this year they also opened it up to any species. “So if you’re in the Gulf of Mexico, and you hook a blue marlin, we want to see it,” he said.

This was the 29th annual tournament.

For more information: https://www.neversurrenderinc.org/site/TR?fr_id=1180&pg=entry