Minnows leg it out at Winfield’s Good Old Days

From three lanes over, Bubbles splashed his fin at Sea Biscuit as he waited in his starting cup — the ultimate trash talk in the world of minnow racing.

When the cups were dropped, it was on. Sea Biscuit smoked Bubbles, Jaws and Winny off the line and managed to win by a gill. But there would be more races Saturday and plenty of chances for revenge.

The tiny energetic bait fish competed in a day’s worth of minnow races at Saturday’s Good Old Days festival in Winfield to raise money for the village’s proposed $3.7 million riverwalk project.

After paying 25 cents each, brother and sister Bobby and Nicole Wend picked their swimmers and held their cups until the bell rang signaling the start of the race. Nicole splashed behind Winny to motivate the minnow while Bobby chased Jaws with his paper cup. Jaws, the winningest minnow Saturday, added another victory to his record.

“We saw these races be hugely popular in Wisconsin and Minnesota a number of years ago, so we brought it here,” said Winfield resident and race caller Ron Barzso. “The kids love it. For a quarter they really get behind their minnows and cheer them on.“

The races take place in four tracks of 10-foot-long rain gutters. And the slippery athletes are placed in an oxygenated bucket in between races to keep them fresh.

“We’re very proud to say that we’ve never lost a minnow as a result of racing,” Barzso said. “Of course we tell the kids that they go to Florida and train and recuperate after the race, but we’ll give them to a nearby fisherman to do with them what he wants.”

Good Old Days continues in downtown Winfield today (Sunday) with a free pancake breakfast at 8:30 a.m., a duck race in the DuPage River and a parade at 1 p.m.