Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do! For Dennis and Shelby Vance from Selden, KS that meant anchoring all day Sunday in the whitecaps, but it also meant claiming the $1000 first place check at the Glen Elder tournament on the Great Plains circuit of the Gander Mountain Grand National Walleye Cup (GNWC).
The Vance duo brought five walleyes to the scale weighing 17.51 pounds to outdistance the second place team of David and Shannon Walker from Piqua, KS by more than five pounds. The Walkers weighed a six-fish limit weight of 12.31 pounds to take the $500 second place check.
Third place and a check for $200 went to Ted Webster from Hutchinson, KS and Robert Riddick from Wakefield, KS with five walleyes weighing 8.71 pounds.
The Berkley Trilene Big Fish Award of $400 in Berkley products also went to the Vance team for their 6.66-pound walleye.
The key to success for the top three teams was their ability to hold in the strong wind and work jigs and live bait. Others tried and simply couldn�t hold.
The Vance team was also able to catch that one big kicker fish. They worked green jigs and nightcrawlers on a breakline where the depth dropped from 5� to 30� at the west end of the lake near Cawker City. It became a waiting game, though, as the walleyes seemed to travel along the breakline. That made action was on and off again. However, it was more than enough to secure the win.
Gander Mountain GNWC Executive Director said, "The bite was a tough one today because of the fronts that have been coming through. Yesterday it was in the 90s with a strong south wind. Then today we have 70-degree temperatures and strong northwest winds. Even under these conditions, the teams on the Great Plains circuit have a lot of enthusiasm and show that they want to make the GNWC really grow."
Special awards include the following. The "Yo So Close" award of a Yo Net folding net valued at $80 was awarded to the three teams that placed out of the money. Those teams include Mark Joslyn from Hoxie, KS and Blake Arnberger from Colby, KS in 5th place; Doug Fairchild from Wakarusa, KS and Dean Wilson from Topeka, KS in 6th place; and James Esterly from Belle Plaine, KS and Travis Campbell from Wichita, KS in 7th place.
The Gander Mountain "Need More Stuff" drawing of $200 for a Gander Mountain Shopping Spree went to Wayne Hyman and Kecia Shellito from Athol, KS.
After two tournaments, the team of Webster and Riddick lead in the race for Great Plains Team of the Year with 7 points, two points ahead of their nearest competitor.
Complete results of the Glen Elder tournament can be found at www.walleyecup.com.
The next qualifier on the Great Plains circuit will be on Nebraska's Lake McConaughy on Saturday, June 19.
Anglers interested in signing up for a future qualifier or simply wanting more information on the GNWC circuit can call 1-800-890-FISH (3474), or they can email the GNWC at [email protected].
Title Sponsor for the GNWC is Gander Mountain. Other major national sponsors include Skeeter Boats, Yamaha Outboards, the Sportsman Channel, Berkley, Aqua Innovations, YoNet Folding Nets by AMFYOYO, VIB"E" Lure Company, TowTector Shield and UpNorthOutdoors.com. |
