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| Webster, Riddick Overcome Heat to Take Great Plains Team of the Year Honors and the Harlan Reservoir Tournament Title |
The team of Ted Webster from Hutchinson, KS and Robert Riddick from Wakefield, KS used a first place finish at Sunday's Harlan Reservoir Tournament to capture the Great Plains Team of the Year honors on the Gander Mountain Grand National Walleye Cup (GNWC) circuit.
Hutchinson and Riddick's first place weight of 11.67 pounds earned them a check for $1000.
JD Baker from Hoxie, KS and Greg Mekelberg from Yuma, CO took the second place check of $500 for their six-walleye limit weight of 9.48 pounds.
Third place and a check for $200 went to David and Shannon Walker from Piqua, KS for their two walleyes weighing 8.19 pounds. They also collected the Berkley Trilene Big Fish Award of $400 in Berkley products for their 5.47 pounder.
Gander Mountain GNWC Tournament Director Greg Liebel was impressed with the competitive drive of the teams. "These teams were just great. The temperatures went to 100 degrees today, and by about 1 p.m. it went flat calm. It was the same way yesterday, and the bite really deteriorated, but these teams just kept working at it. The top teams found the fish hugging the bottom of the breaklines and worked them until they got them to bite."
The top three teams all headed toward the same breakline areas on the west end of the lake. Hutchinson and Riddick worked chartreuse jigs tipped with nightcrawlers or leeches and found the key depth to be 18', while Baker and Mekelberg worked jigs and nightcrawlers in 13' to 17'.
Meanwhile, the third place team also worked jigs and nightcrawlers on the breaklines but found their best depth at 8' to 10'.
"You know," said Liebel, "we had some real heat out there, but our volunteer help at the weigh-in was tremendous. We had over a dozen volunteers from the area resorts who really helped make the tournament go smoothly. I can't thank them enough."
Special awards were also presented during the weigh-in. 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 Arnsberger from Colby, KS in 5th place; Dennis and Shelby Vance from Seldon, KS in 6th place; and Wayne Hyman and Kecia Shellito from Athol, KS in 7th place.
The Gander Mountain "Need More Stuff" drawing of $200 for a Gander Mountain Shopping Spree went to Tim Stuhmer from Alma, NE and Brian Brinkman from Holdrege, NE.
Complete results of the Harlan Reservoir tournament can be found at www.walleyecup.com.
Next up on the Great Plains Region will be the Great Plains Championship of Walleye Fishing on August 14-15 at Wilson Lake in Kansas.
Anglers 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.
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| Great Plains Region's Final Tournament Set for Nebraska's Harlan Reservoir |
The Great Plains Region of the Gander Mountain Grand National Walleye Cup (GNWC) ends its regular tournament season at Harlan Reservoir on Sunday, July 18.
At stake will be a berth in the Great Plains Championship of Walleye Fishing, which will be held at Wilson Lake in Kansas on August 14-15. Also on the line will be the Great Plains Team of the Year title.
Heading into this fourth tournament, the team of Ted Webster from Hutchinson, KS and Robert Riddick from Wakefield, KS lead in the race for Great Plains Team of the Year with 12 points, 7 points ahead of Dennis and Shelby Vance from Selden, KS.
Gander Mountain GNWC Executive Director Bernie Barringer is excited about the opportunities for the Great Plains teams. "This has been a solid first year for the Great Plains Region. I expect big things from them at Harlan Reservoir. Harlan Reservoir is the second largest lake in the state of Nebraska and is an excellent fishery."
According to the North Shore Marina, the walleye bite has been excellent this year. The Governor's Cup weights held earlier in the year were good with several fish over 5 pounds.
Competing teams are to meet at Hunter�s Public Boat Ramp Sunday morning between 6-6:30 for registration and mandatory boat check. However, the tournament director will have the Gander Mountain GNWC trailer at Hunter's Public Boat Ramp from 6-8 p.m. the evening before the tournament to take late entries and answer questions. Host bait shop is North Shore Marina.
Take-off is at 7 a.m. with the weigh-in commencing at 3 p.m. sharp. "We hope that a lot of people will turn out for the weigh-in and see what these teams can do. It will be interesting to see how the Team of the Year battle ends up and what teams will advance to the Great Plains Championship of Walleye Fishing."
Openings still exist for the Harlan Reservoir tournament, and Barringer encourages interested anglers to contact him at 1-800-890-FISH (3474), or email the GNWC at [email protected].
Anglers interested in checking out the standings, reading the releases about any of the eight regions or simply learning more about the circuit can access the Gander Mountain GNWC website at www.walleyecup.com.
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, VIB"E" Lure Company, TowTector Shield and UpNorthOutdoors.com. |
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