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Location: Rhinelander | Rising waters on the Illinois River will render the Launch site for the Spring Valley MWC unusable because of flooding by Sunday morning according to forecasts. The MWC, in the interest of safety and for other obvious reasons, canceled Day Two.
All the boats will leave in a continuous single flight. ALL boats are due back in by 2 PM tomorrow afternoon.
The payout will be divided by the number of teams catching fish, using the curve one would expect. If only one team boats fish (not likely, but certainly possible) the payout would be $109,000.
WalleyeFIRST's Day Two coverage unfortunately heads out the window with the cancellation of Sunday's activities. We are committed to covering another event Saturday, but were truly excited at the prospect of beginning the all new OutdoorsFIRST coverage regimen at the Spring Valley MWC.
I'll post more information as it comes in! |
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| Just got off the phone with a buddy who is fishing and he can't beleive they are even going out. He said the river was full of stuff, and can't even believe they would send them out. I hope no one gets hurt or worse, I've seen that river at it's worst and I would never put my boat in that. He said he and his partner were going out to the landing in the morning and will make the decision if they are going home or not.
Sounds like a bad deal, I hope everyone has the sence to stay safe. |
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| The launch site is full of trees as of tonite. It's going to be quite a mess in the morning. Be safe out there and good luck everyone!!! |
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| This tournament is a big joke!!! The decisions made are nut's. Making it one field and all returning at 2:00PM is rediculous. The second wave is getting scr^&%$d. Now they are talking about a fog delay possible in the morning. What second wave 4 hours of fishing. Alot of bad decisions being made. MWC is going to lose alot of support by letting this one go!!! Let's see if the camera boat goes out if it is so safe!!! |
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Posts: 82
| Yep.
Real ugly..but, I can understand their wish to launch boats. Its not a tournament unless they launch......
Just hope the water isnt around our trucks when we come back for check in.
One thing wasnt answered...what happens if it is a blank? And I cant believe I am saying this...but its a possibility. |
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| have some buddies fishing this one. hope everybody stays safe! its impossible to see every huge log floating around. fished a tourney there last weekend and it wasnt anywhere near as bad as this. almost hit a few BIG trees in the water! i imagine there will be some ripped off lower units not to mention broken transducers and such! will be real interesting to see this one pan out. |
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| saugers2 - 3/23/2007 8:28 PM
One thing wasnt answered...what happens if it is a blank? And I cant believe I am saying this...but its a possibility.
Good question. It is possible. Will be a tough bite to say the least!!!!!! |
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Location: Fremont, Wisconsin | wow, 4 fish four teams. with 109,000 on the line there will be some hefty payouts. |
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Posts: 1382
| $54,000 for 1st plus 2500 big fish money
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Location: Waukesha Wisconsin | Congrats Schmitty and Mark |
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| I have to admit that I was even dissapointed they let us go. I have NEVER seen so much debris in the water anywhere. There was literally crap from shore to shore and boundary to boundary. Current was faster than I have ever seen on any river and the water was as dirty as chocolate milk. They will lose some support over this. Congrats to the four teams that caught fish, what a great payout for you. I hope somebody has some good pictres of the conditions so you all can see what I ma talking about. I saw one of the buoys get taken under about 50 times today from a huge tree hitting it. What fun! |
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| My husband "fished" this tournament. I've never been so worried in my life for his safety! What a joke. Sometime you just have to know when to say when. This was a really bad call guys! You should have known better! Next time you should really stand back and think about what's best for the fishermen. Let's learn from this one and move forward. |
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Location: Orland Park, IL | Yep, catch rate was just over 1%. Its gonna get worse. IWT cancelled next week. We found clearer water but no fish. Takeoff was terrible. With debris, and slow movin, took over an hour to our first spot, upside of 251. Was wild seeing the creek by the damn full of boats. 10lbs crap in a 5lb bag.
Congrats to the winners. |
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Location: Chicago IL. | I was one of those boats there by the creek. What fun it was!!!!!! A whole bunch of boats trying to get a 14" fish. Some of the best jiggers around tucked into a corner. Congrats to the guys that caught fish. The river is a moveing garbage can and lumber yard. Glad no body got hurt,we should not have been on that water. |
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| now i am glad i gave tournaments |
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| Aren' t these tournaments for the fisherman?Why did this come down to an executive decision?This should have been voted on by the fisherman,at the friday night meeting.They're the ones who's safety is in question.They are the ones who have a 50,000 dollar boat that could get damaged.What do you guys think about that? |
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Location: Rhinelander | No matter what else a tournament organization might be, most are never going to be a democracy.
What a mess that had to be. I know if I was fishing the event, I'd feel like I had just had the tournament reduced to a total crap shoot. With all due respect to the teams that caught a fish, this event was reduced to a dangerous gamble.
That being said, the event directors have the final say. It looks like they wanted to get this one in the books no matter, and felt if everyone slowed down safety wasn't a huge issue. The shame of it is that the field went out for a few hours into a nightmare, and predictably, only a few caught a single fish. |
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Location: Waukesha Wisconsin | When situations like this come up many people are damned if they do and damned if they do not.
It ALWAYS comes down to an executive decision. I've never been in a tournament that did anything else. Most will have an advisory board and ask for their input. But the final decision will always come down to the tournament organizer/owner/rep.
Kristine and the MWC had a very tough choice to make. Was it unsafe? Only those who were there can make that call. I look forward to hearing their assessments. Now that it is over, it's possible to go back and digest the circumstances and results (arm chair quarterbacking). Was anyone hurt? Was there any damage done to equipment? What did the local authorities say? Did any fishermen refuse to go out?
You say that it should have been voted on by the entire group of fishermen. That's a good thought. I have been involved with those types of decisions. BUT, I'm a realist and realize that over 1/2 of the people there will be voting on their success on the water. If they are on fish they want to go. If they are struggling it always looks a lot riskier to go out. Down deep we all know this to be true.
I made a major promise to my wife and family when I started doing tournaments. I declared that I would never let a tournament director make a decision on my life. If I felt that conditions were too unsafe to go out, I would not go even if they said the tournament was on. These are strong promises that are made with clear heads away from the competition. But reality and total honesty have educated me.
I do go out in some pretty ugly stuff, especially when I am on fish. I go out in conditions now that I would never have gone out in 10 years ago. Have I gotten smarter, dumber, better at handling conditions, riskier, or used to bad weather? The answer is a little of each. But before I digress further, back to the question at hand.
Should the fisherman make the final decision? Should the tournament director make the call? Should an advisory group make the final verdict? After a few years in the business I believe that none of these groups look at the total picture with open eyes. Everyone has something to loose or gain with the final decision and few are really putting safety first. They’re putting the financial risks first and safety second. I hate to say this. I didn’t believe it myself until I did my final PWT last year. You see, I was in 26th place at the end of day one. Had motor trouble during day two. And I knew that I could cash a check if I was given a chance to makeup some time and if I was given a chance to go out on day three. I had made it to the big show and I was willing to risk my life to cash a check and show the world that I was a member of an elite group. Looking back, it’s hard for me to believe that I had become that impulsive tournament fisherman that I promised my family that I would never become. I thank the PWT because they made the right call. They gathered their advisory group made up of seasoned fishermen (not crazy rookies like me), they contacted the authorities (coast guard and local weather) and they made the correct call. They had the right process in place. They got input from everyone. Thank God they didn’t ask me.
Bottom-line, every one of us have the final say. None of the fishermen had to go out yesterday. They could have said no. If they thought that they were really at risk, the entry money would have been gladly given up ………………… maybe, unless they are crazy like me.
Edited by Sunshine 3/25/2007 8:09 AM
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Member
Posts: 82
| Generally fishermen are a little crazy anyway...and tournament anglers take more chances then most.
Is it stupidity...maybe.
But, as a competitor I guess I expected more compassion for our safety and our equiptment from the organization that we pay to belong to. Sure, I could have said no, I'm not going...but that really isnt anything a tournament angler will do on his own. We think we are seasoned enough to handle all conditions, and we did....but it was miserable and scary.
Debris fields filled parts of the river from shore to shore and required that you just stop and push trees away to procceed through. I am so happy that the wind didnt blow, or else tragedy would have been likely.
I know the reasons for launching boats, and we can thank somebody else that nobody was hurt....but what a gamble. I learned a lesson yesterday.....to listen to your heart and not risk it again if another tournament organization makes a mistake again....I will watch from shore. |
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Location: Lincolnshire, IL | What actions could the tournament directors take if the event had been cancelled? Are there any provisions in the rules? Could a portion of the entry fees be refunded? Would the anglers have agreed to a portion of their entry fees being refunded? I would think that the MWC could not have absorbed all of the costs associated with the cancellation of an event. Just wondering what would/could/should happen if an entire event is cancelled. The tournaments are a tough gig...that's why I only donate to a few each year! |
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Location: Elgin, Illinois | Dennis,
You are a very smart man... period! Good post, and very "spot on"... |
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| "Safety first", right?
That went out of the window for this tournament. In my mind there was no difference here than Kristine sending us out in a small craft advisory on the great lakes just to make sure the tournament happened and she wouldn't have to deal with the headaches of rescheduling. Sure she can say "slow down" and "make sure your safe while you're out there". Is that what she's going to say and launch guys in 6 footers one day?
You can say what you want, but we all realize the only reason we went out was because we were going out one way or the other, just to say that it happened and there wouldn't be more work and problems for them afterwards.
I was one of the boats out there. Got a tree stuck under my motor while running and had to put down and almost got hit by a cowboy running hard for who knows what reason.
It tells you something when one of the 4 guys who actually cashed a check told Kristine that he was glad for the money but he still thought we should not of been out there.
Oh and no to mention at the rules meeting saying that since we were going as one flight we would change the rules and wait for everyone to be in the water until we took off. Then magically on the water Saturday morning we were back to launching at 7 no matter what. Don't get me wrong, we should of launched at 7 no matter what, not the rest of our fault people can't get there on time, but if you say we are waiting for everyone Friday night, how do you change your mind Saturday morning 5 minutes to 7?
Don't think this will be the last year that MWC doesn't start the year with a full field. Non of this helped with that one bit.
We can all say all's well that ends well since as far as I know no one got hurt. But for me, another couple feet difference and some people would of got hurt. And I'm sure that wasn't the only close call out there.
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| I was going 25 miles an hour watching the water like a hawk, and i still hit something that was submerged. I didnt notice leaking during the day, but i havent done a total visual hull inspection yet.Either way it could have been worse.None of us have the time to run the length of the river in the morning to check how much debris is there.Were going out at the mercy of the directors who have all the information from the army core of engineers.They also could have had someone run the river to check it out.I definetely am left to wonder how they ever let us go. |
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| Underlying the MWC is a business, a for profit business. And I suspect that IF their to be a serious incident, their would be lawsuits. I am guessing that the waivers that you sign would help to limit any liability to the MWC. IMHO. |
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| Here are several images. I apologize in advance for the lack of quality (camera phone).
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Location: Manitowoc, WI | Subtract the cloudy overcast skies and make it a bit warmer and it looks like photos from the Lake Cumberland PWT!!!! We weaved through propane tanks, refrigerators, huge blowndown trees, gas cans, miscellaneous tanks, etc....you name it, it was there!! All that was missing were some cows and pigs!! |
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Location: Orland Park, IL | If its an 80% payout, then they could have give 80% back of the entry fee and let the fisherman walk. This way expenses are covered for MWC and granted not much profit. But it was an option. And it sounds like there werent any options.
Keep this in mind. If yesterday wasnt cancelled. At what point would it be cancelled. I mean where is the breaking point? If the launch was under water, Lake Depue was plan b.
We took it slow and easy and did find some ugly things in the river. And dennis is right. As a rookie (first MWC), I should have known better. Seeing as I fish the Illinois quite a bit, I leaned on the side "how bad can it be"? Tough to turn your back on the "catch a fish, cash a check" koolaid that was being served.
Its tough any way you look at it. Damned if you do, damned if you dont. There had to be a very compelling case to call to this tournament. Seems like there was an answer for all objections. I would like to know more about the fisherman advisory panel. |
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Posts: 617
Location: Oshkosh, Wisconsin | Wow. Pretty amazing pictures.
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| Jeez what year did the Tournament launch out of Lake Depue because of HIGH water ?????
Didn't hear no belly akin then....
We are all growin men & women that can make our OWN decision.. If you felt the river was too much for Ya- have the go nats to say no I'm not going out... I personnally know teams that are pived that they could not fish TODAY..
A decision was made to fish buy those in charge and I'm sure they didn't have any intentions on HARMING anyone just the BEST interest for EVERYONE fishing.. Jeez if they would have cancelled how many people would be Bitchin about that???? |
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Location: Shabbona | Sorry this last post was mine ...Just wanted to but a name with the post.. |
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| moo,
Glad you left a name...my opinion is your wrong. Not one person I talked to would have been upset with a total cancellation. While I only talked to 30 or so teams, all 30 said cancelling would have made them happy.
Its not supposed to be an obsticle course or an indurance race of jigging in mud hoping to hit one on the head. High water like that takes out all preparation work done during the week. It removes the skill and talent needed to out fish 191 teams.
I still congratulate the winners and the other three guys that caught a fish, it is disapointing to say the least.
TRUTH = It was not a safe launch.
FACT = there appears to have been no injuries.
FALSE = The MWC had no other choice.
They got the tournament off...but with only 4 teams carrying points to the championship...plan on the last tournament of the central (Mississippi River) to have 30 boats. Thats what they wanted thats what they will get. I live 3 hours from that site, and noway my money will go to the purse. |
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| Here's the compete album
http://walleye.outdoorsfirst.com/leaderboard/llb.asp?t=664&view=ima... |
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| I can't believe what I'm hearing. Since when is how much money they stand to lose the deciding factor if you send anglers out? The MWC is suppose to be a professional tournament trail, after looking at the pics and even the post tournament wrap the MWC did, this was not run professionaly. This was about how much money they make! Without anglers they have no sponsors and no tour, and you never put people in harms way over a buck! If your boss(the people who pay you) told you to do something questional, would you? Heck no, you tell them or him thats not right. If you work for someone that send you out of town and you can't do the work because of mother nature, does the company do the work anyways even when they know it's not right? Heck no they understand this is the risks they have in being a business. They cut their losses and move forward, knowing that without you and the otehr workers no work will get done. I read the EGO of anglers, that you know would go out no matter what as long as the event is being held. Just think if you would have somehow ended up in that water Saturday. I know it never is gonna happen to you, thats the famous last words of many a good people!
If there was some sort of board of directors the MWC would be fined for this. Instead they just keep on keepin on. Shame on them for thinking pockets full first over every angler involved, and if you don't think thats what happened you are fooling yourself. I know for a fact if I were in there I would NOT have lauched my boat. I would have gladly said to them, you can have my money. Never should a tour think about what it costs them not to fish, just how much is a life worth? These pics tell the whole story, there is NO WAY they tell anglers to go out in that. Before you even say it about last fall>(It's not like the FLW league where people choose to run in big waves to fish 30+ miles away, they could have stayed in the Bay and at safe harbor). This is about sending ALL anglers out to a mine field and hoping nothing happens. I would be greatly dissapointed in any committe or panel they have, the anglers that are in direct contact with the director should also be questioned.
In the end they were very lucky this time, no one was hurt. I think they just gave themselfs a blackeye as to what they think of the anglers they live off of.
The anglers fishing would have been better off throwing their money in the lotto! |
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| i remember back i think it was 1990,saw alot of refridgeraders floating down the river,even saw a garage floating down.it was crazy,i think there was 7 fish caught.ya know you don't have to go out,you can pack up your stuff and go home.but everybody fished it and someone took home a nice check. congrats to the guys who caught the 2.70lber.wow 60000! |
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Location: Orland Park, IL | Spare me the big boy/girl "make your own decisions" chatter. If safety was an issue, then it could have been called. And few people would have had a problem with it. Like I said, there were no options. This thing was going on and that was it. Most of the folks I talked with had no problem with the call. You cancel then what? Does it mean I gotta fish Detroit to get any chance of being in the money?
Again congrats to the winners, smokin job.
Catch a fish, cash a check. |
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Location: Rhinelander | OK, easy now.
I expressed my opinion, and it's fine to express yours, but no personal bashing or attacks. |
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Location: Orland Park, IL | chattin it up now on the wf chat room. Nice. |
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Location: Orland Park, IL | well said.
Iheard the $500 late fee was waived. What guy in his right mind would sign up late? |
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| i wouldnt be so sure about someone filling that spot, ive talked to alot of guys that arent coming back next year. The only way is if they go back to winnebago.
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Location: Orland Park, IL | Yep, winnebago on my list.
At least I gotta shot for team of the year? Tied for 5th whoooooo-hoooooo |
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| If they get winnebago back in, youd have to early bird to make sure you got in, cause that tournament will fill fast.If they dont do that, i bet spring valley will be lucky to get 150 boats next year. |
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Location: Orland Park, IL | Dont 1 through 10 get a placque? I thought it was for first through 10th plus all the in the money plaques.
Now thats gonna be expensive.
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Location: Westland, Mich. | hey, detroit ain't so bad. born and raised there and fished the river yesterday. i caught more fish by myself than any of the teams at spring valley. you come on over. you'll have fun fishing and not have to dodge even 1% of the debris that was in the illinois. |
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| "Jeez if they would have cancelled how many people would be Bitchin about that????"
I know 8 that are glad they didn't cancel.
WTG Schmitty and Mark!
Anyone know if 1 fish has eaver won so much money before?
I bet no matter what, this tourney fills again next year. Tradition is a powerful thing, and this is the first major of the year. |
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| didnt even fill this year Shep.
And next year will have lower turnouts. |
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| As a future competitor I find the fact that this tournament was conducted at all to be idiotic. Is a fishing competition a test of skill or luck? A tournament should not be held anywhere or in any conditions that leads to so few fish to be brought in?
This tournament being held means the MWC is about the money!
The fact that some anglers fell for the "catch a fish, cash a check!" philosophy tells me that it is all about the money for the fishermen too!
I find that sad since there is so little money to be made anyway (at least over the course of seasons and regular payouts) and I had hoped must fishermen simply enjoyed testing themselves and testing their skills amongst others! |
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| OK, what is considered full? 196 entered this tourney. That's alot of teams. Is there a limit. Payout based on a field of.....? |
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| 220 is a full field |
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Location: Spring Valley,Il. | Thats right 220 is full. This is the first year it didnt fill in 21 years.This isnt a tournament it is a dog and pony show.Probably wont ever fill again.Used to be a good tournament,not any more.Alot of guys upset enough to not come back. |
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| Many teams looking to move to different circuits per my conversations. Not quit fishing, but more efficiently run circuits. Even noticed at the Boat club Thursday's chicken fry was a real low turn out. Somethings not right!!! IWT would have never fished in those conditions. (That's a fact)!!! |
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Location: Berlin | Trust me Shep, this will hurt the MWC big time. There was not one person I had talked with that was happy about going out before the tournament and all thought it should be cancelled. I will fish it again next year but will NEVER fish in those conditions again. We had my buddies small aluminum Triton and never made it on plane. I just kept wondering when one of the 500 logs we hit was going through the hull. If you were not there, you cannot imagine how much crap was in the river. You could not go around because there was not any clean areas. We kepth the bow down and pushed through like we were breaking ice.
I had the highest respect for the MWC and Kristine but this was a HORRIBLE decision and it will cost them. Bringing it back to Winnebago is the only way to get more people involved and Oshkosh has no interest in that happening. Oshkosh sucks..... |
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Location: Orland Park, IL | IWT cancelled next week because of these conditions. I would like to hear this so called advisory board chime in. Pete Petros now is your chance to shine. |
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| Did the city of Oshkosh do something to discourage the MWC from comming back? |
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| move it to lakeside park in fond du lac
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Location: Berlin | From what I heard, Oshkosh did not want it or need it back (because they have SOOOOO much tourism already). Fon du Lac did not have any interest either. Escanaba opened their arms BIG time to get the MWC back there last year. |
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| What about the unlucky teams with high boat numbers? This was supposed to be 2 flights 1-110 & 111- 196. Every Team after #1 fished less time. The last teams probably had 35-45 minuets less fishing time to compete.  |
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| You send boats out into that mess, tell them to go slow and be careful, but be back early because the landing and parking lot will get more and more flooded and full of debris. Send the boats out into rising water but selling it by trying to flash dollar signs in their eyes. They not only wanted everyone to think it was safe and fishable but that it was going to be better than any other tourney because every fish would be worth cash. Sunday was probably the safer day too! Many boats braved it out but many did fish until 2pm calling it quits earlier due to safety. Heard of many boats with damage! That is a classic call by the MWC. |
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| Thanks Sunshine
Glad Mark was wearing his lucky underwear. (Spong Bob)
 That was the pertest 16 incher we ever saw.
With all the hootin and hollerin we did when Mark caught it the guy's around us probably thought he caught a whale.
What a mess.
A big thanks to the Spring Valley Walleye Club. |
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| LMAO...lucky underwear :D you guys have those superstitions too..:D
Congrats on the great finish. You had to really have a smile on your face for the ride home. Funny, we waited over at the boat club for the round of drinks, but you never showed....hmm...well we drank anyway! :P |
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| I think you have the right outlook, Rich. Nope, I wasn't there, but I have a pretty good idea on what it was like. Pretty sure I would not have launcehed in my new boat! Yuck. Just glad eveyone made it back safely, and feel bad for those with damage.
I figured full field was 200, so yes, it was short a few teams. Not sure ehy Bago is such a big factor in getting teams back next year. Look at all the flack the MWS gets for fishing Bago. Who wants to fish Bago?! hehehe |
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| First of all listening to all you guys whine is ridiculiuos. You are certainly the people who didn't catch fish. Well guess what, I also zeroed at the tournament. Yes the conditions were tough. I fished my but off trying to catch a fish figuring If we caught one we would have some nice money. It was actually exciting!! But then again I'm probably more of a risk taker than most. The bottom line is the money was on the table......lets play!! What did you guys want your 700$$ or 350$ a person back. If thats what you wanted then I think you probably shouldn't get in these events. And if your going to whine this much, I sure don't want you fishing with me!!!!!!!!!!!!
Quit Whining!!! |
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| i believe we launched out of depue in 1990. your right nobody whined! i think if anybody would of whined to Kaz he would of said pack up your boat and go home. i fished it had a fun. i just enjoyed going to spring valley every year just to see old friends and the great hospitality of all the people from spring valley. i haven't fished it since 2001,but maybe next year,see i'm retired and don't have the time.to much good fiahing here in the north woods. |
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