AIM Wrap-Up: What A Season! Weekend Walleye Series Awards Nearly $375K, With More In Store For 2019

More than 800 individual angler-participants in three states and 16 events. More than 1,100 total entries. More than $284,000 in cash paid. Toss in another $91K in other cash and prizes, and the total soars to nearly $375,000 awarded in an AIM Weekend Walleye Series season that stretched from a blizzard in April to the first chills of fall in late-August.

That's the initial tally in entries and payouts that took place in the 2018 AWWS, and there's more where that came from on tap for 2019, said AIM National Tournament Director Denny Fox.

"What a fantastic season. We had unbelievable support from all our entrants and our generous sponsors," Fox adds. "That $375K total is not even counting the contingency cash paid by sponsors directly to teams using their products to win, or place, in AIM events."

Those generous sponsors paying all that extra cash direct to teams include ultra-tough Warrior Boats, wave crushing Nitro Boats, ultra-cutting-edge Garmin Electronics, those ultra-sensitive Fox River Lures and Rods, and the amazingly productive Moonshine Shiver Minnows , he says.

"Thank you to all our other sponsors, the resorts and towns we visited, and all our friends that help us along the way. It's a list that's getting longer and longer, and we'll do it all over again, and more, starting next April. Just watch us keep growing," Fox says.

AIM's 2019 tourney locations are already in place, and will be announced soon, so teams can begin scouting and planning. It all begins again, just about six short months from now in Wisconsin, Minnesota and North Dakota, including the big AWWS Warrior Boats National Championship Shootout on the Missouri River when we launch at Bismarck-Mandan, NorthDakota at the end of May. The prize there? Again, it's a new Warrior 1898 DC/ 150 Yamahafour-stroke/Garmin Electronics package worth more than $50,000.

There's a bonus when an AIM tournament arrives, for the lakes fished, the communities visited,

and for the teams who enter, Fox points out. When the last team boat is loaded and the last

check is signed, the walleye populations at each location are as healthy as they were before the

first team boat went into the water.

"Thanks to AIM's Catch-Record-Release™ format, literally tens of thousands of pounds of

walleye are still alive, still swimming, and most important, still spawning, released back into the

same locations in which they were caught, ensuring that the resource these anglers and

communities depend on is protected for the future.

"That last point is really important. It means even more walleye for the waters we visit after the

last AIM entrant leaves. It means those big spawners that our teams put back into the water

survive to guarantee a healthy population of more, and bigger, fish," Fox says, "and that's a

great outcome for those resorts, businesses and communities."

"We want everyone to experience AIM's C-R-R format. It is real, it's simple, and it works.

"In fact, AIM is extremely flattered to see many other tournaments start using C-R-R in some

form," Fox adds.

"It's a testament to the format AIM developed, and will continue to use and encourage others

to adopt as well," he says.

So, start getting ready now. Re-spool those reels. Follow those forums. Watch for those tourney

locations in an upcoming announcement, and then start checking those maps and charts and

talking to locals.

This is a tournament series made specifically for you, the working individual, who can pre-fish

on a Thursday through Saturday, do your best Sunday, and be back to work Monday. You can

do it. You can be in contention, and climb the stage at an AIM Catch-Record-Release™

tournament. It happened this season, and will happen again in 2019, guaranteed, Fox says. But,

you have to enter to do it.

Watch for upcoming info at AIM's Facebook site. For info on all AIM events, including how to

register for next year, go to aimfishing.com.

Anglers Insight Marketing LLC (AIM™) is a unique tournament organization created and owned by many

of the most accomplished and recognizable professional walleye anglers, along with others who share

the mission of advancing competitive walleye fishing and making it sustainable into the future. AIM is

committed to marketing excellence on behalf of its tournament competitors, the tournament host

communities, and the brands that partner with it. AIM is also committed to maintaining healthy fisheries

across the nation by the development of the exclusive AIM Catch-Record-Release™ format which is

integral to its dynamic events and unparalleled consumer engagement.

For more information about AIM™, AIM Pro Walleye Series™, AIM Weekend Walleye Series, AIM sponsors and AIM anglers, visit www.aimfishing.com.

AIM Presenting Sponsors: Yamaha Motor Corporation U.S.A. and Warrior Boats, LLC.

AIM Supporting Sponsors: Mercury Marine, Nitro Boats, Garmin, Navionics, Power Pole, Worldwide Marine Insurance, AirWave Pedestals, Off Shore Tackle, Vibrations Tackle, Pro Chattrr, Gemini Sport Marketing, Treeland Resort, Anglers Avenue, Moonshine Lures Shiver Minnow, JT Outdoors Products, Fox River Lures and Rods, Bismarck Mandan Convention and Visitors BureauPresented by Yamaha Motor Corp USA and Warrior Boats LLC.