Lake of the Woods, MN - Bernie Barringer, president of Fishing Promotions, Inc., and Executive Director of the Gander Mountain Grand National Walleye Cup, today announced that the 2004 National Championships will be held on Lake of the Woods in northern Minnesota, Oct. 7-9.
Barringer noted, "I'm excited about the opportunity presented by the Lake of the Woods and Rainy River area for our National Championship. This is a terrific fishery with many possibilities for putting together the winning basket of walleyes."
Mention Lake of the Woods, and anglers' eyes begin to widen in awe of this massive, sprawling body of water. But then, who wouldn't! Lake of the Woods and Rainy River combine for 65,000 miles of shorelines.
"The Lake of the Woods/Rainy River area is known for great fishing resorts, and the folks there are rolling out the Red Carpet for the Nation's best as they compete for a huge payday in the National Championship that will bring together the top 120 two-person teams from nine states," added Barriinger.
Jane Sindelir, tourism director, expressed similar sentiments about the 2004 National Championship. "We look forward to hosting this first class event. The Lake of the Woods and Rainy River area offers fabulous fall fishing for your contestants. The Baudette and Wheeler's Point area are famous for spectacular walleye fishing."
Barringer's thoughts on the walleye fishing? "Trophy fish are produced by the Rainy River each fall as big walleyes follow the shiner run up the river in early October. Anglers can also target the river's resident fish, or focus on those fish making a move out of the lake. For those angler willing to take the risk of fishing the main lake that time of the year, large catches can be caught from the vast expanse of Big Traverse Bay."
The Gander Mountain GNWC is a team circuit that has expanded for 2004 to include eight states: Illinois, Iowa, Kansas/Nebraska (Great Plains), Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Barringer's thoughts on the expansion, "We had a great response with our five-state format in 2003, and we received a lot of requests by anglers in these new states for us to expand. Then when Gander Mountain came on board as our title sponsor, we felt the time was right to go to an eight-state circuit."
Barringer added, "This gives us four qualifiers and a state championship in each state, along with the National Championship. We begin taking registrations on January 1. Angers can go to our website at www.walleyecup.com, email us at [email protected] or call toll-free at 1-800-890-FISH. We wanted to get this information out to all of those interested in the Gander Mountain GNWC right away, but we will have more timely releases in the next few weeks."
So, with only a little over three months before the Gander Mountain GNWC opens the 2004 season, knowing that the National Championship will be at Lake of the Woods, makes cracking that 120-team cap even more compelling. |
