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| Guth, McCarty Maintain Lead to Win Wisconsin Championship of Walleye Fishing Title |
The team of Tim Guth from Monico, WI and David McCarty from Pelican Lake, WI found out what a 1.63-pound walleye can mean! It meant a check for $7700 and the Wisconsin State Championship of Walleye Fishing title.
The two-day championship was held at Green Lake and is the fifth of eight such tournaments on the Gander Mountain Grand National Walleye Cup
(GNWC) circuit.
Guth and McCarty's 1.63 pounder was the only fish weighed during the Championships, which found the tournament teams fighting tough, cold front conditions that almost totally shut down the bite.
"This is definitely the toughest tournament I have ever been a part of," said Gander Mountain Grand National Walleye Cup(GNWC) Tournament Site Director Greg Liebel. "We all kept thinking that surely someone would find the secret, but nobody ever did. It goes to show that at times walleyes just plain won't bite."
For Guth and McCarty, it was a shock that their 1.63-pound walleye held up, but it did and helped the winners walk away with not only the $7700 but also the Berkley Big Fish Award of $400 in Berkley product. They found the fish in the southwest corner of the lake in a trough or opening of a weedbed. They worked 5-6' of water, pulling 1/8-ounce chartreuse jigs. The lone keeper came on a jig and nightcrawler combination.
Several other teams won awards in special random drawings. These awards included three Yo Net folding nets, two VIB"E" Lure packets, a Towtector boat protector and the Gander Mountain "Need More Stuff" drawing for a Gander Mountain Shopping Spree.
Bernie Barringer, GNWC Executive Director, echoed Liebel's thoughts. "Man was this tough. However, it also goes to show that one fish can make the difference. In this case, the winners caught the only fish and walked away with everything."
Liebel added, "I do want to thank everybody who helped us from the Green Lake area. We had great volunteer help, which is always appreciated."
The Walleye Wisdom camera crew was also on hand to film footage of the Championship. "The Walleye Wisdom camera crew is at all of the State Championships to capture the excitement of the tournament action. The highlights of these State Championships and the National Championships, along with some great walleye fishing tips will appear on our 13-week Walleye Wisdom television program," noted Barringer.
Those 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 by AMFYOYO, VIB"E" Lure Company, TowTector Shield and UpNorthOutdoors.com.
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| Wisconsin Regional Championships Slated for Green Lake, August 28-29 |
After a season of four qualifying tournaments on the Wisconsin circuit of the Gander Mountain Grand National Walleye Cup (GNWC), those teams who made the cut are now preparing for the Wisconsin State Championship of Walleye Fishing, which will be held at Green Lake on August 28-29. They will be competing for the first place prize of $4000 in cash plus trophies, and the possibility of another $500 in special bonus incentives.
Leading the way will be the Wisconsin Region Team of the Year, Robert Blosser from Lodi, WI and Gary Tomlinson from Poynette, WI, who edged Craig Swatek from Wisconsin Rapids, WI and Scott Swatek from Lone Rock, WI by 1 point to take the coveted Team of the Year title. "That was quite a finish for the Team of the Year. The Wisconsin Region was very competitive, and I see the Championships to be more of the same," said Gander Mountain Grand National Walleye Cup (GNWC) Executive Director Bernie Barringer.
Barringer expressed excitement about holding the Wisconsin State championship of Walleye Fishing at Green Lake. "We welcome the opportunity to feature Green Lake for our state championship. It's a great opportunity to come to a community and highlight the work that has been done to help restore this great fishery, and to show anglers and communities everywhere that great fishing can be the result of working together for the good of the resource."
Green Lake, which is the deepest inland lake in Wisconsin, presents the competing teams with many challenges. According to Dennis Walker, who has Dennis Walker's Pontoon Guide Service, it's going to take lots of pre-fishing strategy because of the lake's incredible depth and variety of structure. "It's a fun lake to fish, but it will also be a heck of a challenge. I'll be interested to see how these teams will do."
Walker added, "Green Lake is a good walleye lake-but a tough walleye lake. I am sure a lot of teams will pull boards, but that can be difficult because of the floating weeds from all the boat activity. Flat calm days are the worst for that."
Barringer concurred. "These are the things that the teams are going to have to work through during pre-fishing. I do know one thing. The GNWC has a great respect for this fishery, and we are pleased to be invited to this area."
For the GNWC teams, the activities actually start on Friday evening with the Wisconsin Championship Banquet sponsored by the Green Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau. "The Green Lake Convention and Visitors Bureau has done a fantastic job in preparing for the Championship. They have been great to work with, and I know that we will have a great time," said Barringer.
The tournament opens Saturday morning with a 7 a.m. take-off, and weigh-in will take place at 3 p.m. Take-off and weigh-ins will be held at Sunset Park on County Road A, at the east end of the lake. "We certainly invite the public out to witness each day's weigh-ins. Each day will present a different sort of drama. Saturday's weigh-in will show the anglers and the crowd just where everybody stands going into Sunday's action. Then comes Sunday's weigh-in where the crowd will get a chance to see how the teams adjusted from the first day's fishing. It will also be a time to learn what these teams did to unlock the secrets of Green Lake," said Barringer.
In addition, the Walleye Wisdom television crew will be filming footage of all eight Championships, including the Wisconsin State Championship, for its popular 13-week television program Walleye Wisdom, which is aired on the Sportsman Channel, Fox Sports and several regional outlets. "Our goal is to showcase the successes of our walleye teams, share the techniques that the GNWC teams used to catch their fish and to finally give fishing hints that will help our viewers become better walleye anglers themselves," said Barringer.
Special awards will be give out at the Championships including the Berkley Big Fish Award of $400 in Berkley product for the team that catches the largest walleye during the two-day Championships. In addition, an optional Big Fish Pot will go to the big fish taken during the Championships.
Next, will be the $200 Gander Mountain Shopping Spree. A drawing will be held of teams who do not weigh a fish, and the winner will be able to spend the $200 on gear of their choice at any Gander Mountain Store. If all teams weigh fish, all will be entered in the drawing.
YoNet Folding Nets by AMFYOYO will offer the Yo So Close Award of an $80 folding net to the three teams finishing just out of the money.
The VIB"E" Lure Company will sponsor the VIB"E" Lure award of two six-piece lure sets valued at $40 to the two teams who finish behind the Yo So Close award. Lure sets will also be given away as door prizes at the Championship banquet.
TowTector, maker of the premium boat protector for towing vehicles, will offer the Towtector Comeback Award of a Towtector Shield valued at $250 for the the team advancing the most places from day one to day two.
Skeeter Boats is offering any owner of a Skeeter boat who wins the Wisconsin State Championship while fishing in the Skeeter an additional $1000 above their GNWC winnings.
Aqua Innovations will give an additional $250 to any team who wins the Wisconsin State Championship if their boat's livewell is equipped with the Aqua Innovations oxygen enhancement system. Plus they will be awarding systems to the anglers as door prizes at the Championship banquet.
Those 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 by AMFYOYO, VIB"E" Lure Company, TowTector Shield and UpNorthOutdoors.com. |
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