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Updated: 08/14/04
Michigan Teams Prepare for Michigan State Championship of Walleye Fishing
By Steve Weisman
Gander Mountain GNWC Publicity Director
The top teams on the Michigan Region of the Gander
Mountain Grand
National Walleye Cup (GNWC) are making final plans for the Michigan
State
Championship of Walleye Fishing, which will be held at Lake Leelanau
near
Traverse City, MI on August 28-29. The teams will be competing for
a
guaranteed $4000 for first place plus trophies, and with bonus opportunities
the winners could take home up to $4500.
Leading the way will be the Michigan Region Team
of the Year, Bert
Murlick and Bret Bremer from Saginaw, MI.
Shaped in the form of two basins, the north
and south, Lake Leelanau
offers walleye anglers two very different lakes: South Lake Leelanau
and
North Lake Leelanau. The two basins are connected by a natural channel.
South Lake Leelanau is the shallower of the two
basins. Over 11 million
walleyes have been stocked in South Lake Leelanau in the past five
years.
For the most part the bottom is a mix of sand and gravel.
North Lake Leelanau, meanwhile, has depths of over
120'. Known for its
trophy brown trout, North Lake Leelanau also provides good walleye
fishing.
Pre-fishing will be important for the teams
vying for the Michigan
title, as they cover as much water as possible while trying to put
together
their game plan for the two-day tournament. "This is going to be a
great
tournament. We have the top teams on the Michigan circuit and a body
of
water that poses a lot of opportunities and options," said Gander Mountain
GNWC Executive Director Bernie Barringer.
Although the tournament competition begins on Saturday,
August 28, the
activities for the Michigan teams actually begin on Friday evening
with the
Championship banquet at the Eagle's Ridge Conference Center adjacent
to
Leelanau Sands Resort and Casino. "The Leelanau Sands Resort and Casino
really stepped forward to welcome our Championship teams and sponsor
the
Championship banquet," noted Barringer.
The Michigan Championship competition headquarters
for take-off and
weigh-in will be at the Leelanau East Boat Ramp just off of Bingham
road.
Saturday's action begins at 7 a.m. with the opening ceremonies and
take-off.
Weigh-in will be at 3 p.m. Sunday follows the same time frame with
the
weigh-in festivities beginning at 3 p.m.
Sunday's weigh-in will determine who will take home
the Michigan State
Championship of Walleye Fishing title. "I encourage the public to come
to
these weigh-ins. Saturday's weigh-in will give us the first day's leaders
and set up for what will be an exciting climax to the two-day tournament
at
Sunday's weigh-in. On Sunday, the top teams will share where they fished
and
the presentation they used to catch their fish," added Barringer.
Saturday evening's activities include a free walleye
fishing seminar for
the general public at the Gander Mountain Store in Traverse City. "This
will
be a special opportunity for fishing enthusiasts to learn more about
walleye
fishing and to meet some of the Championship teams," said Barringer.
In addition, the Walleye Wisdom television crew
will be filming footage
of all eight Championships, including the Michigan State Championship,
for
its popular 13-week television program Walleye Wisdom that airs 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. I know
the
Michigan Championships will be a super event with lots of media coverage
and
excitement surrounding all of the activities," added 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 team advancing the most places from day one to day two. Skeeter
Boats is
offering any owner of a Skeeter boat who wins the Michigan 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
Michigan 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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