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Updated: 08/14/04
Wisconsin Regional Championships Slated for Green Lake, August 28-29
By Steve Weisman
Gander Mountain GNWC Publicity Director
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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