Lake Rathbun Next for Iowa Region of GNWC
By Steve Weisman GNWC Publicity Director
With the season already half over, the teams fishing the Iowa
Region of the Grand National Walleye Cup (GNWC) are putting
together their game plan for the Lake Rathbun Tournament scheduled
for Sunday, May 22. Lake Rathbun, a huge reservoir in southern
Iowa, is the second largest lake in the Hawkeye state. Known
for its crappie population, Lake Rathbun is also home to an
excellent walleye population. "Lake Rathbun always provides
the GNWC teams a challenge. A year ago we hit Rathbun on the
same weekend, and the bite was tremendous. The teams put on
quite a show," said GNWC Executive Director Bernie Barringer.
Jim May, owner of K & K Lighthouse bait shop echoed those sentiments.
"It didn't take teams long last year to figure out the walleyes
were in the shallows. Traditionally, though, most anglers pull
crankbaits off the floats or troll with worm harnesses." May
noted that although fishing was slow in early May because of
the cold, windy weather, the third week in May is normally an
excellent time to fish Rathbun. Heading into the Lake Rathbun
Tournament, the team of Jack Davis and Rob Funk from Mason City,
IA. currently hold the lead for the "Yamaha Team of the Year"
honors for the Iowa Region with eight points. They have a four-point
lead over Troy Loeckle from Floyd, IA and Wes Loeckle from Mason
City, IA and a five-point lead over Bob Mortenson and Roger
Berkland from Emmetsburg, IA. The tournament director will have
the trailer at Honey Creek State Park from 6-8 p.m. the evening
before the tournament to take late entries and answer questions.
Take-off is at 7 a.m. with the weigh-in commencing at 3 p.m.
sharp at Honey Creek State Park. "Lake Rathbun can produce some
big stringers of fish. I encourage folks to come out to the
weigh-in and see what patterns the GNWC teams can put together.
We will also have a couple of Aqua-Vu underwater cameras set
up in our release tanks so that the public can see how they
work. This is a great opportunity for the general public to
learn more about the fun and excitement of tournament fishing,"
noted Barringer. For those interested in entering, the entry
fee remains at $210 per team for each tournament. Openings do
still exist for the Lake Rathbun qualifier, and Barringer encourages
interested anglers to contact him at 1-800-890-FISH (3474),
or email the GNWC at info@walleyecup.com. Barringer added, "I
also encourage people to check out our website at www.walleyecup.com
and see what is happening in all seven of our regions." Major
national sponsors for the GNWC include Skeeter Boats, Yamaha
Outboards, Lowrance Electronics, YoNet Folding Nets by AMFYOYO,
Aqua-VU, Aqua Innovations, Cabela's and UpNorthOutdoors.com.
National championship sponsors are Towtector Shield and the
VIB"E" Lure Company, while Iowa Region sponsors include Carlson-Sanderson
Real Estate, Motor Inn, Inc., and Triggs Bay Resort
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