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Iowa Teams Head to Mississippi River for Final Regular Season
Tournament
By Steve Weisman GNWC Publicity Director
For the Iowa teams competing for a berth at the Iowa Regional
Championship of the Grand National Walleye Cup (GNWC), it all
comes down to one final tournament. What better place than to
have this final showdown on the Mississippi River! This final
qualifier is set for Sunday, June 19, at Albany, IL. When it's
all said and done, the top 30 teams who fished all four qualifying
tournaments will be on their way to the Iowa Regional Championship
on West Okoboji, September 17-18. Also by the end of the Albany
Tournament, the Iowa Region "Yamaha Team of the Year" will be
crowned. Heading into the final tournament, the team of Jack
Davis and Rob Funk from Mason City, IA have an 11 point lead
over Troy Loeckle from Floyd, IA and Wes Loeckle from Mason
City, IA and a 12 point lead over Jesse Roush from Clive, IA
and Cory Batterson from Pleasant Hill, IA. According to GNWC
Executive Director Bernie Barringer, the Albany Tournament will
hold lots of excitement for both the competing teams and the
general public. "The Mississippi River is a great fishery, and
I know these teams will be working not only the Albany area
but also other pools. There are so many fishing opportunities.
Even though this is the final tournament for the year, I encourage
folks who would like to experience competitive walleye tournament
fishing to give this qualifier a try." The tournament director
will have the trailer at the Albany City Ramp 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 the Albany City Ramp. "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 what presentations worked and to also find out what
team takes the Team of the Year honors and what teams qualify
for the Iowa Regional Championship," noted Barringer. For those
interested in entering, the entry fee remains at $210 per team
for each tournament. Openings do still exist for the Mississippi
River Tournament at Albany, 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
how the races are going 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.
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