El Dorado, KS Welcomes Great Plains Championship of Walleye Fishing Teams By Steve Weisman GNWC Publicity Director The Great Plains Championship of Walleye Fishing will be held at El Dorado Reservoir on August 13-14. It will feature the top teams on the Great Plains Region of the Grand National Walleye Cup (GNWC). At stake will be a guaranteed $3000 for first place plus trophies. In addition, the winners will receive the Lowrance "YOU WIN!" award of two Lowrance LMS-332C color sonar/GPS units valued at $1400, making the total first place purse worth $4400. Leading the way will be the Yamaha Outboards Great Plains Region Team of the Year Doug Duncan and Tim Brockman from Wichita, KS. According to GNWC Executive Director Bernie Barringer, "We have some excellent teams representing both Kansas and Nebraska in this Great Plains shootout. Duncan and Brockman made quite a surge in that last tournament at Milford Lake to take the regular season honors, but everybody starts even as we begin this two-day Great Plains Championship." At 8,000 acres and a maximum depth of 60 feet, El Dorado Reservoir has a mixture of steep rocky shorelines and shallow mudflats. "I think El Dorado will offer the competing teams an interesting challenge as they work to put together presentations that will trigger the fish," added Barringer. Although the tournament competition begins on Saturday, August 13, the activities for the Great Plains teams actually begins on Friday evening with the rules meeting and a cookout at Shady Creek Marina, the local Skeeter Boats/Yamaha Outboards dealer. The Great Plains Championship take-offs and weigh-ins will be at the Shady Creek Marina. Both Saturday's and Sunday's action begins at 7 a.m. with the take-off, while the weigh-in will be at 3 p.m. "We hope to have a good crowd at each day's weigh-in. It is a great way for the public to be part of the excitement generated by these teams as they compete for the Great Plains Championship title," noted Barringer. "Weigh-ins begin at 3 p.m. each day. The first day will be a day of positioning, but the second day will be for all the marbles. Plus, on the second day, we will get answers from the top teams as to where and how they caught their fish." Special awards will be give out at the Championships including the Cabelas Big Fish Award of a $200 shopping spree for the team that catches the largest walleye during the two-day Championships. In addition, an optional Big Fish Pot will go to the team catching the overall big fish during the Championships. Skeeter Boats is offering an additional $3000 above their GNWC winnings to any owner of a Skeeter boat who wins the Great Plains Championship of Walleye Fishing while fishing in the Skeeter. In addition, the top-finishing Skeeter owner will receive $1000. This extra $1000 is above the $3000 for winning. 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. TowTector, maker of the premium boat protector for towing vehicles, will offer the Towtector Comeback Award of a Towtector Shield valued at $269 for the team advancing the most places from day one to day two. The FoodSource Lure Company is sponsoring $200 in FoodSource Lures for the top placing family team. Those interested in checking out the standings, reading the releases about any of the seven regions or simply learning more about the circuit can access the GNWC website at www.walleyecup.com. 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 FoodSource Lure Corporation