PWT Tour Returns to Michigan's UP With Walleye Action at Sault
Ste. Marie They're heading to Michigan's Upper Peninsula from
all corners of the Walleye World. The pros with their $40,000
boats and thousands of fishing lures, will be driven to Sault
Ste. Marie by visions of giant walleyes flopping in their nets.
These are the In-Fisherman Professional Walleye Trail touring
pro anglers who will fish the Lund/Outdoor Channel Pro-Am on
the St. Mary's River for more than $300,000 in cash and merchandise
prizes. The top 40 win a share of the purse with the first-place
pro prize set at $64,000. The PWT Pro-Am format means the winning
amateur/co-angler will tow home a Mercury-powered Lund walleye
boat on an E-Z Loader trailer (a $17,000 prize). Forty amateurs
also win prizes. The partners fish in the pro's boat with the
pro's gear and at the pro's spots. Each amateur/co-angler draws
a different partner each tournament day, Wednesday, Thursday
and Friday, Aug. 24-26. Not only are they gunning to win the
big prizes, but this is also the final qualifier prior to the
prestigious Mercury Championship, which caps the 2005 season.
Only a limited field will be invited, and the new champion will
win $119,000, at Milford Lake in Kansas. At Sault Ste. Marie,
the contestants will fish the St. Mary's River and all it's
connecting waters. This scenic waterway flows from Lake Superior
to Lake Huron. The most popular PWT pro boat is a 20-foot Lund
walleye boat, which will be shadowed by freighters exceeding
1,000 feet in length, and towering hundreds of feet in height.
The anglers in the Lund will be searching for one more walleye,
while the ship will be on course for it's next port. All eyes
will be on Johnsonville Brats Angler of the Year leader Mark
Brumbaugh. This Ohio angler has cashed a check at every PWT
tournament this season, and is the only angler to have done
so. He is a past PWT Champion and a tournament winner, but does
not own an Angler title. With 341 points, Brumbaugh is only
two points ahead of Illinois pro Mike Gofron. New York pro Todd
Frank is seven points back. The Angler of the Year race is the
tightest it's ever been. The Angler title would be worth $35,000
to any of these Mercury pros ($25,000 from Johnsonville and
$10,000 from Mercury Marine). Local pro Mike McMaken, Cedarville,
Mich., reports there are more walleyes from 15 to 22 inches
in the St. Mary's River than ever before. He said, "They're
healthy and in all the traditional places. Boat control will
be critical (as usual), and I expect some really big fish to
show themselves." The Aug. 24-26 event will occur about a mile
below the Soo Locks in Aune Osborn Park. Walleye fans are welcome
to the free stage spectacle beginning at 3 p.m. daily. Contestants
weigh their catches, which are then released. On Friday, the
pros "tell all." They reveal where they fished, how they fished,
and any tricks they learned on the river. The fishing action
will be captured by the award-winning In-Fisherman TV crews,
and aired from October 2005 through March 2006 on the Outdoor
Channel. Updated results the instant the pros weigh their catches
are available on the PWT website www.professionalwalleyetrail.com.
Tune in and follow the Mercury Real-time scoring action. Quality
Inn & Suites (906-635-6918), Sault Convention Bureau (800-647-2858),
Kewadin Casino (906-632-0530
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