GNWC Coffey County Lake Results April 4, 2004

Coffey County Lake Produces Limits of Walleyes

By Steve Weisman
Gander Mountain GNWC Publicity Director

How is this for walleye tournament excitement and a tournament director's dream? Every team brings a limit of fish to the weigh-in!

That's exactly what happened at the Great Plains Region of the Gander Mountain Grand National Walleye Cup's (GNWC) first qualifier at Coffey County Lake in Kansas on Sunday, April 4.

Leading the way and capturing the $1000 first place check was the team of J. D. Baker from Hoxie, KS and Greg Meckleberg from Yuma, CO with a four-fish limit weight of 7.28 pounds.

Second place and a check for $500 went to Robert Purcell, Missouri Valleye, IA and Blaine Presley from Wahoo, NE with a four-fish limit weighing 7.24 pounds.

The third place check of $400 went to Ron Erhard from Wellsville, KS and Rob Masterson from Spring Hill, KS with four fish weighing 7.23 pounds.

"Wow!" said Gander Mountain GNWC Tournament Director Dean Higgins. "It was phenomenal. Team after team came to the scales with four-fish limits. What made the weigh-in so incredibly close was the 18-26 inch slot. We had a lot of teams that had to throw back 23 and 24 inch fish, but that's what makes a tournament like this so exciting."

Higgins continued. "This is the first trip for the Gander Mountain GNWC to the Great Plains Region of Kansas and Nebraska. Coffey County Lake showed us just how great a walleye fishery it is. The teams indicated they had a great time and displayed a lot of camaraderie in rooting for other teams at the weigh-in."

The Berkley Trilene Big Fish Award of $400 in Berkley products went to Randall and Randy Orine from Minden, NE for their 1.94 pound walleye taken on a 1/4-ounce jig.

Special awards include the following. The "Yo So Close" award of a Yo Net folding net valued at $80 was awarded to the three teams that placed out of the money. Those teams include Kevin Johnson and Cheryl Counts from Kansas City, KS; Justin Miller and Mark Joy from Wichita, KS; Mark Joslyn from Hoxie, KS and Kevin Jenny from Gretna, NE.

The Gander Mountain "Need More Stuff" drawing of $200 for a Gander Mountain Shopping Spree also went to Miller and Joy.

As mentioned earlier, the fishing was phenomenal with Baker and Meckleberg catching their walleyes on 1/8-ounce pink and chartreuse Whistler Jigs tipped with Berkley Gulp. They sorted through nearly 70 walleyes during the tournament.

Meanwhile, Purcell and Presley pulled silver spinners and bottom bouncers tipped with Berkley Gulp Worms. They trolled their spinners in depths ranging from 10-27 feet and reported that they caught over 150 walleyes in three days of fishing, including Sunday's tournament.

Finally, Erhard and Masterson tried several presentations ranging from jigging with 1/8-ounce and 1/4-ounce jigs, to trolling minnows and nightcrawlers to speed trolling with lead core line and crankbaits. All presentations caught fish.

The next qualifier on the Great Plains circuit will be Glen Elder on Sunday, May 30.

Anglers interested in signing up for a future qualifier or simply wanting more information on the GNWC circuit can call 1-800-890-FISH (3474), or they can email the GNWC at info@walleyecup.com.

Title Sponsor for the GNWC is Gander Mountain with other major national sponsors including Skeeter Boats, Yamaha Outboards, the Sportsman Channel, Berkley, Aqua Innovations, YoNet Folding Nets by AMFYOYO, VIB"E" Lure Company, TowTector Shield and UpNorth Outdoors.com.