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MWC at Devils Lake Could be a One Day Event-Kid’s Tournament was a Fun Time!
August 21, 2010
The talk at the docks this morning was the game plan for today if tomorrow turns out to be a “blow day”. Winds forecasted to gust to 30+mph could keep 61 teams from competing tomorrow. “Anything over 25mph is bad here”, said Jason Feldner, a local guide out of Minnewaukan, ND, who also happens to be last months FLW Walleye Tour winner here on Devils Lake.
It’s a sentiment that is shared by the staff of the MWC organization, Dan Palmer, the MWC tournament director, said to call the MWC Hotline beginning at 4:30AM tomorrow morning, to find out if they will be launching in the morning. And, if they do not launch in the morning, the awards ceremony will take place at 8am at the Burdick Arena.
The tournament Hotline is: 952-988-7247.
If they do not launch, Walleye Central will be at Burdick Arena to stream the awards presentation, live, and you can watch by clicking here.
 When asked what his and Chris Koth's game plan is today, Jason (sitting on the right) replied, “Well it’s either going to be 18-22 pounds or 10.(Shrug) That’s just how my week’s been going. I’ve been praying for light winds, and all week we really haven’t had it prefishing, so hopefully, my thoughts will prevail”.
Juls: There’s chitter-chatter about some big wind tomorrow, how is that going to work into your game plan today, if this turns out to be a one day tournament?
Jason: Yeah, they’re talking about sustained winds from 30-35mph tomorrow. So, I don’t know. I don’t know how the MWC is on cancelling stuff, but I’m just debating if we should really concentrate, and just stick to our guns, and bring back nothing under 20 inches. Or, we box the first two 18 inchers, to play it safe, and go for 5 over 20 then, or…..(deep sigh) I don’t know what to do. I guess we’ll have to wait and feel it out, and see how the fishing is right away in the morning. If it’s slow, and we get nervous, we’ll box the first two 18’s and try to upgrade from there. I’d rather have 5 20 inchers in the boat and keep two tags open to play with and try to go find a couple pigs. I don’t know.(Laughs)
Yesterday, I had a 28 ½ incher, that went 8.3. And, I know there’s some other big fish there, it’s just whether they will cooperate or not. We’ve had two days of stable weather, so they should bite again today.
 Teaming up for this event is the brother/brother team of Kevin and Aaron McQuoid. Kevin who has had a pretty good competitive season so far, still lives in Isle, MN and is fishing with Aaron, who moved out to Devils Lake several years ago and became a guide out of Minnewaukan. I jumped in their truck as Kevin launched Aaron, and asked what their their expectations were for today.
Kevin: Well, we’re going to play it like it could be a one day tournament, because there’s a good possibility that that’s going to happen. So, we’ll take a few more chances today, and we’re not going to keep to many small fish. I think 19 inches or better. I think we’re going to see a little more weight this time, than we saw last month at the FLW. There’s a few more locals, a few more bigger fish going up at Pelican, but it’s changed. So, it’s going to be interesting. We’ll see what happens at the weigh in.
Johnnie Candle is another local guide here on the lake, and took a few moments to give me his thoughts on the same subject. Here are his words:
 Johnnie: Oh, today is going to be a good day. The weather is shaping up to be a nice day…not too much wind. It’s going to be hot. I think it’s going to be a good day. I think the weights are going to be up a little bit from the FLW event last month. I think too many guys learned a valuable lesson at that tournament, and you’re going to see some bigger fish caught than what people expect.
Juls: What do you think it will take each day to win this?
Johnnie: Oh, I think 15 pounds a day is still going to be a good weight. It’s going to get you in the top ten, but somebody is going to sneak 21-22 pounds in there each day to win this one, I think.
Conditions at take off this morning were:
Temp: 61 degrees
Humidity: 88 %
Wind Speed: N 6 MPH
Barometer: 29.95"
Dewpoint: 59 °F (15 °C)
Visibility: 5.00 mi.
The forecast for today and tomorrow is:
Today: Sunny, with a high near 82. East wind between 8 and 11 mph.
Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 65. South southeast wind between 13 and 16 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Sunday: Mostly sunny and hot, with a high near 92. Breezy, with a south southeast wind between 17 and 25 mph, with gusts as high as 30 mph.
Yesterday, the MWC held a Kid’s Fishing Tournament, and a dozen of the Pro Teams took time out of their prefishing to take the boys and girls out on the water for 5 hours. At Noon, they drove the kids and their rigs over to Burdick Arena to weigh in. The boys and girls who participated earned their chance by writing an essay on why they like to fish. One example of just such a letter was this heart warming essay from Bailey Schneider which read like this:
Why I Love To Fish
By: Bailey Schneider, age 8
I love to fish, because it’s fun! Fishing is the one thing that my Grandpa and my Dad and I always do together. If the weather is right, we are out on the boat, sometimes all day.
My Grandpa died in December, so this year he will be helping me catch the big one, from Heaven. He taught me everything I know about fishing. My Grandpa is the reason I love to fish!
Finishing second from last, Grandpa must have been napping, and saved that big fish for Bailey for another day!
 Winning the Kid’s Tournament was Dylan Durbin of Cary, ND who fished with Pro Team, Chad Maloy and Don Denning, both of Fargo, ND. While they were allowed a five fish limit, Dylan won with three fish and a weight of 5 pounds even.
2nd Place: Benjamen Shepard who fished with Brian Sularz and Brad Engebretson
3rd Place: Isaak Brown who fished with Bryan Gaikowski and
4th Place: Zack Shepard who fished with Rick Walter and Brian Woodward
5th Place: Jayce Trana who fished with Kevin and Aaron McQuoid
6th Place: Hunter Brown who fished with Guy Ryan and Troy Etheridge
7th Place: Cory Shereck who fished with Johnnie Candle and Dave Noble
8th Place: Andrew Lee who fished with Corey Heiser and Ken Cumber
9th Place: Zach Abrahamson who fished with Jim Perry and Aaron Wagnor
10th Place: Ryan Reule who fished with Dewey Huber and Louis Huber
11th Place: Bailey Schneider who fished with Allan Freidig and Clint Deveir
12th Place: Blake Gellner who fished with Mike Oletzke and Rich Huebner
A trophy was given to first place and the rest all took home a nice plaque for their walls along with a goodie bag.
There will also be another “Kid’s Fishing Clinic” sponsored by the NPAA, MWC, and Cabelas today after the weigh in. Kids will receive free rod and reel combos, tackle boxes with all the terminal tackle it takes to get started, including slip bobbers. Pros will be helping the kids out and teaching them how to put the slip bobbers on properly and how to tie a knot that will keep their hooks on the line. This event is FREE and open to the public, so don’t miss out!
Teams are expected to return to the dock at Graham’s Island State Park at 3PM and then they will be driving over to the Burdick Arena, located at 501 16th St. NW, Devils Lake, where they will be weighing in. Fish will be bumped dead or alive at the docks, but this will be a non-release tournament. Fish are being donated to the city of Devils Lake.
Walleye Central will be streaming LIVE video from the weigh in site, so if you can’t make it down to the arena, you can watch it from the comfort of your air conditioned office, living room, or “man cave” by clicking here.
Hope to see you all there!
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