| | Texas Walleye Association Lake Meredith May Tourney
The Texas Walleye Association returned to the friendly home waters of Lake Meredith for their Saturday, May 14 tournament. In a rare reversal of form for a TWA tournament, the weather was surprisingly good, resulting in the heaviest limits ever for a TWA Tournament. How tough was the competition? A 5 fish limit weighing 10 lbs. would only get you a 10th place finish! In fact, the average size of the 50 fish from the top 10 teams weighed an impressive 2.47 lbs! 86% of the teams in the tournament weighed and released 5 fish limits. The only negative in this scenario was the shocking lack of 14 inch-and-under fish. After listening to pre-fishing reports, all teams were asked to keep a count of the "short" fish caught during the tournament. The result was only 15 fish under 14 inches and of these only 3 fish under 12 inches were caught all day! Due to the low water levels, the loss of the good spawning habitat at the dam seems to have seriously affected the Meredith spawn for the last few years. As a result, the
TWA Directors are urging its members and all Meredith fisherman to consider restricting their kill of walleye during this critical period. What is taken out now is obviously not being replaced at this time. Walleye anglers can take a clue from the bass fisherman here. The TWA is committed in trying to keep a good walleye fishery in Meredith now and for the future!
Kevin and Kalin Audrain of Fritch followed up their April win at Ute Lake with a very impressive 14.88 lbs to win 1st and $560. Jim O’Connor of Amarillo and Ed Rodriguez of Fritch claimed 2nd and $350 with 13.17 lbs. Positions 3 to 5 were extremely close with Mark and Monty Murphy from Woodward, Oklahoma winning 3rd and $210 with 12.72 lbs. edging out J. D. Carr and Chuck Weston of Fritch in at 4th with 12.67 lbs. and Dan Turner of Dumas and David Turner of Bristow, Oklahoma at 5th with 12.62 lbs.
Rounding out the top ten were: 6th to the son and father team of Jeff and Ron Alexander of Amarillo with 12.34 lbs.; 7th to Donnie Bell and Arvin Cowan of Fritch with 12.03 lbs.; 8th to the McWilliams brothers, Hank of Fritch and John of Borger, with 11.77 lbs.; and 9th and 10th to the husband and wife teams of Jim and LaDonna Welch of Fritch with 11.18 lbs. and Brian and Amy Stangel of Albuquerque, New Mexico with 9.81 lbs.
The next TWA Tournament will be the TWA Classic Championship at Meredith on June 25-26. The two day combined winner will receive $1,500 plus, and the winner for each day will receive a $1,000. There will also be add on money for TWA members. For more information on the Classic, contact Co-directors Dan Turner, 935-3176, dturner@xit.net or Kevin Audrain, 857-2508, audheatcool@aol.com
TWA members who qualified and will be fishing next week in the 2005 Cabelas National Team Championship at Dubuque, Iowa on May 27-28 are: Kevin and Kalin Audrain; J. D. Carr and Brett Mills; Jim Welch and Donnie Tolleson; Jeff and Ron Alexander; Dan and David Turner; Jeff Cooper and Toby Abell; and Brian Stangel and Dan Duren.
Point Leaders Going into TWA Classic Championship
(Reflects Top Two Places of Members in the One Day Tourneys)
Captain:
1. Kevin Audrain 20 ( 2 - 1st places )
2. Jim O’Connor 18 ( 2 - 2nd places )
3. Robert Reining 17 ( 2nd & 3rd )
4. Dan Turner 16 ( 1st & 5th )
5. J.D. Carr 14 ( 2 - 4th places )
6. Hank McWilliams 13 ( 2nd & 7th )
7. (tie) Jeff Cooper 12 ( 3rd & 7th )
Brian Stangel 12 ( 4th & 6th )
9. Jim Welch 9 ( 4th & 9th )
10.( tie) Jeff Alexander 8 ( 6th & 8th )
Mark Murphy 8 ( 3rd …has fished 2 tournaments)
12. Donnie Bell 7 ( 7th & 8th )
13.Wade Seymour 6 ( 5th ..only 1 tournament fished)
14. Reggie Gerstner 2 ( 9th …has fished 2 tournaments
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