Steve Weisman-GNWC
08-03-2004, 04:44 PM
Russell, KS Welcomes Great Plains Championship of Walleye Fishing Teams
By Steve Weisman
Gander Mountain GNWC Publicity Director
The first ever Great Plains Championship of Walleye Fishing will be held at Wilson Lake (reservoir) in Kansas on August 14-15. It will feature the top teams on the Great Plains Region of the Gander Mountain Grand National Walleye Cup (GNWC). At stake will be a guaranteed $2000 for first place plus trophies, and with bonus opportunities the winners could take home up to $2500.
Leading the way will be the Great Plains Region Team of the Year Ted Webster from Hutchinson, KS and Robert Riddick from Wakefield, KS. According to Gander Mountain GNWC Executive Director Bernie Barringer, "We have some excellent teams representing both Kansas and Nebraska in this Great Plains shootout. Webster and Riddick walked away with the regular season honors, but everybody starts even as we begin this two-day Great Plains Championship."
Although the tournament competition begins on Saturday, August 14, the activities for the Great Plains teams actually begins on Friday evening with the Championship banquet. "I'm impressed with the way the Russell County Convention and Visitor's Bureau, along with the entire community of Russell, has rolled out the red carpet for these teams." The banquet dinner will be held at the Log Cabin Inn on Hwy 40 West and is sponsored by the Russell County Convention and Visitor's Bureau.
The Great Plains Championship competition will be at Boat Ramp Cove at the #### Creek Recreation area. Saturday's action begins at 7 a.m. with the opening ceremonies and take-off. 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."
With its 9,040 acres, Wilson Lake is known for its clean and often times clear water conditions. According to fisheries biologists, late July found the fishing to be up and down with some success coming from anglers working deeper water. "Pre-fishing will be very important to the success of these teams. Their goal will be to find different areas and a variety of presentations that will work, because when you have a two-day tournament like this, you have to be able to adapt with the changing situations," added Barringer.
For those anglers making the trip to Wilson Lake, Gordon Gorton, station manager for KRSL, the local radio station, suggests checking out their website (www.krsl.com) for the latest weather conditions and forecasts. Gorton, an avid angler himself, also noted, "The teams need to prepare for both south and north winds. The lake is surrounded by rolling hills and sandstone bluffs. With all of the canyons and draws, the wind has quite an effect and actually channels down through these canyons."
Gorton also noted that the teams will find that Wilson Lake holds an excellent walleye population. "They need to know, though, that there is an abundance of walleyes just under the 15" minimum length limit, so if they are using live bait, they will go through a lot of bait. Although there are big fish in the lake, the predominant keeper taken will most likely be in the 15-17 inch range."
Along with the tournament action, the Walleye Wisdom television crew will be on hand filming footage of the Great Plains Championship, for its popular 13-week television program Walleye Wisdom which airs on the Sportsman Channel, Fox Sports and several regional outlets. "Our goal is to showcase the successes of our walleye teams, share the techniques that the GNWC teams used to catch their fish and to finally give fishing hints that will help our viewers become better walleye anglers themselves," said Barringer.
Special awards will be give out at the Championships including the Berkley Big Fish Award of $400 in Berkley product 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.
Next, will be the $200 Gander Mountain Shopping Spree. A drawing will be held of teams who do not weigh a fish, and the winner will be able to spend the $200 on gear of their choice at any Gander Mountain Store. If all teams weigh fish, all will be entered in the drawing.
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.
The VIB"E" Lure Company will sponsor the VIB"E" Lure award of two six-piece lure sets valued at $40 to the two teams who finish behind the Yo So Close award. Lure sets will also be given away as door prizes at the Championship banquet.
TowTector, maker of the premium boat protector for towing vehicles, will offer the Towtector Comeback Award of a Towtector Shield valued at $250 for the team advancing the most places from day one to day two.
Skeeter Boats is offering any owner of a Skeeter boat who wins the Great Plains Regional Championship while fishing in the Skeeter an additional $1000 above their GNWC winnings.
Aqua Innovations will give an additional $250 to any team who wins the Great Plains Championship if their boat's livewell is equipped with the Aqua Innovations oxygen enhancement system. Plus they will be awarding systems to the anglers as door prizes at the Championship banquet.
Those interested in checking out the standings, reading the releases about any of the eight regions or simply learning more about the circuit can access the Gander Mountain GNWC website at www.walleyecup.com.
Title Sponsor for the GNWC is Gander Mountain. Other major national sponsors include Skeeter Boats, Yamaha Outboards, the Sportsman Channel, Berkley, Aqua Innovations, YoNet Folding Nets by AMFYOYO, VIB"E" Lure Company, TowTector Shield and UpNorthOutdoors.com.
By Steve Weisman
Gander Mountain GNWC Publicity Director
The first ever Great Plains Championship of Walleye Fishing will be held at Wilson Lake (reservoir) in Kansas on August 14-15. It will feature the top teams on the Great Plains Region of the Gander Mountain Grand National Walleye Cup (GNWC). At stake will be a guaranteed $2000 for first place plus trophies, and with bonus opportunities the winners could take home up to $2500.
Leading the way will be the Great Plains Region Team of the Year Ted Webster from Hutchinson, KS and Robert Riddick from Wakefield, KS. According to Gander Mountain GNWC Executive Director Bernie Barringer, "We have some excellent teams representing both Kansas and Nebraska in this Great Plains shootout. Webster and Riddick walked away with the regular season honors, but everybody starts even as we begin this two-day Great Plains Championship."
Although the tournament competition begins on Saturday, August 14, the activities for the Great Plains teams actually begins on Friday evening with the Championship banquet. "I'm impressed with the way the Russell County Convention and Visitor's Bureau, along with the entire community of Russell, has rolled out the red carpet for these teams." The banquet dinner will be held at the Log Cabin Inn on Hwy 40 West and is sponsored by the Russell County Convention and Visitor's Bureau.
The Great Plains Championship competition will be at Boat Ramp Cove at the #### Creek Recreation area. Saturday's action begins at 7 a.m. with the opening ceremonies and take-off. 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."
With its 9,040 acres, Wilson Lake is known for its clean and often times clear water conditions. According to fisheries biologists, late July found the fishing to be up and down with some success coming from anglers working deeper water. "Pre-fishing will be very important to the success of these teams. Their goal will be to find different areas and a variety of presentations that will work, because when you have a two-day tournament like this, you have to be able to adapt with the changing situations," added Barringer.
For those anglers making the trip to Wilson Lake, Gordon Gorton, station manager for KRSL, the local radio station, suggests checking out their website (www.krsl.com) for the latest weather conditions and forecasts. Gorton, an avid angler himself, also noted, "The teams need to prepare for both south and north winds. The lake is surrounded by rolling hills and sandstone bluffs. With all of the canyons and draws, the wind has quite an effect and actually channels down through these canyons."
Gorton also noted that the teams will find that Wilson Lake holds an excellent walleye population. "They need to know, though, that there is an abundance of walleyes just under the 15" minimum length limit, so if they are using live bait, they will go through a lot of bait. Although there are big fish in the lake, the predominant keeper taken will most likely be in the 15-17 inch range."
Along with the tournament action, the Walleye Wisdom television crew will be on hand filming footage of the Great Plains Championship, for its popular 13-week television program Walleye Wisdom which airs on the Sportsman Channel, Fox Sports and several regional outlets. "Our goal is to showcase the successes of our walleye teams, share the techniques that the GNWC teams used to catch their fish and to finally give fishing hints that will help our viewers become better walleye anglers themselves," said Barringer.
Special awards will be give out at the Championships including the Berkley Big Fish Award of $400 in Berkley product 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.
Next, will be the $200 Gander Mountain Shopping Spree. A drawing will be held of teams who do not weigh a fish, and the winner will be able to spend the $200 on gear of their choice at any Gander Mountain Store. If all teams weigh fish, all will be entered in the drawing.
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.
The VIB"E" Lure Company will sponsor the VIB"E" Lure award of two six-piece lure sets valued at $40 to the two teams who finish behind the Yo So Close award. Lure sets will also be given away as door prizes at the Championship banquet.
TowTector, maker of the premium boat protector for towing vehicles, will offer the Towtector Comeback Award of a Towtector Shield valued at $250 for the team advancing the most places from day one to day two.
Skeeter Boats is offering any owner of a Skeeter boat who wins the Great Plains Regional Championship while fishing in the Skeeter an additional $1000 above their GNWC winnings.
Aqua Innovations will give an additional $250 to any team who wins the Great Plains Championship if their boat's livewell is equipped with the Aqua Innovations oxygen enhancement system. Plus they will be awarding systems to the anglers as door prizes at the Championship banquet.
Those interested in checking out the standings, reading the releases about any of the eight regions or simply learning more about the circuit can access the Gander Mountain GNWC website at www.walleyecup.com.
Title Sponsor for the GNWC is Gander Mountain. Other major national sponsors include Skeeter Boats, Yamaha Outboards, the Sportsman Channel, Berkley, Aqua Innovations, YoNet Folding Nets by AMFYOYO, VIB"E" Lure Company, TowTector Shield and UpNorthOutdoors.com.