Wyoming Walleye Circuit

[wheels]

The 2002 schedule is posted, and as suspected, no Seminoe, and higher prices. Glendo does have a $15,000 first place though.

http://www.walleyecentral.com/wwc.shtml


"Friends don't let friends fish for trout!"

[EricCO]

$15,000!!!!!!!!!!

I may have to cull at that tournament!!!! LOL

"Hunting 'eyes in the Three-O-Three"

[wheels]

I talked to Dan this morning. He has a proposal in with Game and Fish right now to switch from tags to length to weight conversion boats which will allow culling.

That is also the reason for the delay in brochures. He is waiting until he gets the exact rules before he prints them.

"Friends don't let friends fish for trout!"

[Mt-1]

Yeh $15,000 IF there's 150 boats, but who wants to pay $500 for a tournment that's under a new director? If it's run like the Mt. Gov Cup then maybe it will be worth the money, but then again Glendo is NO Fort Peck in terms of the size of fish and the community support. What a joke $500 bucks. ha ha.

[Magic]

I guess you haven't fished Glendo. No it's no a Ft Peck, you can acually catch fish at Glendo. I predict, weather permiting and it's a cull tourney that it takes 52+ lbs. to win and 35lbs. to cash a check. There's lots of nice walleye in Glendo!! I'm in!

[Lundpro]

Glendo has some awesome fish in it, that's for sure. I do however think that $500.00 is steep for the first year. I think they should have waited so we could see how the tourneys are run.

[Mt-1]

Dan-

Yes I have fished Glendo and it will take 46lbs to win it just like the last 2 years. I can't believe you of all people would bash Ft.Peck>> being a Montana circut director and all. I'm sure you can vouch for the quality of the Mt. Gov cup and all the tournments in Mt. for that matter. If you go by past preformances, the Wyoming tournments were poorly run, so you think they would start out by trying to encourage fisherman to fish the tourney and establish a great start. For $400-$500 bucks I sure hope they have strippers up on stage.

[EricCO]

Now were talking! I will bring my one dollar bills!

I need to move to Montana if that is how you guys think!!!!!

"Hunting 'eyes in the Three-O-Three"

[Muleskinner]

Come on spring. I've got my $250.00 hope my partner has his. The Glendo tourney will be another great tourney without a doubt. Anybody know how far down they will be paying. Be nice if you guys that are not in the top 20 could cash a check too. Ha! Ha! Lets see $150 times $500=$75,000 should be able to pay down 30 places with 30th drawing around $500 don't you think.

Good luck to all,
Kevin

[Montanantoo]

Magic, you took the words right out of my mouth. Amen......

[SLS]

For $500.00, not only strippers but also a few lap dances should be includes too. I think dropping Seminoe is a very bad mistake also. Would think that a new owner would be a little more careful on making such major changes and risking failure of the circuit. At least ask for input from the tournament anglers the first year and go from there. It seems that the tournament anglers are often over looked, without them there isn't going to be much of a circuit.

[Wannabe]

Either pay the fee of like WC says, "Shut up and fish." Why whine about the new owner's policies???

[RPO]

I don't think giving ones opinion is exactly whining. I happen to agree , the anglers are the customers and like any business you had better listen to the customer or you won't be around for long. Where are these new owners anyway? How come their not on this board giving some reasons for these changes.

[Mt-1]

You said it RPO, that's exactly what I was referring to!! I guess Wyo will have at least 3 suckers Montanatoo, Magic, and Wannabe, it's like buying a boat unseen and paying the most money>> now who would go and do that.
ESTABLISH A GREAT TOURNMENT FIRST AND THEN THEY WILL COME. Just like the Mt.Gov Cup, I would bet it's already filled for this year. Is the Wyo tournments filled>> I BET NOT!!!

[GoWyo]

The new owners are of all things...Bass Fisherman, They will be giving out Uncle Josh's Pork Pigs & Spinnerbaits for door prizes. First the Taliban and now this, Oh jesus Martha the world is going to #####!!

[wheels]

Could be worse, they could be giving out Pather Martins and Wooly Buggers. In either case, it's more than we got before.

"Friends don't let friends fish for trout!"

[Andy K]

You said it Wheels!......LOL

Andy K

[fatrapper]

It looks like the new director of the WWC has taken the same approach to fishing tournaments as have the outfitters and ranchers done to big game hunting. Money talks and the Regular Joe must go somewhere else and fish.Remember that a majority of the walleye fishing fanatics in Wyoming do not own $30,000 boats or have a pocket full of cash. We had to struugle to make the $250 entry fee in the past and the new entry fee just blows me away. Keyhole is a small lake with a limited amount of water inhabited with walleye at this time of year. It will be a race to get to the few good spots. Quality tournament, I doubt it. Glendo, lets see, 10,000 vistors right after Memorial Day and 150 tournament boats. The crowds keep getting worse each year and the ability to find a spot without somebody already fishing it gets worse. This tournament should be moved to a earlier date in May to avoid the crowds. The Governors Cup, fewer teams show up each year and the water level is the worst ever. By asking a $400 entry fee and guaranteeing a 1st prize amount, it might not leave much money for the rest of the field. If the new director continues with the 80% pay back as in the past, the teams will be giving him $100 each to put in his pocket. What a Rip-off. Maybe he should spend a little more time talking to the fishermen and get the tournament entry fee to a more affordable rate for us regular weekend anglers.

[Goldtooth]

Hey Hey!!! Wooly buggers are great walleye jigs, flies. They can be used in a variety of ways and are cheap if you tie your own. Hope I can strike it rich panning for gold in WY so I can use my wooly buggers at Glendo.

[GoWyo]

Go smoke some more Crack, I would like to see you cast your Wooly-Booger in a 20 MPH Headwind

[Lundpro]

I think someone should make a poll on this issue then send the results to the new owners. This way we might be able to get a idea if $500 is to much $$$$

[Mt-1]

Yah- why doesn't he respond to this post?? I'm sure he's reading these, he's posted all the tournment information. Sounds too much like the USFA, no response from the directors.

[wheels]

Just in case he isn't a frequent visitor of this message board, I sent him an email with the URL to this thread. Hopefully he'll be able to clear some of these issues up for us.

"Friends don't let friends fish for trout!"

[wheels]

Okay, I've made the poll. Here it is.

http://www.walleyecentral.com/dcf/generaldiscussion/13412.html


"Friends don't let friends fish for trout!"

[EricCO]

CWA is having a tournament at Glendo. Entry fee is only $100 for each boat. Payout is $1,000 for each day. I would rather pay $500 for a possibility of $15K than $100 for $2,000. After all, the fees and license and this and that in Wyoming, it ends up costing about $2,000 to fish there for a weekend. Then they don't even have showers there and you have to take a dump in the outhouse.

My point is, that tournament for the WWC looks more appealing to me than the CWA. My philosophy this year: Enter a tournament, only to win, not to have fun.

You must pay to play boys.

I can understand the WY-ners point of view though. I can't imagine the hardships in deciding whether you want to trade the sheep so the neighbor's daughter can marry your son, or you want to sell the sheep for money to enter the tournament. LOL.

"Hunting 'eyes in the Three-O-Three"

[Goldtooth]

No problem! 1oz. weight lindy rigged. I can see the winter is getting to you GoWyo... go play with your sheep.

[Mt-1]

Eric-

How many $500 tournments do you enter a year and are they of any quality? All the $100 to $300 tournments that I've entered are all of quality except for the Glendo one.

[EricCO]

I've never entered one for $500. I've only fished the CWA tournaments. I may not know what quality is. I only expect the people to coordinate the tournament, not give me a country club atmosphere. Am I missing out on something?

"Hunting 'eyes in the Three-O-Three"

[Goldtooth]

$2,000 dollars to fish Glendo for a weekend, what do you fly in by Lear jet? Did you include the cost of your lower unit from last year's low water?

[Mt-1]

Give the Shut up and Fish @ Big Mac, Mt. Gov Cup a try, (to name a couple) and you'll see what your missing out on. Not to say the CO one's aren't any good.

[EricCO]

Can you give me more information? I want to fish a tournament at Big Mac, but not sure which one? There is a CWA, Lewellen Store one, and then this one.



"Hunting 'eyes in the Three-O-Three"

[EricCO]

I use $500 worth of deoderant since they don't have showers. $250 in gas pulling my boat in the Wyoming wind, $250 in fishing license and camping fees and air fees, $500 to the Wyoming State Trooper as a bribe since he wants to throw me jail cuz I'm a CSU Alumni, and $500 in alcohol so I can stand the site of the Wyoming women (livestock). LOL.

"Hunting 'eyes in the Three-O-Three"

[Mt-1]

Eric-
It's posted in the "other tournments" section. It's a great tournment, great bunch of people in NE!!! and a great lake to boot!

[EricCO]

No doubt a great lake. Love Big Mac. Grew up in Sterling and spent the summers renting pontoons from Samuelsons and hangin at North Shore.

Thanks MT-1.

"Hunting 'eyes in the Three-O-Three"

[GoWyo]

%$^& You CSU, %^$& You CSU, No offense Eric. Just Remembering those Crazy Years at UW. Or when you guys would Yell CSU and we would wait for a second and then yell SUCKS. Those were great times.:7

[RPO]

Well said GoWyo, who in the h*** is this Eric guy, and where is he coming from.

[EricCO]

Just a smart#$% from Denver. I love the border war.

"Hunting 'eyes in the Three-O-Three"

[JohnF]

Whaaahahaa. I'm one of the quiet majority most of the time. Eric, you're on a roll man.

I'm trying to get set up for this year and found that you can buy the trooper bribe online for a discount!

There are no showers 'cause sheep don't care...

Try this, go to the downwind side of the lake, toss in a couple medium sized stones. Soap up. Toss stones...

From one CSU alumni to another, you really should check out the Shut Up and Fish tourney. I'll even fish with ya...

John

[WWC/Director]

Trying to be nice in response to some comments: I have discussed policies and changes with several tournament anglers regarding the coming season. Wow! would be the big response, favorably. Everybody seems to think my ideas are great. They like the rule changes and the prospect of winning more money "is a long time coming." I certainly hope to see everybody at all three tournaments. As far as being a Bass fisherman, I saw Al Linder catching bass last weekend in Texas on the In-Fisherman. I am defending myself and our circuit because I am a tournament angler and I have never been afraid to pay to play.
Dan

[WWC/Director]

2001 Tournament
Glendo: $400 entry fee~ $45,000 payback
Boysen: $325 entry fee~ $37,000 payback
Seminoe: $300 entry fee~ $23,890 payback

2002 Tournament, do the new entry fees really seem all that much higher? You will pay $275 as a team to win considerably more money. I will be paying as many or more places than last year. Plus, with the new rule changes (pending final approval from Wyo G&F Dept.) you get to fish all day- NO TAGS!
Dan

[wheels]

Dan,

I think leaving out Seminoe along with the length to weight conversions are great moves, as for the high prices, you may eliminate many of the locals that can't afford to "pay to play"

"Friends don't let friends fish for trout!"

[RPO]

Thanks for responding. Now that your here I guess I would like to know the reasoning for dropping Seminoe and picking up Keyhole.

[WWC/Director]

Keyhole instead of Seminoe. Having been accused of not listening to anglers; one of the reasons for going to Keyhole was because a lot of anglers wanted to try a different lake and fish early. Seminoe was a kill tournament and that is not something I wanted to do. I may go back to Seminoe and would like to if I can do it without making it a kill tournament. If Keyhole doesn't work out for us, we'll maybe do something else. There are a lot of good lakes in Wyoming and may add them in the following years.

[Mt-1]

Dan-
It's great to see you responding!!! My question is>> with a $500 entry fee your as high as the RCL and almost the PWT, do you feel your tournment is the same quality as those two? (but then again how can it be >> this is your 1st tournment).

[Muleskinner]

Thanks for replying to all the whining WWC director. I for one will fish the Glendo and boysen tourney's. The weigh boats sound like a great deal. A good meal is always appretiated at the rules meeting. T-bones would be a nice gesture for the Glendo tourney. Hey Ericco the boys from wyoming already hate greenies don't fuel the fire O.K.

Kevin

[Fish-on]

Don't know where you got your info about the entry fees for the RCL and PWT, but the PWT is $1000 and the RCL is $1250. That's a lot more than the WWC. Unless you are talking about the amateur entry fees. Have you checked to see what the RCL and PWT pays to first place amateurs? It might suprise you.

To Dan: One thing I've learned in directing more than 60 tournaments, you don't listen to the whiners. If you change something for the whiners, they just find something new to whine about. There will always be good people who give you constructive suggestions and yes, even criticisms. Those people can help make your circuit better if you listen to them. And everyone thinks you are making money hand over fist running tournaments, even when you are barely turning a profit. Good luck, and I hope it works out for you.

[Mt-1]

Yes I was talking about the amateur entry fee. Yes I guess I am whining, because I hate to see greed take over walleye fishing. Is it whining or an opinion?? I guess fishon and muleskinner are the only one's who can give their opinions. Looks like Wyo now as two more suckers to fish the tournments!! ha ha

[RPO]

Okay , lets not start a running gunbattle here. There have been some major changes to 'our ' tournament which we have been in for several years and it seems the new director has been talking to some sort of inner circle and the rest of us shouldn't have and opinion or we're whining. I had no idea why Seminoe was dropped and now I do. Sounds reasonable. Maybe a mailing to the entry list from last year with a statement of where the tornament is heading in the future and a question sheet for what we'ed like to see. Sounds Reasonable.

[WWC/Director]

My inner circle consists of angler from Montana, Colorado, Nebraska and Wyoming. The majority of the anglers are from these four states. I will not name names because that is not fair. But, these are teams who have won money on this circuit and teams who have not faired so well. Everybody likes the idea. Last year at Boysen and Seminoe I discussed all these proposals with lots of people before actually buying the circuit. The response was Yipee! As of now, there are far more people from these four states who are in favor than not.

[Lundpro]

Here is my concern...talk is cheap. I was at one of the tourneys that people were talking about the direction that the WWC was headed. I am anxious to see how many boats you do draw. I don't want to sound negative just know that people ...or should I say fisherman... don't always do what they say they will.

Good Luck with your Circuit

[Goldtooth]

Dan-
I am pleased to see a new director for WWC. Based on the past experince with the director of this tournament, you have an uphill battle to gain support/confidence of walleye fisherman in the states you mentioned. I have several comments that I will refrain from saying on this board about past leadership; however I will tell you this, I have fished the Glendo tournament for 3 years straight. Last years tournament was the highest price, poorest run walleye tournament I have ever fished! I know, I know... next question what is my experience in fishing tournaments? I have fished 50+ walleye tournaments in 9 different states, yes I am fortunate. Given the time, travel I spend to fish these tournaments, can I afford a $500 entry fee, No doubt! Based on the history,competition in surrounding stats, what makes the Glendo tournament worthy of that entry fee? If it's the purse, here is few apples for you.

WWC entry fees for Glendo have increased from $300 per boat to $500 in a 2 year time period. Can anyone enlighten me to any tournament in the country where entry fees have increased in this fashion in such a short time period?

Lets see Mt Gov cup Ft. Peck entry fees have increased $50 in the past 5 years to a total of $300 per boat, plus a professional rules meeting, Dinner each night of tournament,Free beer the first night, drink tickets the 2nd, entertainment, comradere and BS galore! Pays to the top 20 positions, 10,000 to winners and sold out in 4 months if not sooner.

Shut up and fish, Big Mac much the same deal but $150 per boat pays the top 10 each day and I believe last years daily winners collected around $1,200.

Should I go on Dan!!! The bottom line is if you think every walleye fisherman is concerned with the purse and what they can win... I think your dead wrong.

I guess your selling point is the $15,000 first prize...yes? If you look at the best possible outcome in comparing tournaments, Glendo for every dollar I spend in entry fees I have the possibility to win $30, Ft Peck $33 What is the difference besides $3.... AMMENETIES, EXPERIENCE,RELATIONSHIPS with other tournament anglers.

I could be your best customer, sell me on your tournaments!

[Mt-1]

Well put Goldtooth!!! First establish the tournment and then they will come.

[WWC/Director]

I appreciate your concerns and thoughts, they have been heard. Most of these complaints about the circuit are the same ones I had before I bought it. I have lots of experience in fishing tournemants from the local level to the professional level. Last year first place prizes totaled $22,500. This year it is $32,500. With only a $275 per team raise across the board. I did this to give people the opportunity to win more money. With the length/weight, no tags (pending final approval)you can fish all day- what's the problem? Is it the lack of professionalism? Probably. You will get professionalism and the right kind of BS. Eric doesn't own or run any part of this tournament any more, period. I'm running this the way a tournament should be run. When you come to the rules meeting you'll get a rules meeting. Director will BS after the rules meeting, not during.
We are going to be paying more money and more places, and giving away more prizes. How else do I sell this. The money is there, the comradere will be there, and the walleyes will be there.

[EricCO]

I've got a friend that I've asked to fish that tourney. Depending on his response it sounds like I may need a partner. Let me know.

"Hunting 'eyes in the Three-O-Three"

[Editor - Western Walleye]

I wanted to put my two cents in for what its worth. Around the region of MT, WY, ND, SD, NE, and CO there are a huge number of tournaments now. They range from the $100 entry fees to PWT and RCL tournaments. There should be a mix of tournaments that everyone can find one they enjoy. Having tournaments in the $400-$500 range is part of the mix. If that is too expensive in your mind, it should be easy to find another tournament to fish. Even if Dan can't quite fill his tournaments, I want to support him in trying to bring the circuit up to a very professional standard. As the saying goes, if you build it, they will come. Dan is taking a risk and has accepted that. I say lets support him rather than bash him and see if we can't help him make it better and in the coming years it will fill up. It did need changes and he is trying to make them. The length - weight conversion is something that is a long time coming and I hope he can get it passed. Maybe it is a big step to increase the prices, but as he said, there are a lot of fishermen that want the chance at the big prize money. I know I do. Comparing these tournaments to fishing as an amateur in the PWT or RCL is not fair either. In these tournaments, the fishermen will make the decisions on how to fish, where to fish and in the case of tagging, what fish to keep. As amatuers in the pro series, those decision are made for you. Lets all try to be positive and give suggestions to Dan rather than bash him. He is taking a stand up position and giving you his thoughts behind his decisions. I would personally like to thank him for taking this over and trying to improve the circuit.

Also, as probably everyone knows, Ft. Peck was not a great fishery last year. The fish were so scattered and deep it was nearly impossible to boat a limit of fish. The ##### Creek Tourney for example had 135 teams or 270 fishermen. In the two days there were less than 300 measureable walleyes caught. Governor's Cup was similar in results. To say that at least in Glendo, a limit should be possible is a fair statement with the way Ft. Peck fished last year. Lets hope it comes around this year for a more successful tournament series as well!

Duane Hons
Editor
Western Walleye
www.westernwalleye.com

[Steve Sadd]

Very well said Duane! The positive sugestions will definively be more apt to be heard than the negitive bashing. My main suggestion is not to replace Seminoe with Keyhole, but to just make Keyhole a earlier tournament and keep Seminoe. I agree that the keep tournaments are not what we should be doing, but maybe with the length to weight conversion and the weigh boats or having the tournament earlier than the end of July it may be possible to keep the Seminoe tournament and still have live release.
Steve Sadd

[Denali]

I would like to bring up another issue with such a large prize for winning a Walleye tournament. I fish the Montana Tournaments which don't have big payoffs (except gov. cup) and have observed some cheating over the last few years. I think 15k for 1st prize could induce some cheating.
Two years ago we found two 23" "counter fish" tied to an underwater branch with mono. We pointed them out to a weigh boat and went on fishing. That incident took some of the fun out of the fishing tournaments for me.
We don't fish the tournaments to get rich. We use tournaments as an excuse to go fishing, B.S.ing with the guys, drinking some cold ones, telling lies and time in the outdoors.
I would have to win every tournament for the next 10 years to pay for the boat, food, brewskies, Suburban, camp trailer, gas etc.
Good Luck with your tournament but beware of those that would do about anything for 15k and a trophy.

[WWC/Director]

There will always be cheating in every tournament as we all know, but with the length/weight I hope to minimize the opportunities to cheat. Bad apples are bad apples. Hopefully now the honest guys can play by the rules and and feel good about it. That's why everybody has to watch and report things they feel are illegal. Nobody should care if they are not cheating. With more staff boats and an on the water Director this should discourage people from trying. Thanks for the good words and opinions.
Dan

[s.f.]

in regard to cheating...the next time anyone finds fish stowed somehow, please leave them there, contact the event coordinators and suggest they watch the fish during the event or better yet discreetly tag those fish. this will catch the bums and discourage the next bum. this has worked several times over the years. one blew his head off after being caught! no doubt, money and winning will offer the cheating potential but all in all, this is very, very rare.
keep a tight line...
#49

[Fish-on]

Can't believe I just heard a tournament director say there will always be cheating in every tournament. Talk about shooting a hole in your boat! Cheating is extremely rare unless you are talking about the guy who doesn't put on his life jacket sometimes when he makes a run. If you go into tournaments with that attitude Dan you are doomed to failure. You must be diligent and if you find ANYONE cheating they must be dealt with very harshly. Maybe tournaments out west are a lot different than those here in the Midwest, but if any of the guys on my circuit felt they weren't playing on a level playing field I wouldn't have much of a following.

Your post sounds like you accept cheating as status quo. If that's the case, you are doomed to failure. I suggest you get busy with some damage control immediately.

[s.f.]

i suggest he apologize to tournament fishermen in general. tournament anglers have enough trouble fighting image problems without unfounded
statements like that. i won't let this one rest...until...
very disappointed!
#49

[wal-i-]

whiners, whiners, whiners!!!!
Congratulations Dan.....I know this will be the premiere circuit in the West....No more tags...sounds great...eliminates a lot of cheating...no more Whitaker!!!!!! Yahooo!!!! Yahoooo!!! I guess I can bring my wife to the tournaments now!

[WWC/Director]

Fish-on
I do not condone cheating, period. Perhaps you misunderstood what I meant. Cheaters find ways to cheat. Good tournament directors find ways to catch them. I will catch them. You are going to have a director with staff boats on the water checking boats, as will I. When I catch somebody cheating they are gone. No discussions, DQed.

[s.f.]

explain your statement that conveys that cheating is common in walleye tournaments. i tried to read it every which way, and only assume you in fact think it is common. is that meant to be a general assumption or just for your events?
#49

[WWC/Director]

Wal-i-,
Thanks for the vote of confidence, it's refreshing. Be nice to the so-called whiners, everybody has an opinion, whether you and I agree with it or not. You should be nice to Eric, because without him, we wouldn't have this foundation to build on. No matter what I do, to some people it will be wrong. However the majority think I am right. Hope you fish a tournament, however, with your attitude let me know if you would like to be on my staff.

[WWC/Director]

S.F.
Under the tagging system, people cheated. If you fished the WWC, you know that. That is what I meant. We don't want that in this circuit anymore.

[s.f.]

thank you for pointing out the scenario you unfortunately didn't elude to in your previous post. i, too, think tags are a disaster ready to happen for more reasons than the cheating aspect. we eliminated them many years ago, mainly because of the breaking potential.
again, thanks for your clarification.
good luck with this years events! sounds like you will be a great leader.
#49

[WWC/Director]

Glad this has been cleared up. Hope you can fish with us.

[wheels]

In Dan's defense, prior to him, there has always been cheating in the WWC. We had a bad combination of having to tag fish with only enough tags for our limit with no culling, and NO staff boats on the water.

I think we should all give the guy a break. There is a lot of whining about various things, and granted, I don't agree with all his decisions, but it doesn't matter because I'm not running it. The one thing that seems to be constant is that we all felt that a new director was needed. He may stumble a few times, but it's his first year, let him run the tournament the way he feels it needs to be run!

"Friends don't let friends fish for trout!"

[glendoeye]

Looks to me like Dan has done his homework!!!!!!!!! I have worked in customer service for over 25 years and you can't always please everyone.What we as tournament fisherman need to do is get behind him and make this WWC the best circuit in the west. He can not do it alone nor can he fix everything all at once. He is right we wouldn't be this far without Eric. Lets quit bashing Eric and move on. With Dans direction and our help we can take this tournament circuit to the next level, but it must be a team effort. Yes I have fished Ft Peck Gov Cup since 1994 and they do run a first class operation. There no reason we can't get the same type of support if all are resources are used.I have to agree with Magic Ft Peck will humble the best fisherman. Can almost guarentee most people will have a limit of fish at Glendo, not so at Ft Peck. Glendo has its fair share of Big eyes also. I for one will help Dan and in any way I can to make this the best circuit in the west and would hope the rest of you will follow. Good luck Dan The majority of us are behind you. Ron

[Magic]

Hi Ron,
Good to hear from you. Got any room in your cabin for a MT donater?
See you at Glendo!
Magic