Cabelas and MWC on Mille Lacs on Same Dates?

[CL]

Maybe this has been kicked around on WC already, but is it accurate that MWC and Cabelas are both holding team tournaments the same weekend in May on Mille Lacs, or am I missing something? In fact, I had read on this forum the MWC was moving its Big Stone tourney due to the Cabelas event, but to the same body of water? I realize with all the tournaments these days there will always be conflicts, but this almost seems intentional. If it's true, I wouldn't want to be a walleye on Mille Lacs that weekend.

[Murfa]

CL,
Yes, that's right about having the tourneys at the same time. It doesn't make sense to me either. I am fishing the National Championship and don't agree with what they are doing. Evidently it's for the MWC guy's that qualified for the Championship. It's going to be a confusing mess I'm afraid. Does anyone else feel this way? MURFA

[bigeyeguy]

They are running in conjunction with each other. If you qualified for the Cabela's you can also join the mwc and have your weight count for both. The Mn Tournament Trail is also having tournaments both of those days out of Macs on the East side of the lake. Should be interesting, I don't think there will be many secret spots on this weekend.

[BDH]

If this is the case then I'll bet lodging and camping will be a nightmare. Launch days also should be interesting. I'll be fishing the Cabela's Team Championship and now I'm not looking forward to it as much as I was before.

[Mark]

After all of the previous postings, you guys still don't get it. It's now the Cabela's Masters Walleye Circuit!!!!!!!! They're the title sponsor!!!!!!!! Cabela's Masters Walleye Circuit!!!!!!!!!!! This is a made for t.v. tournament production, ESPN2, worth a great deal of money and promotion value to the anglers and sponsors. Shut up and fish!

[Muleskinner]

You better get your resevations now. Some dudes I know say they are filling up fast. Should be a great tourney with about 1000 boats on the big pond the weekend after the opener. Bring your flare gun!

[ex lacs]

Hoo hoo- is this going to be fun. I'm not in either tournament, but i'll be on vacation up there the whole time-should be interesting, glad i don't have to think about lodging or a boat slip. Good luck to all of you, and remember; there are no fish on the north end of the lake, lol

[Jbob]

There is also a MTT tournament which could have another 100 boats.

[eye guy]

HEY Mark

THE TV deal was set before the MWC was in this thing,so was the MONEY! NOW that we will have 400 or so boast in this thing is the MONEY going up? If I were to win the Championship would I get anything out of the MWC if I paid for that end of the deal? NO-- some Championship,You buy your way in,I had to Qualify sounds GOOD to me (NOT) this is not a championship anymore now its an ADVERTISEMENT for the new Cabelas/MWC thing! Thats not what we payed & qualified for!

[Juls_WI]

Not all MWC contestants get to fish the Cabelas Championship too. If you qualified for the Cabelas, but also want to fish the MWC circuit your weights count for both. If you win the Championship...your weight would probably win the MWC also, if you were signed up for it, then you would win the MWC prizes. You don't pay an entry for the Championship and the MWC is 600 per team. No one is buying there way into the Championship. You still had to be a qualifier.

Those of us fishing the MWC but didn't qualify for the Championship only get our weights counted for the MWC tourney.

Juls

[Murfa]

Mark,
Since the MWC sent me an entry form I kinda figured that out. When I saw CABELA's MWC and CABELA's National Championship I had fairly good idea what was going on. Thank you for sharing your wealth of knowledge with me. I'm gonna shut up and go fishing now. MURFA

[gonfishn95]

I don't care what anyone says or thinks it is a bad Idea. It is too close to opener and there will be a lot of locals with children on the lake I have fished a lot of tournaments the only thing I would really like to see enforced any complaints are dealt with accordingly.
The way some of these guys drive there boats they need to be DQ'ed, bottom line no questioneds asked,They should have boat #'s big enough to be seen from a distance, Cabelas or not there will be a lot of bad press, I PERSONALLY will be fishing somewhere else for the fun of it probably big stone. it will be amazing someone don't get hurt here.
My 2 cents can't change anything but had to vent anyway.
Larry Dawson NPAA #273

[Wondering?]

Has the MWC applied for and been approved by the Minnesota DNR to conduct a tournament on Mille Lacs for that weekend? OR are they somehow piggy backing on the Cabela's tournament even though they are technically two tournments?

Just wondering.

[john mannerino]

As I said in a post eariler, I dont agree with Cabalas on clashing the two together but its there game and they have the ball.I`m interested on how the dnr hands out permits for tourneys. I have never been on the lake ,but it sounds like a awfull lot of boats for 1 weekend.I`ll be there and I`m glad I got a room with a slip at Eddy`s. But it sounds like the earlier post was right,somebody is going to get hurt or pissed because there cant be that many good walleye spots on that lake to have 400+ some boats RACING to get there first.What happens when a guy wants to troll east and west and everybody else is trolling north and south. You cant tell me tempers wont flare up. Just my thoughts,John Mannerino

[concerned]

bottom line fellas........they dont care!
they (mwc/cabelas) have the opportunity to put on "the biggest show on earth" and they dont care about the "inconviences" for the tourn.
fishermen, the public, the local joe fisherman or anyone else involved.
this has never been attempted before and for good reason....its a pr nightmare.
ive been told that it was done to accomadate the mwc teams that were qualified for the cabela championship.(allowing them to fish both)
how nice to get everything we want in life!
aside from that (my apologies) ive yet to see how many teams from the mwc were talking about.
they posted earlier that all fish will be weighed on the same scale and now i see kaz posted that there will be a second weigh in area close to eddys.
this issue has been addressed both pro and con and still we get very few direct answers from cabelas or mwc.
as i said earlier, they dont care.
this tourn will be a success regardless of any thing that may happen because they want it to be.
so saddle up and good luck!

[Mark]

Don't care? PR nighmare? No direct answers? Where are you coming from man???? Cabela's and the MWC are basically one and the same and they have been nothing but straight forward about this tournament. As far as a secondary scale for the weigh-in, that's to expedite the weigh-in process. Otherwise, the boats would all be jambed-up. Like Kaz said, the scales will be certified.

I've known Kaz for years. He started this whole walleye tournament fishing bit about 20 years ago, which put walleye fishing up front with new techniques, equipment, etc. He's straighter than an arrow and the most honest and fairest guy in the business. If you or anybody else has a question or problem, just call him, 678-583-0112.

Are you even fishing the tournament?

[me]

it's all about da-money

[Mark]

What isn't about money? Most people work. Do you think money has anything to do with it? Money makes the world go around. Is it against the law to make or want money? It sure pays the bills, doesn't it?

[s.f.]

surely, this subject was well covered several weeks ago but...

most of the concerns, mainly crowding, safety etc, should not be an issue. on opening day, about 6-7000 boats are on the lake. yes, i said
7 thousand. your meager 400 boats will be hard to find, let alone crowd each other. even with opening day crowds, which you won't have,
you will have most of the lake to yourself. yes, great fishing areas without crowding...IF you simply forget about where the crowds are and fish elsewhere. EVERY PIECE OF STRUCTURE of any and all kinds, holds
plenty of walleyes of all sizes. yes, this isn't the norm but mille lacs is full of fish. finding them is not hard. you guys and gals need to develop an open mind about this event and quit assuming the worst.
major events, exactly like this one, has had no trouble gaining access to the lake or the fish. if you act now, (mille tourism website) or
(aitkin county chamber of commerce website) lodging will not be a problem either. so...start doing your homework now, lose some sleep
on how you can win it, and....shut and fish!
#49

[walleyechaser]

Great post larry i won't be there either. can you imagine flipping our quarters-they wouldn't even hit the water. take care buddy!

[eyes]

Steve

Your right on the crowding,however where in the world are they going to launch 300-400 boats out of Eddy's? This is going to be very bad when they finally get all those boats in the bay, then they blast them off! I really think that there going to problems!I wish that they would give us a break down of how many boats are in the Championship vs how many they think MWC will get! Day one will be spread out,but day two will be a mess when the MWC guys do there usual, follow the leaders! GUYS plan on walking over a mile just to see the weigh-in! BAD idea!!! They did'nt need to do this!

P>S MARK-- which do you work for MWC or Cabelas ?

[Re read this]

From SF's post above-
surely, this subject was well covered several weeks ago but...
most of the concerns, mainly crowding, safety etc, should not be an issue. on opening day, about 6-7000 boats are on the lake. yes, i said
7 thousand. your meager 400 boats will be hard to find, let alone crowd each other. even with opening day crowds, which you won't have,
you will have most of the lake to yourself. yes, great fishing areas without crowding...IF you simply forget about where the crowds are and fish elsewhere. EVERY PIECE OF STRUCTURE of any and all kinds, holds
plenty of walleyes of all sizes. yes, this isn't the norm but mille lacs is full of fish. finding them is not hard. you guys and gals need to develop an open mind about this event and quit assuming the worst.
major events, exactly like this one, has had no trouble gaining access to the lake or the fish. if you act now, (mille tourism website) or
(aitkin county chamber of commerce website) lodging will not be a problem either. so...start doing your homework now, lose some sleep
on how you can win it, and....shut and fish!
#49

[Big numbers]

6-7000 boats. 6-7000 boats! 6-7000 boats!!! Read them again, 6-7000 boats on the opener! Thats 6-7000 boats, many of which are out to keep every poor walleye the manage to catch!! 6-7000 boats and you babies are crying about 400? And whining about the money? So what! If you are not in the tourney, why would you even care about the money. And, the next guy who whines about the 50,000 dollar boats has to honestly tell us what his boat is and what it is worth. It all comes down to a bunch of big mouth panty wearin whiners that dont have the money to fish, and dont have the boat the really want. Petty hypocritical jealosy!

[hmmm]

werent you one of them once?

[ahem]

6-7000 boats. 6-7000 boats! 6-7000 boats!!! Read them again, 6-7000 boats on the opener! Thats 6-7000 boats

[Backwater Eddy]

I hear there will be a big jet ski rally that weekend too?

:O

[mmillelacs]

Tournament folks and others: Look into my eyes and repeat: there are no walleyes on the north end; there are no walleyes on the north end. Ps' don't forget about the submarine races also that same weekend

[Mark]

Also, let's not forget that Walleye Central is holding a camp on Mille Lacs that weekend too. Let's crucify WC now.

[s.f.]

ha! ha! last year the pwt ran out of the northend and the 'boys' fished out from eddy's. i suppose now that they will start at eddy's, they will fish out from myr mar... three gallons of gas total could have won last year! it should take about eight gallons this year..
#49

[Mark]

You're probably right!

[Murfa]

Hey Numbers,
How many rigs was that again? I didn't catch it the first 46 times. MURFA

[concerned]

mark,
yes, i am fishing the milles lacs tourn.(mwc)
i have nothing but admiration and respect for kaz and his record.we could use more like him.
that said, i am not going to accept the way this whole thing came about. it was poorly handled and the info to date has been vague at best.
i keep hearing, dont worry, everythings fine,this will be great!
trust me, i hope so. but asking simple questions(how many teams from mwc asked for this?,where are we launching from?,how many scales?(i was assured 1,now im told 2)..... should not anger them(cabelas/mwc) or you either.
one of the biggest challenges we face today as tourn fishermen is bad pr any where we go. face it, not everyone enjoys tourn. or its participants. this is setting up to make alot of locals unhappy.
unless the # of mwc teams that wanted to fish both is very high,(dont know cuz no answer)this did not need to take place.
devils advocate......what if we face xtremely rough seas and we have to hover for 400 boats? who will address the irrate locals?(you know there will be some.always is with half this many boats) if we return to seperate launch sites,whose watch for late boats? who measures slot fish at 2 sites? all these things are usually under the direction of one person at a normal tourn.
maybe you are more informed on these issues and if so,please share.
please dont get upset at us for asking genuine concerns. we dont get upset at you for ripping us.
these are only a sample of concerns that i and several teams have discussed and yes we are all planning on fishing this tourn.
we are all active members and support the mwc but that doesnt mean we want to just follow blindly!
still would like to see answers to these questions.......

[Remember this too]

Kaz is a well respected and wellliked figure head now. His advice as a consultant is that. NAFC runs the circuit and Cabela's is the Title sponsor. Cabela's does not run the MWC. I say, yes it seems a little different, and may be a logistics study. However, can some of you wait to hold someones feet to the fire till after the event? Are any of you going to type a retraction if all goes without a hitch?

[Hee hee]

I will type it reeeeaaaallll slowwwww......LOL
s i x t o s e v e n t h o u s a n d b o a t s.....;-)
Just makin a point earlier when the guy typed that figure. Kinda makes the whole two tourney argument seem silly doesnt it?

[Murfa]

To be honest, I really have no clue how big this lake really is. The biggest inland lake I fish is about 8,000 acres. 500 rigs on there would be like takin' a bath with 50 rubber duckies. I guess the most important question is, Do they have blackjack in the casino or just slot machines? I would like to come home with some cash since the locals are probably going to tear us up!

[Juls_WI]

Yes, the casino has blackjack...;-)

If I remember correctly Mille Lacs is basically round in shape and 10 miles across. I think of it as a "big" lake, and one of my favorites to fish. I'm looking forward to fishing there again. Last year's fishing was awesome!

Juls

[s.f.]

mighty mille lacs is 132,000 acres. east and west it spans about 17 miles and about 24 miles north and south. being without major bays or long points, it has about 103 miles of shoreline...with a walleye about every five feet all the way around, from five to twenty five feet deep, at your scheduled time. so that leaves about 100,000 acres
of mid-lake structure, loaded with walleyes that will have very little pressure. but THEY might be too big for the 'slot'...but...with one over 28" allowed...pleasant dreams!
#49

so juls, you never did answer me on that 'crawler harness' question last week...

[Casino?]

Remember before you head to the CASINO to spent your money that it is owned and operated by the Mille Lacs Band AND that it the reason for the slot limits that are currently in place and may cause the change to who knows what come next spring. Maybe only 3 fish 16-18 inches. Maybe not even that. If you respect the lake -- stay away from the casino.

[riggers]

I have no problem with Cabela's having both tournaments togather...BUT... if you don't like more exposure for the sport,fishing some of the best walleye water around,a chance at more money for the anglers, compititon, TV, meeting other anglers, learning more about the sport, and so on I guess the only thing to do is stay home. I'll miss you....Hope to see you all in MN.

Dave Show #420

[Bad Finger]

Amen to that!

[Murfa]

Juls,
I'm very glad to hear that they have blackjack! Thank you for the info. Are you fishing either tourney? If you are, hope to see you there. MURFA