PWT Fan tournout?

[Reels]

Below is the press release from the PWT. First I thought I missread day two when they said 2000 fans, but this one does also. Was there really that many fans at the weigh in?

Wisconsin Pro Wins 2005 Mercury Championship

Catching double the number of walleyes of any other In-Fisherman
Professional Walleye Trail competitor, Wisconsin pro David Andersen,
netted
$117,000 at the Mercury Championship. He did it the old-fashioned way,
working hard and paying attention to details.

Andersen weighed 10 walleyes from Milford Lake in Kansas over three
days. They weighed 24.51 pounds, or $4,774 per pound. This is his
second
Mercury Championship appearance, and first PWT victory. He trolled a
key
break and on the final day caught his fish within a 20-minute window on
a
specific breakline (trolling purple Rapala #5 Shad Raps).

Andersen's big catch electrified the 2,000 walleye fans at
Milford State Park. The Champ won $65,000 cash, a Lund/Merc walleye
boat on
an E-Z Loader trailer, a Kwik-Pfyt mudflap, a diamond ring from
Richardson
Jewelers and a SnowSport snowplow. With this win, he has racked up
three
top-10 finishes this season. He also won the Navionics "Spot on the
Spot"
Award of $500.

Rookie of the Year Chase Parsons, the youngest Championship
qualifier at 21 years old, from Appleton, Wis., claimed the second
place
$44,000 award. He also won two Coleman Big Fish awards of $1,000 each.
His
total PWT winnings were $64,500 this season. Third place went to Terry
Wilson, Powell, Wyoming, with 15.91 pounds. He won $34,000 and also
won the
Gerbing's Hot Pro award of $1,000 for a PWT victory three weeks ago and
this
third place finish. He's pocketed more than $100,000 this season.

The largest fish brought to the stage weighed 62 pounds. It was
a huge 62-pound flathead catfish caught by Sheldon Meidinger, Bismarck,
ND.
It didn't count in the Championship, but showed once again the
magnitude of
the Milford Lake fishery.

The Mercury Championship contestants qualified by being the
top 51 pro anglers on tour this season. They were joined by Mercury
Top
Amateur Mike Johnson, Niagara, Wis. Photos and news about the
qualifiers,
the Championship, and other data is posted on the PWT web,
professionalwalleyetrail.com. The 2006 schedule, dates and format will
soon
be announced on the site. The TV series begins the week of Sept. 26,
and
runs through March 2006. The Championship shows will air the final two
weeks of September.

For Results log onto www.pwtleaderboard.com

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[fans]

I was there yesterday, not sure...but I would estimate 1000-1500 tops.

[No Way]

That tent probaly held a max of 1500 at capacity, just a guess I'm not Omar the Tent Maker. The days I went to check it out there were only about a third to half of the seats full at the most.

I expected a real big deal like you see on the Bassmaster Classic show on TV or the PWT Championships at Bismarck, etc.

[justaguess]

I was there, at the weigh-in on Saturday, the tent supposedly holds 2500, according to the people who set up the tent, and it was nearly full. People were standing in the back because the seats were all taken.

I would guess there were 1800 to 2000 at the peak.

[Reels]

Thats cool. I read they had lots of goodies for kids. I am glad they were able to give them away then.


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[KansasState]

I think justaguess is probably about right i thought a little more at the start but they had the tent shut up and it was really hot in there and some left at the peak a little over 2000 is my guess.
J.David Miller

[full tent]

I was there, and If that tent holds that many, your right....it was full, didn't seem like it would hold that many, but it was full!! Nice and sticky in there!!

[justaguess]

Yep had to be at least 90 in there.

[Schmuel]

Reels - Why do you ask? There were thousands at the Fox Chain event - I wouldn't be surprised if thousands attended the Milford event.

[Maybe]

Maybe on the last day it was full, but the first two days were dismal.

These were not the crowds they've had in the past years. At Houghton for the first year they packed the arena which seated around 4 or 5 thousand people.

They packed it everyday.

Last year it was a lot less.

I heard from some locals who weren't aware it was happening and these are outdoors people.

[Reels]

I only asked because I saw a few posts here that said about 200. Just curious, not causing trouble. Like I said above, glad to see a good turnout and goodies for the kids.


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[low]

I was there on Sunday...The turnout was terrible compared to the other championships that I've been to. The turnout was the same as most regular season events, and it was smaller than the Fox Chain crowd. I could tell that they hadn't planned for a big turnout, because that tent (which was about 100 degrees) would only hold 2000 max...One year at Bismark, there were 8000+.

I would consider this a second tier event by most standards. This event is supposed to grow every year, and it's been retracting for at least two years.

I think it's time for a change, if you know what I mean!

[wasthere2]

Bull. The arena held 2500 on the main floor, dave. The place was at least 2/3 full in 90 degree heat. Fox Chan had 2000 at the weigh in? I was there and have pictures of that one no way. Maybe a few hundred. There wasn't room to PARK for 1000 in Illinois. It was a great crowd for a cold rainy day, but not in the thousands.