Barbara Marciniak
Saginaw Bay Walleye Club & Michigan Walleye Tour
Secretary

The 1999 Michigan Walleye Tour drew to a close with the top 40 teams fishing for cash and distinction on beautiful Hubbard Lake in Michigan's northeast lower peninsula. Hubbard Lake is was part of a logging system and has several rivers running through it. The lake is extemely clear and many residents don't fish it hard during daylight hours due to low catch rates. During prefish the top walleye anglers in the state found the fish were deep. Sometimes as deep as 47 feet where the thermocline sets up. Several teams caught 50-60 fish per day pulling 2-3 oz bottom bouncers with spinners or plain live bait rig. 99.5% of fish caught were 15-16 inchers and the live weight bonus would factor tremendously. Weather was not a factor as a weak cold front and high pressure settled into the region. Over the three day tournament over 2500 walleyes would be caught and released by the 40 teams!

Bill St. Peter from Bay City MI and Steve Bohn from Fairgrove MI sorted out 120-140 walleyes during the three day event. The PWT seasoned pro and PWT's Rookie of the year bottom bounced in 38-42 feet of water and weighed in a three day total of 28.05 pounds. Tom and Bob Harlukowicz of H and H guide service in Gaylord MI took second place honors with a three day total of 27.07 pounds. They jigged in weedbeds in 35-50 ft of water. Third place went to Lance and Kirk Valentine who found the suspended bite with 1/4 oz Hot n Tots using a 50/50 two oz snap to hit fish in 60 feet of water suspended at 35-40 feet. They also took big fish honors with a 2.49 pound fish. An interesting point of this tournament was the numbers of fish in this lake. On Saturday all 40 teams brought a limit to the scale.

Contributed by Mark Sak Woods-N-Water News.