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Updated: 08/05/04
Illinois State Championship of Walleye Fishing
Slated for Mississippi River
By Steve Weisman
Gander Mountain GNWC Publicity Director
With the regular season over, the top teams on the
Illinois Region of
the Gander Mountain Grand National Walleye Cup (GNWC) are making final
preparations for the Illinois State Championship of Walleye Fishing
which
will be held on the Mississippi River at the Quad Cities on August
7-8. At
stake will be a guaranteed $2000 for first place plus trophies, and
with
bonus opportunities the winners could take home up to $2500.
"The Mississippi River around the Quad Cities is
an excellent fishery,"
said Gander Mountain GNWC Executive Director Bernie Barringer. "This
is the
time of year that the wing dam fishing can be tremendous. During the
pre-fishing, I expect the teams to work several of the pools up and
down the
river. However, locking up and down the river can pose problems, especially
if a barge decides to enter a lock. They can tie up traffic for a long
time,
but that's all part of the game when you fish the Mississippi River
system."
Leading the way and looking to defend their Illinois
Region Team of the
Year title is the team of Rob Roush from Des Moines, IA and Mike Heller
from
West Des Moines, IA.
Activities for the teams actually begin at the Holiday
Inn on Friday
evening, August 6 with the Illinois Championship Banquet, which is
sponsored
by Roehlk Construction and Dan Timmons of Edward D. Jones Co.
"I am really looking forward to the Illinois State
Championship. We have
some excellent teams contending for the title. The Quad Cities area
is a
great place to hold the Illinois championship, and I look forward to
having
good crowds at the weigh-ins," said Barringer.
The competition gets underway Saturday at Sunset
Park boat ramp with
opening ceremonies and takeoff at 7 a.m. Weigh-in begins at 3 p.m.,
and
Barringer expects to see some impressive baskets of fish brought to
the
scales. "The weigh-in is the perfect time for the public to find out
some of
the secrets of taking fish on the Mississippi River. Since it is a
two-day
event, not many answers will be given on Saturday, but at Sunday's
weigh-in
we'll find out from the top teams exactly what their strategy was."
On Sunday, the same format is followed with take-off
at 7 a.m. The
weigh-in and awards ceremony takes place at 3 p.m.
Covering all of the tournament action will be the
Walleye Wisdom
television crew. They will be capturing footage of all eight Championships,
including the Illinois Championship, for the 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 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 big fish taken 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 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
Illinois State 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
Illinois State 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.
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