Great Plains Season Finale Set for Milford Lake

By Steve Weisman GNWC Publicity Director

Everything's on the line for the teams competing on the Great Plains Region of the Grand National Walleye Cup (GNWC). One qualifier is left, and the teams head to Milford Lake in Kansas on Sunday, July 17 to decide who qualifies for the Regional Tournament on August 13-14 at El Dorado, KS and what team will win the Great Plains Yamaha Outboards Team of the Year honors. Heading into the Milford Lake Tournament, the team of Rich Farmer from Wichita, KS and Cliff Doty from Lincoln, NE have taken the lead in the race for the Great Plains Yamaha Outboards Team of the Year honors with a total of 16 points. The team of Doug Duncan and Tim Brockman from Wichita, KS is only one point behind with 17 points. "This is a great way to end the regular season for the Great Plains Region," noted GNWC Executive Director Bernie Barringer. "It's quite a battle for the team of the year honors. Plus, I think the competing teams will enjoy fishing Milford Lake." Milford Reservoir is Kansas' largest artificial lake, with 163 miles of shoreline and over 16,000 surface acres. According to Byron Johnson, owner of BJ's 66 bait shop, Milford has an excellent walleye population. "Earlier in the spring, the walleye fishing was tremendous," said Johnson. "Then we had several days of rain in early June, which brought the water level up close to five feet. That muddied the water, and fishing really tailed off." Recently, however, fishing has improved again. "There was a tournament here in late June that really produced some nice fish. If weather conditions stay stable, I think fishing will remain good. In mid-July, the fish will probably be deep-in that 20-30 feet of water," added Johnson. The tournament director will have the trailer at the Milford State Park South Ramp from 6-8 p.m. the evening before the tournament to take late entries and answer questions. Take-off is at 7 a.m. with the weigh-in commencing at 3 p.m. sharp at the Milford State Park South Ramp. "I encourage the general public to come to Sunday's weigh-in. There is no cost to attend, and it is a great opportunity for folks to get a glimpse at what tournament fishing is all about. The audience will also get to hear from the teams and find out what presentations and tactics worked to trigger the fish. This is a great way to learn about taking walleyes on this huge body of water. It will also be fun because we will have a couple of Aqua-Vu underwater cameras set up in our release tanks so that the public can see how they work," added Barringer. For those interested in entering, the entry fee remains at $210 per team for each tournament. Openings do still exist for the Milford Lake, and Barringer encourages interested anglers to contact him at 1-800-890-FISH (3474), or email the GNWC at info@walleyecup.com. "I also encourage people to check out our website at www.walleyecup.com and see what is happening in all seven regions," added Barringer. Major national sponsors for the GNWC include Skeeter Boats, Yamaha Outboards, Lowrance Electronics, YoNet Folding Nets by AMFYOYO, Aqua-VU, Aqua Innovations, Cabela's and UpNorthOutdoors.com. National championship sponsors are Towtector Shield and the FoodSource Lure Corporation