The 2012 Walser Bass Tour is Minnesota’s Premier Weekend Bass Angler Tournament Circuit aimed at modest entry fees and generous knowledge sharing and camaraderie. Are you looking for more tourney lake variety, struggling to keep up with all the local knowledge, and tired of the cutthroat atmosphere? The Walser Bass Tour just might be for you. See more at The Walser Bass Tour website.
2011 marked our inaugural year and we are looking to build on that experience by enhancing the rules, increasing membership to 13 boats, and continue the highly organized format that resulted in 9 returning teams and adding 2 more that committed during 2011. Enhancements were made collaboratively with “WBT” members last fall as we ate dinner together prior to our Tournament of Champions at Farm Island Lake.
Last year’s schedule took us around the Twin Cities. This year we are making the lake selection broader as we accommodate where our members live and explore new waters! Below is the 2012 schedule (All tourneys are 8 hours long):
6/3 – Green Lake (Spicer, MN)
6/24 – Lake Minnetonka
7/8 – St. Croix River
7/22 – Clearwater Lake (Annandale, MN)
8/19 – Big Marine Lake
9/15 – 9/16 TOC – Upper and Lower Mission Lake (Crow Wing County)
About the Walser Bass Tour (WBT)
The WBT is a Twin Cities based team circuit aimed to encourage camaraderie and learning experience that BASS clubs enjoy while paying out 100% of the fees in tourney payouts.
Entry Fee
$235 Annual Tournament Entry per team ($35/ regular season tourney, $40 for TOC, $15 team membership “dues” for team champion award). 100% of the $235 goes back to the team, meaning the WBT does not keep any money for website, administration, etc…
Optional $10 Big Bass pot for all 7 tourney days that must be payable prior to first tournament to be involved during the year ($70).
For a total of $300 per team, we have created a modest Tourney Circuit unrivaled in cost for the weekend warrior!
Note that we do not allow entry for a single tournament, this is a full year commitment.
Why We Created the WBT
We observed a couple shortcomings that either national bass clubs or local money circuits presented:
1) Cash is King! Clubs don’t seem to have a proportionate amount of money coming back into the pockets of the competitors; dues typically went towards a national federation fee or winners’ plaques. We pay out 100% of the modest fees down to 4 places and the “membership” fees go to the team champions.
2) Cash is a Tyrant! We like competition as much as the other circuits, we just won’t be holding our secrets so close to the vest. We are fishing for fun, not to qualify for The Classic. We have open dialogue after each tourney as we exchange daily observations on what the lake and bass were telling us. Camaraderie and knowledge sharing makes up the pulse of the WBT.
3) Other observations: Simply put, we wanted an organized money circuit with timely communication before (blast-off, access locations) and after the tournament (results and wrap-up). We wanted a familiar and friendly group of anglers and also to not to beat up on the same lakes year in and year out.
Contact Us!
If you think this is for you, contact Jeremie Larson by email ( [email protected] ), PM me, or check out the WBT website for more details on rules and information. Your request will go through a short screening process to ensure we have the right fit of people.
Good Fishing!
Jim Krocak
Walser Bass Tour – Tourney Director
http://wbt.fiveand1.net/
