Illinois Walleye Trail 2003 State Championship
May 17-18,2003
Mississippi River, Savanna, Illinois
Teams from Illinois and Indiana found conditions on the Mississippi River less than ideal for the final tournament of the season. The Old Miss was on the rise with water levels less than 2 feet from flood stage with murky to muddy water conditions.
Mike Actis and Mike Stuckert from Spring Valley won the 2 day tournament with 12# 9 ounces earning them $950.00. They also had big fish of the tournament with a 5# 1 ounce walleye paying an additional $160.00. They caught there fish upstream from Savanna on a sand flat using jigs tipped with minnows. Placing second with 11# 13 ounces was the team of Steve Hunter from Manhattan and Don Farrell from Ottawa earning them $650.00. Third place honors was a tie between Barney and Lindsey Barnhart from Fulton, IL. and Cory Blair, Cherry, IL. and Mike Richetta from Spring Valley with 5# 5ounces.
The Walleye Angler of the Year Award turned out to be a real shootout with a tie between the team of Mike Gibson, Dryer, Ind and Al Schrofer Tinley Park, Il. and the team of Joe Miller, Elgin, Il. and Rick Taylor. Each team collected $645.00 for this prestigious Honor. They had competed against 258 other teams from Wisconsin, Indiana, Iowa, and Illinois to win this award.
The nest tournament for the Illinois Walleye Trail will be the 3rd Annual Illinois Governors Cup October 4,5, 2003.
If you would like more information contact Bob Kidd at 309-527-6328 or e-mail http://[email protected]. Complete results can be found at http://www.prairielandeyes.com.
Tournament conditions:
Air temp Saturday and Sunday mid 70’s
Surface Water Temps 60’s
Cloudy to partly cloudy
water high and muddy