Showdown Time on the Mississippi River
By Steve Weisman
GNWC Publicity Director
It’s showdown time on the Mississippi River for teams competing in Iowa
Circuit of the Grand National Walleye Cup (GNWC). The fourth and final
qualifier will be held at Prairie du Chien on the Mississippi River on
Sunday, June 22.
At stake is a berth in the State Championship at Clear Lake in September
and a berth in the National Championship at West Okoboji in October.
Also on the line is the title of Mercury Team-of-the-Year. Currently,
Rodger Clark and Dustin Clark from Albert Lea, MN lead Dave Smithburg from
Libertyville and Joel Shaw from Fairfield by four points (25-29) going into
the last qualifier.
GNWC Tournament Director Dean Higgins predicts an exciting finish to
what has been a banner year on the Iowa Circuit. “Prairie du Chien is a
great walleye fishery, and I know the teams are primed for this last
qualifier. These teams will put everything on the line as they try to
qualify for both the State and National Championships.”
Higgins also noted that the GNWC Wisconsin qualifier will also be held
at Prairie du Chien on Saturday, June 21. “This is a great cross over
opportunity for both Wisconsin and Iowa teams. It gives teams the
opportunity to get in two days of competitive fishing without having to do a
lot of travel.”
According to Higgins, competing teams should be at Villa Louis Park
between 6-6:30 Sunday morning to sign in and participate in mandatory boat
inspections. The tournament hours are 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Weigh-in begins
precisely at 3 p.m., with awards to follow. “If there are some teams who
decide to enter at the last minute, teams can still sign up on Sunday
morning. Just show up at the boat ramp, and we’ll take care of the
paperwork.”
Higgins also encouraged the public to come out for the weigh-in. “I
certainly hope people come to the weigh-in. It is a great opportunity to
find out what tactics worked the best for the top placing teams.”
Interested anglers can call 1-800-890-3474, email the GNWC at
[email protected] or get on the GNWC website at walleyecup.com to catch up
on updated information from all five states.
Major sponsoring partners for the GNWC include Ranger Boats, Mercury
Outboards, Berkley, Abu-Garcia, The Sportsman Channel and
UpNorthOutdoors.com.
For those television viewers who do not have The Sportsman Channel and
wish to watch the GNWC’s television series Walleye Wisdom, be sure to call
your cable company or satellite television provider and ask them to include
it in their package.