For Immediate Release
Gander Mountain Grand National Walleye Cup Goes Back to Back Tournaments at
Houghton Lake
By Steve Weisman
Gander Mountain GNWC Publicity Director
Teams on the Michigan circuit of The Gander Mountain Grand National
Walleye Cup (GNWC) have a back to back opportunity! The previously postponed
Muskegon Lake tournament has been rescheduled and moved to Saturday, June 26
at Houghton Lake. This will be followed on Sunday by the regularly scheduled
June 27th Houghton Lake tournament, making back to back single day
tournaments.
According to Gander Mountain GNWC Executive Director Bernie Barringer,
this switch makes it a unique opportunity for the Michigan teams. “Weather
forced us to cancel the Muskegon Lake tournament, and other dates just
didn’t work out. By running the two tournaments back to back, we can offer
our Michigan teams a unique and, I think, an exciting opportunity. We¹ll
have the first tournament on Saturday and then come back on Sunday with the
second tournament.”
Gary Bowman, who is the Gander Mountain GNWC Site Director for the
Michigan Region, shared his thoughts on Houghton Lake. “Houghton Lake is one
of my inland lake favorites in Michigan. It is relatively shallow but has an
excellent walleye population. The weed growth has been suppressed, so the
walleyes are roaming and on the move. Like Bernie mentioned earlier, I think
the back to back opportunity will be something the Michigan teams will
like.”
Openings still exist for the two qualifiers at Houghton Lake and
Barringer encourages interested anglers to contact him at 1-800-890-FISH
(3474), or email the GNWC at [email protected].
The tournament director will have the trailer at the West Shore Boat
Launch from 6-8 p.m. the evening before the Saturday tournament and again
the evening before the Sunday tournament to take late entries and answer
questions.
Teams are to meet at the West Shore Boat Launch between 6-6:30 each
morning for registration and mandatory boat check. Host bait shop is Lyman’s
on the Lake.
Take-off each day is at 7 a.m. with the weigh-in commencing at 3 p.m.
sharp. “I hope that a good crowd shows up to not only see the fish brought
to the scales, but to also learn what presentations worked the best. It
should be very educational! It is also a unique opportunity for the crowd to
witness two tournament weigh-ins-one on Saturday and one on Sunday,” said
Barringer.
Anglers 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 http://www.walleyecup.com.
Title Sponsor for the GNWC is Gander Mountain with other major national
sponsors including Skeeter Boats, Yamaha Outboards, the Sportsman Channel,
Berkley, Aqua Innovations, YoNet Folding Nets by AMFYOYO, VIB”E” Lure
Company, TowTector Shield and UpNorthOutdoors.com.