Iowa Teams Head to Mississippi River for Final Regular Season Tournament
By Steve Weisman
GNWC Publicity Director
For the Iowa teams competing for a berth at the Iowa Regional
Championship of the Grand National Walleye Cup (GNWC), it all comes down to
one final tournament.
What better place than to have this final showdown on the Mississippi
River! This final qualifier is set for Sunday, June 19, at Albany, IL. When
it’s all said and done, the top 30 teams who fished all four qualifying
tournaments will be on their way to the Iowa Regional Championship on West
Okoboji, September 17-18.
Also by the end of the Albany Tournament, the Iowa Region “Yamaha Team
of the Year” will be crowned. Heading into the final tournament, the team of
Jack Davis and Rob Funk from Mason City, IA have an 11 point lead over Troy
Loeckle from Floyd, IA and Wes Loeckle from Mason City, IA and a 12 point
lead over Jesse Roush from Clive, IA and Cory Batterson from Pleasant Hill,
IA.
According to GNWC Executive Director Bernie Barringer, the Albany
Tournament will hold lots of excitement for both the competing teams and the
general public. “The Mississippi River is a great fishery, and I know these
teams will be working not only the Albany area but also other pools. There
are so many fishing opportunities. Even though this is the final tournament
for the year, I encourage folks who would like to experience competitive
walleye tournament fishing to give this qualifier a try.”
The tournament director will have the trailer at the Albany City 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 Albany City Ramp.
“I encourage folks to come out to the weigh-in and see what patterns the
GNWC teams can put together. We will also have a couple of Aqua-Vu
underwater cameras set up in our release tanks so that the public can see
how they work. This is a great opportunity for the general public to learn
what presentations worked and to also find out what team takes the Team of
the Year honors and what teams qualify for the Iowa Regional Championship,”
noted Barringer.
For those interested in entering, the entry fee remains at $210 per team
for each tournament. Openings do still exist for the Mississippi River
Tournament at Albany, and Barringer encourages interested anglers to contact
him at 1-800-890-FISH (3474), or email the GNWC at [email protected].
Barringer added, “I also encourage people to check out our website at
http://www.walleyecup.com and see how the races are going in all seven of our
regions.”
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
sponsor is Towtector Shield, while Iowa Region sponsors include Ca