Michigan Teams Prepare for Michigan State Championship of Walleye Fishing
By Steve Weisman
GNWC Publicity Director
The top teams on the Michigan Region of the Grand National Walleye Cup
(GNWC) are making final plans for the Michigan State Championship of Walleye
Fishing, which will be held at Saginaw Bay on August 27-28. The teams will
be competing for a guaranteed $5000 for first place plus trophies. In
addition, the winners will receive the Lowrance “YOU WIN!” award of two
Lowrance LMS-332C color sonar/GPS units valued at $1400, making the total
first place purse worth $6400.
Prior to the State Championships, on Friday, the GNWC will hold its
final regular season tournament at Saginaw Bay. Originally scheduled for
July 24, inclement weather caused its postponement to Friday, August 26.
“We have tried to make things go as smoothly as possible for our
Michigan teams by having the regular Saginaw Bay Tournament on Friday the
26th followed by the Michigan State Championship of Walleye Fishing on
Saturday and Sunday. So the top 30 teams will roll from the Friday regular
tournament into the State Championship,” said GNWC Executive Director Bernie
Barringer.
“We certainly did not want to cancel this final tournament because it is
extremely important for the teams who are vying for a position in the State
Championship and also for those top teams competing for the Yamaha Outboards
Team of the Year honors,” noted Barringer.
Pre-fishing for the Michigan State Championship of Walleye Fishing will
be important for the teams vying for the Michigan title, as they cover as
much water as possible while trying to put together their game plan for the
two-day tournament. “This is going to be a great tournament. We have the top
teams on the Michigan circuit and Saginaw Bay poses a lot of opportunities
and options,” said Barringer.
Although the tournament competition begins on Saturday, August 27, the
activities for the Michigan teams actually begin on Friday evening with the
Championship banquet sponsored by the community of Au Gres at the VFW across
the road from the Northport Travel Center and Marina.
The Michigan Championship competition headquarters for take-off and
weigh-in will be at the Northport Travel Center and Marina. Saturday’s
action begins at 7 a.m. with the opening ceremonies and take-off. Weigh-in
will be at 3 p.m. Sunday follows the same time frame with the weigh-in
festivities beginning at 3 p.m.
Sunday’s weigh-in will determine who will take home the Michigan
Championship of Walleye Fishing title. “I encourage the public to come to
these weigh-ins. Saturday’s weigh-in will give us the first day’s leaders
and set up for what will be an exciting climax to the two-day tournament at
Sunday’s weigh-in. On Sunday, the top teams will share where they fished and
the presentation they used to catch their fish.” added Barringer.
Special awards will be give out at the Championships including the
Cabelas Big Fish Award of a $200 shopping spree for the team that catches
the largest walleye during the two-day Championships. In addition, an
optional Big Fish Pot will go to the team catching the overall big fish
during the Championships.
Skeeter Boats is offering an additional $3000 above their GNWC winnings
to any owner of a Skeeter boat who wins the Great Plains Championship of
Walleye Fishing while fishing in the Skeeter. In addition, the top-finishing
Skeeter owner will receive $1000. This extra $1000 is above the $3000 for
winning.
YoNet Folding Nets by AMFYOYO will offer the Yo So Close Award of an $80
folding net to the three teams finishing just out of the money.
TowTector, maker of the premium boat protector for towing vehicles, will
offer the Towtector Comeback Award of a Towtector Shield valued at $269 for
the team advancing the most places from day one to day two.
The FoodSource Lure Company is sponsoring $200 in FoodSource Lures for
the top placing family team.
Those interested in checking out the standings, reading the releases
about any of the seven regions or simply learning more about the circuit can
access the GNWC website at http://www.walleyecup.com.
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
sponsors are Towtector Shield and the FoodSource Lure Corporation.