For Immediate Release For More Information Contact:
Kristine Houtman, 612-710-5584
Kolb & Byers Grab Repeat Win at Cabela’s MWC Henderson Harbor Tournament
– Presented by OLN
Henderson Harbor, NY — Literally riding the waves of good fortune, David Kolb of Ada, MI and Dan Byers of Cedar Springs, MI captured a second consecutive Cabela’s MWC circuit victory. The previous MWC tournament, held just one month prior on the Detroit River and Lake Erie, netted the team $15,302. Henderson Harbor’s $10,774 purse plus the $1,000 Ranger Cup bonus totaled $11,774 for the win. The tournament was held on two blustery days, May 20th and 21st, on the Eastern basin of Lake Ontario with high winds swelling 6 to 8 foot waves. Kolb’s Ranger boat allowed them to be out in the thick of it and confidently make the run back in the afternoon.
“The weather wasn’t too bad for us” shared Kolb. “We just had to allow a little extra time to get back. Where we were fishing was protected and calm, only one foot waves throughout the day.” The two were fishing South of Henderson Harbor at an area called Sandy Pond. They were trolling with spinners in an almost identical manner to that which they employed during the previous tournament on Lake Erie. The differences were minor but effective. Shallower presentation of their baits, slightly smaller blades (5’s and 6’s) and orange beads were the key.
Kolb and Byers were the only team to weigh in a five-fish basket for 13.28 pounds on day one, placing them in strategic striking distance at fourth place. Their two-day combined ten fish weight was 31.10 pounds, not the usual size that wins a Henderson Harbor tournament, known for 7 or 8 pound average walleyes. However, the bite was particularly challenging this year with cold water and a prevalence of bait fish. Kolb and Byers were the only team to bring in a limit each day.
“Our tournament strategy after a tough couple of days of pre-fishing was to seek out smaller fish that were more probable to get in the boat” shared Kolb. “We fished hard for five legal fish on Saturday and then went looking for a big fish but weren’t successful in landing one. We felt the bite for the big fish was just spotty enough that we didn’t want to rely on it for our tournament strategy. We never fished Sandy Pond during our pre-fishing because we were hunting for quality; but when the bite wasn’t there, we changed up and went for quantity.”
When asked about the feeling of putting back-to-back wins together, Kolb responded: “It’s unbelievable – completely unexpected! We had only signed up for two MWC tournaments this year; the last tournament and Saginaw Bay for August. But when we had the win we thought we had a shot for MWC East Team of the Year if we picked up one more tournament. We came out here just wanting to place high enough to not ruin our chances.” Added Byers, “now we’ll probably pick up a fourth tournament and set overall MWC Team of the Year as a goal.”
The second place team of Shawn Hannah, Tottenham, Ontario and Peter Lewis, Webster, New York, weighed only three fish to Kolb and Byers’ ten. But they were more typical fish out of Henderson Harbor, totaling 24.06 pounds; an 8.02 pound average. The second place team cashed $4,824 for their finish.
Biggest fish of the tournament was 11.04 pounds and caught on day one by Matt Schyndler of Harpursville, NY and Richard Maloney of Waterford, NY netting the team $750 in big fish cash. Second place on day one netted Dave Waldeck of Sanborn, NY & Nate Capton of Niagara Falls, NY $400 for their 9.89 pound walleye. Day two big fish awards went to Jeff Manz of Vanderbilt, MI and Greg Yarbrough of Port Clinton, OH with $750 for their 9.59 pound walleye; and $400 to Gary Zart and Wayne Jesionowski of Hinckley, OH for their 8.96 walleye.
Tournament Statistics
Number of Teams: 67 Number of Fish: 68
Total cash and prizes: $36,801 Total Weight: 321.18 pounds
Water Temp: 57 degrees Big Fish: 11.04 pounds
Water Clarity: 2 feet Average Weight: 4.72 pounds
Winning Pattern: trolling spinners with planer boards
Inside Tip: Orange beads with number 5 & 6 silver blades
The $500 Tommy Docks Comeback Award was won by Jeff Manz and Greg Yarbrough for moving up 16 places from day one to day two. Manz & Yarbrough also captured the Lindy Drift Control award, two hundred dollars cash plus two Lindy Drift Control socks for using a drift sock to maximize boat control during the tournament.
The Inhibitor “Tough Times” Award of $100 was paid to Ryan Rieger of Elizabeth, PA and Bob Stone of Markleysburg, PA.
A $100 Panther Marine Tech bonus was awarded to Gary Zart and Wayne Jesionowski.
Food Source Lures paid out cash and “real food” in a game for the public and anglers awarding $125.
Pete Petros of DeKalb, IL and Dave Landahl of Geneva, IL each received new two-piece cold weather outerwear from Ice Armor.
The Henderson Harbor Chamber of Commerce hosted the tournament and assisted with tournament operations. In turn, the MWC will fund the Lake Ontario Fisheries Coalition with $1,005 in walleye conservation funds generated from this tournament.
Full field tournament leaderboard details are available at http://www.liveleaderboard.com.
Openings exist in future MWC tournaments. For more information go to http://www.masterswalleyecircuit.com or call the MWC office at 877-893-7947.
Remaining 2006 Schedule
Central Division
June 24/25 – Escanaba, MI – Bays de Noc
Sept 16/17 – Lake City, MN — Mississippi River
East Division
August 19/20 – Linwood, MI – Saginaw Bay
Exhibition Tournament
July 15/16 – Spirit Lake, ND – Devils Lake
World Walleye Championship
October 4-7 – Prairie du Chien, WI – Mississippi River
Cabela’s is the title sponsor for the Masters Walleye Circuit. Official Sponsors are Outdoor Life Network (OLN), Ranger Boats, MotorGuide, Mercury Motors, Lindy Legendary Tackle, Lowrance Electronics and the North American Fishing Club. Associate sponsors are Salmo Performance Lures, Panther Marine-Tech Products, Tommy Docks, The Inhibitor, Food Source Lures, Ice Armor, Pennzoil Marine, Farm and City Insurance Services and Walleye Central.
## END ##