Al Shrofer and his sons Bryce and Blake from Tingley Park, Illinois won the Angler Young Angler Walleye Tournament Sunday on the Illinois River in Hennepin Illinois. 41 Teams from Illinois, with 71 young anglers ranging from 3 years old to 17 years old residing in Illinois, Iowa, and Indiana, competed from 8:00am till 2:00pm for the biggest 5 fish limit of Saugers, Walleyes, or Saugeyes in the river. Al and his sons weighed the biggest bag of the tournament with 10.82 pounds. Al and his sons found their fish in the lower part of the river. Using Rapala Shad Raps and lead core line they had their limit by 9:30am. This win earned them a New Lund Boat with a new Mercury Motor and Shorelander Trailer. They will also receive $500.00 expense money to compete in the National Championship on Lake of the Woods in Ontario in August against the Regional Champions from Minnesota and the Canadian Provinces. Bryce and Blake also received trophies and medallions and a brand new bicycle each.
Placing second with 9.52 pounds was the team of Adam Sandor from Tonica, Illinois Kaylan Trumpenski from Grand Ville and Gannon Neurohe from Ottawa. They received a new Minn Kota trolling motor and the Young Anglers received a digital camera each. Placing third was Gary Merkel, daughter Taylor and son Gary with 8.98 pounds winning two MP-3 Players and a MinnKota DH-20 Deck Hand.
Complete results can be found on http://www.prairielandeyes.com
The Angler & Young Angler Walleye Tournaments began in 1998 when Tournament Founder, Andrew Klopak (President of Lund Boats) decided he wanted to fish in a competitive style tournament on opening day with his son. Seeing that there were no tournaments that catered to adult and young anglers…he created his own.
The main objective is to introduce and educate young anglers to competitive sport fishing in a fun environment surrounded by family and friends while creating memories that will last a lifetime. Each team in the tournaments consists of one angler and two young anglers, 17 and under. Each event includes official weigh-in, prizes, awards and BBQ to follow a hard day’s fishing. The winner of each regional event qualifies for the opportunity to participate in the National Championship.
The success of the original Manitoba tournament has lead to the expansion of all the provinces and is now being introduce into the United States With Hennepin, Illinois being the first event and one scheduled in July for Minnesota. The Angler & Young Angler Fishing Tournaments continues to grow with nine regional events this year, as well as a National Championship held in late August on beautiful Lake of the Woods, Kenora, ON. In order to expand the exposure of youth fishing, a complete television special is produced each year featuring the regional events as well as the Championship and will be aired on the Outdoor Channel.
We would like to Thank our fine Sponsors and all of our volunteers for making this event so successful. North Central Bank, A&M Guttermen,State Bank of Cherry, Spring Valley Bank, Reef Runner Lures, Hagens of South Dakota, Spring Valley Walleye Club, S&S Plumbing and Heating, PepsiAmerica, City of Hennepin, Oak State products, Hennepin Marine, Johnson Outdoors, hertiage Trailers, JT’S Bar and Grill, Lindy Little Joe, Illinois Walleye Trail, Manns Bait Company, Blakemore Lure Company, Shakespeare Tackle, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Jim Melton Spinners, Hennepin Township, Ball Warehousing and Distributing, Power Pro, Eagle Claw, Illinois Agricultural, Frabill nets, Gamakatsu Hooks, Country Companies, Hutch’s Tackle, Guy Lopez spinners, Spring Valley Boat Club, Mederts, Peru Mall, Larry’s fishing Hole, Mercury Marine, Staples, Rat-L-Trap, Lund Boats, Ryjus, MinnKota, Adventure North, Shimano, Shorlander trailers, Brunswick, Anglers Edge, Lowrance, Gemini Sports Marketing, Real fishing, Pure Fishing, Rapala-Normark, Inc. and Lucky Strike Lures.