There have been 2 Midwest Walleye Series Walleye tournaments since my last post, so lets bring everyone up to date!
The MWS on July 31 took off from Metro Boat Launch in Green Bay, WI and was open to all waters of Green Bay. There was a still SW wind in the morning, which laid down to almost nothing but midday. Sunny skies and temperatures in the mid 80's made for a pleasant day on the water and also cooperative Walleyes.
We had to make a game time decision on whether to run north or to stay in the lower bay near Geanos Reef. The windy conditions helped us make our decision to run north in search of some larger Walleyes relating to rock humps along the Door County shoreline.
A bumpy ride in the morning paid off, as we were able to catch 8 Walleyes trolling spinners in 15-22 fow, with the biggest 3 tipping the scales at 16.80 pounds, which put us in 28th place for the tournament. Not exactly a great finish, but we knew we had held our own in the race for team of the year.
The winners of the tournament were Brian Keller and Larry Eaton. Their 3 Walleyes gave them a weight of 26.64 pounds, which is nearly a 9 pound average! The team reportedly caught their fishing on rock humps near Sturgeon Bay.
After the third event, we found ourselves still in second place in the points race, 3 points behind the leaders Cameron Lewis and Tim Euting, who took third place and also big fish for the tournament!
Next stop, Menominee, MI for the final MWS of the year on August 14. Forecasted winds were to be out of the NE at 15-25 knots, which prompted NOAA to issue a Small Craft Advisory two days prior to the tournament.
The Small Craft Advisory forced Steve and I into the Menominee River, looking to find some legal Walleyes in case the tournament was restricted to the river. We spent two days in the river with 20 Walleyes to show for it, however, only 2 of them were over the 15" minimum size limit!
Fortunately for everyone, Jim Coon, the tournament director, decided to let the full field of 77 boats head out onto the bay for the tournament in 3-4' waves! We ended up heading to a spot we had found pre-fishing the weekend prior to the tournament, and hoped like heck that they would still be around!
A brutal day of fishing would be an understatement, as we switched from spinners to cranks, and then back again hoping to entice 3 Walleyes into biting. We moved from shallow humps to deep edges, and just about everywhere in between searching for our 3 fish. At the end of the day we were fortunate to have 3 Walleyes in the livewell, which weighed a total of 17.72 pounds that was enough to take 15th place!
The winners of the event were Rob Blosser and Lynn Niklasch, who brought in 3 fishing weighing a total of 26.92 lbs! Their big fish weighed 10.28 pounds! The team caught their Walleyes trolling spinners on structure in door county.
Turns out we weighed just enough to take the team of the year crown, something we had set our sights on early in the year! It felt great to be named as team of the year, knowing how tough all of the fisherman fishing the MWS are to beat! Without the help of friends, a supportive wife, and a dedicated tournament partner, this accomplishment would've never happened!
Next up is the MWS Championship, which is will be held September 17th out of Menominee, MI, where the top 25 teams will have one final chance to see who is the best on the bay!