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Tournament News GNWC
By
Steve Weisman Gander
Mountain GNWC Publicity Director
Rob
Roush from Des Moines, IA and Mike Heller from West Des Moines, IA swept
both the top honors and the Berkley Trilene Big Fish Award Sunday, May 2
at Lake Shelbyville.
In the second stop for
the Illinois Region of the Gander Mountain Grand National
Walleye Cup, Roush and Heller's winning weight of 6.05 pounds earned them
the $1000 first place prize and the $400 big fish award in Berkley
products for their 3.88-pound walleye.
Second place and a check
for $270 went to Ron Mason from Estherville, IA and Jim Wahl from
Eldridge, IA with a weight of 4.25 pounds. Meanwhile, John Mannerino from
Chicago, IL and Mike Potaniec from Palatine, IL took third place with a
3.55 pound weight for their two walleyes.
According to Gander
Mountain GNWC Tournament Director Dean Higgins, it was a tough bite.
"Weather again played a major factor in this tournament. Timing is
always critical for these tournaments, and I think we were just a little
bit too early for the good fishing that anglers anticipate will
come."
Presentation for the top
teams came down to trolling with Shad Raps. However, the color choice and
methods were the subtle differences. Roush and Heller trolled #5 crawdad
Shad Raps in the Finley Bridge area near a rock hump in 3 foot of water,
while Mason and Wall trolled #5 black and silver Shad Raps in 8-12 foot of
water.
Both teams echoed the
same sentiments. They were glad to bring the weight they did to the
scales. As Heller noted, "We're definitely happy to win, and we found
the lake and the conditions to make for very challenging fishing."
Mason felt the same but
added, "With these conditions, we were tickled to pull two
fish."
Special awards include
the following. The "Yo So Close" award of a Yo Net folding net
valued at $80 was awarded to the three teams that placed out of the money.
Those teams include John Mannerino from Chicago, IL and Mike Potaniec from
Palatine, IL in 3rd place; Chad Benson from Bemidji, MN and Nicholas Lange
from Grant Park, IL in 4th place; and Don Kenik and Tom Desmond from
Antioch, IL in 5th place.
Kenik and Desmond also won the Gander Mountain "Need More
Stuff" drawing of $200 for a Gander Mountain Shopping Spree.
The race for the Illinois
Gander Mountain GNWC Team of the Year is really heating up. Higgins noted,
"We now have a two-way tie for first place between Roush and Heller
and Mason and Wahl. They both have 11 points, which will make things
really exciting over the final two tournaments."
Next up for the Illinois
teams will be the Fox Chain on Sunday, May 23. Complete results of this
tournament or any tournament on the Gander Mountain GNWC can be found at
www.walleyecup.com.
Anglers interested in
signing up for a future qualifier or simply wanting more information on
the GNWC circuit can call 1-800-890-FISH (3474), or they can email the
GNWC at info@walleyecup.com.
Title Sponsor for the
GNWC is Gander Mountain. Other major national sponsors include Skeeter
Boats, Yamaha Outboards, the Sportsman Channel, Berkley, Aqua Innovations,
YoNet Folding Nets by AMFYOYO, VIB"E" Lure Company, TowTector
Shield and UpNorthOutdoors.com.
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