After Tourney Fishing Report

[Mike Allen]

Fishing over the weekend was fair to good depending on who you talked to. We had a big weather change from Friday to Sat and then to Sunday. There were any limits caught from white river to Crow Creek. If we can get some better weather, the fishing will only get better. The walleyes just started to spawn heavy, which is a little late in the year. They usually start spawning around the 10th of April.
We did have some big fish caught over the Weekend. On Sat there was an 8.22 lb walleye. On Sunday there was a 10.02lb, 8.00lb, and a 5 1/2lb walleye caught with numerous fish from the 3 - 5 lb class.
Most of the fish brought in were in the 15 - 17 inch range. Jigs and light tackle have still been best, with many limits brought in on crank baits.

[jebeye]

Mike,

First of all I would like to thank you and Gary for holding a great fishing tournament. It always seems to be very well run and organized. Gary mentioned at the awards ceremony that if anyone had any suggestions for next years tournament to let you or him know. On my six hour travel home I thought about this some.

I definitely support in keeping with the 2 man team format, and I hope that this does not change. I think this is the most fair and balanced way of keeping things competitve among all boats.

If there was one thing that I wouldn't mind seeing changed; however, would be the payout structure for the biggest walleye. Right now I believe the payout is currently $100. I might suggest increasing the entry fee from $200 to $220 per boat. This would allow for $5 per competitor per day to go to a big fish pot. The prize for big fish would be $1400 per day based on a field of 140 boats. The existing prize of $100 could be thrown back into the payout pool. This would allow for a more lucrative payout to the field of entrants, especially those unable to participate in the calcutta.

I know from seeing different tournaments across the country that this entry fee is very similar to those using this format. I actually think that this will increase participation for your particular tournament. Thanks again for running a great tournament and hope to see you out fishing soon!

Best regards,

Jebeye