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The News
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 Wyoming Walleye Stampede director Brian Woodward hooks a leech to a line Wednesday at Glendo State Park. Eve Newman/Boomerang staff | | | | By Eve Newman
Boomerang Outdoors Writer
Before you can catch a walleye, you have to at least find one.
In a reservoir the size of Glendo, a dozen miles north to south, that’s a lot of water to cover. For angler Brian Woodward, the joy of walleye fishing is in the painstaking process of tracking them down across the water by figuring out where they might be depending on the weather, the water, the time of day and the time of year ¾ with the payoff coming in a two-foot whopper that takes the bait.
“I look at walleye fishing like elk hunting or deer hunting ¾ you have this big mountain range, and you know that there’s animals up there, but (you don’t know) where they’re at and when you’re going to find them,” he said.
Woodward, who has a few tales of his own about big fish and big prize money at walleye tournaments, is directing the inaugural Wyoming Walleye Stampede at Glendo State Park along with Eric Whitaker. The tournament takes place on Saturday and Sunday.
He said this tournament features a $400 entry fee that’s lower than some Wyoming tournaments, along with family-friendly touches like a youth division, a family division and a mixed couples division. There’s also a “poor boy” division, for anglers with boats with motors of 125 horsepower or less.
“A lot of guys don’t feel like they have the boat to compete in these big walleye tournaments, so we wanted to get the guys that have the little old johnboats,” he said.
On a recent weekday morning, dozens of boats dotted the water, many containing anglers studying up on the conditions in advance of the tournament. At one weedy outpost, half a dozen boats bobbed in proximity, anglers calling out to each other to praise the glittering spring weather.
Dave Rice, perched at the bow of his vessel, pulled in walleye after walleye over the span of a few minutes, with partner Mike Stewart netting them.
“It’s been a good day all around,” he said as he put a new wriggly rubber jig on his hook.
Without a hurry, he cast out his line, working it slowly back to the boat with a subtle wrist bob to keep the jig moving.
Woodward said he likes to pitch into steep ledges and work the bait down, depending on which way the wind is blowing. The water level right now is about eight feet lower than it was last year, which Woodward said has been affecting the behavior of the walleyes.
“They start acting kinda goofy,” he said. “They tend to work their way out into deeper water, but they want to get up shallow because that’s where the feed is.”
Like many walleye fisherman, he has a high-tech fish finder that shows the contours of the lakebed, along with several duffel bags overflowing with lures and jigs.
But when it comes down to pulling a fish out of the water, he said, the greatest gadgets can’t make up for being in the right place at the right time.
“Anyone can catch a fish,” he said.
The top prize for the 95 teams entered is close to $10,000, with payouts to the top 25 teams.
*article courtesy of Laramie Boomerang view original article here
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Stampede hosts first tournament |
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Wyoming Walleye Stampede's first tournament will be Saturday and Sunday at Glendo Reservoir.
Partners Brian Woodward and Eric Whitaker chose the reservoir for its reputation as one of Wyoming's premiere walleye resources. Winning weights have traditionally averaged 40 pounds and have exceeded 40 pounds with 10-fish, two-day totals.
"Glendo is central to a growing fleet of hard-core tournament contestants hailing from Wyoming, Nebraska, Colorado, Montana and South Dakota anglers," Whitaker said.
Entry fee is $400 per team. Grand prize is $10,000 based on a field of 125 boats. The tournament boasts over 85 percent payback and a $40,000 purse.
An awards ceremony will be at 5 p.m. May 31 at the Hall's Marina. * article courtesy of Casper Star tribune, view original article here |
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Wyoming Walleye Stampede plans tourney at Glendo |
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The Wyoming Walleye Stampede organizers have announced that its inaugural tournament will be at Glendo Reservoir on May 30-31, 2009. Partners Brian Woodward and Eric Whitaker chose Glendo because of its reputation as one of Wyoming's premiere walleye resources. Traditionally, winning weights average forty pounds and have exceeded fifty pounds with 10 fish, two-day totals. "Glendo is central to a growing fleet of hard-core tournament contestants hailing from Wyoming, Nebraska, Colorado, Montana, and South Dakota anglers," Whitaker commented.
To reduce post tournament mortality, participants bring walleyes to a "measure boat" located strategically throughout the resource where they are quickly measured and released. The lengths are then converted to weight by quarter inch increments. For example, a 15" walleye is credited one and a quarter pounds, a 20 incher is approximately 3 pounds, and a 26" fish is credited six and a half pounds. The coveted 30" inch walleyes, those rare "bug eyes", convert to 10 pounds. Each team can measure up to 12 fish per day and score their 5 largest fish per day. Two day aggregate totals determine the winners. The entry fee is $400 per team. The Grand Prize is $10,000 based on a field of 125 boats.
"What really appeals to our group of participants is the parody of our overall purse. The payback will pay deeper to 25 places, or 20% of the teams with an overall 'in the money' purse of $40,000! A real plus for our 1st annual tourney," Whitaker added "is the number of Wyoming-based sponsors who have stepped up with $4,500 in Big Fish and divisional pots of family, mixed couples, youth, and even a "poor boy" division with teams competing with 125hp motors or less. A long distance award will go to the top 2 teams traveling the farthest who will each receive $100 visa gift cards to help with fuel cost. This translates to an unprecedented payback nudging over 85%. Perception is that these are 'pro anglers' when in reality these are just your everyday "die hard, western walleye anglers." "While it's not our primary focus or goal to become a springboard into the nation's elite pro-am events, it certainly has provided a venue for that. Most anglers compete for the pure pleasure of the competition, the camaraderie, and simple fun," Brian Woodward clarified.
This year we will campaign to create a greater awareness of zebra muscles and encourage anglers to go online and take the Game and Fish questionnaire designed to educate anglers on how to avoid transport of these highly and potentially devastating invaders of our walleye resources.
Not only is the Glendo resource a premiere walleye fishery, but it's vistas of Laramie Peak to the west offer an amazing backdrop to pursue these treasured game fish. We will feature a new awards ceremony on Sunday starting at 5PM, May 31st at the Hall's Marina that may be the most innovative, exciting, and informative to date. The public is welcome. "The winning patterns are discussed with each team in the money. This is the climax of the event. There is laughter, cheering, even an occasional 'I don't think so' groan as we will sort the winning patterns out among the ones 'in the money.' The diverse winning patterns offer non-participants a wealth of cutting edge techniques that would take a lifetime to assimilate! " For more information, interested anglers can go to wyomingwalleyestampede.com. * article courtesy of North Platte Walleyes Unlimited, view original article here |
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