Unseasonably cold temperatures and waters that were roiled by a hard blow the day before faced the 44 two-angler teams entered in the Walleye Madness Tournaments event held on Saturday, May 25th on Lake Erie out of Huron, Ohio.
Arguably the greatest walleye fishery in North America, even Lake Erie can nearly be shut down by the combination of post cold front conditions and turbid waters that create extremely tough fishing conditions. “That’s a big part of the challenge of tournament fishing” stated John Csizmadia, the director of Walleye Madness Tournaments. He added, “It’s not about fishing under perfect conditions when the bite is on. Tournament fishing is about having to perform no matter what. Even under the toughest of conditions fish can and will be caught and this event proved no different.”
First place was captured by the team of Aaron Humbert and Mark Carr with a five fish total weight of 34.55 pounds. Their performance also earned the Mercury Marine bonus for being the highest placing team using a Mercury engine. Second place wasearned by Jim Gwynn and Matt Whitacre. Their five fish limit of 30.80 pounds included the tournaments big fish that weighed 9.75 pounds. Gwynn and Whitacre we’re also awarded a paid entry and bonuses to the Cabela’s National Team Championship as the highest finishers in the event’s 16 team side pot bracket. Third place went to the team of Shawn Ritchie and Mike Robertson. Their five fish weighed 28.85 pounds and won the Lund Boats bonus for the highest finishing team using a Lund boat. Fourth place finisher’s Dennis Kitchen and Robert Cline weighed a five fish limit of 28 pounds. The top five was rounded out by Scott Geitgey and Jay Gullett whose five fish totaled 27.35 pounds. FULL RESULTS
Walleye Madness Tournaments are sponsored by Buckeye Sports Center, Lund Boats and Mercury Marine. The tournaments offer a 120% or larger guaranteed payout and bonus awards for Lund boat and Mercury engine owners. Proceeds from the Buckeye Sports Center Big Fish Bonus benefit On Target Outfitters, a non-profit youth outdoors group from Canfield, Ohio. Pizza and refreshments were provided during the weigh in by Fish Huron Ohio, a group that promotes fishing and boating in the Huron community.
Next up on the Walleye Madness Tournaments schedule is the June 23rd event on Lake Milton in north east Ohio. For information visit www.walleyemadness.net or contact the series director, John Csizmadia at 330-881-0994.
John Csizmadia is a north east Ohio based tournament walleye angler. He actively promotes the sport of fishing, organizations related
to and that support the outdoors experience, and youth involvement in fishing and the outdoors. For more information please visit
www.jcfishing.com, e-mail john@jcfishing.com or call 330-881-0994.
