Great weather and a convincing win at the Cabela’s, Crown Battery, Sharpnack Direct, Lake Erie Walleye Trail. (LEWT) The third straight sold out tournament of the 2015 season was the “Ole Pete” Memorial in honor of the memory of Don Peterson. Don was a long-time club member and competitor on the LEWT circuit. Don’s “Ole Pete’s Tackle” company was also a supporter of the Western Basin Sportfishing Association and the LEWT.

A full field of anglers thundered out of the Sandusky bay on a warm morning with light winds and cloudy skies, but a significant chance of thunderstorms throughout the day would keep all of the competitors wary of the skies. “We had some small cells pass by to the east and west throughout the day” commented LEWT tournament Director Jeff Lash. “But I was very pleased that we were able to safely hold our tournament and weigh-in without getting hit by
thunderstorms.”

With a margin of nearly nine pounds over second place, Zak Jobes and Josh Wells pulled away from their competition with five walleye weighing 48.75 pounds for the win, and a check for $3300. Second place went to Randy Eyre and Corey Miller with five fish and 39.95 pounds, Dave Frey and Lonnie Hanchosky took the third place with five fish weighing 38.48 pounds.

Derek and Fischer Wilkes landed a 10.58 pound walleye to win the Big Fish cash award of $640. Joshua Pugh and Tyler Bethold took second place Big Fish and $400 with a 10.44 pound walleye.

Jobes and Wells also won the Medina Plating Early Bird award worth another $150 that goes to the top finishing team that entered all four events before the Early Bird deadline.

LEWT supporter Sharpnack Direct offers a cash prize to the highest finishing LEWT angler who owns a vehicle purchased from Sharpnack. Randy Eyre took home the $150 cash award for the second straight tournament.

Many LEWT anglers donated their catch to the club. These fish were cleaned and this will result in more much needed fish being donated to the Second Harvest Food Bank.

Jobes and Wells caught their winning bag near Lorain using reefrunners. Good catches were also reported off Kelley’s Island shoal and north of Huron. Several teams also did well using worm harnesses but had to work their way through a lot of junk fish. A total of 250 walleye were brought to the scales, with the average weight being 6.38 pounds.

The final four teams have been set in the $6400 LEWT Knockout Challenge. At day one of the championship at Huron it will be Mike Robertson & Michael Tobias versus Zak Jobes & Josh Wells for a spot in the final day. The other spot will be a battle between Mark Brumbaugh & Shawn Ritchie versus Rob Lester & Robert Cline. On day two the finalists will battle for the $3000 top prize. Second place will pay $2000, third $1000, and fourth $400.

Complete Results

The battle for Lake Erie Walleye Supremacy and the prestigious LEWT Team of the Year award has defending 2014 TOY champions Randy Eyre and Corey Miller holding a narrow four point lead over Sandusky winners Zak Jobes and Josh Wells. Lurking just eight points back are the Lakevue tournament winners Paul Holzheimer and Bill Miller. Realistically, any team in the top ten could win it depending on how they finish up at Huron.

The remaining 2015 LEWT schedule is as follows: June 6&7 –Huron- City Ramp – “FishHuronOhio.com LEWT Championship”

The Western Basin Sportfishing Association (WBSA) is a social based club for anglers that fish in the Western and Central Basins of Lake Erie and its tributaries. The WBSA operates the popular LEWT tournament series on Lake Erie. Membership is open to anyone interested in fishing, no matter their location or skill level. Our goal is to present information in a manner that will help sustain and improve fishing in one of the greatest inland sport fisheries in the world. Scientific information, fishing techniques, locations and presentations are presented at our meetings by expert and knowledgeable speakers and tournament anglers from our group. These anglers are very open with techniques, and will help any member that is trying to learn new methods.

For a complete list of the tournament results, or for more information about the LEWT please visit www.wbsa.us You can also find us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/wbsalewt

Please support our 2015 LEWT sponsors: Cabela’s, Crown Battery Systems, Sharpnack Direct in Willard, Medina Plating, Magee East Campground and Marina, Ranger Boats, Waldo Peppers Restaurant, Smooth Moves, Worldwide Marine Underwriters, Reef Runner Lures, Vic’s Sports Center, Erie Outfitters, Navionics, Rednek Outfitters, Hi-Way Bait Tackle and Lodging, Mepps, FishHuronOhio.com

The Ohio walleye Federation held it’s Second event if the year on Pymatuning Lake on May 3rd. Anglers had a beautiful day on Sunday with temperatures making it into the 70s and a reported water temp of 59 degrees. This is the second year in a row that the Ohio Walleye Federation held a tournament on this monster body of water. One thing that makes this lake difficult to fish is the motor restriction so competitors needed to be strategic when finding and deciding to go after their fish. We had some anglers go as far as the dam and others go to the north which in either case could have been an hr ride depending on the boat. Most anglers reported having a great prefish day on Saturday with the day of the tournament being a totally different story. No wind played a role in these post spawn giants being tight lipped, but regardless of the conditions the team of Eric Williams and his son David finished in 1st Place bringing in another big bag out of this lake having a total weight of 15.16lbs. They reported trolling leadcore tight to the bottom and planer boards pulling perch color shad raps in 15-20 fow targeting breaks and humps. 2nd place was the team of Drotar and Bowen weighing in at 12.78lbs they were also trolling in the deeper water pulling a variety of shad imitation crankbaits. Other teams finishing in the money were Cappelli /Jackson in 3rd with 12.62, Metzger/ Dean weighing in 4th with 12.18, Erb/Beurkholder in 5th with 12.12. Bringing in the big fish of the day was the team of Naples/Durkin landing a 5.84lb giant, who reported using jigs in shallow water. Most of the tournament field was targeting 15-20 fow trolling boards and leadcore using shad style baits at a speed of 1.8 – 2.2 mph. The 3rd event if the year will be held in a couple weeks on Berlin Lake on May 16th.

Complete Results

Post cold front conditions made for a challenging day in Walleye Madness Tournaments opener at Mosquito Lake on April 26th. The 43 boat field battled northerly winds and choppy conditions for a share of the 100% payout purse. A record $2700 dollar first place prize was on the line for the team with the biggest 5 fish bag.
The team of Chad Fenstermaker and Thom Brenkert took home first place prize with their 5 fish 11.35# bag. Brian Davies and PJ Kerr captured second place with 10.65#, they were also awarded the Lund Boats contingency bonus. Ted Jackson and Sam Cappelli were in a close third place with 10.30#. Fourth place was captured by the team of Jim Gwynn and Matt Whitacre, with Dave Yoder and Rich Mcintyre rounding out the top five. David Conant and Scott Geitgey picked up the Mercury Marine Bonus for the highest finishing Mercury owner. The Buckeye Sports Center Big Fish went to the team of Randy Smith and Laura Holt with a nice 4.20# walleye.
With the cold front dropping the lake temps down to 52 degrees, schools of walleye were on the move. Winning anglers Fenstermaker and Brenkert worked both north and south ends of the causeway trolling in 8-14 feet of water. Using an assortment of shad imitating crankbaits like flicker shads and smash shads throughout the day proved to be the winning recipe.
Walleye Madness Tournaments are sponsored by Buckeye Sports Center, Lund Boats, Mercury Marine and Mepps. The series offers no-membership fee required 100% payout tournaments, plus $500 per event in sponsor bonuses. Cabela’s National Team Championship qualifying is provided by the series affiliation with the national organization The Walleye Federation. Next up on the Walleye Madness Tournaments schedule is the May 17th on Berlin Lake. For more information please visit www.walleyemadness.net.

For more Information contact:
Greg Bentz
Tournament Director
(440) 390-8054
info@walleyemadness.net
walleyemadness.net