Sheboygan WC Marinette Results

Busse and Rohloff Make History at Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s NTC on Lake Erie

Busse and Rohloff Make History at Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s NTC on Lake Erie 

 

Lorain, Ohio – May 11th, 2024 – The 2024 Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s National Team Championship (NTC) was one for the record books. 574 anglers from 18 states across the country battled it out on arguably, the top walleye fishing destination in the world. Lake Erie gave this field of top-notch teams a chance to really showcase why they are the best in the country at catching walleyes. For the first time in NTC history, a team returns in back-to-back years to take home the top trophy in grass roots walleye fishing.

Bringing a field of anglers to the great lakes isn’t without its challenges. One of the largest hurdles to overcome is the weather. On the morning of what would be the first day of competition it became evident that the north-east winds that the local meteorologists were predicting, could not be overlooked. Due to safety concerns for the anglers, tournament officials made the call of delaying the start of the tournament and moving the first day back one day. That meant, all 287 teams would battle it out for two full days to see who would rise up through the ranks as the victors.

After the first day of competition, the weights between the top 15 teams were all within striking distance of the leading team of Trey Conley (Bellafontaine, OH) and Lason Clum (Ada, OH) who were in front with a narrow lead of less than a half-pound with 41-06 lbs. By the end of the second and final day’s weigh in, a familiar team rose to the top by bringing in the largest sack of the tournament with a weight of 42-06 lbs. Adding to their first day’s weight giving them a two-day total of 80-14 lbs. and pushing them ahead of second by nearly 3 lbs. This feat allowed the victors to achieve something never seen during the history of the NTC. They won back-to-back years and again, claimed the title of champions.

Scott Rohloff (Watertown, WI) and Lance Busse (Freedom, WI) brought some tactics they use a lot back home on Green Bay to target these Lake Erie walleyes. A combination of precise control of their Mercury powered Ranger boat and accurate casting with forward facing sonar was key to targeting these 8lb average walleyes.

“We looked in places a lot of anglers that fish Lake Erie aren’t really keying in on. We fished shallower rock structures just west of Cleveland. All week long we stuck with the same casting program and just picked each area apart until we thought we had the right program. We casted some new Berkley baits designed for forward facing sonar and hunted down the biggest fish we could find. Early in the week we stumbled on this program and were catching a lot of fish and knew we had something special with no other teams around the area. There was a lot of current in this area and we were able to watch exactly how the bigger fish were moving in the current. The bigger fish would move slowly with the current over the structure but get very aggressive when presented with a bait right in front of their nose. This is just unreal that we were able to put it all together two years in a row and win against the best of the best in the country.” Said Scott Rohloff during an interview right after the tournament.

 

Scott and Lance’s program and great attention to detail rewarded them with a huge pay-day totaling over $125,000 that included a brand-new Ranger 620 FS with Mercury 250hp ProXS a 15hp Mercury kicker, trolling motor, and 12 inch graph on the dash, $25,000 cash, $8,000 Ranger Cup Bonus, and those coveted 1st place trophies, event jerseys, a berth into the 2025 NTC, and a couple flashy All-American Rings.

 

Here is a look at how the rest of the top five teams finished:

 

2nd Scott Geitgey and Jay Gullet 78-02, $10,000 cash

 

3rd Max Wilson and DJ Laux 73-13, $8,000 cash

 

4th Trey Conley and Lason Clum 73-06 $6,000 cash

 

5th Ty Baucke and Joey Spencer 72-02 $5,000 cash

 

The total payout in cash and prizes for the 2024 Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s National Team Championship was well over 300% total payback on entries in cash and prizes was awarded to teams from 18 states. The largest sack during the championship of 42-06 lbs. was caught by the winners Scott Rohloff and Lance Busse. Every angler that competed in the championship was also awarded with a $50 Bass Pro Shops gift card.

 

The staff and anglers would like to thank the community of Lorain, OH and the Lorain Port Authority, Lorain County Visitors Bureau and the Coty of Lorain for welcoming anglers, families, and staff into their city over the past week. The out-pouring of support from the area was key to running an event of this magnitude. Thank you!

Walleye Federation clubs across the country can now look ahead to 2025. The announcement has been made that the 2025 Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s NTC is headed to Lake Francis Case, Pickstown, SD June 19-21. Margaret Doom, Area Wide Economic Developer near Pickstown is excited to host the 2025 National Team Championship. “We welcome all of the participating fisherman to the area, and wish you good luck on securing your fishing spot in the Pickstown, Wagner, Lake Andes area championship.”

 

The Walleye Federation, based in Ponca City, Oklahoma, manages the qualifying process via TWF sanctioned walleye clubs all across the US and Canada and co-produces the event alongside the Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s Marketing Sponsorship Team. Qualifying is going on now, for details on how to earn a spot in the 2025 Bass Pro Shops and Cabela’s NTC or to get your walleye club signed up, visit walleyefederation.com, or call (580)765-9031

 

WNWS Grey Rocks Tourney Results April 20th and 21st, 2024

2024 Ohio Walleye Federation Qualifier #1 Mosquito Lake

For Immediate Release

2024 Ohio Walleye Federation

Qualifier #1 Mosquito Lake

 

The Ohio Walleye Federation presented by Erie Marine Sales held their first tournament of the year on 4/28/2022 at the recently fickle Mosquito Lake. Teams were faced with an uncertain bite as the bite at Mosquito the past few years has been spotty at best. Many teams reported having very little success in pre-fish. As is typical for Ohio spring’s April has seen multiple days with temperatures in the 80’s as well as days with highs in the 40’s. Tournament Day fortunately brought one of those beautiful spring 80-degree days. The weather was about the only thing that was playing nice for most teams, as recent reports have shown that the walleye population is in a drastic decline.

With only 5 teams weighing a 5 fish limit, there was a very tight battle for the top spot. 1st place and 5th place were separated by 2.65 pounds with 2nd and 5th separated by only 1.58 pounds. In total, there were 16 teams weighing fish with some very nice ones weighed in showing that if you can crack the code at Mosquito Lake, you can find some good fish.

The team of David Hoisington and Dan Uber were able to come home with the victory this year. After finishing what they described as a disappointing 2nd place last year at Mosquito, it was nice to see them get some redemption. Their 5 fish bag topped the scales at 23.92 pounds, anchored by a 5.62-pound big fish. David and Dan said that they fished the same area as last year. However, this year, they utilized forward facing sonar technology to target the fish in 13-16 feet of water. They were casting blade baits at fish that they first spotted with their graphs. Dave and Dan were very effective at what they were doing as they reported catching an estimated 30 fish in about an hour and a half time frame. With the win, David and Dan took home 1st place plaques and 1st place prize money of $2,500.

The 2nd place team of Jim Leigh and Shane Doughty trolled leadcore in 13-16 feet of water to pull in a 5 fish limit that weighed an impressive 22.85 pounds good for 2nd place plaques and $1,300. Jim and Shane reported pulling Berkley Flicker Shads in 13-16 feet of water right near the winner and 3rd place team. Jim reported at weigh-ins that dark colors worked best the first part of the morning, and lighter colors were better after about 8. All but one of the team’s fish was caught from 7:00 a.m. and 8:30. The team did report getting a crucial 1-pound upgrade at 2:40 that propelled them to 2nd place.

In 3rd place, that paid out $850 was the team of Andy Travis and Joe Papalia with 5 fish that weighed 22.58 pounds. Like the winners, Andy and Joe utilized forward facing sonar and blade baits to cast to their fish in 13-16 feet of water. Andy and Joe also reported catching over 20 fish throughout the morning.

In 4th place, with 5 fish for 21.72 pounds with the 2nd biggest fish of the event of 5.64 pounds was Erick and Ed Williams, they won $650.  For their 4th place effort and a $50.00 gift certificate to sponsor Presta Marine for their 2nd big fish. Erick reported that they caught their fish trolling Berkley Flicker Shads on monofilament line behind planer boards in 12-14 feet of water. Erick was able to utilize his electronics to see where the fish were sitting in in order to keep his baits in the right zone.

Rounding out the top 5 was the team of Steve Booher and David Schmidt with 5 fish for 21.27 pounds good for $500. Steve and David also caught the big fish of the day with a 6.56-pound giant that paid $400 to catch. They reported catching all their fish jigging blade baits in 14-16 feet of water.

The OWF season is in full swing with a few weeks between qualifiers to allow all our team’s time to go fish the National Team Championship in Lorain, Ohio. Good luck to all the teams from the club fishing in the event. Our 2nd qualifier is on May 19th at Pymatuning Lake. Make sure to get your registrations in for that event.

The Ohio Walleye Federation would like to thank our title sponsor, Erie Marine Sales, for all the support that they provide to us. If it weren’t for them, we wouldn’t be able to provide 100% payout at all tournaments. For 2024 we would also like to thank our other sponsors of Whitetails Unlimited, Walleye Nations Creations, Ego Nets, Presta Marine, Church Tackle, Flynn’s Tire and Auto Service, Snakebite Snap weights, FishUSA, Fisherman’s Central, Runzo’s Outdoors and Kerr’s Automotive.

For additional information or to sign up for an event, please check us out on Facebook – Ohio Walleye Federation or on our website; www.ohiowalleyefederation.com.