Kirchner, McCormick Win 2018 Cabela’s National Team Championship, Presented by Cabela’s

Kirchner, McCormick Win 2018 Cabela’s National Team Championship, Presented by Cabela’s

La Crosse, Wisc.—May 19, 2018—Hometown heroes Martin Kirchner and Michael McCormick racked up a total weight of 44 pounds, 15 ounces on their home waters to win more than $95,000 and top honors at the 2018 Cabela’s National Team Championship (NTC) May 17-19 on Pools 7, 8 and 9 of the Mississippi River out of La Crosse, Wisconsin.

Presented by Cabela’s and hosted by Explore La Crosse, the three-day championship featured 400 of North America’s finest walleye anglers competing in two-person teams that qualified for the event through local walleye tournaments organized by clubs and circuits sanctioned by The Walleye Federation.

Kirchner and McCormick, both of La Crosse, Wisconsin, set the bar high on day one with a leaderboard-topping 28-pound, 12-ounce, five-fish limit that put them more than 8 pounds ahead of their closest rivals.

Day two was tougher, though, as they brought just one walleye weighing 1 pound, 13 ounces to the stage at scenic Veterans Park. Their two-day total of 30 pounds, 9 ounces was still enough to pace the pack, however, and they easily made the cut as the field was trimmed to the top 25 teams for the final day of competition.

In an exciting finish, Kirchner and McCormick were the last team to take the stage on day three. Trailing leaders Paul and Katie de Voss of Prairie du Chein, Wisconsin, by 13 pounds as they came to the scale, Kirchner and McCormick were elated when their 14-pound, 6-ounce day three limit pushed them back on top for the win.

“I thought they had us,” Kirchner said moments after claiming the title. “They had a heavy basket and we thought we had 13 or 14 pounds, so it was going to be close.”

“It feels great to win this at home,” added McCormick, who guides on the river. “The water was high and fast, and the fish were on the move every day. We couldn’t reach our go-to spot on day two but put together enough to get it done.”

The pair focused on Pool 8, fishing willow cats on live-bait rigs consisting of a ¾-ounce sinker and 2- to 3-foot leader. Their favorite fishing area was a walleye-rich section of rocky structure in a main-channel bend where slick and slack water met.

For their efforts, Kirchner and McCormick collected $95,595 in winnings, including the $25,000 first-place cash paycheck, a brand-new Mercury-powered Ranger boat valued at $70,095, the $250 Day One Geico Big Basket Award and $250 Day One Mercury Big Fish Award for a beautiful 8-pound Mississippi River walleye.

Paul and Katie de Voss slipped to a very respectable second place with 43 pounds, 9 ounces. They earned $10,000 cash plus a hefty Ranger Cup contingency consisting of a new $70,095 Mercury-powered Ranger boat.

The 2018 event marked the 17th edition of the prestigious Cabela’s NTC championship, which annually draws hundreds of avid walleye anglers from across the U.S. and Canada.

Rounding out the top five were:
3rd: Steve and Dan Bodinger, 41-11, $8,500 cash

4th: Jesse and Dylan Nussbaum, 38-05, $7,000 cash

5th: Adam Swisher and Jason Surface, 36-00, $6,000 cash

The Cabela’s NTC offers a lucrative payback of more than 400 percent of entry fees. Teams shared $250,940,000 in cash and prizes, plus 50 custom Cabela’s All-American rings, trophies, plaques and more.

Another $1,000 in Cabela’s gift cards were awarded for big fish and big basket honors. As noted earlier, Kirchner and McCormick pocketed both awards on day one. On day two, Ryan Dempsey and Jacob Kaprelian won the $250 Ranger Boats Big Basket Award for their 16-pound, 6-ounce limit, while Ross Neubauer and Jaimee Tourangeau collected the $250 Pepsi Big Fish Award for an 8-pound, 6-ounce walleye.

A total of 745 walleyes weighing 1,594 pounds, 11 ounces crossed the scale at Veterans Freedom Park during the championship.

Originally scheduled for the Quad Cities, the event was moved to La Crosse less than two weeks before the tournament due to forecast flooding. The Walleye Federation presented Dale Radcliffe of the TWF-sanctioned Mighty Miss Walleye Series with a free $650 entry into the Cabela’s Masters Walleye Circuit for the club’s support in making the championship a success.

Adding to the excitement, weigh-ins were streamed live online at walleyefederation.com. The action was also filmed for national television airing on NBC Sports’ “Americana Outdoors” and the Pursuit Channel. Dates and airtimes will be announced at walleyefederation.com.

Cabela’s NTC sponsors include Cabela’s, Bass Pro Shops, Ranger Boats, Pepsi, Geico. Mercury, Explore La Crosse, and TWF.

Based in Ponca City, Oklahoma, The Walleye Federation manages the qualifying process and co-produces the event alongside the Cabela’s Corporate Brand Partnership Team. Qualifying for the 2019 Cabela’s NTC is now under way. For details, visit walleyefederation.com, or call (580) 765-9031.

World Walleye Association IL Results – May 6

May 6th 1st Place 3 Fish 14.13 Lbs.

By

 IL-2018 Results
Tournament Winners
Baot # Team# Team Members Place Total Fish Total Wt. Big Fish Palce Pts. Total Pts.
117 17 Ingoglia, Tom Scholz, Victor 1 3 14.13 6.43 400 415
120 35 Dunn, Marc – NTC Adcock, Bill 2 6 12.57 4.71 398 428
112 12 Ingoglia, Nick Spachman, Michael 3 6 12.21 5.9 396 426
114 14 Greene, Jeff Macaluso, Jim 4 6 12.11 5.14 394 424
116 16 Rehm, Richard Rehm, Ross 5 6 11.4 0 392 422
131 34 Willis, Kevin Volkmar, Keith 6 6 9.87 0 390 420
103 3 Wilson, Brian – NTC Wilson, Nick 7 6 8.7 0 388 418
124 24 Schine, Jasen Michniewicz, Eddie 8 6 8.48 0 386 416
110 10 Wall, Mike Motroni, Ron 9 6 8.47 0 384 414
132 33 Mikeska, John – NTC Mikeska, Bradley 10 6 8.39 0 382 412
142 37 Jachym, Dave Wojtkiewicz, Mark 11 6 8.38 0 380 410
101 1 Galladora, Bob – NTC Dams, Al 12 6 8.21 0 378 408
139 29 Duncan, Scott Zurawski, Dave 13 6 8.2 0 376 406
109 9 Becker, Jake Rice, Chris 14 6 7.79 0 374 404
136 41 Babe, Joe Bill Babe 15 6 7.76 0 372 402
127 23 Humphrey, Martin Harmon, Justin 16 6 7.73 0 370 400
137 21 Jensen, Chris Jensen, Boyd 17 6 7.55 0 368 398
123 26 Dunn, Kyle Adcock III, Billy 18 6 7.46 0 366 396
122 22 Wirtz, Ray Kobeski, Andy 19 6 7.43 0 364 394
105 5 Pettibone, Sean – NTC Gowans, Bill 20 6 7.24 0 362 392
125 20 Dewall, Janice Brill, Toni 21 6 6.89 0 360 390
111 11 Levin, Ron Klepacki, Edward (Tony) 22 6 6.75 0 358 388
126 30 Meade, Theresa Goralski, Tiffany 23 6 6.71 0 356 386
128 32 Baron, Joe -NTC Baron, Mark 24 5 6.52 0 354 379
134 18 Smith, Joshua Zwicke, Shawn 25 6 6.36 0 352 382
119 19 Zimmer, Anthony – NTC Vojak, Bill 26 5 5.57 0 350 375
137 25 Webster, Jason Flores, Jamie 27 4 5.42 0 348 368
108 8 Jalan, Tony Kainz, Nick 28 3 4.81 0 346 361
113 13 Kiesgen Jr., Bob Kiesgen, Tom 29 5 4.75 0 344 369
104 4 Felling, Casey – NTC Wood, Trevor 30 3 3.53 0 342 357
129 38 Shull, Jason – NTC Jesse, Lester 31 3 3.53 0 340 355
133 40 Nicolay, Chris Doherty, Brennan 32 3 3.42 0 338 353
102 2 McDonald, James – NTC Hosking, Ross 33 3 3.3 0 336 351
106 6 Murphy, Peter Mastandrea, Tim 34 3 3.22 0 334 349
140 31 Boris, Anthony Goelz, Matthew 35 2 3.11 0 332 342
107 7 Schultz, Jeff Workinger, Andrew 36 1 1.78 0 330 335
130 28 Vacker, Niel – NTC Kretsch, Nick 37 1 1.77 0 328 333
141 36 Tiso, Jon Tiso, Robert 38 1 1.3 0 326 331
143 39 Jilly, John Jilly, Kyle 39 0 0 0 0 100
115 15 Damron, Bill Steiskel, James 40 0 0 0 0 100
138 27 Sandberg Jr., John M Bachara, Russell 41 0 0 0 0 100

2018 LEWT West Harbor Results

The last weekend of April brought more cold temperatures and wind for the Crown Battery, Sharpnack Direct, Lake Erie Walleye Trail (LEWT) season opener hosted by Hi-Way Bait, Tackle and Lodging.

The sold-out field of 60 teams departed from West Harbor under cloudy skies and 12-15 mph NW winds “It seems like we have a cold front every Friday night before an event, but fortunately this front is mild enough to allow us to still go fishing” said LEWT Tournament Director Jeff Lash. “I am expecting some good weights to come in today”.

At the end of the day, the big bags came in, and the team of Jerome Dorlack of Northville MI, and Nick Meisner of Swanton OH, used Reef Runner lures for the win, collecting $3300 with five walleye weighing in at 35.03 pounds.

 

 

 

 

Second place and $1760 went to Dan Debenedictis of Montville OH, and Eric Fraiser of Newbury OH, with five fish at 30.97 pounds. Bob Barnhart of Perrysburg OH, and Erik Vandenk of Luckey OH, grabbed the third spot worth $1350 with five fish weighing in at 27.40 pounds.

The first place Big Fish plaques and $612 went to third place finishers Bob Barnhart and Erik Vandenk for landing the largest fish of the tournament at 9.88 pounds. First place finishers Jerome Dorlack and Nick Meisner had the second largest walleye of the day weighing in at 8.46 pounds, worth $408.

Long time LEWT supporter Sharpnack Direct in Willard Ohio offers a cash prize to the highest finishing LEWT angler at each event who owns a used or new vehicle purchased from Sharpnack. Dan Langdon of Sandusky OH, won the $150 cash award.

Medina Plating sponsors our Early Bird contingency that goes to the top finishing team that entered all four events before the Early Bird deadline. Jerome Dorlack and Nick Meisner added this $150 prize for a total take on the day of $3858!

Big thank you to Dwight Ritchie from Hi-Way Bait, Tackle and Lodging for hosting our event, and Catawba Island Township for allowing us to use their West Harbor facility.

Most of the LEWT anglers donated their walleye catch, which will be cleaned by Lake Fish in Sandusky. These filets are donated to the Victory Temple Soup Kitchen in Sandusky who uses this resource to feed people in our community who need assistance.

The remaining 2018 LEWT schedule is as follows: May 19 – Sandusky – City Ramp “Ole Pete Memorial LEWT” June 8/9 –Huron- City Ramp – “Erie Outfitters 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 2018 LEWT sponsors, without whom we could not operate the circuit. 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, Rednek Outfitters, Hi-Way Bait Tackle and Lodging, and Domka Outdoor.

West Harbor 2018

Big Fish West Harbor 2018

Lake Erie Walleye Trail Event Results at Magee East Marina

Cold temperatures and a one-day postponement due to weather couldn’t stop the Crown Battery, Sharpnack Direct, Lake Erie Walleye Trail (LEWT) season opener hosted by Magee East Marina and Campground.

The sold-out field of 60 two-person teams headed out under sunny skies, freezing temperatures, and a 12-15 knot northwest wind on Sunday morning. “We had strong winds forecast overnight on Friday, along with a low water warning for the west end of the lake,” said LEWT Tournament Director Jeff Lash. “we decided the best thing to do was call it early and hold the event on Sunday. It was still a bit choppy Sunday morning, but overall it ended up being a fairly decent day on Lake Erie.”

When the final results were tallied, the team of Richard Wright of Ashville, and Tim Gunckel of Greenville, took the big win and $3300 with five large walleye weighing in at 36.93 pounds.

Second place and $1760 went to Jeff Oliver of Piqua, and Kyle Griesdorn of New Weston with five fish at 35.58 pounds. Bob Barnhart from Perrysburg, and Erik Van Denk of Luckey took the third spot worth $1350 with five fish weighing 35.47 pounds

The first place Big Fish plaques and cash award of $612 went to third place finishers Bob Barnhart and Eric Van Denk for landing the largest fish of the tournament weighing in at 10.83 pounds. Sixth place finishers Mike Robertson and Steve Summerly recorded the second largest walleye weighing 9.71 pounds, worth $408.

Richard Wright will receive $500 from Ranger Boats for his teams win at Magee East. Richard is a qualified Ranger Boat owner under the Ranger Cup program.

Long time LEWT supporter Sharpnack Direct in Willard Ohio offers a cash prize to the highest finishing LEWT angler at each event who owns a new or used vehicle purchased from Sharpnack. Randy Eyre (partner Corey Miller) won the $150 cash award with a thirteenth place finish.

Medina Plating sponsors our Early Bird contingency that goes to the top finishing team that entered all four events before the Early Bird deadline. Wright and Gunckel added to their take with this $150 prize.

Both members of the first team out-of-the-money in 10th place won free six-month subscriptions to the Domka Outdoors Lure of the Month club. Chris Morris and Thomas Nordyke will be enjoying this prize.

Huge thank you to Ted Thomas, and his friendly staff at “Magee East” for once again being a fantastic host. We had a great crowd present at the weigh-in to cheer on their favorite anglers.

Most of the LEWT anglers donated their walleye catch, which will be cleaned by Lake Fish in Sandusky. These filets will be donated to the Victory Temple Soup Kitchen in Sandusky, who uses this resource to assist people in need within our own community.

The remaining 2018 LEWT schedule is as follows: April 28 – Port Clinton – West Harbor “Hi-Way Bait, Tackle and Lodging LEWT” May 19 – Sandusky – City Ramp “Ole Pete Memorial Tournament” June 8/9 –Huron- City Ramp – “Erie Outfitters 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 #wbsalewt
Please support our 2018 LEWT sponsors: 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, Rednek Outfitters, Hi-Way Bait Tackle and Lodging, and Domka Outdoor.

2018 Big Fish Magee

2018 Magee East