HARWOOD AND HARWOOD WIN WWA WI/UP TEAM CHALLENGE WINNECONNE OPENER
Winneconne- With a lingering cold front engulfing the Winnebago chain for
the past several days, teams entering the opening World Walleye Association
WI/UP Team Challenge at Winneconne WI Sunday, April 25, 2004 were to say the
least a little apprehensive about the prospects of being successful. With
heavy cloud cover, wind getting stronger as the day progressed and sporadic
rain showers all morning, it was a day most anglers would of stayed in bed.
But WWA anglers have proven time and again that no matter what the weather
conditions, fish are always biting somewhere and a Father and Son team
proved that better than everyone today.
Randy Harwood and RJ (Randy Junior) Harwood topped the 42-boat field with a
five fish limit of walleyes weighing 11.85-pounds. Pulling rigs near the Hwy
41 bridge in Lake Butte Des Morts was the technique the Harwood¹s used not
only to capture the winning weight but also the big fish of the tournament
weighing 5.58-pounds.
Jimmy Hughes and Tim Winchester took second place with a five fish limit
weighing 10.32-pounds. Hughes and Winchester were also pulling rigs by the
Hwy 41 Bridge near the leaders but also fished livebait from slip bobbers at
spots in Lake Butte Des Morts.
Brothers Wayne Gray and Gary Gray took the third spot with a five fish limit
weighing 9.72-pounds. They were fishing the mouth of the Wolf River with
jigs and leeches.
Steve and Dan Bodinger took second place big fish honors with a 4.69-pound
walleye.
³ Though the weather wasn¹t what we were hoping for, the results of the
tournament ended up being better than we thought it was going to be. We had
over a dozen teams bring in limits and even the teams that didn¹t catch many
fish over the 14 inch minimum size limit for the tournament, reported
catching many fish between 13 and 14 inches. This says a lot about the
future of this fishery.² Said Steve Poll, Executive Director of the WWA and
WI/UP Tournament Director. ³ I would like to thank Doug at the Wolf River
Resort here in Winneconne for hosting the take off and weigh in activities
and also to all the volunteers that stopped by the weigh in to help. It was
greatly appreciated.²
This tournament was also the first WWA Team Challenge tournament to utilize
the WalleyeFirst Leaderboard. Results from the weigh in were posted on
WalleyeFirst as the weigh in progressed allowing those at home to follow
along. Select WWA Team Challenge tournaments throughout the year will
utilize this unique multimedia service.
To see pictures of the winning teams and a complete list of how all the
teams finished, visit the WWA website at http://www.worldwalleye.com
<http://www.worldwalleye.com/> which is hosted by the leaders in multi media
technology, OutdoorsFirst Media. Or watch for results on all the WWA
tournaments in the Badger Sportsman magazine in upcoming issues.
For information on fishing the World Walleye Association, a ŒTournament
Circuit For Fisherman, Run By Fisherman², visit the website or call
920-924-2100
The World Walleye Association is proudly sponsored by Yarcraft Boats, ³The
Dry One!²
Chris Gasser
Media Coordinator/WWA
[email protected]