For Immediate Release
Anchoring in the Waves Means Victory for Vance Duo at Glen Elder
By Steve Weisman
Gander Mountain GNWC Publicity Director
Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do! For Dennis and Shelby Vance
from Selden, KS that meant anchoring all day Sunday in the whitecaps, but it
also meant claiming the $1000 first place check at the Glen Elder tournament
on the Great Plains circuit of the Gander Mountain Grand National Walleye
Cup (GNWC).
The Vance duo brought five walleyes to the scale weighing 17.51 pounds
to outdistance the second place team of David and Shannon Walker from Piqua,
KS by more than five pounds. The Walkers weighed a six-fish limit weight of
12.31 pounds to take the $500 second place check.
Third place and a check for $200 went to Ted Webster from Hutchinson, KS
and Robert Riddick from Wakefield, KS with five walleyes weighing 8.71
pounds.
The Berkley Trilene Big Fish Award of $400 in Berkley products also went
to the Vance team for their 6.66-pound walleye.
The key to success for the top three teams was their ability to hold in
the strong wind and work jigs and live bait. Others tried and simply
couldn¹t hold.
The Vance team was also able to catch that one big kicker fish. They
worked green jigs and nightcrawlers on a breakline where the depth dropped
from 5¹ to 30¹ at the west end of the lake near Cawker City. It became a
waiting game, though, as the walleyes seemed to travel along the breakline.
That made action was on and off again. However, it was more than enough to
secure the win. Gander Mountain GNWC Executive Director said, “The bite
was a tough one today because of the fronts that have been coming through.
Yesterday it was in the 90s with a strong south wind. Then today we have
70-degree temperatures and strong northwest winds. Even under these
conditions, the teams on the Great Plains circuit have a lot of enthusiasm
and show that they want to make the GNWC really grow.”
Special awards include the following. The “Yo So Close” award of a Yo
Net folding net valued at $80 was awarded to the three teams that placed out
of the money. Those teams include Mark Joslyn from Hoxie, KS and Blake
Arnberger from Colby, KS in 5th place; Doug Fairchild from Wakarusa, KS and
Dean Wilson from Topeka, KS in 6th place; and James Esterly from Belle
Plaine, KS and Travis Campbell from Wichita, KS in 7th place.
The Gander Mountain “Need More Stuff” drawing of $200 for a Gander
Mountain Shopping Spree went to Wayne Hyman and Kecia Shellito from Athol,
KS.
After two tournaments, the team of Webster and Riddick lead in the race
for Great Plains Team of the Year with 7 points, two points ahead of their
nearest competitor.
Complete results of the Glen Elder tournament can be found at
http://www.walleyecup.com.
The next qualifier on the Great Plains circuit will be on Nebraska’s
Lake McConaughy on Saturday, June 19.
Anglers interested in signing up for a future qualifier or simply
wanting more information on the GNWC circuit can call 1-800-890-FISH (3474),
or they can email the GNWC at [email protected].
Title Sponsor for the GNWC is Gander Mountain. Other major national
sponsors include Skeeter Boats, Yamaha Outboards, the Sportsman Channel,
Berkley, Aqua Innovations, YoNet Folding Nets by AMFYOYO, VIB”E” Lure
Company, TowTector Shield and UpNorthOutdoors.com.