104.1 Walleye Tournament

[Ken's Tackle]

I apologize I was mistaken. The 104.1 tournament is NOT a kill tourney. the PWT tourney IS a kill tourney. All the rules that i stated are for the PWT tourney. Sorry about the mistake! Good luck!

[CabinBoy]

Ken's - I think you have the 104.1 Tourny mixed up with the PWT. The 104.1 is a required release tournament.

[MNhuntfish]

What a joke..

[TeamNSO]

If I wasn't getting married that weekend I would be out there! I have been doing a lot of scouting for the PWT (not fishing that either, just trying to help a friend) and have found some interesting info, and areas that I have never fished. I have been out on the lake 4 times with the locator and an aqua view: I have learned a lot, but still I wonder how many fish will be taken...especially over the "big fish" slot! I have only caught two fish over 20" on Ottertail...I want to see how the Pro's do!

[Mark13:33]

I've heard they are up to 93 teams...seven more should jump in and make it an even hundred or better yet 11 more for 104? Fishing is good...I can't wait to get out and have two days of fun!

[WalleyeGal]

I can speak a little on the PWT Tourney. My Fiance is a PWT and FLW fisherman. He's not in this "special" tourney though.

With the PWT and FLW, they fish 3 days. The first 2 days are always "release" days. The 3rd day they usually set up in a "remote" area away from the lake and that ends up being the kill day.

NOW that being said.... ANY TOURNEY... and I mean all that are no-kill tourney's... Studies have been done many, many, many times... they average between a 15-25% kill rate. They may not be dead at weigh in, but they just don't survive afterwards. Any tourney puts alot of stress on a fish. Being in a livewell, beat to tar going across the lake, weigh-in itself, and then being reintroduced to the lake is ALOT of stress on the fish.

Now does that mean that we shouldn't do any tourney's anymore? NO. It's a part of life!!! It's no worse than the average fisherman who goes out who doesn't have a clue what he(or she) is doing. Some "green" fisherman out there could be catching fish left and right and releasing them, but if they don't know what they are doing, could be killing each and every fish they put back into the water!!! Just because they take off from the boat and dive back in, flap their tail and are gone, doesn't mean that 3-4 days later they will be ok. If they were out of the water for a long time, or tore apart removing a hook, it may take a few days for the effects.

I'm just saying it's each and every fisherperson's responsibility on the lake to do their job and do it to the best of their ability to keep these fish alive. And if it HAS to be killed, at least it's not being wasted, they are cleaning them and giving them to people who probably only get 1 meal of fish a yr and will truely enjoy it!!!

[threeway]

Please tell me that your Fiance didn't help you write that!

[WalleyeGal]

He didn't have to. This is a known statistic in the tourney world. AND it is why in the past few yrs both the PWT and FLW have been "experimenting" with new ways to try and keep these fish alive. If you have been to different PWT and FLW weigh-ins you will see what I mean. Keep an eye on the way they are O2ing the water. Some tourney's you will see 1 bubbler in each tank, the next one you go to will have 4-6 bubblers going. The thinking is if they put the bubblers in the bag it will help to keep them alive longer. Another thing they are trying is creating a highly o2ed tank AFTER they weigh them. They put the fish into this tank first to make sure they come back, BEFORE putting them into the lake. Here in Bemidji last yr the FLW did this. With HUGE success. It was one of the first times of it being done, and they had the DNR right there with them releasing the fish.

Also in alot of the tourney's now they are also creating a "holding pond" at the point of release. So they can physically keep an eye on the fish as they are reintroduced to the lake.

Steps are being taken to try and reduce the # of fatalities during a tourney.

[jigguy]

Maybe I missed it, but could someone tell me what time the weigh in is at on Sat.?

[Code-Man]

all boats have to be off by 4 but we can weigh in during the tournament at any time.

COde-Man

[ChuckN]

How did the tourney go? What won?

I heard the rules meeting dinner was interesting... lol

[WalleyeGal]

I heard who won, but can't remember now off the top of my head. I do know that on Sat they made a BIG boo boo. A good friend of mine was fishing the tourny and when they weighed in there 1.something lb fish on sat they screwed up and put it in at 11 something. Then when the guys went back out on Sat they actually caught 11lbs!!! When they did weighin if they hadn't said something they would of won it!! LOL

that would of been a BIG opps!!!

[Mark13:33]

1st- Brad Laabs of Frazee 24.6 or something just over 24.5. He had 8.66 the first day I believe and then bagged a 29" 7lb. walleye on day two for a 16 plus lb. bag on Saturday.

2nd Mike Kerzman and Marshall Koep right around 24.

3rd Boine and Boine 23 lbs.

4th Setterholm with 21/22 lbs.

5th Steinbach 20.5

6th Carr and Carr 20.2

7th I'm blanking

8th Woodard and Woodard 19.9

Overall the fishing was amazing, but it was quite obvious the tournament was undermanned and not run very smoothly. Hopefully next year quite a few changes are made.

[Code-Man]

I would like to comment on this tournament. It was a blast even though I didn't do that good. Don't help with you find out your bilge pump don't work and your 8 miles from Zorbaz and your taking on water. I believe there was about 1300 pounds caught and over 700 fish and less then 40 died. That is pretty good stats. Brad caught a 29 incher and it weighed 6.98 lbs and another person got a 27 inch 6.5 pounder also on saturday. It was a good time and they already have there application in for the tournament being 2nd weekend next year. I also liked how it was up to us to decide what we wanted to do for the tournament payouts. my 2 cents.

Code-Man