News and Events

Wed June 5th 2008

Where to start: 1st of all thank you Cabalas and the NEWWA. The proper strings were pulled and we were rewarded our spot in the NTC. Thanks everyone for all the hard work. Now the work begins to get everything lined out. Our rooms and reservations are still in place. Our guide should still be a lock. Clay is headed up this weekend to prefish. I now have commitments with the CWA on Pueblo so will not be able to leave until Tuesday but I get to leave. How exciting. Speaking of Pueblo, Alissa and I were prefishing it yesterday and boy the bite is on. We hit four place and all four produced great numbers of walleye. I will be heading out tomorrow to see if I can find a few more working presentations and active fish. Keep posted, Things are getting exciting!

Cabalas NTC Mobridge South Dakota
June 13th and 14th

I am writing this one early, May 30th, because unfortunately I already know what our results will be.
Our Greenbay debacle: if you haven’t read please take a second, call me a glutton for additional punishment :(.

http://www.walleyetrackers.com/news07.html

Winning a spot last year by taking 2nd place in the NEWWA Spring tourney, Clay and I had some plans lined out that would get us way up the leader board come tourney time. Good friend Jim Randash was planning a trip up to help pre-fish the weekend before. I could hear the excitement in Jim's voice about the current bite and location and lures. I can tell he misses the tourney scene and hope someday we can get out there and do just that. Apparently Clay has developed a relationship with another Walleye Pro Gerrick McComsey, and those two slotted the same weekend to do a good bit of pre-fishing together as well. And lastly the famous guide Denny Palmer of Morest Motel in Mobridge:

MoPro Guides
MoRest Motel
For reservations call:
Denny Palmer
605-845-3668

Had allotted the day before the tourney for 8 hours of hunting Mr. Sneaky in his neighborhood. Well all these pieces coming together have got to spell either a tournament win, or a major disaster in the brew.

And as what seems to be a trend it turned to be a disaster. The previous tourney director for the NEWWA decided to give our spot to another team without informing Clay or I. Although prior contact was attempted several times on our part about our Greenbay mess the voice mails and emails were not enough info for him and our spot was given away on the basis that we did not attend the Greenbay tourney. We found out last week from new tournament director Brian Mensing what the current state of the situation was. I will give all of the active hierarchy of the NEWWA a hand in trying to get us back in after our spot had been handed out. Multiple members contacted Cabalas and went to bat for us to get us back in, but unfortunately for us to no avail. Granted, I am very very very disappointed for all the effort, which was put, by Clay and I to get our ducks in a row. I couldn’t ask any more from the New Tournament director, He really gave it a shot and past director Dale Janota, were in constant communication with us. And the bottom line is Cabalas has rules and certain rules can't be bent such as adding in an additional team. So after all is said and done, we're out a Tourney. Looks like Alissa and I will be putting the hammer down on some Pueblo walleye’s and fishing the CWA Tourney there. I would like to wish all the NEWWA Teams as well as the CWA teams lots of luck and Cabalas for a full field at the upcoming Cabalas tourney. Knock’m dead all, I’m sure it will be a fantastic bite!

Glendo Memorial Day 2008

Well it's that time of year again and man was I ready for it. Leisure fishing, Camp fires, sunburns, and long nights of stories much to big to be true. Plus: no work. Well mother nature really put it to us this year. Of the 5 days we were there we had 1 day with Sun, Yes rain, rain, rain. Which is great for Wyoming waters and really not so bad for us as that's what tarps, tents and campers were made for.

The fishing was pretty tough. Our 1st night out we found 15-17 inch walleye off the recently named Dutch point (After my friend of 12 years who passed while we were in the midst's of the whole Greenbay debacle, Which unfortunately for us hasn’t quite ended yet) But I believe most know it as whiskey point. We picked them up on red crawler harnesses in 15ft of water. Being that I am forever looking for the next best spot we wandered the next day to airport to try out the typical crank bite that wasn’t there this year, a few on Jointed shad Raps. The following day I traveled to a small cove in the bay before Elkhorn to try out some arches my cousin Clay had seen. Harnesses and cranks couldn’t tempt those fish. Then off to Indian point in which started off with a bang on a gold hand tied smile blade but nothing really exciting beyond that, Except some freezing wind and rain. And our last day was back to Dutch’s point to finish up with a few limits of smaller fish on the same red crawler harnesses. All and all fun, but not to productive. I do believe though the WWC tournament coming up the 7th and 8th will be a great bight as the water will be at it's highest point in years and that big fish jig bite in Muddy ought to be in full swing. Good luck to all that fish it.

Feb 2008 CWA Presentation

Team Werre’s Trolling Tips by Dave Kooser

Kevin and Alissa Werre have been collecting checks from CWA tournaments for years. Through this time, one thing remains constant…they will always troll for their fish. Whether it is a fault or confidence in only trolling, it works for them. Tuesday the 2nd of February, Kevin was the guest speaker at the South Chapter meeting and gave some tips on how to troll for walleye.

Kevin builds a network of friends and contacts at lakes he fishes. Prior to even making the trip to the lake, he is pulsing his network to determine things like water temp, water clarity, if fish are active, what baits are working and what parts of the lake are active. Kevin also reflects back on his historical data to determine what was working the last time he was at the target lake.

A few of Kevin’s tips:

In the spring, use smaller cranks that imitate the smaller “newly hatched” bait.

The first few trolling passes are at a faster speed…3.5 to 4 mph. This strategy has a two pronged return. Overnight fish have likely moved, spots that worked the day before might not hold fish like it did the day before so a little “speed looking” is called for. The higher speed trolling passes allow Team Werre to pick off the more aggressive fish first. It also allows them to survey the water with their electronics, GPS’ing inactive or neutral fish so that on their next pass they can slow down and go right back over the previously marked fish.

Use heavier poles and line to get the fish in quicker. This allows for the crank to be returned to the water sooner, maximizing the number of cranks in the water.

Mix leadcore set ups with non-lead core. Leadcore drug cranks on the inside, non-lead core on the outside with planner boards. Lead core set ups are used with linecounter reels.

In cloudy conditions use white or firetiger colored cranks. In clear conditions, use silver and gold colored cranks.

One additional tip Kevin gave and can only be used in states where it is legal is to troll a crank and spoon on the same line. Kevin uses a three way swivel to present a crankbait below a 2 inch Michigan Stinger Spoon. The leader to the crankbait is half the length of the leader to the spoon. At times and instead of the spoon, Kevin will tie on a Cha Cha, Double Whammy or Wally Pop made by Macks Lure. Again, check state laws to determine if this presentation is legal but if so, it allows the angler to double up on the number of lures in the water.

The Colorado Walleye Association would like to thank Kevin for being our guest speaker at the October South Chapter meeting. Kevin is sponsored by Macks Lures, Michigan Stinger Spoons as well as running a guiding business in Wyoming (www.walleyetrackers.com).

Swede Kamm won the CastAway Rod donated by Joe Conway. Thanks Joe and CastAway Rods!

Spring 2008

It’s getting to be guiding 30 and tournament hour. I took the boat out to Cherry Creek last weekend to make sure all was well with the boat and get a head start on any of the typical spring repairs. I was pleasantly surprised to find out the only major issues were to replace a live well bilge pump and a
cross bar to replace that holds the windshield up. And we got the fish over 18 inches pulling crawler harness and spinner combos.

Due to the very, very slow housing market in Colorado Springs, I will be slimming my tourney fishing down to about 6 tourneys. But expect me on Glendo, Boysen and Keyhole every opportunity I can get to make sure when you're ready to go walleye hunting I’ll have all the tools and techniques to get you on some good eating and fun to catch walleye. Just drop me a line when you’re ready.

Cherry Creek Ice Breaker CWA 2008 21st of 60

Our 1st tourney of the year and man was I pumped. Last year's Cherry Creek gave me my 1st tournament win and after pre-fishing it, I sure thought we’d be able to do it again. Oh yeah, this is fishing, Thanks again Steve Gerber: ToKnow Guide Service. Being my usual irresponsible self I almost didn’t get into the tourney (as of 2008 CWA allows a maximum of 60 teams per tourney), Upon a cancellation Steve let us in, Thanks again. Now back to a chilly, frustrating, potential repeat tourney. We started cranking in the pre-fishing hot spots with the same Rapala's as lead us to 1st place the previous year. After a long day of catching short fish, we went to the weigh boat with nothing. After speaking with friends, we found the bite on cranks was 1.8 to 2 mph. We were pretty fast at 2.5 to 3, which worked well last year but was 2 fast for cherry creeks walleye this year. NEWWA Keyhole up next we’ll se about getting it figured out.

NEWWA Keyhole Spring tourney Kevin and Travis May 10th & 11th 6th of 30

Keyhole is slowly becoming my favorite lake for big walleye. Granted I don’t believe in a 4 day time frame I’ve never caught more then 4 walleye, the odds of catching your biggest ever are better then catching a 16 incher. Case in point, I decided to give my brother Travis a whirl as a partner. Having caught a total of 10 walleyes in his life with the biggest being 22 inches maybe he’d send us a lil beginners luck.

Pre-fishing for me was slow, caught plenty of crappies but no walleye. Rumors were there was a live bait bite in the center of the lake but rumors usually are just that. Travis took his 16 ft Bayliner out pre-fishing with my mom. No kicker, no trolling motor, no planers, no live well, 2 rod holders and some form of electronics I’ve never heard of. (For those of you with brothers you will probably relate to this although, I have an older and a younger brother and still can't quite figure it out.) Back to the story, at the rules meeting a lil later Travis touts that they got a walleye, But it was no longer then the cha cha crawler harness they were dragging. I told him we’d talk about it later and actually got to drinkin and enjoying a good campfire and forgot to ask my brother about his lil fish.

We woke up at 5:30 AM sat morn to 2 inches of new snow and a strong wind. As I didn’t have the boat covered, that was a pretty site. A coooooold site. Thank god Travis was motivated to get up and get out there otherwise we may have slept till 10. Upon launch as I started to turn over the big motor she wouldn’t go, In a major moment of holy crap, pee my pants, get pushed into the shore in some cold, cold water, I got my kicker down and running in about a foot of water and managed to get the boat under control and in some deeper water. Our initial plan was to hit the middle of the lake with spinner harnesses with minnows and worms as its worked well in the past. Now we were forced to crank to the spot until we could generate enough juice to get the 225 running. We cranked using a variety of depths, lures, and speeds to no avail. When we made it to the center of the lake where we slowed down and I dropped the spinners with a minnow set on one and a crawler on the other. Travis on the other hand dropped to hand tied smile blades with crawlers. Within an hour he had a solid bite on a chartreuse smile blade. So I swapped out my spinner minnow combo for a lime green smile blade. Within 15 minutes I hooked up. Battled the fish to below the boat and then slack. Now we were running all four lines with smile blades and worms. Three bites later and no fish in the well it was time to go in.

Later that evening I remembered to ask Travis about his lil walleye. At which time he took me to a rather large cooler filled with ice and aaaaaaaaa 29-inch walleye. I was dumbfounded and the questions flowed, what, where, when, speed depth color. She came on a white and gold cha cha somewhere in the center of the lake. Can't remember the speed, cant remember the depth, were you on bottom? Not sure! Yeah my brother has a lot to learn about tourney fishing. But at least he has a trophy for his wall and has at least hit the 9 lb mark.

After the 1st day, it was apparent the guys catching fish were cranking and that’s what I enjoy most. And 3 hours on day two we had a nice 26-inch walleye caught on a jointed Salmo Pike deep diver, YES DAVE WE CAUGHT A WALLEYE ON A SALMO! REALLY J. Travis gave us another knee shake when he snagged a carp in the upper fin about an hour later. But, that would be all the walleye for the trip.

3 days of fishing 2 walleyes one 29 and one 26. That’s Keyhole, The 26 got us 5th for the 2nd day of the tourney and 6th overall. Wish I’d cranked all day Sat. and who knows. Though Travis is very very green he showed a lot of potential as being a good partner. Changing cranks every half hour, adjusting depth and adding pull and pauses to his action. We may do another here in the near future. But, it’s off the our memorial get together at Glendo. Should be a great opportunity to catch some fish for the freezer and get those who can't be in a boat every weekend an opportunity to enjoy some good walleye sport fishing.