South Dakotans Travor Diegel and Paul Steffen won the 2011 Cass Lake Cabela’s MWC tournament with 28.64 pounds of walleye gold.
–Presented by Ranger Boats
AUGUST 28, 2012—MINNETONKA, MN—Two-person teams have until midnight Sunday, Sept. 9 to register for their chance to enjoy great walleye fishing and a shot at winning thousands of dollars in cash at the Cabela’s Masters Walleye Circuit’s Cass Lake tournament out of Stony Point Resort at Cass Lake, Minnesota.
Set for Sept. 14-16, the event offers two full days of competition on Friday and Saturday, with Sunday reserved in case foul weather prevents the teams from fishing either of the first two days. Teams are allowed to bring their best five walleyes to the Cabela’s MWC scale each day, and the team with the heaviest two-day total will walk away with top honors and more than $11,000 in cash.
Cabela’s MWC payouts are based on the number of teams fishing each event. Right now, 62 teams are registered for the event, guaranteeing a purse topping $32,000 in cash, including $11,100 in cash for first. Plus, there are sponsor contingencies including a $1,000 Cabela’s gift card through the Cabela’s Angler Cash Program, $1,000 Ranger Cup award, $500 Lowrance Electronics HDS/Elite DSI bonus, $500 prize package from Berkley baits, $1,000 in Okuma Dead Eye rod-and-reel combos, $160 in U2/The Oxygenator incentives and thousands more in cash from the Big Fish Pot. And, the payout will grow as more anglers sign up prior to the deadline.
The event is open to all anglers regardless of club or sponsor affiliation, and offers great cash payouts to the top 20 percent of the field. Plus, the September timeframe should produce epic walleye action on the beautiful Cass Lake chain.
When the Cabela’s MWC visited Cass Lake last September, South Dakotans Travor Diegel and Paul Steffen trolled Northland Fishing Tackle spinners and Berkley Gulp! Leeches to victory over 62 teams from eight states. Diegel detailed how the team relied on Lowrance HDS electronics to guide them to the 28.64-pound winning weight. “StructureScan was crucial to the win,” he explained, noting how Lowrance’s breakthrough sonar imaging system allowed them to pinpoint walleyes and baitfish cruising steep breaks 25 to 45 feet deep in Pike Bay.
“We ripped spinners and leeches behind bottom bouncers at 1 to 1.3 mph,” he said, adding that Northland’s Live-Forage Golden Shiner blades (size 3 with 2-ounce bouncers, size 4 with 4 ounces of weight) were key. Jumbo leeches—both live and 5-inch Berkely Gulp! Alive! Jumbo Leeches—were also a critical component of their program. “We got our biggest walleye of Day Two on a Gulp! leech,” he noted. “It was a 24-incher that put us on top.” He and Diegel pocketed nearly $14,000 in payout cash and contingency winnings for the victory.
The public is invited to the weigh-ins, which will be held at Stony Point Resort, starting at 4 p.m. daily. Plus, children 12 and under can enjoy a Youth & Family Fishing Clinic, held immediately after the Day One weigh-in. The Cabela’s MWC, National Professional Anglers Association, Pure Fishing and Zippo Outdoor Brands will present the clinic, giving away free rod and reel combos, and offering fishing lessons with the anglers. One lucky family also will win a Zippo Family Camping Pack valued at more than $100.
Adding to the excitement, tournament coverage will extend to North American Fisherman magazine—which serves more than 3 million readers, including 400,000 members of the North American Fishing Club—as well as 91,000 Fishing Club Facebook fans and a host of other media outlets. “This is a great chance to show the world the great fishing, community support and fantastic anglers the Cass Lake area has to offer,” adds MWC Executive Director Dan Johnson.
This is the ninth of nine Cabela’s MWC qualifying tournaments in 2012. The schedule included the Illinois River at Spring Valley, Illinois, March 24-25; the Detroit River at Trenton, Michigan, April 13-15; Lake Pueblo at Pueblo, Colorado, April 27-29; Lake Erie at Huron, Ohio, May 18-20; Mille Lacs Lake at Isle, Minnesota, May 31-June 1; Lake Winnebago at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, June 29-July 1; Lake Oahe at Pierre, South Dakota, July 28-29; the St. Mary’s River at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, August 24-26; and Cass Lake, Minnesota, out of Stony Point Resort, Sept. 14-16.
The Cabela’s MWC registration costs $650 per tournament per two-person team, and remains open through the Sunday prior to each event. Payouts are based on the number of teams fishing each event. Overall in 2011, the Circuit paid back more than 120 percent of entry fees in cash payouts, team of the year awards, sponsor contingencies and winnings in the no-entry-fee Cabela’s MWC World Walleye Championship. To register, or for details, visit masterswalleyecircuit.com, or email events@masterswalleyecircuit.com.
