Cabela’s Masters Walleye Circuit Heads To Lake Erie at Lorain, OH.

Presented By Lowrance

Ponca City, Okla.—May 24, 2016—Big water walleye action and thousands in cash and prizes will be on hand when the Cabela’s Masters Walleye Circuit returns to legendary Lake Erie out of Lorain, Ohio, for a qualifying tournament June 3-4.

The massive Great Lake and its world-class trophy walleye fishery have hosted many Cabela’s MWC events over the years, producing heavy baskets, record fish and exciting team tournament action.

Launching from Black River Wharf, the Circuit’s 2016 Lake Erie event offers teams two full days of competition. Teams will be allowed to weigh five fish measuring 15 inches and over each day, and the team with the heaviest two-day total weight will be crowned the tournament champions.

The Cabela’s MWC offers lucrative payouts, which are based on the number of teams entered in each event. Plus, the MWC Big Fish Pot and MWC side pot payouts, along with sponsor bonuses including Ranger Cup, Abu Garcia, Lowrance Electronics and Okuma add thousands more to the total. Additional bonuses can push the tally even higher. And as an added incentive, the first-place team will win a $1,000 Cabela’s National Team Championship Prize Package including paid NTC entry, travel stipend, team jerseys and plaques.

Adding to the excitement, Cabela’s MWC qualifiers also serve as “State Championship Events.” All teams fishing the event are eligible for the State Champions title in that state, and any event with more than 10 teams registered from any state where the MWC is not holding a qualifier that year will offer a State Champions title for that state as well.

Besides serious bragging rights, state champions will earn, at minimum, custom state champions’ prizes and awards, a berth in the Cabela’s NTC, and a spot on the MWC website’s Wall of Fame.

The tournament also offers anglers a chance to practice for the 2017 Cabela’s National Team Championship, which will be held June 8-10 on Lake Erie out of Lorain, Ohio. Considered the walleye world’s premier grassroots championship, the event is comprised of teams that qualified through competition in local tournaments organized by walleye clubs sanctioned by The Walleye Federation.

The Cabela’s NTC offers a lucrative payback of more than 400 percent; in 2016 the 190 qualifying teams vied for more than $249,000 in cash and prizes, plus 50 custom Cabela’s All-American rings, trophies, plaques and more. 2016 Cabela’s NTC winners Adam Adler and Ryan Dempsey collected more than $165,000 including $25,000 in first-place cash plus a brand-new Ranger boat rigged with a Power-Pole shallow–water anchor. They also claimed a second Ranger-Power-Pole combo for winning the Ranger Cup contingency.

As a bonus at the MWC qualifying event, the MWC will award a total of five berths into the 2017 Cabela’s NTC. The winners will receive the regular $1,000 prize package, with the next four teams earning a coveted invitation to compete.

Walleye fans of all ages are invited to the weigh-ins, which begin at 3 p.m. daily at the Black River Landing. As a bonus to budding tournament fans, the Cabela’s MWC, National Professional Anglers Association and Pure Fishing will present a Youth & Family Fishing Clinic immediately after the day-one weigh-in. The first 50 youths will receive rod and reel combos courtesy of the NPAA.

Along with great payouts at each event, teams fishing three or more tournaments in 2016 will battle for coveted berths in the 2017 Cabela’s MWC World Walleye Championship, set for September on Minnesota’s Cass Lake out of Stony Point Resort. Teams fishing at least four qualifiers compete for Team of the Year awards, including thousands in cash and Cabela’s Cash cards, as well as fully paid entries into a full season of great walleye action.

Under the umbrella of The Walleye Federation (TWF), the Cabela’s MWC is open to avid walleye anglers from all walks of life. In all, the 2016 schedule includes seven qualifiers in six states and includes a diverse selection of the Walleye Belt’s finest rivers, inland lakes and big-water fisheries. Deadline to register for the Lake Erie tournament is Monday, May 30.

Cabela’s, the World’s Foremost Outfitter for hunting, fishing and outdoor gear, is in its 15th season as title sponsor of the MWC. Official sponsors include: Berkley Gulp!, Abu Garcia, Lowe Equipment Attachments, Lowrance Electronics, Mercury Marine, Ranger Boats and The Walleye Federation. Associate sponsors include: AirWave Pedestals, G-Juice, MotorGuide and Okuma. For more information, visit masterswalleyecircuit.com, email info@masterswalleyecircuit.com, or call (580) 765-9031.

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Arndts Win Cabela’s Masters
Walleye Circuit Big Stone Lake Tournament

 Presented By The Walleye Federation

Ortonville, Minn.—April 30, 2016—The father-and-son team of Artie and Tanner Arndt rallied to win the Cabela’s Masters Walleye Circuit’s regular season qualifier on Big Stone Lake April 29-30.

On day one of the two-day team tournament, which featured 120 of the Midwest’s top walleye anglers battling for thousands in cash and prizes, the Ortonville, Minnesota, duo boated a 5-fish limit weighing 18 pounds, 3 ounces to position themselves in second place and within striking distance of leaders Mike Dorris and Brian Tordsen, who boated 19 pounds, 2 ounces.

The Arndts added another five fish weighing 11 pounds, 9 ounces to their tally on day two for a 29-pound, 12-ounce total weight.

“It’s pretty exciting,” said MWC veteran Artie Arndt after the dust settled on day two. “I’ve been fishing tournaments for 22 years and it’s always been a dream to win a major event like an MWC. To win it with my son is extra special.”

“It was a blast,” added Tanner Arndt, who was competing in his first MWC tournament. “It brought back a lot of good memories of fishing with my dad.”

Based in Ortonville, the event offered two-person teams two full days of competition on the historic border waterway separating Minnesota and South Dakota. Many MWC tournaments have played out on the reservoir over the years, with more than a few exciting finishes—and this was no exception.

The Arndts started the tournament trolling shad-style crankbaits in 11 feet of water, and put a 6-pound, 13-ounce beauty in the livewell. But when the trolling bite fizzled, they quickly switched to soaking leeches on jigs below slip bobbers in 4½ feet of water near Big Stone’s storied islands area.

“Walleyes were periodically moving up onto the rocks to feed, so we decided to anchor up and wait them out,” Artie explains.

As fate would have it, the rest of their keepers came on that program. “Day two was a slow day,” Tanner added. “But we put all of our marbles in one jar and stuck with that particular spot.”

Their persistence paid off with more than $13,500 in winnings, including the $9,300 first-place cash award plus $2,975 from the option pot, $200 Okuma Inspira reel bonus and $230 from the MWC Big Fish Pot. They also claimed a $1,000 Cabela’s National Team Championship Prize Package including paid entry into the 2017 NTC, travel stipend, team jerseys and plaques.

Because all 2016 Cabela’s MWC tournaments are designated as “State Championship Qualifying Events,” the Arndts also earned the title of South Dakota State Walleye Champions. Besides bragging rights, they claimed custom state champions’ prizes and awards, a berth in the Cabela’s 2017 NTC, and

a spot on the MWC website’s Wall of Fame.

Rounding out the top five were:

2nd: Jarrod Fredericks, Derek Garner, 28-05, $4,650 plus $500 Lowrance Electronics bonus

3rd: Mike Dorris, Brian Tordsen, 26-09, $3,150 plus $1,750 from the option pot, $1,000 Ranger Cup award and $575 from the MWC Big Fish Pot

4th: Steve Weickert, Chad Friederichs, 25-10, $2,400 plus $200 Abu Garcia award for 9-pound, 11-ounce big fish of the tournament

5th: Troy Morris, Corey Heiser, 23-12, $1,900 plus $1,190 from the option pot

In all, the Cabela’s MWC awarded $41,930 in cash and prizes.

A total of 184 walleyes weighing 510 pounds, 6 ounces crossed the scale at scenic Lakeside Park during the catch-and-release event. Adding to the fun, the Cabela’s MWC, National Professional Anglers Association and Pure Fishing presented a Youth & Family Fishing Clinic immediately after the day-one weigh-in, with participating youths receiving rod-and-reel combos courtesy of the NPAA.

Under the umbrella of The Walleye Federation (TWF), the Cabela’s MWC is open to avid walleye anglers from all walks of life. The 2016 schedule includes seven qualifiers in six states on a diverse selection of the Walleye Belt’s finest rivers, inland lakes and big-water fisheries. Up next is the Lake Erie qualifier out of Lorain, Ohio, June 3-4.

Cabela’s, the World’s Foremost Outfitter for hunting, fishing and outdoor gear, is in its 15th season as title sponsor of the MWC. Official sponsors include: Berkley Gulp!, Abu Garcia, Lowe Equipment Attachments, Lowrance Electronics, Mercury Marine, Ranger Boats and The Walleye Federation. Associate sponsors include: AirWave Pedestals, G-Juice, MotorGuide and Okuma. For more information, visit masterswalleyecircuit.com, email info@masterswalleyecircuit.com, or call (580) 765-9031.

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Cabela’s Masters Walleye Circuit Returns To Big Stone Lake

Presented By The Walleye Federation

Ponca City, Okla.—April 14, 2016—Competitive walleye anglers have a chance to enjoy great fishing while testing their skills against top two-person teams from across the Midwest when the Cabela’s Masters Walleye Circuit returns to a longtime favorite destination, Big Stone Lake, for a qualifying tournament April 29-30.

The walleye-rich border impoundment separating Minnesota from South Dakota has hosted many MWC events throughout the trail’s history, and never fails to deliver exciting tournament action for anglers using a variety of techniques from slip bobbering to jigging, rigging and cranking.
Based in scenic Lakeside Park in Ortonville, the event offers teams two full days of competition. Teams will be allowed to weigh five fish measuring 15 inches and over each day—with one over 20 inches per angler—and the team with the heaviest two-day total weight will be crowned the tournament champions.

The Cabela’s MWC offers lucrative payouts, which are based on the number of teams entered in each event. Plus, the MWC Big Fish Pot and MWC side pot payouts, along with sponsor bonuses including Ranger Cup, Abu Garcia, Lowrance Electronics and Okuma add thousands more to the total. Additional bonuses can push the tally even higher. And as an added incentive, the first-place team will win a $1,000 Cabela’s National Team Championship Prize Package including paid NTC entry, travel stipend, team jerseys and plaques.

Weigh-ins are free, open to the public and begin at 3 p.m. As a bonus to budding tournament fans, the Cabela’s MWC, National Professional Anglers Association and Pure Fishing will present a Youth & Family Fishing Clinic immediately after the day-one weigh-in. The first 50 youths will receive rod and reel combos courtesy of the NPAA.

Adding to the excitement, Cabela’s MWC qualifiers also serve as “State Championship Events.” All teams fishing the event are eligible for the State Champions title in that state, and any event with more than 10 teams registered from any state where the MWC is not holding a qualifier that year will offer a State Champions title for that state as well.

In states where the MWC hosts only one event each year, the winners of that event earn a state champions title for that year for that state regardless of where they live. In states hosting two or more regular season MWC events, like Minnesota, teams will be required to count scores for all events held in that state to earn the state champions title.

Besides serious bragging rights, state champions will earn, at minimum, custom state champions’ prizes and awards, a berth in the Cabela’s NTC, and a spot on the MWC website’s Wall of Fame.

Along with great payouts at each event, teams fishing three or more tournaments in 2016 will battle for coveted berths in the 2017 Cabela’s MWC World Walleye Championship, set for September on Minnesota’s Cass Lake out of Stony Point Resort. Teams fishing at least four qualifiers compete for Team of the Year awards, including thousands in cash and Cabela’s Cash cards, as well as fully paid entries into a full season of great walleye action.

Under the umbrella of The Walleye Federation (TWF), the Cabela’s MWC is open to avid walleye anglers from all walks of life. In all, the 2016 schedule includes seven qualifiers in six states and includes a diverse selection of the Walleye Belt’s finest rivers, inland lakes and big-water fisheries. Deadline to register for the Big Stone tournament is Monday, April 25.

Cabela’s, the World’s Foremost Outfitter for hunting, fishing and outdoor gear, is in its 15th season as title sponsor of the MWC. Official sponsors include: Berkley Gulp!, Abu Garcia, Lowe Equipment Attachments, Lowrance Electronics, Mercury Marine, Ranger Boats and The Walleye Federation. Associate sponsors include: AirWave Pedestals, G-Juice, MotorGuide and Okuma. For more information, visit masterswalleyecircuit.com, email info@masterswalleyecircuit.com, or call (580) 765-9031.

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