Cabela’s Masters Walleye Circuit Visits Lake Erie
At Huron, Ohio, For Regular-Season Finale Sept. 26-28

Presented by Cabela’s

For Immediate Release –

Ponca City, Okla.—Sept. 8, 2014—A big-water battle of epic proportions will take place Sept. 26-28 when top teams from across the country converge on Huron, Ohio, for the Cabela’s Masters Walleye Circuit’s 2014 regular-season finale on legendary Lake Erie.

The event is open to two-person teams regardless of club or sponsor affiliation, and entries are accepted through 10 a.m. on Monday, September 22. The tournament is scheduled for Friday and Saturday, with Sunday reserved in case bad weather forces the cancellation of one of the first two days. Teams will be allowed to weigh five fish per day, and the duo with the heaviest two-day total weight will be crowned tournament champions.

Based on the Circuit’s past visits to Lake Erie, competitors are in for world-class walleye action. At the 2013 Cabela’s MWC qualifier on Erie, the father-and-son team of Nicholas and Gary Zart, of Brunswick, Ohio, claimed top honors with a 10-fish limit weighing a whopping 84 pounds, 13 ounces. Their top tactic was pulling 6-inch Berkley Gulp! Nightcrawlers and live ’crawlers near bottom in 48 feet of water, and they collected more than $13,000 in first-place cash and prizes. At the same event, fellow Ohioans Mark Brumbaugh, of Arcanum, and Michael Robertson, of Laura, broke the Circuit’s all-time single-day basket record with five walleyes weighing 52 pounds, 11 ounces.

Cabela’s MWC payouts are based on the number of teams entered in each event. Plus, the MWC Big Fish Pot, along with sponsor bonuses including Ranger Cup, Berkley Baits, Lowrance Electronics, Optima True Blue and the Zippo Hot Hands Big Fish Award add thousands more to the total.

The public is invited to the weigh-ins, which begin at 4 p.m. daily at the Huron Boat Basin. The Cabela’s MWC, National Professional Anglers Association, Pure Fishing and Zippo Outdoor Brands will present a Youth & Family Fishing Clinic immediately after the first day’s weigh-in. The first 50 youths will receive 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 2014 trail included 10 stops spread across seven states. Teams showcased their skills—and sponsor products—at world-class venues such as the Illinois, Detroit and Mississippi rivers, Green Bay, Big Stone Lake, Kinzua Reservoir, and wind down the regular season on the fertile waters of Lake Erie.

Along with great payouts at each event, teams fishing three or more tournaments battle for coveted berths in the 2015 Cabela’s MWC Championship, set for October 2015 on Lake Erie out of Huron, Ohio. Teams fishing at least three qualifiers also compete for Team of the Year awards, including a $25,000 “Living the Dream” sponsorship package, which includes fully paid entries to the Cabela’s National Walleye Trail as a pro and co-angler, use of a 600 series Ranger boat, travel stipends and more.

Cabela’s, the World’s Foremost Outfitter for hunting, fishing and outdoor gear, is in its 12th season as title sponsor of the MWC. Official sponsors include: Berkley Gulp!, Lowe Equipment Attachments, Lowrance Electronics, Mercury Marine, MotorGuide, Ranger Boats, The Walleye Federation and Zippo Outdoor Brands. Associate sponsors include: Berkley Trilene, Church Tackle, Lindy Legendary Fishing Tackle, Optima Batteries, Rockstar Hitch Mounted Mud Flaps, T-H Marine and Sea Grant.

Entry fees are $650 per tournament, of which more than 100 percent is returned to anglers at the qualifiers, World Championship and Team of the Year races. Registration closes at 10 a.m. on Monday prior to each tournament. For more information, visit masterswalleyecircuit.com, email info@masterswalleyecircuit.com, or call (580) 765-9031.

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Braaten, Swenson Win Cabela’s Masters Walleye Circuit’s
Cass Lake Tournament

 Presented by Mercury

For Immediate Release –

Cass Lake, Minn.—Sept. 13, 2014—Consistency was the key for Minnesotans Jay Braaten and Dan Swenson, who put together a pair of equally solid baskets to claim top honors at the Cabela’s Masters Walleye Circuit’s Cass Lake qualifier September 12-13.

“It’s really exciting,” Swenson, of Deer River, said of the win seconds after topping the 80-team field in front of a roaring crowd gathered at Stony Point Resort. “This was a great day,” beamed Braaten, of Blackduck. The event was Swenson’s second Circuit competition, and Braaten’s first. “It’s a good way to start out on the MWC,” he added.

After landing in fourth place on day one with a five-fish limit weighing 15 pounds, 9 ounces, Braaten and Swenson stormed the leaderboard with an identical day two weight for a 31-pound, 2-ounce total.

They relied on rigging creek chubs and redtails in 20 to 30 feet of water on Cass Lake and Pike Bay for many of their fish, and credited their Lowrance HDS sonar for revealing bottom-hugging walleyes, especially along steep breaks. “We also cast jigs tipped with 4-inch Berkley Gulp! Smelt in depths of 15 feet,” Swenson added.

They collected $10,600 in cash for the win, plus the $1,000 Ranger Cup contingency, $500 Berkley Baits Award and $500 Lowrance HDS Gen2 Touch and Elite 7 contingency. They also claimed a $1,000 Cabela’s National Team Championship Prize Package including paid NTC entry, travel stipend, team jerseys and plaques.

Rounding out the top 5 were:

2nd: Troy and Wes Loeckle, 30-13

3rd: Darrell Peters and Christopher Lewis, 28-10

4th: Bill Lundy and Bill Lundy, Sr., 28-05

5th: Sean Colter and Dave Hernesman, 28-00

In other contingencies, Peters and Lewis won the $200 Optima True Blue bonus; Mike Dorris and Brian Tordsen claimed the $250 Zippo Hot Hands Big Fish Award for catching big fish of the tournament, an 8-pound, 2-ounce walleye; and Ryan and Jerry Lagodinski won the $500 Rockstar Hitch Mounted Mud Flaps award for climbing from last place on day one to 38^th on day two. In all, the Cabela’s MWC awarded $47,600 in cash and prizes.

The Cass Lake Chain yielded 567 walleyes weighing a total of 1,220 pounds, 2 ounces in the catch-and-release event. The Cabela’s MWC, National Professional Anglers Association, Pure Fishing and Zippo Outdoor Brands presented a Youth & Family Fishing Clinic immediately after the first day’s weigh-in. Participating youths received 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 2014 trail included 10 stops spread across seven states in the Walleye Belt. Teams showcased their skills—and sponsor products—at world-class venues such as the Illinois, Detroit and Mississippi rivers, Green Bay, Big Stone Lake, Kinzua Reservoir, Cass Lake, and finish the regular season at Lake Erie Sept. 26-28.

Along with great payouts at each event, teams fishing three or more tournaments battle for coveted berths in the 2015 Cabela’s MWC Championship, set for October 2015 on Lake Erie out of Huron, Ohio. Teams fishing at least three qualifiers also compete for Team of the Year awards, including a $25,000 “Living the Dream” sponsorship package, which includes fully paid entries to the Cabela’s National Walleye Trail as a pro and co-angler, use of a 600 series Ranger boat, travel stipends and more.

Cabela’s, the World’s Foremost Outfitter for hunting, fishing and outdoor gear, is in its 12th season as title sponsor of the MWC. Official sponsors include: Berkley Gulp!, Lowe Equipment Attachments, Lowrance Electronics, Mercury Marine, MotorGuide, Ranger Boats, The Walleye Federation and Zippo Outdoor Brands. Associate sponsors include: Berkley Trilene, Church Tackle, Lindy Legendary Fishing Tackle, Optima Batteries, Rockstar Hitch Mounted Mud Flaps, T-H Marine and Sea Grant.

Entry fees are $650 per tournament, of which more than 100 percent is returned to anglers at the qualifiers, World Championship and Team of the Year races. Registration closes at 10 a.m. on Monday prior to each tournament. For more information, visit masterswalleyecircuit.com, email info@masterswalleyecircuit.com, or call (580) 765-9031.

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17 pounds would put you in great shape today at the next to the last regular season stop on the MWC Circuit this year at Cass Lake.   It seemed like the beginning, the middle and the end was the place to be in the weigh in line today!

Near the beginning was the South Dakota team of Mike Dorris and Brian Tordsen who weighed in 5 walleye for 17 pounds and 1 ounce to set the bar for most of the day 1 weigh in.

About half way through in the middle of the weigh in was the Darrell Peters From Hinton IA and partner Christopher Lewis, Slayton, MN who brought their five walleyes in that also weighed in at 17-01 to tie for the lead.

Then the last team to weigh in today was Dan Fuller and Chad Benson from Bemidji, MN was locked in the lead with 17-09

Rounding out the top five is Jay Braaten and Dan Swenson from MInnesota with 15-09 and 3 time MWC Cass Lake winners who are in clearly within striking distance again, Travor Deigel and Paul Steffen with 14-15.

Day 2  will tell the story, weigh in begins at Stony Point Resort tomorrow Saturday at 3:30pm cst and is free to the public.

Cabela’s Masters Walleye Circuit Returns
Minnesota’s Cass Lake Chain Sept. 12-14

 Presented by Mercury

For Immediate Release –

Ponca City, Okla.—Sept. 4, 2014— With  80 teams registered for the event, hard-fishing teams from across the Midwest will clash for thousands of dollars in cash and prizes when the Cabela’s Masters Walleye Circuit returns to north-central Minnesota’s iconic Cass Lake Chain September 12-14 for a regular-season qualifying tournament.

The event is open to two-person teams regardless of club or sponsor affiliation, and entries are accepted through Monday, September 8. It is scheduled for Friday and Saturday, with Sunday reserved in case bad weather forces the cancellation of one of the first two days. Two-person teams will be allowed to weigh five fish per day, and the team with the heaviest two-day total weight will be crowned tournament champions.

Based on the Circuit’s recent visits to Cass Lake, the event should offer competitors fine early-fall walleye fishing on a variety of patterns. At the 2013 Cabela’s MWC qualifier on Cass, South Dakotans Travor Diegel and Paul Steffen topped a 76-team field to claim their third-straight Circuit victory on Cass and collect more than $15,000 in winnings. Their 32-pound, 2-ounce two-day catch—taken on spinner rigs sweetened with live bait and Berkley Gulp! Crawlers—showcased the system’s abundant walleye population, as did the catch-and-release event’s overall total of 498 walleyes weighing 966 pounds, 10 ounces.

Cabela’s MWC payouts are based on the number of teams entered in each event. Plus, the MWC Big Fish Pot, along with sponsor bonuses including Ranger Cup, Berkley Baits, Lowrance Electronics, Optima True Blue and the Zippo Hot Hands Big Fish Award add thousands more to the total.

The public is invited to the weigh-ins, which begin at 3:30 p.m. daily at Stony Point Resort just east of the town of Cass Lake. The Cabela’s MWC, National Professional Anglers Association, Pure Fishing and Zippo Outdoor Brands will present a Youth & Family Fishing Clinic immediately after the first day’s weigh-in. The first 50 youths will receive rods 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 2014 trail included 10 stops spread across seven states in the Walleye Belt. Teams showcased their skills—and sponsor products—at world-class venues such as the Illinois, Detroit and Mississippi rivers, Green Bay, Big Stone Lake, Kinzua Reservoir, and wind down the regular season on the Cass Lake Chain and Lake Erie.

Along with great payouts at each event, teams fishing three or more tournaments battle for coveted berths in the 2015 Cabela’s MWC Championship, set for October 2015 on Lake Erie out of Huron, Ohio. Teams fishing at least three qualifiers also compete for Team of the Year awards, including a $25,000 “Living the Dream” sponsorship package, which includes fully paid entries to the Cabela’s National Walleye Trail as a pro and co-angler, use of a 600 series Ranger boat, travel stipends and more.

Cabela’s, the World’s Foremost Outfitter for hunting, fishing and outdoor gear, is in its 12th season as title sponsor of the MWC. Official sponsors include: Berkley Gulp!, Lowe Equipment Attachments, Lowrance Electronics, Mercury Marine, MotorGuide, Ranger Boats, The Walleye Federation and Zippo Outdoor Brands. Associate sponsors include: Berkley Trilene, Church Tackle, Lindy Legendary Fishing Tackle, Optima Batteries, Rockstar Hitch Mounted Mud Flaps, T-H Marine and Sea Grant.

Entry fees are $650 per tournament, of which more than 100 percent is returned to anglers at the qualifiers, World Championship and Team of the Year races. Registration closes at 10 a.m. on Monday prior to each tournament. For more information, visit masterswalleyecircuit.com, email info@masterswalleyecircuit.com, or call (580) 765-9031.

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