Zwick, Kobriger Win Cabela’s Masters
Walleye Circuit’s Green Bay Tournament

Presented by Lowrance Electronics

For Immediate Release –

Oconto, Wisc.—June 1, 2013—Wisconsin’s Dan Zwick and Tony Kobriger finished strong to score a comeback victory the Cabela’s Masters Walleye Circuit’s Green Bay qualifying tournament out of Oconto, Wisconsin, May 31-June 2.

“This is awesome!” said Zwick, of Wrightstown. “We had a blast all week prefishing—what a way to finish.” He credited their teammates for helping locate top fishing areas and patterns while preparing for the competition, and praised the Oconto community for giving the MWC anglers such a warm welcome.

After their five-fish MWC limit weighing 25 pounds, 6 ounces landed them in ninth place on Day One, they rocketed up the leaderboard with 31 pounds, 11 ounces on Day Two for a 57-pound, 1-ounce total weight. It was not their first time in the winner’s circle. Zwick and Kobriger won the Cabela’s MWC World Walleye Championship on the Mississippi River at Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, in 2011.

The Green Bay victory earned them the $15,000 first-place purse, which included $14,000 in cash plus a $1,000 Cabela’s National Team Championship Prize Package featuring a paid NTC entry, travel stipend, team jerseys and plaques. Plus, they earned a $1,000 Cabela’s gift card from the Cabela’s Angler Cash Program, $1,000 Ranger Cup contingency, $500 Lowrance Electronics award for being the highest-finishing team using a Lowrance HDS Gen2, HDS Gen2 Touch or Elite-7 unit, and a $500 Berkley Tackle Package for total winnings of $18,000 in cash and prizes.

“This feels really good,” added Kobriger, of Chilton. He explained that they relied on two main tactics to accumulate the winning catch. One was pulling spinner rigs tipped with nightcrawlers or Berkley Gulp! Pinched Crawlers in 18 to 25 feet of water. Their second strategy was trolling crankbaits including Berkley Flicker Shads over shallow weeds in 6- to 9-foot depths.

Kobriger credited their Lowrance HDS electronics for helping them pinpoint key areas, including emerging vegetation just six to 12 inches high. “We had an HDS 12 on our plotter and HDS 10 with StructureScan and sonar,” he said. “We couldn’t have found those shallow fish without them.”

Fellow Wisconsinites Bill Van Ornum, of Oshkosh, and Travis Wagner, of Wautoma, finished second with 52 pounds, 13 ounces, worth $6,600. In all, the top 20 teams shared $60,050 in cash, sponsor bonuses and Big Fish Pot winnings.

The team-format tournament offered two days of competition on Green Bay’s legendary walleye fishery, with one day reserved in case of bad weather. Each day, teams were allowed to bring their best five walleyes to the scale. A total of 915 walleyes weighing 3,583 pounds, 6 ounces crossed the stage during the tournament. Big fish was a 9-pound, 14-ounce beauty caught by the Oshkosh, Wisconsin, team of Michael Galligan and Stuart Wells, worth $1,012 from the Big Fish Pot.

Weigh-ins were held at Breakwater Park in Oconto. 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. The first 50 youths received rod-and-reel combos courtesy of the NPAA. Adding to the excitement, the tournament was filmed for national television. It will air in the fourth quarter of 2013 on Federation Angler, on the NBC Sports Network.

This was the fifth of 10 Cabela’s MWC qualifying tournaments in 2013. The remaining schedule includes Lake Oahe at Spring Creek, South Dakota, June 7-9; Lake Winnebago at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, June 28-30; Devils Lake, North Dakota, August 2-4; the St. Mary’s River at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, August 22-23; and Cass Lake, Minnesota, out of Stony Point Resort, Sept. 13-15.

Cabela’s, the World’s Foremost Outfitter for hunting, fishing and outdoor gear, is entering its 11th season as title sponsor of the MWC. Official sponsors include: Berkley Gulp!, Lowe Equipment Attachments, Lowrance, Mercury Marine, MotorGuide, Ranger Boats, The Walleye Federation and Zippo Outdoor Brands. Associate sponsors include: Berkley Trilene, Church Tackle, Optima Batteries, O2 Marine Technologies and Sea Grant.

Based in Ponca City, Oklahoma, the Cabela’s MWC is oldest running national walleye circuit in America. Cabela’s MWC is owned by The Walleye Federation and is open to two-person teams regardless of club or sponsor affiliation. 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 remains open through the Sunday night prior to each tournament. For more information, visit masterswalleyecircuit.com, email info@masterswalleyecircuit.com, or call (580) 765-9031.

For complete standings CLICK HERE

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Cabela’s Masters Walleye Circuit Travels
To Green Bay at Oconto May 31-June 2

Presented by 

For Immediate Release –

Ponca City, Okla.—May 28, 2013—Epic big-water walleye fishing, tournament competition and over $54,000.00 dollars in cash and prizes await anglers when the Cabela’s Masters Walleye Circuit visits Green Bay of Lake Michigan out of Oconto, Wisconsin, May 31-June 2.

The team-format tournament offers two days of competition on Green Bay’s incredible walleye fishery, to the 103 teams that registered for the event, with one day reserved in case of bad weather. The circuit’s time-tested team format lets anglers choose their favorite fishing partner to share the excitement.

Two-person teams will be allowed to weigh five walleyes per day, and the team with the heaviest two-day total weight will be crowned the Green Bay tournament champions. 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 Cabela’s Angler Cash, Ranger Cup, Lowrance HDS Gen2/Elite-7, Berkley Baits and Optima True Blue add thousands more in cash and prizes to the total. And as an added incentive, the first-place team wins a $1,000 Cabela’s National Team Championship Prize Package including paid NTC entry, travel stipend, team jerseys and plaques.

Walleye fans of all ages are invited to the weigh-ins, which are free and open to the public. There will be multiple things to see and do prior to the weigh-in on Friday from 3-6 pm and Saturday from 12 noon to 6pm; including a moon bounce ride for the kids, the Oconto fire departments safety trailer tours, vendors and more! The weigh-ins begin at 4 p.m. daily at Breakwater Park in Oconto. 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.

This is the fifth of 10 Cabela’s MWC qualifying tournaments in 2013. The remaining schedule includes Lake Oahe at Spring Creek, South Dakota, June 7-9; Lake Winnebago at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, June 28-30; Devils Lake, North Dakota, August 2-4; the St. Mary’s River at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, August 22-23; and Cass Lake, Minnesota, out of Stony Point Resort, Sept. 13-15.

Cabela’s, the World’s Foremost Outfitter for hunting, fishing and outdoor gear, is in its 11th season as title sponsor of the MWC. Official sponsors include: Berkley Gulp!, Lowe Equipment Attachments, Lowrance, Mercury Marine, MotorGuide, Ranger Boats, The Walleye Federation and Zippo Outdoor Brands. Associate sponsors include: Berkley Trilene, Church Tackle, Optima Batteries, O2 Marine Technologies and Sea Grant.

Based in Ponca City, Oklahoma, the Cabela’s MWC is oldest running national walleye circuit in America. Cabela’s MWC is owned by The Walleye Federation and is open to two-person teams regardless of club or sponsor affiliation. 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 remains open through the Sunday night prior to each tournament. For more information, visit masterswalleyecircuit.com, email info@masterswalleyecircuit.com, or call (580) 765-9031.

For a full list of registered angler teams go to https://masterswalleyecircuit.com/tournaments/schedule/

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Zarts Win Cabela’s Masters
Walleye Circuit’s Lake Erie Tournament

Presented by Lowe Equipment Attachments

For Immediate Release –

Huron, Ohio.—May 19, 2013—The father-and-son team of Gary and Nicholas Zart, of Brunswick, Ohio, put together two solid catches to win the Cabela’s Masters Walleye Circuit’s Lake Erie qualifying tournament at Huron, Ohio, May 17-19.

“This is a dream come true,” said Gary, the elder Zart. “Nicholas has been fishing with me since he was a baby, and we’ve been competing together on the MWC since 2008, when he was 12 years old. To win an event of this caliber with him, against the best of the best, is incredible.”

After their five-fish MWC limit weighing 43 pounds, 6 ounces landed them in second place on Day One, they added 41 pounds, 7 ounces to their tally on Day Two for an 84-pound, 13-ounce total weight.

The victory earned them the $11,000.00 first-place cash purse, plus the $500 Lowrance Electronics award for being the highest-finishing team using a Lowrance HDS Gen2, HDS Gen2 Touch or Elite-7 unit, a $500 Berkley Tackle Package and $200 gift card from presenting sponsor Lowe Equipment Attachments. They also claimed a $1,000 Cabela’s National Team Championship Prize Package that includes paid NTC entry, travel stipend, team jerseys and plaques.

“It’s the most amazing feeling ever,” added Nicholas. He explained that their top tactic was pulling 6-inch Berkley Gulp! Nightcrawlers and live ’crawlers on spinner rigs .9 to 1.4 mph behind diving planers near bottom in 48 feet of water.

The Zarts, who operate Blue Dolphin Charters on Lake Erie, are no strangers to the fishery. But they credited their teammates Scott Geitgey, of Canton, Ohio, and Jason Kopf, of Avon Lake, Ohio, for pinpointing a school of migrating walleyes during prefishing, which was key to their victory.

David Kolb, of Rockford, Michigan, and Paul Rogers, of McHenry, Illinois, finished second with 83 pounds, 12 ounces, worth $5,500 plus a $1,000 Cabela’s gift card from the Cabela’s Angler Cash Program and $1,000 Ranger Cup contingency. In all, the top 20 percent of the field shared more than $44,000 in cash, sponsor bonuses and Big Fish Pot winnings.

A total of 615 walleyes weighing 3,794 pounds, 8 ounces crossed the stage during the tournament. Big fish was a 12-pound, 7-ounce beauty caught by the Michigan team of Mark Lemke, of Dexter, and Walter Price, of Lowell.

Ohioans Mark Brumbaugh, of Arcanum, and Michael Robertson, of Laura, had big basket of the tournament with 52 pounds, 11 ounces. In doing so, they broke the Circuit’s all-time single-day weight record of 49 pounds, 10 ounces, set by Iowans Marty Stuefen and Carl Holten, both of Harpers Ferry, at the 2013 Detroit River and Western Lake Erie qualifier.

The team-format tournament offered two days of competition on Erie’s legendary walleye fishery, with one day reserved in case of bad weather. Teams fished from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday, then waited on shore Saturday, after fishing was cancelled due to a small-craft advisory. The tournament resumed on Sunday. Each day, teams were allowed to bring their best five walleyes to the scale each day.

Weigh-ins were held at the Huron Boat Basin. 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. The first 50 youths received rod-and-reel combos courtesy of the NPAA. Fans also gathered at the boat basin to see the anglers off prior to each morning’s takeoff.

While the MWC’s eastern anglers competed on Lake Erie, the Circuit also held a qualifier on Lake Pueblo, Colorado, on the same dates. These were the third and fourth of 10 Cabela’s MWC qualifying tournaments in 2013. The remaining schedule includes Green Bay of Lake Michigan at Oconto, Wisconsin, May 31-June 2; Lake Oahe at Spring Creek, South Dakota, June 7-9; Lake Winnebago at Oshkosh, Wisconsin, June 28-30; Devils Lake, North Dakota, August 2-4; the St. Mary’s River at Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, August 22-23; and Cass Lake, Minnesota, out of Stony Point Resort, Sept. 13-15.

Cabela’s, the World’s Foremost Outfitter for hunting, fishing and outdoor gear, is entering its 11th season as title sponsor of the MWC. Official sponsors include: Berkley Gulp!, Lowe Equipment Attachments, Lowrance, Mercury arine, MotorGuide, Ranger Boats, The Walleye Federation and Zippo Outdoor Brands. Associate sponsors include: Berkley Trilene, Church Tackle, Optima Batteries, O2 Marine Technologies and Sea Grant.

Based in Ponca City, Oklahoma, the Cabela’s MWC is oldest running national walleye circuit in America. Cabela’s MWC is owned by The Walleye Federation and is open to two-person teams regardless of club or sponsor affiliation. 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 remains open through the Sunday night prior to each tournament. For more information, visit masterswalleyecircuit.com, email info@masterswalleyecircuit.com, or call (580) 765-9031.

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