Nebraska Walleye Trail--2010 Tournament Articles

2010 Tournament Articles

	Photo Galleries from Cabela's Regional Championship Tournament July 31 & August 1, 2010 Lake McConaughy, Ogallala, NE
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ROWLAND AND SUNDSTROM WIN MERRITT CHAMBER OPEN

Rowland and Sundstrom Win Merritt Chamber Open

Robby Rowland and Scott Sundstrom were the winners of the final Nebraska Walleye Trail Tournament of the season at Merritt Reservoir. The duo was jig fishing the weeds in the Snake and weighed in an impressive 5 fish basket that weighed 16.30 pounds to secure the win over the 39 boat field. Finishing in second place was the team of Mark Joslyn and JD Baker who weighed 4 fish for 15.48 pounds. Travis and Warren Sanger finished in third place with 14.77 pounds for 4 fish, and John Nadolski and Steve Barajas had an impressive 5 fish basket that weighed in at 14.55 pounds for fourth Place. Finishing in fifth place with 2 very big fish for 11.63 pounds were the team of Robert Purcell and Ken Jindra. Rounding out the top 10 were: 6th- Kevin Larkins and Jason Korth- 4 fish 11.50 pounds, 7th- Ev Tarrell and Jeff Mekelburg- 4 fish 11.33 pounds, 8th- Ruben Adams and Cheryl Steenson- 4 fish 11.01 pounds, 9th- Todd Weber and DJ Rieck- 3 fish 8.73 pounds, 10th- Mr. and Mrs. Jason Preston. The final regular season NWT event was a good event and there were a good number of fish caught all over the lake using a variety of methods.

MILLER AND COOPER WIN “TEAM OF THE YEAR” HONORS

The anglers gathered on Saturday evening at the Water’s Edge for the Cabela’s State Championship Rules Meeting and the Champion’s Banquet and meal sponsored by Ranger Boats. Nebraska Walleye Trail “TEAM OF THE YEAR”, James Miller and Jason Cooper and the top ten placing NWT teams received their cash and prizes. Over $10,000 in cash and prizes was paid out to the top ten teams. Miller and Cooper finished the season with 578 points for 3 tournaments, and had the most weight this season with 76.36 pounds and tied for the most points for in all 4 tournaments with 751. Their “TEAM OF THE YEAR” prizes included: two 4 bank Minn Kota on-board chargers, $1100 in cash, a $2000 Ranger Boats Certificate, and a Humminbird sonar unit with GPS. The second place team of Ev Tarrell and Jeff Mekelburg also received a Humminbird sonar unit with GPS for tying Miller and Cooper for the most points in all 4 tournaments this year, along with a cash prize for second place in the points with 571. Finishing out the NWT season in third place this year was the team of Travis Sanger and Terry Zimmerman with 560 total points. Rounding out the top ten in points were 4th- Kevin Larkins and Jason Korth-559, 5th-Robby Roland and Scott Sundstrom-555, 6th-Robert Purcell and Ken Jindra-546, 7th-Nick Green and Chris Lentz-544, 8th-Mark Joslyn and JD Baker-541, 9th -Chris Jackson and Chris Collins-541, 10th-Stan Heyne and Jason Preston- 541. See complete end of the Season points results at the Standings link.

JOSLYN AND BAKER WIN CABELA’S NWT STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
Joslyn and Baker Win Cabela's NWT State Championship

Cabela’s NWT State Champions

Cabela’s NWT State Runner-up

Cabela’s NWT State 3rd Place

Mark Joslyn and JD Baker from Hoxie, KS were crowned the Cabela’s Nebraska Walleye Trail State Champions, on Sunday, June 27th, winning $1,800 in cash, and a $1,000 Ranger Boats Certificate for the win, along with $270 for the big fish of the tournament an 8.12 pounder. The duo bested a field of 33 of the top fisherman in Nebraska and the surrounding states to take home the title of Cabela’s NWT State Champions. Their four fish winning weight topped the elite field at 17.72 pounds, just .38 pounds ahead of the second place team of Travis Sanger and Warren Sanger from Chamberlin, SD and Ashland, NE. The Sanger, father son duo had 5 fish that weighed 17.34 pounds, and took home $1300. The winners were fishing the trees with live bait to catch their fish, and the second place team used live bait presentations and pulled cranks for their fish. Finishing in third place was Ev Tarrell and Jeff Mekelburg who cashed $1000 for their 4 fish that weighed 14.97 pounds. Fourth place and $800 goes to Ruben Adams and Cheryl Steenson who weighed 14.41 pounds for four fish. Finishing in fifth place were NWT veterans Todd Weber and DJ Rieck who weighed in 2 fish for an impressive 9.97 pound and took home $600 for their finish. See the results link for complete results. Fishing methods included fishing jigs, casting spinner-baits, live bait rigging, and trolling cranks and spinners. That Completes another great season on the Nebraska Walleye Trail. The top 25 teams that qualify to fish the Cabela’s Regional Walleye Championship can visit the regional page link for details.

A big thanks to all of the sponsors that supported the NWT this season: Cabela’s, Johnson Outdoors, Humminbird, Minn Kota, Ranger Boats, State Farm and Black Hawk Marine, TomKats, HippyBleeder Chains. We hope to see everyone again next season! Also a huge thanks to Tim and Diane Hoffman and Scott and Kathy Placzek for all of their work at all of the Tournaments this year as well as Teddy Robinson, Steve Isom, and Darrell Morrow for running their tournaments and work on the NWT board, that makes the NWT possible. We hope to see everyone next year!

MILLER AND COOPER WIN SHUT UP AND FISH

WHEN YOU ARE HOT YOU ARE HOT! James Miller and Jason Cooper are on fire, as they caught seven walleyes that weighed an incredible 46.90 pounds and earned $4148.00 as winner of the Big Mac Shut up and Fish Tournament event on Lake McConaughy. Two of the NWT’s most accomplished anglers, Miller and Cooper were putting on a big fish clinic, as they landed 2 fish each day over 28 inches, including the big fish of the tournament. Their big fish weighed in at 10.80 pounds and earned them an additional $410.00. When asked about the win Miller and Cooper stated; “We were trolling crankbaits to catch all of our big fish, and we caught our last fish on a jig. We were able to get some big bites over the two days. We would like to thank Darrell Morrow at Oregon Trail and his staff for putting on this tournament. He always runs a quality, top notch event.” Finishing in second place with an impressive 9 fish, 43.68 pound total weight was the team of Ev Tarrell and Jeff Mekelburg. The duo caught their fish on live bait and cranks and had another great tournament. They were awarded $3052.00 for their second place finish. Finishing in third place and catching the only 10 fish limit of the tournament was the team of Mark Joslyn and JD Baker. They were pulling cranks on the west end of the lake to catch their 40.24 pounds of fish. Mark and JD cashed a check for $1909.00 for their outstanding tournament finish. Finishing in fourth place and weighing 5 fish for 27.76 pounds is the team of Chris Jackson and Brett Collins. Fifth Place goes to Dan and Mitch Rosencutter with 25.72 pounds. Rounding out the top ten are 6th- Stuart and Nick Wilson- 24.12 pounds, 7th-Scott Willis and Kevin Jenny- 21.24 pounds, 8th- Curt Baker and Kerry Kleeb 20.06 pounds, 9th- Jeff Tetlitz and Jared McMurtry- 19.36 pounds, 10th Brian Regelin and Brett Vinzant 18.66 pounds.
In all 48 team fished under the windy conditions and there were an impressive number of big walleyes caught and released during the 2 day event. The final stop of the NWT regular season is at Merritt Reservoir on Saturday, June 26th for the Chamber Open. On Sunday, June 27th at Merritt we will be the having the Cabela’s NWT State Championship for those teams that have fished 3 of the 4 regular season tournaments. We should have over $2000 in added prize money to go with the 100 percent payout of the $100 entry fee, making this a great Championship to fish. On Saturday evening the 26th at the Championship rules meeting and awards banquet we will be handing out all of the post season awards for those teams that finish in the top ten in points, as well as handing out invitations to the top 25 teams that qualify for the Regional Walleye Championship at Big Mac. It is a tight race for the Team of the Year, top 10 and top 25 this year, so the final tournament is an important one. We hope to see everyone at Merritt!

Larkins and Korth Win Rose

The team of Kevin Larkins and Jason Korth found out what a 10.63-pound walleye can mean! It meant a check for $2410 and the 1st place and big fish plaques that go with winning the Rose and the second NWT event of the season. The one day event at Sherman Reservoir that had 54 teams participating found Larkins and Korth pulling crank-baits in 15-30 feet of water for their 3 fish winning weight of 15.98 pounds. They caught their big fish with about two hours left in the tournament to secure the win. Larkins and Korth also won the Ranger Cup bonus of $200 for the win. Finishing in second place was the team of Chris Augustine and Jeremy McCarter. The duo weighed in 4 fish that weighed 8.78 pounds and cashed a $1600 check for their runner-up finish. They started their day live bait rigging the west end of the lake and made a switch to cranks to finish out their 4 fish 15-20 inch slot limit. Finishing in a close 3rd place weighing 4 fish for 8.74 pounds was the team of Ev Tarrell and Jeff Mekelburg. They were trolling cranks for their fish and had a great tournament. The 4th, 5th and 6th place teams were all using live-bait presentations to cash a check. Finishing in 4th place with 4 fish for 8.65 pounds was the team of Deon Quick and Dennis Quick. Joe Conroy and Dave Brandon finished in 5th place with 7.26 pounds for 4 fish. Ted Robinson and Dave Sintek finished with a 4 fish weight of 7.00 and finished in 6th place.

2nd Place

3rd Place

Miller and Cooper Win Sherman NWT Event in a Tight Finish

The bite was a tough one on Sherman Reservoir for the annual Trade Winds Marina Ice Out Tournament April 17th and 18th, 2010. Fortunately, for the team of James Miller and Jason Cooper it was a little different, as they win the 53 boat field tournament over the 2 days with a winning weight of 16.49 pounds.   The winners caught 8 fish and were jigging and live-bait rigging in 15-25 feet of water and cashed $4000.00 in prize money for their victory. It was a tight race for the championship as Miller and Cooper were able to hold off the 2nd place team of Travis Sanger and Terry Zimmerman who were only .16 pounds out of the lead after the final weigh-in. Sanger and Zimmerman had a total 2 day weight of 16.49 pounds for eight fish and took home a check for $3000.00 for their impressive 2nd place finish. They were fishing lindy rigs and shiners in15-20 feet of water.

Travis Sanger and Terry Zimmerman 2nd Place

The third place team of Stan Hayne and Jason Preston had a very good tournament. They were drifting 10-30 feet of water and had a very nice 8 fish basket that weighed 13.95 pounds.



Stan Hayne and Jason Preston 3rd Place

There were a number of big walleyes landed and released due to the “no-keep” slot of 20 to 28 inches, making it a very interesting tournament. Catching a fish that was over 28 inches was huge, as was the case for Robert Purcell and Ken Jindra as they hooked into the Big fish of the Tournament, a 30 ¾ incher that topped the scales at 10.62 pounds. That monster fish and one other fish gave their team a 4th place finish with a total weight of 12.16 pounds.



Finishing in 5th place was the team of Jim Childers and Ruben Garcia. The duo weighed 6 fish for 11.80 pounds. Finishing in the money and weighing 5 fish for 11.55 pounds was the team of Scott Willis and Kevin Jenny. Rounding out the top ten finishers were: 7th-Nick Green and Chris Lenz- 5 fish- 10.49, 8th-Jake Linder and Gil Franks- 4 fish- 10.20, 9th-Jeff Mekelburg and Ev Tarrell 5 fish-9.87, 10th-Casey Williams and Chad Knispel 5 fish 9.87 pounds. The next stop on the Nebraska Walleye Trail is scheduled for Sherman Reservoir Sunday May 2nd. Check out the details below!

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