NOW - for the Biggest Show on Earth!

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The Spring RCL at Port Clinton!!! :cool: :)

PORT CLINTON, Ohio — The $3.19 million Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour will visit Lake Erie April 28-May 1 for a $401,750 tournament presented by Yamaha. The tournament is the second of four regular-season events on the 2004 RCL Tour and is expected to draw as many as 320 walleye anglers to the Port Clinton area, including as many as 160 pro anglers in the hunt for a top pro award worth as much as $90,000.

Catching walleyes won’t be a problem on Lake Erie, says 2003 RCL Tour Angler of the Year Jason Przekurat of Stevens Point, Wis. Most anglers will catch numbers of fish, but it’s the competitor who finds the quality bites that will take home the crown. “I’m guessing it’ll take 65 to 70 pounds to make it into the finals and 40-plus pounds to win it,” Przekurat said.

Pelee Island, which played heavily into last season’s RCL Tour stop on Lake Erie, will not be a deciding factor this year, as Canadian waters are off limits. Bass Island, however, is likely to attract plenty of traffic according to Przekurat, but he doesn’t believe the tournament will be won their. In his opinion, the angler who wins it will be the one who finds those little out-of-the-way places that are holding the heavier fish. Przekurat named trolling crawler harnesses over 30 feet of water as the pattern likely to produce the most solid fish, adding that shallow- and deep-diving crankbaits will also fill out several limits.

However, due to legislative changes for the 2004 fishing season, anglers won't be permitted to fish in either Canadian or Michigan waters during the four-day event.

Catawba Island State Park will host daily takeoffs each morning at 7, and Wednesday and Thursday’s weigh-ins will also be held there beginning at 3 p.m. Friday and Saturday’s weigh-ins will be held at the Wal-Mart store located at 4070 E. Harbor Road in Port Clinton beginning at 4 p.m. The community is encouraged to attend daily takeoffs and weigh-ins.

The winning pro will earn $50,000 cash plus a fully rigged Ranger, Crestliner or Lund boat powered by Evinrude or Yamaha for a top award worth $90,000. The winning co-angler will receive $15,000 cash. One hundred and sixty boaters and 160 co-anglers comprise a full field. Pros and co-anglers are randomly paired each day and fish for a combined boat weight. Pros compete against other pros, and co-anglers compete against other co-anglers.

The full field competes during the two-day opening round for one of 20 semifinal-round slots based on their two-day accumulated weight. Weights are cleared for day three, and the top 10 pros and co-anglers following Friday’s competition advance to the final round. Final-round anglers continue, with the winner determined by the heaviest two-day weight.

Every angler who receives weight credit in a tournament earns points, with 200 points awarded to the winner, 199 to second, 198 for third, and so on. These points determine angler standings. The top 120 pros and 120 co-anglers based on year-end points standings qualify for the 2004 Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Championship, where a pro can earn as much as $400,000 cash for a win. Another 20 boaters and 20 co-anglers from the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye League and 60 pros and 60 co-anglers who compete in RCL-sanctioned events will comprise a championship field of 200 pros and 200 co-anglers.

The Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Championship is the most lucrative event in professional walleye angling, with guaranteed cash awards through 100th place. Including sponsor bonuses, cash awards are available through 200th place. A guaranteed cash award of $150,000 plus potential sponsor bonuses totaling $250,000 will go to the RCL Championship winner for a total pro award of $400,000. The champion co-angler will win a guaranteed cash award of $75,000 plus potential sponsor bonuses totaling $75,000 for a co-angler award of $150,000.

Devils Lake near Spirit Lake, N.D., will host the third regular-season event May 26-29, and the regular season will come to a close June 16-19 on Lake Oahe near Pierre, S.D.

The Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour is administered by FLW Outdoors. Other FLW Outdoors-sanctioned tournament trails include the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye League for weekend anglers; the Wal-Mart FLW Tour, the world’s most lucrative bass-tournament series; the EverStart Series, designed as a pathway to the FLW Tour; the Wal-Mart Bass Fishing League for weekend anglers; and the Wal-Mart Texas Tournament Trail.

Wal-Mart and many of America’s most respected companies support FLW Outdoors and its six tournament trails. Wal-Mart has been the title sponsor of FLW Outdoors since 1997. For more information about the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour, browse this Web site or call (270) 252-1000.

The Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour and the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye League are named after boat manufacturers Ranger, Crestliner and Lund. FLW Outdoors is named after the legendary founder of Ranger Boats, Forrest L. Wood.

For a complete list of FLW Outdoors sponsors and for more information about the premier products and services they offer, please visit FLWOutdoors.com’s sponsor page.

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LaCourse looks to land victory at Erie RCL Tour event

04/22/04

Port Clinton, Ohio - A couple of decades ago it was rare to see anglers on the chilly waters of Lake Erie in April. These days the invasion of walleye anglers begins in March if the weather cooperates. Party fishing boats here have al ready been ferrying fishermen to the spawning reefs to cast jigs and minnows for a spring limit of three walleyes.

A large contingent of tournament anglers has already arrived for the $401,750 Wal-Mart RCL Tour event that begins Wednesday and runs through May 1. Almost to an angler they are using summertime trolling tactics on wind-shipped Lake Erie to pinpoint large post-spawn walleyes.

Rick and Julie LaCourse of Port Clinton, a husband-and-wife team of walleye pros, have been keeping a close eye on Lake Erie's winds and waves, especially the gale force winds this week. After a third-place finish in the opener of the RCL Tour on the Illinois River and a $20,000 check, Rick LaCourse is eager to troll his home waters in the rich Lake Erie event.

"This tournament is being held about a week later than the Pro fessional Walleye Trail events of the past and that should result in a more wide-open event," said LaCourse. Lake Erie's walleyes have wrapped up their spawning efforts and LaCourse is hoping good weather is in the forecast for next week's event.

"We're taking fish, but it is tough with the windy conditions," said LaCourse. "The walleyes are all turned around. The big winds have walleyes scattered from the Michigan line to east of Kelleys Islands. A couple of days of stable weather are needed to turn on a good walleye bite."

The constantly changing winds have LaCourse concerned about the success of the walleye spawn.

"I feel the majority of the walleyes were spawning under the full moon in early April," he said. "I hope the big winds and bad weather the last few weeks didn't hurt this year's hatch."

The Ohio Division of Wildlife, which is sampling spawning walleyes this spring with nets set in the Sandusky and Maumee rivers and on Lake Erie's spawning reefs, reported that last year's walleye hatch was the best in more than two decades. Fisheries biologists are keeping their fingers crossed, hoping for a second straight spawning season of walleye success.

A former Lake Erie fishing guide, LaCourse is hoping he won't have to battle the elements on Lake Erie as he did on the Illinois River at Spring Valley, Ill., where the RCL Walleye Tour opened its 2004 schedule. Heavy rains and chilly run-off had the river in flood stage. LaCourse was blanked on the first day when only 56 of 172 pro-am teams brought in sauger, a smaller cousin of the walleye.

"There were a lot of us tied for 57th," said LaCourse. "On the second day, I checked in 15 pounds, 10 ounces and jumped to seventh place. A 12-13 catch on the third day moved me up to third and I held on to third with a final-day catch of 12-5."

Pro Tom Giachetto of Ladd, Ill., won the RCL with a limit of 10 Illinois River sauger over the final two days, landing a $90,000 top prize that included a Lund boat. It is the same prize the Lake Erie field will be battling for later this month.

"If we get good fishing weather, the Lake Erie tourna ment catches should be awesome," said LaCourse, who won the Professional Walleye Trail Championship at Bismarck, N.D., in 1997. "The walleye fishing was exceptional earlier this month and if the winds back off, it won't take long for it to get good again."

To reach this Plain Dealer reporter:

degan@plaind.com, 216-999-6136




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[Ohio Bill]

Ohio has alot of great walleye fishermen.. Isnt Ohio the walleye capital of the world?...;)

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Originally posted by Ohio Bill
Ohio has alot of great walleye fishermen.. Isnt Ohio the walleye capital of the world?...;)

Bill...I do believe that Port Clinton & Lake Erie top the walleye capital list, but others also use the Promo --

:)

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Destination: Lake Erie Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour, April 28-May 1


By Matt Williams - 26.Apr.2004


There is never a shortage of limits when the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour goes to Lake Erie, but when the popular tournament trail rolls into Port Clinton, Ohio, April 28-May 1, anglers had better have their bars set pretty high. Average limits probably won’t make it through the cuts.

That’s the word from 2003 RCL Angler of the Year Jason Przekurat of Stevens Point, Wis.

“Catching fish won’t be the issue,” Przekurat said. “It’s how big those fish are that’s going to matter the most.”

While the majority of Erie walleyes will have already spawned on underwater reefs, Przekurat predicts there will still be some isolated groups of prespawn females suspended over the deeper water east of weigh-in. Anglers who locate the heavier fish and use them sufficiently throughout the course of the event are likely to cash the biggest checks.

“A 28-inch fish will weigh 7 pounds without eggs and around 9 pounds when it’s full of eggs,” Przekurat said. “I’m guessing it’ll take 65 to 70 pounds to make it into the finals and 40-plus pounds to win it.”

Community holes around Pelee Island and Bass Islands are likely to attract plenty of traffic, but Przekurat doesn’t believe the tournament will be won at either spot. In his opinion, the angler who wins it will be the one who finds those little out-of-the-way places that are holding the heavier prespawners.

“Finding clear water also will be a big key,” Przekurat said. “We get a lot of wind this time of year, and the water can dirty up in a matter of 10 hours. You really need to know how to play the currents so you can figure out which areas will clear up the fastest. That’s where the fish are going to be.”

Przekurat said crawler harnesses trolled over 30 feet of water bordering the shallower spawning reefs are sure to produce some solid fish.

The Ranger pro also likes to throw shallow and deep-diving crankbaits by Reef Runner. Iridescent, blue-silver and black/gold are the most productive colors.



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Wild, wild Western Basin :cool:

Will RCL Walleye Tour anglers adjust to Erie’s transformation?


By Dave Scroppo - 27.Apr.2004


PORT CLINTON, Ohio — With weather and a fishery in flux, the plentiful limits and abundant big fish of a year ago on the Wal-Mart RCL Walleye Tour on Lake Erie are unlikely to repeat themselves. Times indeed appear tougher than when all but three of 156 pro-and-co-angler teams turned in limits on the first day in 2003, many of the bags topping 40 pounds en route to more than two tons of walleyes in sum.

That’s when Ranger pro David Kolb of Riverview, Mich., took the tourney in the finals in spite of a shortened day and stormy weather with waves approaching 10 feet. And now, in Wednesday’s opening round on Erie’s Western Basin, afternoon winds are expected to exceed 35 mph after a final practice day with winds, whitecaps and stinging sleet.

Compounding the predicament facing the 174 teams signed up for another event on turbulent Erie are diminished numbers of fish, down to 25 million from historic highs of 90 million a decade ago, and de facto off-limits areas due to state and provincial closures until June. The reason for inaccessibility to Michigan and Ontario waters is a goal of decreasing the harvest mere weeks after the spawn when the walleyes are arguably most vulnerable. (Ohio has imposed a limit of three fish per person – enough, though, for the RCL teams to weigh five fish at day’s end, if possible.)

Additional factors that are dropping expectations: highly nomadic fish that are smaller than in recent memory.

“We’ve been catching fish, but not the big ones,” says Crestliner pro Rick Olson of Mina, S.D. “There just aren’t the number of fish there used to be. And I think a lot of them have gone east.”

The transient walleyes, which make a counterclockwise circumnavigation of Erie starting after the spawn, might already have hightailed out of the Bass Islands area in fair numbers. Nevertheless, that’s where most of the effort will likely be concentrated.

Highs, lows

If last year’s biggest schools seemed everywhere, most notably in Canadian waters off Pelee Island, the ones encountered in American waters in advance of the RCL tourney seem far more scattered. They are fewer and farther between both over the expanse of the inland sea and in regard to their height in the water column. In years past, for instance, many of the biggest and best fish have been running within 10 feet of the surface.

“They’re on the bottom, both high and low,” says Crestliner pro Shannon Kehl of Menoken, N.D. “It’s the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen here. Usually if you fished an area you could go through enough to get the 6- and 7-pounders. Not this time around.”

Increasing winds and cool nighttime temperatures after a calm, balmy start to the practice period could potentially shift the locations of the existing schools by the time competition begins. One crucial factor every time on Erie is the water color, which can change by the quarter mile from coffee to crystal clarity and, best of all, a jade green with enough stain that encourages the walleyes to feed.

“With the changing water, it’s got them migrating and moving all over the place,” says Lund pro Mark Martin of Twin Lake, Mich. “A lot of the fish that were around here are disappearing to Canada.”

Though closed due to conservation measures with the aim of boosting Erie’s stocks, Canadian waters to the north of Port Clinton have a neatly defined border, visible on GPS mapping units, that are possible to skirt while trolling and, therefore, remaining in the closest open American waters.

Spins vs. cranks

Up near the northern fringes of Canadian waters, where water clarity is currently most appropriate when compared with the dinginess of the open waters bordering the reefs west of the takeoff from Catawba Island, should be the scene of the preponderance of boats to get the tournament started.

There, the pros and their co-angler partners are likely to split their approach between a pair of offerings appropriate in the 50-degree water. Although crankbaits, trolled behind planer boards to spread them to the sides of the boat, rule with water temperatures in the 40s, a spinner bite, one with spinners dressed with night crawlers, is starting to emerge with temps on the cusp of the mid-50s. As of now, spinners seem to be the ticket for numbers, crankbaits for the somewhat larger fish, some of which should register weights in the double digits.

Either way, the bite has been somewhat erratic because of the diminishing air temperatures and the accompanying movements of the fish.

“Every day the fish we see on our graphs are fewer and fewer,” Martin says.

The fish are also deeper and deeper – hence the possibility of catching them with both spinners and crankbaits scouring the bottom. Then again, a high-riding 10-pounder or two, complemented by the more common 4s and 5s, could translate into tournament success.

What’s more, the forecast for opening day is calling for light winds in the morning and powerful breezes to come in the afternoon. Thus, in the continuous flux of Erie, the conditions could necessitate a numbers game – and the necessity to get while the getting is good.

The field is slated to start competition at 7 a.m. Central time Wednesday, with takeoff from Catawba State Park.

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