MWT..thinking of fishing it this year

[lakergrad]

Hey guys,

I'm considering fishing the MWT this year and have a couple questions to throw out for consideration/discussion.

First....I'd like some opinions from those who particiapte or have in the past and decided to stop. I'm looking to have some fun and not stress myself to death over it (I do have some competitive fire though :lol: ).

Second....if I pursue it, I'd be looking for a good partner as well. If you have an interest, let me know. I'm in Freeland (Between Bay City, Midland, and Saginaw) and chase eyes' in a Lund 18 Pro V.

Thanks and I look forward to the repsonses. :fish:

[crossneyes]

fished the circut two years ago had a great time,made some new friends,even caught some fish.:lol: looking to get in again this year if my partner will go.you will learn a lot from these guys they are all good sticks.i hear the new director is a good guy,and upholds the rules,that is a must.hope you take the plunge i think you will enjoy it.Mark van kampen npaa 848.

[chamookman]

Is great fun and a good learning oportunity + it's run buy a great bunch of Folks. Fished it a couple of Years, but My work duties just don't allow Me to dedicate the time needed to competitive :rant: ! Have fun and Good Luck ! - Bob

[booktens]

Where are the tourny's held ? Is there a website to visit to learn more?

[WallyJ]

A very good circuit. Well ran and competitive.

[scottyhoover]

I would like to, just hard to commit. Pricey too. Thinking it over. there's gnwc to think about too.

[shametamer]

jump in scotty! no better time, for you, than NOW............you got the boat,you have the energy of youth, money ,you can't take with you, and before some motorcycle mama ties you down with 'honey do's' and 'Honey, do me'!............didn't some feller once say? "He ,who hesitates is lost"

[crossneyes]

michiganwalleyetour.com will get you the info.Mark van kampen 848:)

[BobB(MI)]

Hi lakergrad,

A friend and I fished the MWT for 4 years and found it to be a good time for the most part. Have not fished it for the past 2 seasons. As others have said and I agree, it is well run and organized - especially for a completely volunteer organization. We were able to meet some great people, some of whom I am still in touch with on a regular basis.

The reason we quit fishing MWT, was kind of a burnout and the desire to fish other places without the time commitment. The time commitment is a big deal for the MWT if you want to do well - most all the top teams will spend at a minimum 2 days prefishing with many on the water for a week prior to an event. I wanted to still fish tournaments, but not have to take as much vacation to do so.

In my opinion, the stress level is a bit lower with the GNWC or FLW League events - maybe it was just my approach? They both are only one-day events. In 2005, I fished the GNWC. I liked the idea of the GNWC having their events on Sun so I could prefish on Fri or just Sat and minimize the vacation needed. Also, I had another friend who wanted to try his hand at a larger scale event, so that worked. I fished the FLW League events for the past 2 years on the boater side and enjoyed meeting new parnters at those events. (the GNWC is a "team" event and the FLW is a "draw" event)

In 2006, I will fish the GNWC again as they went to a 3 event + championship format and for one event I can sleep in my own bed (save a bit of $$$). I had a good time fishing it last year and a few other friends have thrown their hat into the ring and are going to fish it for the 1st time - we'll have a fun group of guys to travel with. After fishing for 2 years with the FLW League, I decided not to fish with them this year - I really like their people, organization and structure, but not the locations for 2006. (I may regret that decision as I did well in 2005 with FLW cashing checks in 3 out of 4 events)

In the end, I guess the decision involves the degree you want to be successful and the time commitment you are willing to make, the bodies of water a circuit is fishing and the potential areas you will have to go to catch winning fish, the number of events, and the money - both entry fees/lodging'etc and potential payout.

Sorry for the long post. If you have other questions or concerns, please ask.
Bob

[lakergrad]

Guys,

Thanks for the info. I did some furhter research and it seems that one BIG concern with MWT and such is the use of cell phones on board. Apparently, this has been a problem in the past. While I understand that honesty is going to be a personal decision at some point, it seems that the availability of cell phones on the boat creates a bit too much temptation for some. One team gets on some fish, makes a call to their "buddy teams" and suddenly the scales are tipped in their favor (quite literally).

Anyone experince this? I didn't know about the GNWC. This might be a good option.....

Patrick

[crossneyes]

that sort of thing happens in more tournys then just that circut:rant: it has been a hot topic in many events.

[BobB(MI)]

Unfortunately, there are many ways to cheat in any event and there are always a few who may try or actually do it. Improper cell phone use is but one thing that gets brought up and Mark (crossneyes) is correct - it is a concern for all events, not just MWT. I think that the potential safety issue of having a cell phone in addition to a marine radio outweighs the cheating issue, but that is just my view.

Regardless of potential cheaters, you still have to catch fish. Just because someone shows up certainly doesn't guarantee a limit. Unfair, sure, but it is really the very few minority with the vast majority being, stand-up good folks.

Decide the level of money that you want to commit to as well as the type or bodies of water you want to fish and make your decision based on those factors alone - not the petty bickering on websites or rumors of a few folks.

Best of luck with your decision. I'm sure you'll have an enjoyable year with any of the circuits mentioned in this thread.

Bob

[FishingJoe]

Where can I get more info on GNWC? Can't catch fish for fun, maybe I can catch them for money.:rolleyes:

[BobB(MI)]

Joe,

You can find more info here:

GNWC (Grand National Walleye Cup) www.walleyecup.com
- schedule is up, some other details still to be posted

also,

MWT (Michigan Walleye Tour) www.michiganwalleyetour.com
- schedule and payout is available

FLW League and Tour - www.flwoutdoors.com
- have not published all the details, schedules are up, rest should be any day

Hope that helps. FAQs as well as the message boards can address a bunch of questions or concerns.

Bob

[scottyhoover]

suprised no one mentioned it so far, I just happened to come across this on WC.

GNWC cancelled for 06.
http://www.walleyecup.com/

Bummer for you guys who planned for this.

[shametamer]

hey scotty, i see you do quite abit of posting on walleye central as well!

[scottyhoover]

ahh not much, just the other day got me thinkin about a little ALUMA issue. chamookman keeps tabs on what's happening over there. Some interesting stuff about Tracker boats eh!

[BobB(MI)]

Yup...GNWC was cancelled. Director said nobody was willing to pony up the necessary sponsorship dollars. Had more than a few boat mfgs willing to do the boats, but nobody with the cash for operations.

He was selling it off state-by-state. Michigan would be a tough place to make a go of it as there are many options out there. Iowa was purchased with a strong possibility of South Dakota. Unfortunately, there are few options to fish single day, weekend events on varied bodies of water throughout the state from a tournament perspective - FLW League is about as close as you get. MWT if you have more time and more money. Both are run well.

Leaves me in a quandary - is this the first year just to "fun" fish? Probably end up picking a few events and just fish around. Detroit FLW Tour or MWT looks promising as does the new Canadian Fishing Tour having a walleye division this year with 1 event on Detroit R and 1 out of Leamington in June. Other than that, who knows?

Good Luck to everyone.
Bob