Chris Gasser - 4/25/2004

Winneconne, WI - With a lingering cold front engulfing the Winnebago chain for the past several days, teams entering the opening World Walleye Association WI/UP Team Challenge at Winneconne WI Sunday, April 25, 2004 were to say the least a little apprehensive about the prospects of being successful. With heavy cloud cover, wind getting stronger as the day progressed and sporadic rain showers all morning, it was a day most anglers would of stayed in bed.

But WWA anglers have proven time and again that no matter what the weather conditions, fish are always biting somewhere and a Father and Son team proved that better than everyone today.

Randy Harwood and RJ (Randy Junior) Harwood topped the 42-boat field with a five fish limit of walleyes weighing 11.85-pounds. Pulling rigs near the Hwy 41 bridge in Lake Butte Des Morts was the technique the Harwood's used not only to capture the winning weight but also the big fish of the tournament weighing 5.58-pounds.

Jimmy Hughes and Tim Winchester took second place with a five fish limit weighing 10.32-pounds. Hughes and Winchester were also pulling rigs by the Hwy 41 Bridge near the leaders but also fished livebait from slip bobbers at spots in Lake Butte Des Morts.

Brothers Wayne Gray and Gary Gray took the third spot with a five fish limit weighing 9.72-pounds. They were fishing the mouth of the Wolf River with jigs and leeches.

Steve and Dan Bodinger took second place big fish honors with a 4.69-pound walleye.

"Though the weather wasn't what we were hoping for, the results of the tournament ended up being better than we thought it was going to be. We had over a dozen teams bring in limits and even the teams that didn¹t catch many fish over the 14 inch minimum size limit for the tournament, reported catching many fish between 13 and 14 inches. This says a lot about the future of this fishery." Said Steve Poll, Executive Director of the WWA and WI/UP Tournament Director. "I would like to thank Doug at the Wolf River Resort here in Winneconne for hosting the take off and weigh in activities and also to all the volunteers that stopped by the weigh in to help. It was greatly appreciated."

This tournament was also the first WWA Team Challenge tournament to utilize the WalleyeFirst Leaderboard. Results from the weigh in were posted on WalleyeFirst as the weigh in progressed allowing those at home to follow along. Select WWA Team Challenge tournaments throughout the year will utilize this unique multimedia service.

To see pictures of the winning teams and a complete list of how all the teams finished, visit the WWA website at www.worldwalleye.com which is hosted by the leaders in multi media technology, OutdoorsFirst Media. Or watch for results on all the WWA tournaments in the Badger Sportsman magazine in upcoming issues.

For information on fishing the World Walleye Association, a "Tournament Circuit For Fisherman, Run By Fisherman", visit the website or call 920-924-2100

The World Walleye Association is proudly sponsored by Yarcraft Boats, "The Dry One!"

WWA WI Qualifier - Lake Winnebago Results