Troy Walwood - 4/18/2005

	Chad Fett and Josh Newmyer with two fish from their winning 26.03 lb basket

The World Walleye Association arrived at the Detroit River on Sundeay, April 17th for the first Michigan event of the 2005 season. Anglers were greeted with strong winds from the east and north, creating muddy and turbid water conditions.

As the day progressed, winds turned to rain, followed by overcast skies and temps that varied all day long as the teams battled for the first-place plaques and that elusive check.

At the scales, it became a close match as the first and second place weighs were only .18 pounds in difference and better then that the big fish battle came down to .03 pound. When the last team was weighed in the focus of attention went to Chad Fett and Josh Newmyer with a total of 5 fish alive and a weight of 26.03 pounds, they also had the big fish of the day at 8.50 pounds.

Chad and Josh found their fish late in the day pulling wire at Wyandotte in the 15 to 30 foot breaklines, using #9 Rapalas in orange/gold and chartreuse/silver. "It was really something as we were netting a three-pound fish the big fish hit Josh's rig and the long nervous battle began," stated Chad.

This bite not only capped off the win but gave the team big fish awards. A special addition to the award was made by TR-1 of Michigan Gary Bowman with a separate check award of $150.00.

	The top three at WWA Detroit River

A close second place went to Henry Kisselburg and Ralph Varney with 5 fish alive, a weight of 25.85 pounds, and the second largest walleye of the event at 8.47 pounds.

Henry and Ralph also pulled wire concentrating on the Ambassador bridge area in 32 to 35 foot of water. Their big fish came when both anglers had large fish on, 7 pound and 8.47 pound walleyes were landed as the anglers scrambled to net each fish almost simultaneously.

Third place finish went to Gary Devos and Erik Forseth with 5 alive for a weight of 21.26 pounds and third largest walleye of 7 pounds. All the teams came out winners when Bush Exteriors came to the event and brought free pizza, pop and bread sticks for the hungry anglers at the end of a day of fishing.

Gary and Erik's weigh fish, including a 7 pounder, were all caught in the last hour of the event when they decided to make a last-minute move to the well know area called "Duffy's". Rapalas but and Thundersticks both produced, the latter putting fish in the live well.

One of our youngest anglers to hit the water, Carter Seyka, (fishing with his dad Jeff Seyka) caught two fish and had an "awesome" time fishing his first, but not to be last, WWA event.

A special thanks to the area sponsors at Bottom Line Bait and Tackle, Hook Line and Sinker, TR-1 Sales of Michigan, and Bush Exteriors.

To see pictures of the winning teams and a complete list of how all the teams finished, visit the WWA website at http://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 920-651-1066

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

DETROIT RIVER RESULTS
Place Name #Fish Basket BigFish Place Points
1 Chad Fett & Josh Newmyer 5 26.03 8.50 400
2 Henry Kisselburg & Ralph Varney 5 25.85 8.47 398
3 Erik Furseth & Gary De Voss 5 21.16 7.0 396
4 Dave Kuffer & Steve Stopinski 5 15.04 3.75 394
5 Jeff Russell & Kurt Gillespie 4 11.61 392
6 Troy Stachle & Terry Mackillop 5 11.31 390
7 Jeff Seyka & Carter Seyka 2 5.19 388
8 Dennis Kuffer & Ken Tymczack 1 4.79 4.79 386
9 Brian Stroven & Dean Evans 1 4.75 4.75 384
10 Willam Dubeas & Tom Matych 1 1.91 382
11 Jamie Collest & Charles Collest Jr 0 0.00 100


WWA MI Qualifier - Detroit River Results