Masters Walleye Circuit > Tournaments

Great Walleye Tournament Fishing Starts Here!

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Detroit River Tournament
April 13 - 15*, 2012

(built in bad-weather day)

Lake City Tournament
May 16 & 17, 2009

Fact Sheet
Maps
Area Information
2006 Results
2009 Roster
Pre-tournament Press Release
Post-tournament Press Release
2009 Results

May 17, 2009
Matthees and Conway pull out victory at Lake City!

St. Charles and Winona, Minnesota residents Aaron Matthees and Paul Conway, respectively, bested a field of 73 teams to capture their second MWC victory on the mighty Mississippi River. Employing a simple live bait rig technique on wing dams or other structure spot-on-spot locations produced their two day total of 43.02 pounds cashing in $14,000. The second-largest basket of the tournament at 28.54 pounds on day two paired up with a 4th place day one basket of 14.48 pounds to garner the victory. The two carried smiles as wide as Lake Pepin on stage with their fish. A beautiful 9.12 pound walleye on Sunday was the biggest fish of the day providing a bonus of $575 for a total of $14,575.

Day one produced hefty winds that put strategic 'spot' fishing in jeopardy. Boat control was impossible to manage, assuming that one could even get to the spot that you wanted to fish. Aaron and Paul didn't produce anything super on Saturday, but they did give themselves enough to head into Sunday in fourth place – knowing that the calmer winds on day two would allow them to be more strategic and close in on the holds of big fish.

"We had 6 spots or so that held nice fish and we moved around as we needed to," shared Matthees. Aaron and Paul have been friends since high school and now, even in their 40s with families, they still share their love of the outdoors and hunt, fish and trap together. Their technique was a simple live bait rig – nothing too ornate – egg sinker and barrel swivel with 1'-2' leaders. They used all types of live bait rigs and adjusted the hook size to fit the bait, but everything was working including willow cats, crawlers, red tail chubs and leeches. Predominantly the duo felt the leeches were most productive – credited for the 9 pounder on Sunday.

"We go to huge extremes to have the best bait and we take excellent care of our bait," shared Paul Conway. "The more active your bait the better," chimed in Matthees with enthusiasm. "Walleyes really pick up on the movement and you need bait producing that for the most bites."

Local knowledge of the river played a big part in their success. "It's so much harder for someone out-of-the-area to come in and know the fish in this system, their holding places and seasonal adjustments," shared Aaron. "We fish this river all the time and that just gives us so much more information, developed over many years and changing conditions to draw on, as we need to make adjustments." Matthees and Conway won back in 2004 and were excited to get another win under their belt. "This is really so amazing," added Conway. "Our families were here to cheer us on and it was so much fun to bring in this basket today. The reality that we won again is just now sinking in!" The duo worked hard for the win pre-fishing for 7 straight days and being on the water for several weekends before the tournament. For the complete post tournament press release, click HERE.

Lake City Final Results

Matthees and Conway after their big victory

Lake City Winners share their winning techniques with you

Central Division points after Lake City

Challenge Points as of May 17, 2009

May 16, 2009

Marx brothers are leaders after Day 1

Brothers, Joe and Don Marx are in first place after day 1 of the Lake City tournament. They won the 2006 Cabela's MWC tournament held on Lake Pepin and are starting out the 2009 tournament with another strong performance. They weighed in 5 fish that weighed 22.50 pounds giving them a 4.41 pound lead heading into the second and final day tomorrow.

Joe and Don Marx discuss their plan of action for tomorrow.

All of the anglers endured a rough day of fishing as the winds were consistently strong out of the northwest. Wind speed remained at 17 - 22 mph throughout the day with gusts up to 30 mph, making it difficult to maintain a spot on the water. Tomorrow's weather looks much more pleasant as it calls for a chilly start but the wind should calm down to 8 - 14 mph and be out of the southwest.

Joe and Don Marx share their thoughts about the MWC's team fishing format

Day 1 Results

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