Masters Walleye Circuit > Tournaments

Great Walleye Tournament Fishing Starts Here!

Welcome to the MWC Press Room!

Here you'll find tournament press kits and hi-res images for use. If you need other information or images please email us and let us know.

Detroit River Tournament
April 13 - 15*, 2012

(built in bad-weather day)

Webster (Waubay Lake) Tournament
September 12 & 13, 2009

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

September 13, 2009

Webster Winners, West Division Team of the Year and Overall MWC Team of the Year

Big finishes were the order of the day as the 2009 Cabela's MWC season wrapped up on Waubay Lake in the Glacial Lake area of South Dakota. As a season ending event, wins occurred for both the tournament at hand and the circuit's Team of the Year honors. The Championship field for 2010 was also firmly established for a field of 29 teams. The biggest finish was a significant comeback for the proud Waubay Lake winners, Brian Woodward and David Rice, both of Casper, WY. The duo had only 4.9 pounds on day one sitting in 36th place out of a field of 44 teams. Yet the talk at the dock on Sunday morning was definitely that anyone was still in this tournament with the right fish. Getting the right fish was exactly what Woodward and Rice accomplished. They ended up with the largest basket of the tournament with 22.44 pounds on day two for a spectacular catapult to first place with just over a four pound cushion.

Woodward and Rice started the day with a firm decision on what not to do, which was everything they had been doing all week long and catching only 14 and 15 inch fish. "We caught small fish every which way you could think of during pre-fish," shared Brian. "So we decided that we'd have to break into something that we hadn't tried yet... trolling." They trolled leadcore with #5 white shad raps 100 feet back in 14'-18' depths. They followed the contours around Duck Island and hit a 30½" walleye. Bam. In one moment they knew they had found their spot and stayed with it the rest of the day, working about a 200 yard stretch. They hit a 19 ¾" next and a 28½" after that and knew they had just about a perfect basket coming their way. Regulations on Waubay are two fish per person with only one fish per person over 20 inches. Each team could weigh four, but many teams had to settle for four small fish as they couldn't get the overs to go. Getting two? Priceless. Did they know they had a win right away in the boat? "No, not really," shared Rice. "We didn't know what the top teams were able to do – maybe they had gotten on nice fish, too. We just figured we were going to cut a check, we didn't know it would be a win."

Click the following for the entire Press Release and Final Results of the Webster tournament.

Press Release
Final Results

West Division Team of the Year

Additional honors were awarded to the MWC West Division Team of the Year, Bob Propst, Jr. of Pierre, SD and David Atkinson of Sault Sainte Marie, MI. They captured West Division Team of the Year honors with their third place finish at Waubay, 14th place at Lake Oahe and 14th place at Devils Lake. The honor is worth a bonus of $2,400 for the team. Their 3rd place weight of 22.49 pounds at Waubay cashed a nice $3,250 plus Propst won $100 from the National Professional Anglers Association (NPAA) making a total of $5,750.

Propst and Atkinson were complimentary of the team format style of fishing and level of competition in the MWC. "I found the team format really more fun," shared Propst, Jr., who has won tournaments and Angler of the Year honors in the pro/co format in past years. "I think the competition is a little tougher with picking your own team. I'm tickled to death with MWC West Division Team of the Year." Atkinson agreed. "I fished the co-angler side a lot in those tournaments and I found the camaraderie more fun in the MWC. You choose who you're with, and who could ask for a better partner than Bob. It makes it fun to do this together for the season."

Click HERE for the West Division Standings.

Cabela's MWC Team of the Year

Watching and waiting from home in Ohio, MWC anglers Matt Davis (Marion) and Dan Gies (Huron) were on pins and needles wondering whether they would hold Team of the Year heading into the last tournament or get bumped out by a team finishing well on Waubay. With their four tournaments inked in the books since Dunkirk, the duo had agreed not to talk about it again between themselves. But sneaking peaks at Walleye Central's www.liveleaderboard.com did occur as the final day unfolded.

Davis and Gies' cell phones started ringing in Ohio as their friends were calling to congratulate them on their newly announced title of Cabela' MWC Team of the Year. Consistently good, always toward the top of the pack, Davis and Gies have improved each year during the six years they have fished the MWC. With coming in 2nd place Team of the Year in 2008 and 3rd place in 2007, they were sure hoping that this could be the year. Indeed it was. Davis and Gies grabbed 4th place at Dunkirk, 14th place at Sandusky, 15th place at Trenton and 6th place at Spring Valley. The honor of Team of the Year comes with beautiful custom trophies, custom 14 karat gold rings and a pay-day of $13,000.

"It hasn't really sunk in yet," shared Davis during a telephone interview from Ohio. "When you look back at who has been MWC Team of the Year previously – it is a great honor to be on that list now." Gies agreed. "We're so excited and really proud of the progress we've made." Davis and Gies were self-proclaimed Great Lakes trollers who found themselves foiled the first year or two when faced with fishing rivers – particularly challenged on the Illinois River. It took awhile, but they figured it out and it has definitely made a difference when in the hunt for Team of the Year. In 2004 they came in 194th. 2006 – 108th. 2008 – 6th. 2009 – 6th. Becoming versatile and expanding your comfort zone is what it takes to win a title like Cabela's MWC Team of the Year. Davis and Gies have learned, improved, and now in 2009, earned it.

Click HERE for the final Challenge Standings and to see who will be going to the 2010 Championship.

Copyright © 2010 North American Membership Group, Inc.
12301 Whitewater Drive, Minnetonka, MN 55343
P: 877-893-7947 (toll free), Fax: 952-988-7250
email: events@masterswalleyecircuit.com