So, you want to become a tournament walleye angler.
You want to see if you are good enough to compete with the best of the best. You want to have the lure makers, fishing tackle companies, and boat manufacturers bestow thousands of dollars worth of gear on you.
You envision outdoor writers calling for tips, television crews following you around on the lakes, and your face will be plastered on the covers of Walleye In-Sider and In-Fisherman magazines.
It could happen.
But there aren't any walleye scouts out there watching unsuspecting anglers fish, waiting to swoop down to the dock to offer a lucrative professional contract.
There's only one way into the elite fraternity of professional walleye anglers--you have to prove yourself and you have to do it through your own initiative.
Two of the premier walleye tournament circuits, the Professional Walleye Trail (PWT) and the North American Walleye Anglers (NAWA) are pro/am events. Don't bother trying to sign up for the professional side of the tournament because your entry will be refused unless you have "significant tournament experience." The number of participants is limited in each event and there are enough pros to fill each field without having to seat newcomers.
Tournament experience comes from competing on the amateur side of the events, and it makes sense for newcomers to do it that way. Being a professional tournament fisherman isn't all glory, and competing as an amateur allows a taste of what being on the circuit is like without having to endure the less desirable aspects of the professional tournament angler lifestyle.
It's also a lot less expensive.
Here's how a walleye tournament is set up. Most of the tournaments are three-day events. A random drawing is held pairing each amateur contender with a different professional each day of the tournament. That produces a measure of luck to the amateur side of the program. An amateur may be paired with the pro who is hot on the first day of the tournament but at the back of the pack the next couple days, or he may draw pros with mediocre results each day. Either way, it's the luck of the draw.
Fishing is done from the professional's boat. For the most part, the professionals call the shots about where and how to fish. In most cases all an amateur contender has to bring to the boat each day will be his own raingear and lunch; the professional will supply all the bait, tackle, and lures needed.
It's to the best advantage of the team to catch big fish and amateurs are allowed to suggest changes in spots or tactics which may produce better, but it's still the call of the professional whether or not to heed the amateur's advice. Amateurs may not reveal "secrets" learned from the pros they fished with previously.
The goal is to catch the most pounds and ounces of fish each day and accumulate a hefty total at the end of the three-day event. Each professional and amateur pair are fishing as a team. One limit of fish will be allowed for the team at the daily weigh-in. It makes no difference who caught the fish, the professional or the amateur; all fish count toward the team's daily total. (In many cases the pro encourages the amateur to do most of the catching, preferring to be the netter rather than the catcher.) The amateur takes his daily totals with him and adds to it with the fish he and his new partner catch on subsequent days.
Both the PWT and NAWA schedule four tournaments each season. Amateurs may sign up to compete in any or all of them. Competing in one will give a taste of what tournament walleye fishing is like. Competing in each one will give a taste of what being a walleye pro is like as well as a shot at winning the amateur angler of the year.
Prizes for the amateur side of the events are not amateurish. Top place in any tournament of the 1996 NAWA tournaments is a boat package worth $13,000. Payouts of thousands of dollars go to the top 10 finishers and hundreds of dollars to the next 20 places.
For more information write to: NAWA, 1115 Illinois St. Sidney, NE 69162, phone 800-224-4990; or PWT, P.O. Box 1052, Brainerd, MN 56401, phone 218-829-6381.
Copyright (c) 1996 Mike Schoonveld. All rights reserved.
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