Big Fish prizes:

First prize: Team 15, Doug Breker (Captain), Townsend, 30.5 inches, 11.42 pounds, $500.

Second prize: Team 39, Ron Campbell (Captain), Townsend, 23.0 inches, 4.42 pounds, $350.

Third prize: Team 38, Jim Banta (Captain), Townsend, 22.25 inches, 3.94 pounds, $250.

Fourth prize: Team 30, Matt Siegle (Captain), Belgrade, 20.25 inches, 2.88 pounds, $150.

Grand door prizes:

Teams: Champion 4000-watt generator, Team 75, Wayne Fuller (Captain)

Youths: Aqua Vu Scout underwater camera.

Participants:

80 teams

227 anglers

2.84 anglers per boat

Walleye catch as reported by anglers:

Length/inches	Walleyes kept	Walleyes released	Walleye total
13-under	44	46	90
14-16	50	32	82
17-19	2	4	6
20-22	0	2	2
23-25	0	1	1
27-29	0	0	0
30-32	0	1	1
Totals	96 (53%)	86 (47%)	182

227 anglers

182 walleyes

0.80 caught per angler

0.42 kept per angler

Sponsored by:

Montana PikeMasters and Walleyes Forever

Donors:

Gallatin/Madison Walleyes Unlimited; Montana Outdoor Radio Show; Mitch Huggins - A Treasured Friend; Ed Chamberlin - Bob’s Supermarket, Townsend; Daren Tomlinson - Western Security Bank; Billings Scheels; Billings Big Bear; Silos RV and KOA Campground; Paul Lindsoe- Headwaters Seat Covers, Three Forks; Shawn Maddox - Rotating Dynamics Prop Service, Billings; Tom Cook - Sportsman's Edge Bait Company; Designer Tackle; Park City Kwik Stop; Café Italia coffee; Dynamic Designs, Laurel; Tanya Matson - TTI Blakemore; Mark Jones - Food Services of America; Montana Lottery; Peggy Lawver; Carol Henckel, CarMel Collectibles; Steve/Mark Stonge, Reser’s Foods; Mark Riggins, Frito-Lay; Corby Moore - Moore Candy Co.; Jerry Richardson - Richardson Builders; DeAnna Jones and Jessie Ward - clowns.

Discussion:

The walleye bite was very slow with many fishermen reporting light catches or no catches. The expected spring, south-end bite had not yet developed as of May 31. As you can see by the catch report, the catch also ran very heavy to small walleyes with fish 13-under the biggest category. Most of the fish in the 14-16-inch category were actually just over 14-inches. For a long, long time, 15-inchers were in the money. In case you wondered for invasive species concerns, all boats were from in-state.

Inflows were fairly heavy into Canyon Ferry and there was a lot of floating debris. Much of the south end of the lake was muddy. The carp seemed to like it. Anglers talked about catching a good number of them. And although we didn’t keep count, a good number of nice rainbow trout were also being discussed by anglers. A consistent comment was, “There was a real good walleye bite two weeks ago and then all this weather blew in. We need more warm and stable weather for the bite to turn on again.”

Keeping track of the number of youth anglers was a bit like herding butterflies. Kids would get added to teams. Other kids would be dropped. I can tell you that the youngest angler was age 2 and fell fast asleep on his grandfather’s lap at the wheel of the boat while they were making the run back to the benefit headquarters at the end of the day. According to our records, we had 30.95 kids in the event and passed out 30 fishing rods and other assorted gear. (The 0.95 addition is explained by the fact that we handed out some kids stuff to the lady who was five days shy of her delivery date on her first child – the youngster will be born ready to fish!)

In terms of how the event was set up and played out, just like last year, the teams seemed to appreciate the laid-back nature of the benefit. No number restrictions were put on the (safe) number of participants in the boat. Catch and release fishing was optional rather than mandatory with the state fishing regulations covering what was done on the water by individuals. The format of “free-to-pee” was also popular whereby event boats could come to shore to use latrines or get items for kids in the boat or let the dog out.

The event was well-received and I’m sure we’ll do it again next year. Not sure on the time of the event for 2009 – might be August as it was in 2007.

-- Peggy Lawver, tourney director, and Carol and Mark Henckel

Montana PikeMasters and Walleyes Forever

Reported June 2, 2008