To Team or Not To Team

One of the most controversial topics in competitive walleye fishing, probably for all competitive fishing events, is teaming. For those that are not in the inner circle of competitive walleye fishing, here is how it works.

There are three major walleye tournament circuits, the Masters Walleye Circuit (MWC), the FLW Walleye Tour and the AIM Walleye circuit. The MWC is a team tournament where two people fish together as a team with the goal of bringing in the heaviest weight over two days with a limit determined by local regulations. The FLW and AIM pair individual professionals with a different, randomized amateur each day of the tournament. It does not matter who catches the fish, the pro or the amateur. The pro tries for the heaviest weight over the 3 days of the tournament. In all three tournaments there can be no communication, during the hours on the water of the tournament, with other boats so it is each team or individual pro against the rest of the field. However, before the tournament and after tournament hours teams (MWC) and individual pros (FLW, AIM) can share information i.e. where they caught fish, what bait they used etc. This is where teaming comes into place.

Teams (MWC) or Individual Pros (FLW, AIM) team with others forming a "team" of 2-4. Most "teams" are formed by friends or some sort of common interest like geography, pro-staffers from the same company or they may be in the same fishing club. Others are a bit more calculated. There are teams that were put together based on where the venues of the tour were usually located. This lead to a pro, who was a great angler on the great lakes, recruiting a great angler whose home water was on the Mississippi River and another angler who was well known on the reservoirs of the Dakotas. The thinking is obvious, each angler with expertise on their home water will help the others on waters that they are not familiar with prior to each tournament. There are several of these "super teams" on each of the walleye tours which can make things daunting for someone who is fishing "alone".

"Teams" travel together and share expenses which is an obvious benefit. They will generally get to the location to pre-fish 5-7 days prior to the tournament. There are several advantages of working as a team. The biggest is 2-4 people can cover a lot more water to find the fish than just one person. For example on a tournament on the Mississippi River there is 60 miles of river to fish. If you have a team of 4 you can break down the river into sections with each person responsible for the section he/she was assigned. If someone starts catching fish on a certain lure or using a certain pattern, he/she calls the others and they can see if that works in other sections that are similar. In 5-7 days this team will have a pretty good game plan on where and how to catch fish. Other benefits include local knowledge, diversity of techniques of each of the fisherman, resources (one person on the team might have access to a secret bait) etc.

I am all for teaming. It has been going on forever and it is a fun way to fish. I am not sure why but it is a topic that most do not like to discuss. Maybe it is because some don't like others to know that they share winnings or maybe they don't want others to know that they had help finding the fish. Regardless of the reason teaming goes on and it is something each fisherman has to think about.

I have been part of a team and I have fished alone. Last year I teamed up with my friend, and mentor, Mark Michael. We had a great time and had our opportunities. Mark has decided not to fish this year so he can spend more time with family. When teaming up you have to have trust and it helps to be friends that is why I enjoyed fishing with Mark. Now with him out of the game I  have to make a decision to team or not to team.

I only asked one person and our schedules do not match so I have decided to fish alone. Some will say I don't have a chance against these super teams. Overall they probably have a point. However, I have been in the hunt before and think that I have a punchers chance at winning! I am sure I will have my struggles but if I do pull one off, fishing by myself against these "super teams", it will be oh so sweet!

Decision Time - What Tour(s) to Fish

The days are getting longer and the extreme cold has given way to temperatures that are more pleasing to my brittany spaniels paws. This can only mean that winter is not going to last all year so I need to get my 2011 fishing schedule in order!

Choosing which walleye tour(s) to fish is easy for some. For others, like myself, it is a difficult decision with many variables to be considered. If I had unlimited resources and was without a job I would fish them all. However, since the money tree I planted last year did not produce I have to make the best decision for myself and my sponsors. My biggest liability is I only have 20 days of vacation. To compete at the pro level you need to take an entire week off to pre-fish so that means I will have to keep it to four major tournaments. So which tournament should I fish?

The Masters Walleye Circuit (MWC) is a team circuit that has an excellent schedule. I fished the central division 2006-08 and the Illinois River opener the last two years with my buddy Shooter (Scott Pirnstill). We have had some success with an 11th (2008) and 3rd place (2009). This is one that I will always try to have on my schedule as I think we can win! Shooter and I will be fishing this one. Because we know this water pretty good I will only take two vacation days for pre-fishing.

The Forest L Wood (FLW) Walleye Tour has an excellent schedule as well, however, I now only have 18 vacation days left. There are four tournaments, Lake Erie in May, Leech Lake in June, Green Bay in July and Lake Oahe in August. I live close enough to Green Bay that I could  skip a couple of days of pre-fishing, saving vacation days, allowing me to fish all four tournaments. The major benefit of fishing all four tournaments is you gain points based on performance. The top 50 pros qualify for the championship which has an excellent purse with no entry fee. I would be out of vacation days so that would not be a benefit to me. Now my focus shifts to which tournaments would I have the best chance at winning. I am considering Lake Erie, Leech Lake and Green Bay.

The Anglers Insight Marketing (AIM) Walleye Tour is the only one that I have not fished. Their format is on the cutting edge with no fish being kept. Instead all fish are measured, recorded, photographed and released back into the water. AIM will be visiting Winneconne (Wolf River) in April, Dubuque (Mississippi River), Brimley, MI (St. Mary's River) and their championship on Lake Oahe in September. I could fish all of the tournaments but with the Brimley event being an invitational I cannot guarantee that I would be able to fish. That would put me out of the angler of the year race which has a nice payout. Instead I am considering fishing the Wolf River and Mississippi River event.

Because I will not be involved in a points race in any of the circuits my decisions will be based on where I have the best chance to win. I will be fishing by myself in most of the FLW/AIM events with the exception of one maybe two events, I will be leaning towards bodies of water that I am familiar with. Teaming with another angler(s) is common practice on these tours as anglers share expenses and information. Sharing of information happens during pre-fishing and after tournament days. It is against the rules to communicate with another angler during tournament hours. I am all for teaming but I will be going solo this year for the most part. I will tackle this subject at a later date.

Deposits are due soon so I need to make my decisions ASAP! I am leaning towards two FLW events, one AIM event, the MWC opener on the Illinois River along with the Lund Mania tournament on Otter Tail Lake in Minnesota. I will post my decision soon so I can start getting ready for open water!

On the River with The Viver - Expectations

The mercury has been hovering around zero for the last few days, what a great time to start a new blog! In the coming year I will be blogging about my preparation and participation in walleye tournaments. I will do my best to document the ups and downs of competitive angling, hopefully weekly. I will take you through my decision making process of choosing which tour(s) to fish, my pre-fishing and tournament day strategies/philosophies, choices of boats, motors and electronics. I will walk through rigging my boat and discuss the equipment I use along with tips and techniques that worked or did not work for each tournament. I will also blog candidly about subjects that are somewhat controversial like teaming and on the water ethics.

It might be zero degrees but the first tournament of the year, the MWC on the Illinois River, is only two months away! My new Lund and Mercury Verado are on order and I have a ton of stuff to get done before I drop the boat in the Illinois. I am looking forward to an exciting 2011 and look forward to sharing my experiences as I try to live out my dream and win my first major walleye tournament!