WBSA Tournaments

The Lake Erie Walleye Trail (LEWT)

Coastal Marine II Marina Launch 
Port Clinton, OH

April 16. 2005

See Tournament Pictures

Press Release to area newspapers & websites

Teams So Lucki and Rhodes pull off LEWT wins

The Western Basin Sportfishing Association (WBSA) held the first event of the Triton Boats/Evinrude E-TEC Lake Erie Walleye Trail (LEWT) in Port Clinton, Saturday, April 16th. The day started off with 38 teams registering and launching at Coastal Marine II, starting at 5AM with calm winds and mild seas after a week of NE winds, 5-7 foot waves and very misleading satellite photos, showing a sea of mud everywhere in the West Basin. Anglers were greeted with coffee, donuts and a gift bag provided by West Marine and Boat US and started the trek down the river to the lake at 7AM.

Weigh in began at 3 PM with Mayor Tom Brown welcoming the anglers to Port Clinton and presenting Triton Boats and the WBSA with Certificates of Appreciation. A pleasant surprise to many was the pizza provided by Hungry Howie's Pizza of Lorain and cold soda and bottled water provided by West Marine and Boat US. This was much enjoyed by everyone after catching big walleyes for 8 hours in the sun on a great weather day on Lake Erie.

Money winners in the Open division were 1st place $760-Ronnie Rhodes of Lorain, Craig Klinect of Grafton, and Jack Sparks of Grafton with 5 fish weighing 45.9 pounds. They also won the big fish award ($260) and a free mount from Jim's Taxidermy of Port Clinton, Ohio with a walleye weighing 10.05 lbs. In 2nd place were John Solecki of Westlake and Steve Ashley of Pt. Clinton with an "OH SO CLOSE" weight of 45.45 Pounds and 5 fish that paid $576, 3rd place went to Steve Carlson of Clinton, Jim Stedke of Wapakoneta and Larry Weiss of Oak Harbor with 5 fish weighing 43.8 pounds worth $184.

Winners in the championship points 2-man team division were: 1st place-5 fish and 45.45 pounds John Solecki / Steve Ashley $933, 2nd place-5 fish and 40.35 pounds- Keith Condon of Metamora and Jeff Pawlaczyk of Metamora $586, 3 place- 5 fish and 38.2 pounds - Bobby Johns of Fremont and Dick Chicoine of Port Clinton $419, 4th place-5 fish and 37 pounds - Tony Muscioni and Chuck Hanck both of Sandusky $287, Tony and Chuck also won the big fish prize of $420 with a 10.00 pound walleye, 5th place - 5 fish and 35.95 pounds - Wayne Jesionowski and Gary Zart both of Hinkley $167.

All of the winning teams credited Reef Runner Deep Diving crank baits with getting their fish. Some trolled as slow as 1 MPH, purples and pinks seemed to be a common factor but big fish were also caught using harnesses and many other colors of other crank baits as well. Big fish were caught NW of Kelley's Island, SE of Kelley's, Between Green and Rattlesnake and in the B-C can areas of the impact range. There was also an active pod of nice fish in the Clinton Reef area

In addition to the cash prizes awarded there were over $1500 worth of merchandise and food handed out to the participants. The top merchandise awards were an inflatable PFD in the Championship division donated by West Marine and an Okuma line counter reel on a Penn Rod in the Open division donated by Boat US. Other merchandise and food donations were made by Triton Boats, Reef Runner Lures, Cranberry Creek Marina, Sportsmans Outpost, Kipawa Propellers, Hungry Howies and Fishermans Wharf.

The final statistics for the two divisions were as follows. Championship Division – 23 boats, 96 fish weighed, total weight of 540.8 lbs and an average weight of 5.63 per fish. Open Division – 16 boats, 59 fish weighed, total weight of 414.35 lbs. and an average weight of 7.02 lbs. per fish. Totals for both divisions combined were 155 fish caught, 955.15 total lbs with an average of 6.16 lbs per fish.

Openings still exist in both divisions for the remainder of this tournament series. The next event will be in Sandusky, Ohio at the Shelby Street Municipal ramp on May 14th. For more information about the WBSA or the LEWT you can visit www.wbsa.us The LEWT is sponsored by Triton Boats, Evinrude E-TEC (BRP), West Marine, Boat US, Reef Runner Lures, Cranberry Creek Marina, Kipawa Propellers, Hungry Howies Pizza, Sportsman's Outpost, Erie Outfitters, Buckeye Rod Maker, Jims Taxidermy and Fishermans Wharf. More sponsors have expressed an interest in this series and could be on board for the next event.