Fresno Walleye Challenge sees scores of competitors

The Fresno Walleye Challenge fishing tournament saw 81 teams vying for day and weekend money Saturday and Sunday at Fresno Reservoir and fishing for points that could go toward placing in Montana's four-tournament series.

"I think the tournament went very well again," said Brian Olson, tournament organizer for the event host Fresno Chapter of Walleyes Unlimited.

"With the 81 (teams), we fed them both on Friday and Saturday nights," Olson said. "Mother Nature - actually the weather was nice. It was a bit windy on Saturday and much more tolerable on Sunday, the temps were in the 70s, water temps were probably in the high 50s, and nearly everyone caught fish."

The two-person teams entered in the tournament were able to go out on the reservoir prior to the tournament to locate schools of walleye until 4 p.m. Friday, when it was time to register, attend a rules meeting and eat the sloppy joe dinner provided by the Fresno Chapter.

Weather can make a difference on where the fish could be found, Olson said, and Thursday's weather bump in the 90s could have negated all the pre-tournament fish efforts because the fish that the walleye prey on will try to find cooler currents, he added.

"No, actually they were very consistent. What had been happening on Fresno is that the spottail shiners were up spawning, and they'd been spawning for the entire week, so the only thing that changed there is rather than - I know the fish that I was catching - rather than having their noses literally on the bank they did slide off to a little bit deeper water, but I think people were generally catching fish from 5 foot out to probably 15 to 20 feet" in water depth.

"I thought it was a great tournament for local people because, generall, they don't fare that well," Olson added, because fishing has no real home-court advantage.

Some local organizations fared pretty well at the tournament, too, with three organizations getting in some fundraising at the tournament.

Havre's youth hockey got money from a calcutta and from selling breakfast burritos during the tournament. Bullhook Blossoms Garden Club ran and got the proceeds from a 50/50 drawing, and the Kremlin Hawks 4-H ran the "Big Northern" pot, a side competition for the pair with the longest northern pike, Olson said. They made more than $1,000 for their efforts, he added.

From here, the tournament series moves to the next sites, Crooked Creek Classic and the Tiber Walleye Tourney.

Last year, more than 700 different individuals fished in the circuit, he said, but only a handful of fishers, like Olson, go to all.

Next year's tournament will be held the third week in May, Olson said, because Fresno swaps weekends with Tiber so neither is stuck with the earlier date every year with the potential for bad weather.

One of the goals for next year, he added, is to get more local fishermen in the tournament.

"We had about 19 empty slots and there's plenty of money for local fishermen to come up and do what they can and give it a shot.

Daily winners

Saturday

Biggest Walleye

1. Cody Nagel/Lance Breen, 24 inches, 5.1 pounds

2. Jeff Hockett/Mark Weed, 22.75 inches, 4.26 pounds

Biggest Northern Pike

1. Bruce Normandy/Nate Hoines, 39.5 inches

Sunday

Biggest Walleye

1. Roger Terwilliger/Mat Zeadow, 25.25 inches, 6.06 pounds

2. Wayne Yurek/Bim Johnson, 24.5 inches, 5.46 pounds

3. Martin McLean/Caed Melone, 24.5 inches, 5.46 pounds

Biggest Northern Pike

1. First, Cody Nagel/Lance Breen, 29 inches

Top 10 Teams over the weekend

Local teams marked with *

1st, Bob Hickey/Jason Mundel, total: 26.24 pounds

2nd, *Nate Molstad/Jordan Overcast. total: 24.19 pounds

3rd, Wayne Yurek/Bim Johnson, total: 20.8 pounds

4th, *Cody Nagel/Lance Breen, total: 20.74 pounds

5th, Steve Kincaid/Luckie Bethel, total: 20.72 pounds

6th, Dean Pearson/ Waylon, Janousek total: 20.56 pounds

7th, Roger Terwilliger/Matt Zeadow, total: 19.5 pounds

8th, *Jeffrey Hockett/Mark Weed, total: 19.38 pounds

9th, *Brian Olson/Greg Bouchard, total: 18.66 pounds

10th, *Martin McLean/Caed Melone, total: 18.31 pounds