The first Madge Lake Walleye Cup took place September 16 at Duck Mountain Provincial Park with 46 teams, two anglers per boat, from across Saskatchewan and Manitoba competing in the one-day catch and release tournament for cash and prizes exceeding $15,000.
A team of Derek Prokopiw and Dylan Kowalski, both of the Battlefords, won after weighing five walleye for 13.96 pounds, said James Turner of Regina, tournament director. They took home a prize package of an Alumacraft 1436LT Jon Boat with a 5HP Mercury Tiller outboard and a Karavan Trailer valued at over $5,000.
Dean Oxford of Esterhazy and Rebel Lister of Pinawa, Man., took home the Big Fish Prize of $920 for having caught a 3.99-pound walleye. Ava Wujec of Winnipeg was the youth winner of the competition.
The Madge Lake Walleye Cup is now the eighth of 10 tournaments on the Central Walleye Trail (CWT), which stretches from Northwestern Ontario through Manitoba and in to Saskatchewan, making it the only national level walleye tournament trail in Canada, Turner explained.
Michelle Trudeau of Ste. Anne, Man., who is the brand manager for Alumacraft Canada and one of the founding committee members for the Central Walleye Trail, was on hand for the first Madge Lake Walleye Cup, placing seventh in the tournament with her husband Andrew Klopak. She said she was thrilled to see that the CWT’s objective of combining competition with fun and inclusivity was on full display at the Madge Lake event.
“My highlight coming back from this tournament was most definitely hearing so manyamazing stories from the other teams,” Trudeau said, adding that she heard from team members that had never fished a tournament before but enjoyed it so much that they said they could not wait to fish others.
Trudeau said she heard from experienced teams that have fished numerous events and who really enjoyed how the CWT is making it fun and easier for new anglers, especially women and children, to get in to tournament fishing.
Turner, who is with Innovative Outdoorsman Marketing, said he was pleased with the first Madge Lake Walleye Cup, and is confident that he and his friend Mike Twardoski made the right choice in bringing a national-level walleye tournament to the area.
“So many people asked ‘Why Madge?’ and that really played in to my desire to have this event here,” Turner said. “Duck Mountain Provincial Park is absolutely gorgeous, with a fantastic fishery and the infrastructure to support an event like this.
“I can’t say enough about Greg Podovinnikoff and his team here at the park in terms of their efforts to help us put this event on, and to making it a success,” he said, acknowledging all of the people who had stopped by to see what was being done and ended up helping out.
“We appreciated it tremendously.”
Turner and his team hosts three annual CWT qualifying catch and release walleye fishing tournaments in Saskatchewan and is a member of the CWT’s organizing committee.
For more information on the Madge Lake Walleye Cup and its sister events in Saskatchewan, one may check out www.iompresents.com and on Facebook @IOMPresentsMLWC.
For more information on the Central Walleye Trail, one may go to www.centralwalleyetrail.com and on Facebook @centralwalleyetrail.
