2009 Balls and Chain Walleye Tournament held to benefit the Casey Mckern "Pay it Forward" Foundation.

Bribes, Sabotage and allot of fun best describes the only walleye tournament of the season where everyone walks away a winner.

The 2009 Balls and Chain Walleye Tournament on Lake Roosevelt hosted by the Balls and Chain Committee to benefit the Casey McKern Pay it Forward foundation is now over. 74 contestants weighed in 94 walleye for a total of 104 pounds of fish in this one day tournament. Teams competed for hourly big fish awards, big fish for the day award and awards for the top three teams. The bribes, purely designed to sabotage specific teams, were very creative this year.



Click here to see the entire coverage. >> ProAngler.com

WRIGHT & PUTNAM take the Oregon Governors Cup in Umatilla Oregon with 41.62 Pounds

(Click image to see stats)

The "Oregon Governors Cup" in Umatilla Oregon was won by G.WRIGHT & B.PUTNAM with a huge 41.62 Pounds over 2 days. The 50 teams averaged 6 fish each day with an average weight of 2.12 pounds per fish.

Big Fish at 11.20 Pounds was landed by D.LAPIERRE & K.NEWCOMB


D.LAPIERRE & K.NEWCOMB took 2nd place with 39.38 pounds and the J.Romig & M.Stevens took 3rd with 37.54 pounds.

Complete Coverage and images can be found on ProAngler.com

Catching Trophy Small Mouth Bass on Reaction Innovations Beaver Tails and Light, Cheap Gear

Chris uses his secret weapon for smallies; Black Sheep Sporting Goods and Reaction Innovations Beaver Tails to win a bet with Steve. Chris demonstrates that with the right bait you can buy inexpensive gear and still catch Trophy Small Mouth Bass on Hayden Lake in Idaho. The Complete Video; "Rockin' Smallies" which shows in great detail how and where these fish were caught, can be found at ProAngler.com

Greg Loper and Ken Loper take the $10,000 purse at BIG WALLY'S SPRING WALLEYE CLASSIC with a total weight of 30.54 pounds.

Stats provided by Walleye's Unlimited. (Click image to see stats)

The Second 2009 Walleye Tournament in the Washington State circuit is now over.
The "Big Wally's Spring Walleye Classic " was well attended with 108 entries. The competition was just as fierce as you would expect with a $10,000 first place payout.

The tournament was professionally organized and ran like a well oiled machine. But, you would expect nothing short of perfection from any tournament organized by Gordy Steinmetz, Dan Allen, George Allen and the professional staff that surround them.

The tournament had strong sponsorship which provided for some very handsome prizes and payout's. The main sponsors: Big Wally's, Valley Marine Yakima and Lund Boats should be congratulated on hosting one of the largest fishing events in Washington State...even in a tough economy. The weigh-in ran by George Allen and Walleye's Unlimited was professional, accurate and as smooth as any weigh-in found on the national circuit. The number of fish weighed in was 491 with an average weight of 2.37 pounds. All the fish but 9 were released successfully. The average weight of each basket was a little lower this year than were caught in previous years. With $10,000 on the line, there was a palpable tension in the air on the first day of competition which the blast-off images and videos demonstrate.
The tournament weather on Saturday and Sunday was clear sky's and a light breeze coming out of the southwest.
The mornings were chilly but warmed quickly to highs approaching 80 degrees by1pm on each day. The field could be seen shedding clothes through-out the day on Saturday and Sunday. The water temperature ranged from 54 - 58 degrees andwassomewhat silty from the recent run-off. The first day weigh-in started at 3pm for the first flight of boats and produced bigger fish than the second day. The largest fish caught on day 1 was 10.12 pounds by James Donelan and JamesCarruth. The largest fish caught on day 2 was 7.62 pounds by Pete Vereullen and Jim Lochridge. Thebiggest comeback from the first day was Fred Ahrens and Dick Dahlgren whomoved from 104th place to 51st place. They win the "Cool Under Pressure" award. Wow!!

This was Gordy Steinmetz last tournament. He announced his retirement at the tournament. Please make sure you view the"FarewellMontage" video located below and remember to drop Gordy a note letting him know how much he will be missed.

Rod Meseberg Spring Walleye Classic.

Wayne Conley / Bill Conley take first at the Rod Meseberg Spring Walleye Classic.

(Click image to see stats)
The First 2009 Walleye Tournament in Washington is now over. The "Rod Meseberg Spring Walleye Classic" was well attended and brought in some very nice fish. Mardon Resort, Valley Marine, Ranger Boats and the Spokane Walleye Club really did a fantastic job putting this tournament together. They also did a great job with the release of the fish. 415 fish were caught and all but 2 were were successfully released.

The tournament contained a great deal of drama with the weather providing a real challenge to the field on the first day. The first day started out calm but ended with some very nasty weather and
3 foot waves. There were quite a few zeros in the first day but considering the weather conditions, the field did a great job hauling the fish in with some very nice fish caught. The biggest comback from the first day was Gary Miller who moved from 80th place to 36th place. Wow!!

The second day provided much nicer weather which the field took full advantage of by bringing in quite a few nice fish. Many teams that zeroed out on the first day were able bring their standings up by weighing in limits and large fish on the second day.

Fish Stats	Season Point Standings

Making Slinky Sinkers Part 1: Making a Simple Slinky Sinker

Part 1 - Making a Simple Slinky Sinker using basic tools. This method can be used to make slinky sinkers right from the shoreline.

Slinky sinkers are designed to bring your bait to the bottom in moving current or when trolling behind your boat. They are attached to your fishing lines about 6ft in front of your bait. Your bait should pull directly behind the sinker about 6" to 24" off the bottom depending on the speed of the boat or the speed of the current.

Part 2 shows how to add hardware to your slinky sinkers. Part 3 shows how to set them up on your rod and fish them. Send us your questions or tips and we'll make a video.

New Release: Pro Spinner Bait Kit

By Popular Request, Pro Angler has assembled a Pro Spinner Kit that includes the components and colors that we recommend. Our Pro Spinner Kit will allow you to make 25 Custom Spinners Baits at 50% of the cost of buying them in the store. Our Pro Spinner Kit contains blade color patterns that will work in almost any body of water for almost all species of freshwater fish. Our Pro Spinner Kit is a great kit for multi-species fishing, multi-season fishing or to help you refine exactly what colors the fish are biting on. (Click on image to see kit)

This Kit Includes all of the following:

1 Free Line Tamer
1 Free Pre-Tied Spinner
1 Free Instructional DVD on tying spinner baits.
1 Premium Plano Box - 13 Slot
5 Premium Painted Indiana Blades - #4 Scale Rainbow
5 Premium Painted Indiana Blades - #4 Scale Firetiger
5 Premium Painted Indiana Blades - #4 Firetiger Perch
5 Premium Painted Indiana Blades - #4 Chartreuse Perch
5 Premium Painted Indiana Blades - #4 Rainbow Perch
25 Eagle Claw Wide Gap #8 Bronze Hooks (L042)
25 Nickel Stirrup Clevis #2
25 Black Deluxe Crane Swivels #7
25 Assorted Stack Beads
150 Assorted Premium Walleye Pearl Beads
20 Reflective Clear Diamond Beads
5 Wedding Bands - The High Grade Original Bands