35th annual tournament kicks off Saturday
Nearly 80 2-person teams will be in Jamestown this weekend to compete for a $1,650 top prize at the 35th Annual Dakota Anglers Walleye-Northern Fishing Tournament. The tournament is open to the first 76 teams that enter. Cost is $150 and all entrants must be Dakota Anglers members, which costs $15 for a family membership.
Nearly 80 2-person teams will be in Jamestown this weekend to compete for a $1,650 top prize at the 35th Annual Dakota Anglers Walleye-Northern Fishing Tournament.
The tournament is open to the first 76 teams that enter. Cost is $150 and all entrants must be Dakota Anglers members, which costs $15 for a family membership.
Seventy-two teams were entered as of Thursday, but last year there were a handful of openings on the Friday before the tournament began.
The catch-and-release-style tournament begins Saturday at 7 a.m. at Boat Club Bay on Jamestown Reservoir and continues Sunday.
A rules session will be held at 6 p.m. tonight at the Knights of Columbus. Each team is required to be represented.
Anglers will be battling high water at the Reservoir this year, and possibly rain if the forecast holds true.
“The high water makes it harder to fish. It makes it a lot harder to find them,” said Kay Herrick, who serves as tournament chairman along with Larry Marsalek and Jay Thompson.
The catch-and-release format makes this tournament one of the most unique in the state. So does the fact that quantity and quality factor into the final outcome.
“It’s a points tournament, not just a pounds of fish tournament,” Herrick said. “It takes the single-fish win out of the equation.”
The top 20 places pay prize money, and is determined by taking the total pounds of fish times the number of fish caught.
Second place pays $1,200, third $925, fourth $675 and fifth $575.
Anglers from across the state and Minnesota are registered to compete in the tournament.
Herrick said it would not be doable without help.
“We get great support from volunteers and that’s been a big reason for the success of the tournament,” she said. “We have judges down there and they help launch, help load.
“There’s a sense of really good camaraderie between everyone involved.”
Sun sports & outdoors editor Dave Selvig can be reached at (701) 952-8460 or by e-mail at daves@jamestownsun.com
Tags: outdoors, fishing, walleye, tournament
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