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| Review
: Outdoor Canada (2000)
(Outdoor Canada rated the CWC second best out of the top 25 tournaments in Canada!) The first-ever Canadian Walleye Championship was held this past October on the Winnipeg River near Pine Falls, Manitoba, and by all accounts it’s destined to become one of the country’s premier events. While the two-day tourney was extremely well run and the prize money was generous, it was the size of the walleye that generated the most interest. Dozens of fish weighing more than 10 pounds were recorded, with a 6.5-pound average winning the event (this with an entry limit of just eight fish, only four of which could exceed 22 inches). The tournament occupied the river between Powerview Dam and the end of Traverse Bay on Lake Winnipeg, a seven-mile stretch famous for its run of big fall walleye. Here the most popular presentation is a Shad Rap trolled over the sand flats near the mouth of Traverse Bay. The tournament winners, meanwhile, caught their winning weight by vertical jigging a jig-and-minnow combination along the edge of the river channel. Pros report these Winnipeg river ’eyes to be some of the hardest fighting fish they’ve ever encountered. And since all hooks in Manitoba must be barbless, it takes a skilled angler to bring these big walleye to the boat. |