From the Trail! Hooked magazine brings you news from four walleye trails this year: the Southern Alberta Walleye Trail, the Saskatchewan Walleye Trail, the Central Walleye Trail, and the Northern Ontario Walleye Trail.
Central Walleye Trail Season Opener – The Rafferty Reservoir Walleye Cup
The 5th Annual Rafferty Reservoir Walleye Cup (RRWC) is on the books, with Saskatchewan anglers extraordinaire Lance Marcotte and Karen Soke – both from Estevan – taking home the $10,000 CASH 1st Place prize with an extraordinary two-day weight of 32.93lbs over the May Long weekend! Not only did they win several other prize categories including Top Mixed Team and Top Central Walleye Trail (CWT) members, but they won the very first RRWC back in 2015!
With a 2nd place finish of 30.40lbs, Clayton Harkins (Bienfait, SK) and Darren Anton (Estevan, SK), took home the Alumacraft boat package sponsored by Mercury Service Ltd and Woodlake Marine, valued at $5,500. Rounding out the Top Three was Paul Skoczylas (Estevan, SK) and Mike Reid (Virden, MB), weighing in with a two-day total of 30.09lbs over ten fish for $2,500!
Other big winners for the 2019 RRWC were Quintin Becker and Jay Zadorozniak – both of Radvile, SK – weighing in a gorgeous 7.66lbs walleye for the Big Fish of the tournament and $960 in cash! The father-son team of Brad Graham (Bienfait, SK) and Travis Graham (Carievale, SK) took home $1,000 from the Weyburn Wildlife Federation for Cool Under Pressure, having moved up 30 spots from Day One to Day Two! The Top Local Team was Lyman Sargent (Weyburn, SK) and Colton Tochor (North Weyburn, SK), receiving a prize pack worth $600 from New Age Motor Sports, Liquor Spot/Dallas Pizza, and Prairie Sky Co-Op.
The Rafferty Reservoir Walleye Cup began in 2015 as the first CWT Qualifier here in Saskatchewan. It launched as a one-day tournament with 55 boats the May Long Weekend at Mainprize Regional Park, and grew steadily until 2018, when the anglers themselves voted overwhelmingly to make it a two-day event. In addition to drawing anglers from across Canada and the northern US to the Weyburn area, the RRWC has become the first Saskatchewan fishing tournament in more than a decade to be televised, courtesy of Access Communications. The on-air date is TBD.
The next Central Walleye Trail qualifying tournament will be the Walleye Masters Cup at Falcon Lake Manitoba June 1, 2019. For more information on how to enter please visit their website @ centralwalleyetrail.com
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