MWC converges on Illinois River
SPRING VALLEY — The weather has warmed up a little and the water has cleared up a little, so it must be time for the Spring Valley Master’s Walleye Tournament. This Saturday and Sunday nearly 200 boats with 400 fishermen and fisherwomen will take to the Illinois River to see if they can outdo the rest of the anglers and achieve the top prize.
For our area, this is a premier event. It is sponsored locally by the Spring Valley Walleye Club, and nationally by Cabela’s, and the Master’s Walleye Circuit event draws fishermen from all over the Midwest. There were 196 teams signed up as of Tuesday afternoon, with the possibility of 220 teams competing for the first prize of just over $28,000, in the two-day tournament.
They fish from the Henry bridge up to Starved Rock dam, a distance of around 28 miles. There is a five-fish limit per team per day. After the weigh-in, the Department of Natural Resources places the fish back into the river. They have had great success in past years in keeping a low mortality rate.
This is a great weekend for Spring Valley and the surrounding area. Many activities are packed into these two days. One thing that the youngsters should be excited about is the Kid’s Clinic that is scheduled to be held at the completion of weigh-in at Barto Landing on Saturday. Tournament director Mike Hurless said the pros will be conducting the clinic, covering strategy, equipment and technique. Given away to the attendees will be 50 rod and reel combos, 50 equipped tackle boxes and a $500 bicycle rigged for fishing.
Fifth graders and under need a parent to accompany them.
This tournament gives back to the community. All profits go to the Illinois River Sauger stocking program and other river projects.
One important note is that there will be NO spectator parking at Barto Landing. Remember, all spectators park at Hall High School and are shuttled “to and from” Barto Landing free of charge. Food, drink and bleachers are available at the landing. Weigh-ins usually start about 1:30 p.m.
• The PHS Sportsman’s Club held its annual Fish and Game Banquet Monday night in the high school cafeteria. Members and guests enjoyed dining on different recipes of venison, duck and pheasant as well as bluegill, crappie, bass and walleye. A video was shown of the activities of the PHS Sportsman’s Club back in the ‘70s.
Several guests were pointed out for their help to the club over the years: Mike Heth, Larry Kirgan and Ron Wooden for camping and Black Bear fishing, Eric Paul for coordinating the club’s trapshoots, and Steve Arkel, Jerry Pattelli, Erick Wahlgren and Tony Dye for cooking and Canada help.
There were a couple of donations in honor of loved ones to help finance the Canada trip for some needy students.
The final portion of the banquet was the presentation of the Mike Smallwood Outdoorsman Award. This year’s award was presented to a senior who loves to fish, Codi Bruns. Locally, and in Canada, Codi loves to get out in pursuit of several species. In Canada, he loves to catch big northern, and locally, he likes to catch catfish (By the way, he does a great job of frying them up). He will have a contest this year in Canada against Trevor for the biggest northern. Tough call — they’re both pretty good.
By the way, we still have some openings for the general public who would like to go to Canada with us. For more info, call (815) 872-5431.