Colorado Walleye Tournament Fishing Survey

[beadheadred]

Agreed, and I hope they show up and tell a good story

[Ogerswalleye]

I've been in the CWA for about 6 years or longer an have learned a bunch, Barry is doing a great job. I haven't fish in any tourney's due to work, funds and work. I might next year do a couple, but this year is out, but those who aren't t interested in tournaments there is also angler of the year award for catching the most big fish. No money is involved (except CWA membership), no boat is required, just fishing. Last year was my first year really trying for it and had a blast while doing it, I might try for it again this year depending on a couple things. Its something anyone can do along with your children who have a different award.

[ElPasoCounty]

Experience & Time...

I've never specifically targeted Walleye and i don't know anything about them...When I fish it usually to get out for the relaxation aspect instead of the sporting aspect.

I wanted to fish the P-Lo tourney last October but I was getting ready for my trip. I'll try and hit it this year...

[zman]

I checked other and have to agree with Jeremy...I just have 14 foot underpowered pee wee boat...not really suitable for Glendo, Big Mac, Pueblo (I have had it on there but if weather is bad it isnt a good idea)...I bought it since I fish Aurora 75% of the time with it and primarily fish smaller lakes and reservoirs...there are some smaller bodies of water that have horsepower restrictions...with Aurora being all electric I dont want a bigger boat there either...I can say I have never had to be towed in even one time in over a decade and I have been in some nasty stuff out there...I have done the Cherry Creek tourney twice and had fun...even though the one time in my boat I had motor problems and only fished half the time...the other time I went with Terre and used her boat...it is primarily a trolling bite something I have only started to scratch the surface on learning...I encourage anyone who wants to learn about walleyes to go to the CWA meetings...you dont even have to be a member...a great bunch of guys and galls...

[Shilolonewolf]

Thanks for all the positives! Really appreciate it.
I remember (fondly it might add) of years past when people were TURNED AWAY from tournaments in the CWA because we had exceeded the 100 boat limit! That is my goal again. Very feasable. In fact, looks like the first tourney at Cherry Creek is filling up fast (so get your entries in). We only allow 60 boats because of the size. Very promising. People with smaller boats might want to consider that one as a starter. $25 memerbship fee and $160 to enter. Not a bad price for the weekend. Considering most will go home at night no need to worry about lodging or food.
As far as the smaller boats go, my first year fishing the CWA I was in a 16' Sylvan with a 50hp motor. Little under-sized?...sure, but that doesn't take away from your fishing skills. Big Mac was a little bit of a challenge, but take your time if the wind comes up and if need be hug the shore, you'll be fine.
Hope to see you all at the meetings, expo, or tourneys. It is SO enjoyable and relaxing to talk about fishing and do what you enjoy doing...spend time on the water!
Curt

[setthehook]

No issues. 

Curt - did anyone share with you the membership analysis and proposals I did about 4 years ago?  If not let me know and I'll see if I can scrounge it up and send it to you. 

[Shilolonewolf]

No they did not. Be happy to take a look at it!

[tracker15]

I have thought about entering a tournament, but when it comes down to it, I don't know what to expect.  Is there a way to be an observer?  To see how things are run?  I would like to know what I am getting into before paying the entry fees. 

Also, does boat size matter?  I know I can't compete with some of those high end rigs out there.

[The_Mad_Catter™]

I was only able to fish an open with the CWA one time and it was a multi species at Chatfield. Even out of a tiller boat with a 5 HP Briggs and Strat we finished 4th and if memory serves me correctly we caught the big walleye of the trny     (Big fish of the trny was a slimer though  )   it was a lot of fun. We were met with some negetivity during the boat inspections pre launch though...CWA officials tried to turn us away so we had to take the argument to the regs book. Me and my partner ended up winning the argument and they let us fish, though they didnt really seem very happy about it    other than that though things were well organized and if I ever get the time again I would fish another multi species open trny again

[Shilolonewolf]

Tracker15, about the only way would be Cherry Creek. Smaller lake and you can check poeple out from check-in to weigh-in. Get some fishing done in between! .
As I said before, I ran a small boat early in my tournament years and had no problems. We still have smaller boats (probably 16') all the way up. Hard to believe, but size really doesn't matter!

Very well organized in my opinion.  Might have been a livewell issue on your boat Mad Catter. Sorry about the problems. We follow the rules as they are laid out to the best of our ability. Sometimes questions come up, but we'll work with you to figure them out.

[webos1]

As someone that is thinking about re-joining the CWA I will throw in my two- cents on the subject. 

  In regards to the tournaments it is mentioned in the posts that the fees have been lowered, but to someone like me they are still to high for me to consider getting into the tourney action though I would very much like to do that for the experience.  The fees alone would cost one person $480.00.  If you add in the cost of fuel to get there, and the extra cost of the running the boat, I would say that it would easily get a person into the $1000.00 dollar range just counting those two parts of the equation.  If a person was to get serious about the tournaments and pre-fish then we are talking about added expenses for motels or camping etc.  Being an amateur I cannot justify spending that kind of money on an adventure that I would likely not see any monetary return on my investment.  I know the experiences would be priceless, but I think this is what is the driving force behind your not growing that aspect of the tournaments.  I notice on the website that registration is limited to the first 100 teams, that limits your growth right there.  Maybe you could have an amateur series for beginners with lower entry fees, and lower payout, and one for the more advanced anglers with a higher entry fee and higher payouts. 

In regards to the CWA experience itself when I first joined a couple years ago, I signed up, payed my dues and attended two to three meetings.  Not once did anyone try to get me involved in the CWA on a level above just attending the meetings.  I do not remember anyone besides regular members even acknowledging that I was there.  I would also check out the other chapter's meeting agendas and it seemed that there was always more going on with them than with the central chapter.  It also seemed that there was always this feeling that the whole thing was geared towards the tournament angler.  The combination of all that made me feel that there was really nothing that CWA had to offer me, the typical weekend angler that wanted to learn more about how to catch more walleye.

Now to fast forward, I got a letter from CWA a while back (two months maybe?) explaining that CWA was going through changes and was trying to make things better and encouraging people to rejoin.  At the time it got me thinking that maybe I should rejoin and try to get more involved and try to help make it into an organization that I would be proud to be a member of.  I am still on the fence but might come to a meeting soon to get a feel for the vibe.

[Shilolonewolf]

As someone that is thinking about re-joining the CWA I will throw in my two- cents on the subject. 

  In regards to the tournaments it is mentioned in the posts that the fees have been lowered, but to someone like me they are still to high for me to consider getting into the tourney action though I would very much like to do that for the experience.  The fees alone would cost one person $480.00.  If you add in the cost of fuel to get there, and the extra cost of the running the boat, I would say that it would easily get a person into the $1000.00 dollar range just counting those two parts of the equation.  If a person was to get serious about the tournaments and pre-fish then we are talking about added expenses for motels or camping etc.  Being an amateur I cannot justify spending that kind of money on an adventure that I would likely not see any monetary return on my investment.  I know the experiences would be priceless, but I think this is what is the driving force behind your not growing that aspect of the tournaments.  I notice on the website that registration is limited to the first 100 teams, that limits your growth right there.  Maybe you could have an amateur series for beginners with lower entry fees, and lower payout, and one for the more advanced anglers with a higher entry fee and higher payouts. 

In regards to the CWA experience itself when I first joined a couple years ago, I signed up, payed my dues and attended two to three meetings.  Not once did anyone try to get me involved in the CWA on a level above just attending the meetings.  I do not remember anyone besides regular members even acknowledging that I was there.  I would also check out the other chapter's meeting agendas and it seemed that there was always more going on with them than with the central chapter.  It also seemed that there was always this feeling that the whole thing was geared towards the tournament angler.  The combination of all that made me feel that there was really nothing that CWA had to offer me, the typical weekend angler that wanted to learn more about how to catch more walleye.

Now to fast forward, I got a letter from CWA a while back (two months maybe?) explaining that CWA was going through changes and was trying to make things better and encouraging people to rejoin.  At the time it got me thinking that maybe I should rejoin and try to get more involved and try to help make it into an organization that I would be proud to be a member of.  I am still on the fence but might come to a meeting soon to get a feel for the vibe.

These are the comments that we appreciate! Helps us bulid a better club.

by no means are the tournaments "cheap", but relatively speaking they are. We don't consider ourselves pro's at all. If you look around the region, Nebraska runs. $300 per, Wyoming Stampede is $400, WWC is $500. We keep our tournaments as low as possible. The $160 lets us give enough payout money to make it interesting, but not to much to make it out of reach. Split between team members is does make it affordable to many. Not to everyone understandably.
The 100 boat field does limit in some cases. Only 60 are allowed in at CC because of it's size. Trinidad is very small too. Also behind the scene issues like insurance, permits, etc.. that determine this.

I would apologize on behalf of the CWA is you feel you didn't get your $'s worth. That is one of the things we are trying to address. We do a lot in the community and can use the help. We are a non-profit, so volunteers are a must for us! We encourage the help. If you do decide to come back, please offer your assistance!As a former member if your letter was through email, it was probably from me. Trying to get enthusiasm back!
Come out to JeffCo for the expo on Sunday, March 21st if you can. $5 to get in and lots of great speakers and tips for you. See what you think and give us your opinions there too!
Thanks for your opinion and hope I addressed some of your concerns.

[setthehook]

webos1 - a few comments.  

First of all, dont pay the membership fee unless the CWA is a club you can get somthing out of.  Attending the meetings is free.  As a past pres and director, I told new commers to NOT pay the dues unless (1) you were going to fish one of our tournaments or (2) felt compelled to donate $25 the club.  

Second, let the person running the meeting(s) know what you are looking for...information, contacts, tips.  I cannot think of a present or past director that would put forth some effort to help with your need.  Often people attend the meetings and sit in the back not speaking or asking questions...those are the ones we cannot satisfy.  In the end, if you dont get anything out of the meetings and have no interest in fishing the tournaments, dont pay the membership fee.

Side note - the CWA is open to anyone who wants to join.  To join some of the bass clubs you need to win a populatrity contest.  Effectively you need to be voted into the club.  The CWA does not do that nor will they ever.  That MO might work for the bass clubs (trying to keep the club small enough to manage, eliminate competition, whatever) but it is not how the CWA operates.  Go ahead bass guys - flame me.  

[walleye seeker]

As someone that is thinking about re-joining the CWA I will throw in my two- cents on the subject. 

  In regards to the tournaments it is mentioned in the posts that the fees have been lowered, but to someone like me they are still to high for me to consider getting into the tourney action though I would very much like to do that for the experience.  The fees alone would cost one person $480.00.  If you add in the cost of fuel to get there, and the extra cost of the running the boat, I would say that it would easily get a person into the $1000.00 dollar range just counting those two parts of the equation.  If a person was to get serious about the tournaments and pre-fish then we are talking about added expenses for motels or camping etc.  Being an amateur I cannot justify spending that kind of money on an adventure that I would likely not see any monetary return on my investment.  I know the experiences would be priceless, but I think this is what is the driving force behind your not growing that aspect of the tournaments.  I notice on the website that registration is limited to the first 100 teams, that limits your growth right there.  Maybe you could have an amateur series for beginners with lower entry fees, and lower payout, and one for the more advanced anglers with a higher entry fee and higher payouts. 

In regards to the CWA experience itself when I first joined a couple years ago, I signed up, payed my dues and attended two to three meetings.  Not once did anyone try to get me involved in the CWA on a level above just attending the meetings.  I do not remember anyone besides regular members even acknowledging that I was there.  I would also check out the other chapter's meeting agendas and it seemed that there was always more going on with them than with the central chapter.  It also seemed that there was always this feeling that the whole thing was geared towards the tournament angler.  The combination of all that made me feel that there was really nothing that CWA had to offer me, the typical weekend angler that wanted to learn more about how to catch more walleye.

Now to fast forward, I got a letter from CWA a while back (two months maybe?) explaining that CWA was going through changes and was trying to make things better and encouraging people to rejoin.  At the time it got me thinking that maybe I should rejoin and try to get more involved and try to help make it into an organization that I would be proud to be a member of.  I am still on the fence but might come to a meeting soon to get a feel for the vibe.

the entry fee for one tourny is 160.00 per team for a two day tourny. each day is a seperate tourny so the fee is 40.00 per person for each day last year we had about 40 boats avg. per tourny any lower fee would make the payout so small that no one would want to enter.

 as for the meetings, the southern chapter has something at every meeting that is intresting. last month we had Jim Melby of the dow talk about our waters and what 2010 looked like and the walleye spawn for this year. this month we had two guys from state parks talk about boat safety and the ans program, plus we have other activities durring the month.

another thing that is real fun is that each member is entered into the big fish contest every time they fish, at no cost. all you have to do is take a photo of your fish on your measureing stick and turn it in. if you have the biggest fish for that month you will git a nice plaque

[Boondock]

another thing that is real fun is that each member is entered into the big fish contest every time they fish, at no cost. all you have to do is take a photo of your fish on your measureing stick and turn it in. if you have the biggest fish for that month you will git a nice plaque

Any fish or just walleye?

For me I don't fish the eye tourneys as I am not a big walleye guy. Would rather catch quite a few other fish before walleye.
The bass clubs seem like drama clubs. Like STH said above I don't need to be a part of your elite club and voted in.