Masters Walleye Circuit
Husband/Wife Team of the Year!
Bill and Bernadine Ayres, who have been a part of the Walleye 101 family for many years were recently named the Husband/Wife Team of the Year on the MWC and the MWT's Sportsmen of the year! Congratulations from all of us at Walleye 101. Here is their story.
Always up to a challenge, we went up against some
big name anglers as we competed in our second year with Cabela’s Masters Walleye
Circuit. The accomplishment was East Division Husband and Wife Team of the Year.
No we
didn't win a trophy for first, second, or third, we didn't even end up in the
money. The honor was the beautiful trophy that expressed our love for each
other! Husband and Wife Team of the Year! How fantastic is that! And we truly
worked hard. We fished many hours, and difficult bodies of water.
Another award we received this year was ‘The Sportsmanship Award’ with Michigan
Walleye Tour. This was our fifth year fishing with the MWT. We feel the
sportsmanship award was an honor, and we really appreciate being chosen among
the many fine anglers that fish the circuit. We were awarded two new telescopic
graphic rods of our choice from Teton. We chose the trolling rod,
which we used in Lake Ontario, and we were very impressed with the rods. They
were sturdy and lightweight.
In addition, this year we were named ‘Pro Staff Members of the Year’ with Mack’s
Lure. We have been on the Pro Staff with Mack’s Lure for five years, and give
seminars on the various ways to use their fine line of tackle. We enjoy showing
how to make the special crawler harnesses we tie up, and the unique ways to
utilize Smile blades.
The bodies of water we fished this year were Detroit River, Lake Erie, Saginaw
Bay, Saginaw River, Houghton Lake, Lake Ontario and its tributaries, Niagara
River and parts of Lake Ontario. Each body of water had its various challenges.
With weather changes almost continually it was a struggle to figure out if the
walleye were high in the water column, or hugging on the bottom. The term we
usually heard each place was, “you should have been here last week!”
We try to spend a week prior to each tournament pre-fishing the body of water.
Sometimes it was a challenge because with fishing both the Michigan Walleye
Tour, and Masters Walleye Circuit, sometimes the tournaments ended up back to
back. Therefore, it was a scramble to travel from one tournament to another,
pulling our fifth wheel and boat in the summer road construction!
At each of the MWC tournaments we were part of a ‘kids and family fishing
clinic’ where 50 kids received rods, reels, and a tackle box. We showed them how
to tie on a slip bobber and jig. It was real rewarding to see the excited faces
of the children as they rigged up their poles and to realize possibly that
several of those will continue with their zeal and become future anglers with a
passion for fishing and enjoying the outdoors.
We not only enjoy fishing together, but each body of water offers us challenges
where we have to throw ideas back and forth on which presentation to apply.
Years ago, all you needed was a pole with a hook and crawler; it is much more
complicated than that now. Now we have to go to our arsenal of tackle and figure
out what the walleye will bite on. We have to decide if we will troll crawler
harnesses, or crank baits; use jigs or cast. Sometimes we had to change our
presentations and depths several times within an hour. It is very challenging,
and makes you think outside the box many times!
We count it a privilege to fish together, and at the end of each day on the
water we feel it was our best day ever, mainly because we are doing it together.
We thank God for that opportunity.
Team Ayres
Bill and Bernadine