Walleye Tournament Pros Take AIM on Dubuque, Iowa
Category: article
Jun 3rd, 2011 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified Jun 3rd, 2011 at 9:09 AM
Dubuque, Iowa will host the third tournament of the 2011 AIM Pro Walleye Series schedule. The Pro-Am fishing tournament will be held June 22 to 24, 2011. Like all AIM Pro Walleye Series tournaments, there are no restrictions on where the anglers can search for the limits of winning walleyes. This means that the AIM® Pro Anglers will have access to literally hundreds of square miles of the Mississippi River and backwaters.
Located in the Tri-State Area, (where the Mississippi River creates a natural border between Wisconsin, Illinois, and Iowa) Dubuque is within a day’s drive of the largest cities in the Midwest. Dubuque is Iowa’s oldest city, but is also the most innovative. Dubuque recently completed a nearly $400 million renovation of its riverfront. It is home to museums, historic sites, wineries, and art galleries. This is all in addition to its location on the river which is home to millions of hungry walleyes!
Katie Simmons, Sports and Events Manager for the Dubuque Conventions and Visitors Bureau welcomes the AIM Pro Walleye Series competitors to the area. She said, “When we were offered the opportunity to host the AIM Pro Walleye Series, we knew Dubuque would be a perfect fit. This sport has a considerable amount of community support and we are thrilled to help make this event a success in any way we can”.
This AIM Pro Walleye Series tournament will feature the exclusive AIM Catch-Record-Release™ (CRR) format that uses digital photo technology to verify each fish as it is recorded on the Official Scorecard. The fish are then immediately released – where they were caught – and NOT transported to the landing. This means the Pro Anglers can continually upgrade their catch all day, every day. Simply, the Pro Angler who catches the 21 largest walleyes over the three day tournament will win!
CRR also eliminates any delayed mortality from fish released after spending the day in a “livewell”. In fact, these delayed release tournaments have not been allowed on this stretch of the Mississippi River for nearly twenty years for this reason. But the exclusive AIM CRR format was instrumental in receiving a tournament permit that did not require the total harvest of all fish.
Besides the unique format, this tournament will also be unique because of record high water. Water from the farthest northern tributaries continues to swell the Mississippi River. This will be both a blessing and a curse for the AIM Pro Anglers. The blessing will be provided by access to many backwaters where lazy, fat walleyes may be gorging on newly spawning minnows. The curse is that flooded conditions put literally tons of debris in the water and traditional trolling presentations may be continually fouled with grass and twigs.
The daily weigh-ins will be hosted by the Mystique Casino. Unlike most tournaments, the daily weigh-ins will be held indoors. This will provide not only protection from the elements but also the optimum conditions for the AIM multi-media stage show that includes photos of the fish as well as on the water video coverage.
Entries are still being accepted for both Pro Anglers and Co-anglers. Pros can enter until June 14th, and Co-anglers can enter until the pre-event Rules Meeting (subject to availability.) The Co-angler entry fee is $250 for two days of fishing, each with a different AIM Pro Angler. After Day Two the number of Pro Anglers is reduced to the top 50% of the field. Half of the Co-angler field will also be selected to fish on Day Three for free!
Further information about AIM as well as up-to-the-minute updates about tournaments can be found at the AIM web site: www.aimfishing.com.