Here are the details of the tourney. The tourney will take place on Sunday the 6 th of April. The general schedule for the outing will be as follows. We all meet up at the Pere Marquette Rive Lodge (Orvis fly-shop) which is located just south of Baldwin on M-37 on the north side of the Pere Marquette River. Everyone needs to sign in by 4:00 PM on Sat. April 5 th. (I and several others will be up around their fishing all day on Friday and setting up on Sat. afternoon)

When you arrive there will be a table set up, where you sign up on a sheet of paper and write down what river you want to fish, if you can drive, alumni/student, and what school you’re from. As you sign in you will receive a tourney T-shirt and pay the entry fee ($25=student, $35=alumni). You can fish any river from the Muskegon north as long as someone from a different school is with you. Boats are allowed. When everyone signs up we’ll figure out who will fish with who and where. Then we will continue to drink, meet each other, eat, talk shit haha, talk fishing, have a fire, get set up, figure out what time you want to leave in the morning, and do whatever until you want to go fishing. We’re having an earlier sign-in this year because we think it will make for a more social able outing where everyone will have a chance to meet each other and hang out while it is still light out. We’re going to have a catered dinner Saturday night and everyone that has participated in the past knows that the food is amazing. I will pair anglers up with someone from a different school who want to fish the same spots (normally I ask who you would prefer to fish with, after all the outing’s purpose is to meet with fellow anglers and enjoy each others company). It is your responsibility to discuss driving and departure times with your fishing partners.

The tourney will officially start at 7:00 AM on Sunday morning. We’re going to be stricter on fish measurements this year. You must have an angler from a different school witness the fish legally caught. For your fish to count you must either keep it or have a digital picture containing the fish and a tape measure that we’ll provide (we strongly encourage catch and release). Then, everyone must be at the PM Lodge at 5 PM and tally up the inches caught by individuals and give out the prizes. The top two prizes will be biggest fish and most inches caught (3 fish limit). The next two best prizes will be 2 nd and 3 rd most inches caught. At this time I’m assuming that individual prizes will be separated between alumni and students, but the total inches per school will be combined alumni and students, which will be for bragging rights and a trophy to bring back to the school. I need to figure out how many participants of each there will be before final rules will be made. After the top anglers get their recognition and sweet prizes everyone else puts their names in a hat and we draw them out to give out the rest of the prizes (almost everyone walked away with something in the Fall). For the fall tourney we had over $5,000 dollars worth of merchandise, guided trips, gift certificates, equipment and what ever else to give away, and we’ll have more than that this Spring! That is the basic run down. Some of the proceeds made from the outing will be donated to non-profit organizations, such as Michigan-Sportsman.com, Trout Unlimited, Wolf Lake Fish Hatchery, and River Clean-ups and the rest will be used for future events. It’s mainly just a great chance for everyone to get away from school and work, meet fellow fishermen, do some fishing, and have a little competition.

Make sure you let me know how many people are coming with you, your shirt size, and what school your from and if you’re an alumni or student ASAP so I can plan accordingly . If you know anyone else that goes or has gone to college and likes to fish, let them know about the tourney and forward them the attachment. Also if you know anyone that would be interested in sponsoring the tourney let me know as well (we advertise all the sponsors on the tourney T-shirts, our website, and on top of that you gain great publicity from all the participants). If you have anymore questions you can call me at 517-652-5188. These overall plans could change too, but I will let you know. I will have more detailed rules and regulations at the event.

There will be space available on the lodge property for camping, but for many of you alumni whose days of sleeping in your cars or on the ground are over, the Pere Marquette River Lodge (www.pmlodge.com) has lodging available with a number of different options from cabins to houses. They have always been strong supporters of the outing as well. The Red Moose Lodge and Baldwin Bait and Tackle also have rooms available. This year is going to be the largest tournament so far and because it is becoming so professional we are switching to Bring Your Own Beverage. There are so many anglers that attend this weekend it has become a liability issue for the WMU Fishing Club and the PM Lodge.

Thanks, and keep your fingers crossed for good weather and a healthy run of steelhead and looking forward to see you all!!!!

WMU Fishing Club President,

Chris Nolan