Repeat LEWT Winners, New Champions Crowned

The Western Basin Sportfishing Association (WBSA) and Lake Erie Walleye Trail (LEWT) held the 2008 South Shore Marine Championship on Saturday August 2^nd from the Black River Launch in Lorain.  With a lot of extra prizes to be given away and the Team of the Year still to be decided the anxious participants were greeted with coffee and donuts courtesy of West Marine at the morning registration. 

At the end of the day the team of Mike Solomey of Demotte IN and Shane Solomey of Wheatfield IN were at the top for the second time in 2008.  Their basket of five walleye weighing 30.72 lbs was enough to win the event.  In addition to the usual first place money their win also brought them a Furuno digital color fish finder from the title sponsor, South Shore Marine.  Gary and Nicholas Zart of Hinckley brought in 29.94 lbs to finish second and Kurt Doller and Darrell Wood, both of Sandusky, brought in 28.5 lbs for third.  Rounding out the top five was Scott Gietgey of Canton and Tim Calvert of Port Clinton with 27 lbs in fourth and Mike Miller of Brunswick and Dave Frey of Avon Lake with 26.6 lbs. 

In the Team of the Year race Geitgey and Calvert used their fourth place tournament finish to wrap up the points title.  “These guys have been out in front of the points race since the second event of the year and put together a great year to walk away with the trophy’s.  It should be mentioned that they used a variety of techniques this year to catch weigh fish at different events including jigging and casting mayfly rigs along with different trolling programs” commented LEWT tournament director Matt Davis.  In addition to the trophy’s they will be receiving the LEWT Team of the Year jackets courtesy of Erie Outfitters and they also received $250 from Medina Plating.  Finishing second in the team of the year race was Travis Hartman of Bellevue and David Hartman of Columbus Grove.  Winners of the inaugural, highest finishing Male – Female team was Rob and Kathy North of Troy.

In the race for the Cranberry Creek Big Fish award the Hartman’s came out on top with an 8.3 lb fish.  In addition to the normal big fish payout there was an additional $200 up for grabs courtesy of Vics Sportscenter and also an additional $100 from them for the second place big fish which was won by Mike Zaborski and Charlie Robinson with an 8 lb walleye.

The 32 participating teams all brought a tournament limit to the scales for a total of 160 fish which weighed 703.9 lbs for an average of 4.39 per fish.  Most all of the teams fished in the sand bar area and spinners were the most used presentation and one of the top 3 teams also reported using Reef Runners.  Jets, dipseys, inline weights and snap weights were all mentioned as tools used to get the harnesses deep and orange was a common color mentioned at the weigh in.

The LEWT will be announcing their 2009 schedule as soon as it is finalized.  Participants are encouraged to get a hold of one of the organizers if there are changes in the structure they would like to see.

For more information about the WBSA and LEWT you can visit www.wbsa.us   Listed below are the 2008 LEWT sponsors: Starcraft Marine, Evinrude E-TEC(BRP), South Shore Marine, West Marine, Reef Runner Lures, Cranberry Creek Marina, Vics Sports Center,  Crown Battery, Sportsmans Outpost, Erie Outfitters, Ole Pete's Tackle, Yant Beef Jerky,  Navionics, www.OhioGamefishing.com , Buckeye Rod Maker, Michigan Stinger Spoons, Sharpnack II Chevrolet, Jim’s Taxidermy, Sharpnack Ford, Cisco Fishing Systems, LPG Fishing Systems, Medina Plating, and Rich’s Hook Line and Sinker.

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Complete Tournament results