Awesome Matt! I'll try and round up something to help out. Should be a great shoot

 

Got a location it will be based out of?

 

There is a big cabelas in Prarie du Chein that the shoot is being held out of. I think Matt said today that they can accommodate up to 120 trucks/boats (might be wrong on that). I know that they hold some big walleye and bass tournaments for the river out of there.

 

Yes the plan is to run the tournament out of Cabela's located on hwy 35 just north of Prairie du Chein WI. Friday I'm trying to set up a meet n greet / cookout at a park in town.

 

Prairie du Chein has a bunch of hotels and a number of campgrounds. Cabela's hosts many tournaments with 150 to 200 boats. Really looking forward to it

 

Assuming this is a night tournament?

 

Yes it is a night shoot, Saturday night. The exact hours will be announced soon.

 

The Prairie du Chien tourism dept has committed $1000 towards the shoot!

 

Nice job Matt! Looking forward to this shoot.

 

Nice work Matt, we are looking to the shoot as well.

 

AMS will be donating prizes for the shoot!

 

The WBA is donating $1000 towards the shoot!

 

F&D Archery is donating prizes for the shoot!

 

whos staying where? any locals know of any boat friendly Hotels? We would need electricity access for charging batteries. Looks like there is a hotel right next to the Cableas that would be handy, but I don't know how "boat friendly" it would be.

 

Lots of bass fisherman stay here http://www.brisboismotorinnpdc.com/ during the summer. Not a really fancy place but there cheap and have electricity. It's right in Prarie du Chien also. Also the Frontier Montel in Marquette, Iowa would be another good one that's just across the river. I live about 5 miles from Prarie du Chein in the country if you can't find something you can plug it in there.

 

Awesome, may take u up on that. As of right now we are planning on arriving Wednesday to do some scouting. Going to try to make it up before then too for a weekend to familiarize ourselves with the area. Looks like a ton of water! Any fish up yet?

 

We went out Saturday for 2 grs. before the rain storm hit. We hit one little bay and the dogfish and gar were up

 

If you are scouting up-river, lacrosse is about 35 miles north and there are hotels up the wazoo. There are also a lot of campgrounds and small motels all down the river that you could stay at. If you google maps search for hotels, anything really past the small town of Shelby south of Lacrosse down to Prarie would all be good places to stay that I believe would cater to fisherman and river folks. River tourism is where these people make their livings, I am going to say that they would have about everything you would need. Frenchman's Landing I believe has a boat launch for easy river access too (I think that's the one we stayed at.....).
Don't forget, free camping on any island that is on the river. Just find a spot and make it home. Wyalusing State Park is a really nice State park with a lot of scenic bluffs and what-not. We've slept at a couple boat landings down there also. As long as you are paid up and not doing anything mysterious, then you will be left alone.

 

I've only been out 3 short times this year. I'm well over 100 dogfish and have managed about 20 commons. Here's the biggest so far. 6 more day's of work and I'm on my 2 week off stretch.

 

Any update on the number of boats registered already? We just had a shoot there this past weekend and there were lots of fish to be found on the river.

 

Just throwing it out there anyone that's coming up for this tourney early to scout if you shoot fish and are looking for a place to get rid of them i have places. Just pm me. I'm sure I'll see some of you before the tournament scouting. I only work 6 more day's in July.

 

We will be there the Wednesday before the tourney to get a look around. Looking forward to it!

 

Where are you staying, pm if you don't want to post it. I'll be there Wednesday night and am staying at the Bridgeport. Look forward to seeing old friends and meeting some new ones.

 

I've seen some Facebook stuff where people are wondering about worlds info and where to shoot. Figured since I lived over here I would type something up.

There are a couple smaller lakes in the counties open to shoot, but none of them are very large or very good. If you want to compete to win, you are going to be on the Mississippi River or on the Wisconsin River. There are a ton of campgrounds along HWY 35 (google campgrounds in Prarie du Chein and a lot pop up). I have personally stayed at Wyalusing State Park and it is a beautiful place, not sure how accessible it is at night though if you are scouting. I know that there is a boat ramp there too, but if you are considering this you should call to check their hours. Goose Island south of lacrosse has a lot of camping sites also. If you are into the motel/hotel, there are many places to stay in Prarie, Lacrosse, and Onalaska as well as smaller ones along HWY 35. If you don't mind driving a bit, there are also motels in Sparta (like 20 minutes from the river) and if you are scouting the Wisconsin River, there are motels in Boscobel that are right on the river. any island on the river is also open for camping, just pick out a spot and throw your tent up. There are common spots along the river that get camped on quite a bit and are easy to find. Prarie is a smaller town that has some stores, but Lacrosse has about anything you would want in case you have issues with a boat, truck, or anything else. Lots of parts stores, marinas, a Gander Mountain, couple bigger hospitals, etc etc
As far as fishing goes, we had a tournament on the river last weekend on pools 5a, 6, and 7. weather front moved through about halfway through the night which slowed things down, but 180 won numbers and big 30 weight was 350# ish? There is really good water clarity in a lot of spots, but the weeds are starting to grow fast. Being a river, a lot depends on the water level and rain between now and then. we did find quite a few dink gar, a lot of suckers were shot, and there were a couple dozen 20+ pound commons shot. To get from pool to pool you can either trailer to an open ramp or use the lock/dam system. I've never personally done it, but a lot of people do use the lock/dam system to travel. On the main river, you have to watch out for things like wing dams and stuff, but if you keep it between the navigational bouys until you want to peel off the river you will be fine. there are miles and miles of backwater sloughs that are like a maze, make sure you have your GPS ready to go. The great thing about the river is you will see just about everything we have to shoot at. Commons, buffs, quillback, suckers, drum (up to 20+pounders have been shot in our tournaments), gar (short and long nose), mooneye, shad, and maybe even see a grassy or a silver if you are shooting the southern end of the boundary.
If it were earlier in the year, the numbers and weights would be better, but we had to work within the guidelines that the BAA had in place. Matt is doing a great job on getting things organized as far as donations and meeting place (parking lot of Cabelas). Not sure if Matt has a complete list or not, but if he does we might be able to twist his arm to post.
If you have any questions just ask them on here and I will tell you what I know or ask around to see what I can find out.

 

Good info Tony, We are looking forward to the shoot, there really is so much river to fish unless your out there a lot you need to just pick a spot and scout it the best you can, you'll find fish. I also love the River because of the variety and amount of fish. Hopefully the water levels remain up which makes fishing the backwaters much easier. Watch out for the wingdams... coming from a guy that found one this spring. Good luck all.

 

Thanks for the info, looking forward to it. I've been looking for a lake map, Cabales and Bass Pro says they don't carry them, can we pick one up at a local shop?

 

The best maps for the river can be found at the us fish and wildlife site. I will try to find the link and post it here also. If the long range forecast holds true and the water levels remain stable it will be an awesome shoot. I personally like lower water as the fish are easier to pattern and don't spread out as much. Of course you have to watch for more obstacles but less current normally equals clearer water and fish that are more concentrated.

 

Ya there's a gas station in ferryville that sells some nice river maps.