Dow to sponsor PWT next Spring.

[Walleye Express]

09/20/2007

Dow sponsoring pro walleye tourney

By Dan Chalk

A week-long fishing circus.

That's what Professional Walleye Trail Tournament Director Chip Lear says area residents should expect next May when PWT brings the Mercury Championship to Saginaw Bay and the Saginaw River.

The Dow Chemical Co. has signed on as the presenting sponsor of the event, in which 50 anglers will compete for more than $100,000. The competition is May 16-18, but activities will start the previous weekend.

"It's kind of like a fishing circus," Lear said by phone Wednesday while out on the bay with some of the pro anglers who will be competing in May. "The Outdoor Channel is going to come, and we'll have a huge rock-climbing wall. It's kind of a big carnival."

The event also represents a departure from the past, when the Mercury Championship was usually held in the fall.

"We wanted to better align the championship with the peak interest in walleye fishing, which is mid-spring," Lear said. "We'll take an event that has already been successful and I think we'll see a whole new level. For the manufacturers, so much of their business takes place during the spring."

Bill St. Peter of Bay City and Steve Bohn of Unionville, who both will compete in the Mercury Championship, like the change from fall to spring. They were also out on Saginaw Bay Wednesday.

"They're definitely coming at a good time of the year," said St. Peter, who has more than $300,000 in career winnings, including $85,000 for winning a tournament in Ontario this year. "The bite really should be good. I won out here four years ago and took third two years ago."

"I think it's a good move because fall is such a hard time," Bohn said. "Right now, it's a really tough bite.

"I think this will open the eyes of a lot of people about the spring bite that there is in Saginaw. Saginaw is known for the end-of-June and July bite. But the May bite's been very good (also)," Bohn said.

Saginaw's Dow Event Center will host the tournament weigh-ins, as well as a sport show, outdoor festival, youth interactive activities, and more. All events are free to the public.

"The indoor weigh-ins are neat," Bohn said. "You get to see all the different boats. They've got music and video. It's a pretty neat thing."

Lear said that the tournament will involve Saginaw, Bay City, and Midland.

"Our PWT staff is meeting with a number of local community organizations (in the Tri-Cities)," he said. "We want to include all three cities."

In addition to the activities at the Dow Event Center, the anglers' boats will be launched each morning on the Saginaw River at Veterans Memorial Park in Bay City. Lear said that Dow Diamond in Midland will also be involved in the festivities.

Jennifer Heronema, Dow Chemical external communications manager, said that part of Dow's incentive in sponsoring the tournament is to help draw more attention to what the mid-Michigan region offers.

"We're excited to be involved with this," she said. "We're trying to get attention drawn to the region from outside the region."

Dow Chemical also recently announced that it is the new sponsor of the annual River Roar in Bay City.

©Midland Daily News 2007

[Priority1]

This should have a positive impact on the whole area.