Walter/Johnson Reel In First Place At The Wyoming Walleye Stampede
We all know that it is called fishing, and not catching, right? Well, if they didn't before, the anglers from the first 2026 Wyoming Walleye Stampede tournament do now, after a tough weekend at the Glendo Reservoir.
The Walleye fishing at Glendo this year is a good example of what people mean when they say that it's a "tough bite." Anglers threw everything but the kitchen sink at the Walleye, and the only thing they caught was frustration.
There were anglers who had been fishing that lake for decades who didn't catch one fish all weekend. Guys who are known as 'legends' in the Walleye world were left speechless and fishless.
The Wyoming Walleye Stampede is in its 18th year, and there are anglers who have been fishing the event since its inception, and many of them said the situation they faced was much like the one 10 years ago in 2016. On the final check-in on Sunday, the answer to the question "When was the last time you had a weekend of fishing this tough at Glendo?" was 2016, without hesitation.
Even though it was a tough weekend for catching fish, the weather added another layer of difficulty on Saturday, but it rebounded and eventually turned into a great, sunny, warm Sunday.
Sunday morning started with an amazing sunrise.
Then came the fog, which reminded me of the fog you'd see on Pirates of the Caribbean. I thought Captain Jack Sparrow's Black Pearl would break out of the fog at any time. Luckily, it just ended up being one of the 116 boats in the tournament.
Then the sun came out, temperatures rose, and it was a perfect day on the water.
At the end of the day on Sunday, a few teams beat the odds and caught a couple of great fish, helping them break the "bad fishing" trend and put together a few nice baskets.
The winners, Rick Walter and Joe Johnson, caught a couple of fish, including a monster, with only a little over an hour left in the tournament.
After the tournament, Rick Walter said that in his years of fishing tournaments, there were numerous times when he finished in second place by a small margin. This year, it was Rick who got the win by only a half a pound.
Walter/ Johnson finished the two days with a total of 28.53lbs.
Second place went to Chris Anderson, and Jim Jay Hinkley finished with 28.13lbs
Next up for the Wyoming Walleye Stampede is the second event of the season in Glendo, also known as the Governor's Cup. The tournament is capped at 140 boats, and the first-place team wins $15,000.
There are still a few entry slots open if you're interested. Visit the Wyoming Walleye Stampede's website or Facebook pages for more information.