AIM Weekend Walleye Series 2018

Denny · Jan 26, 2018

Hello Anglers

It is almost time, ARE U READY??? Registration will open February 1st at 8am on our website http://aimfishing.com. We think we have a good schedule for you this year.

April 29th on the Missouri river at Graner Bottom
May 20th On Lake Audubon at Totten Trail
June 17th On Lake Sakakawea at New Town
August 12th on Devils Lake at Woodland Resort
The State Championship August 24th/25th at Indian Hills on Lake Sakakawea

The circuit had a awesome growth last season and we are expecting more of the same this year. Come on out and give it a test drive.

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to call Denny at 920-505-0122. Evenings are ok as well, I understand we all have jobs.

Thanks Guys and Gals

LiebelsGuide · Jan 26, 2018

Excited to see the growth again this year! Should make some good payouts! CRR is the best format in the business! Give it a shot if you haven't tried one!

Fisherman25 · Jan 26, 2018

Just throwing this out there. For anyone that would like to dabble in tournament fishing this is a great circuit! You don’t have to take a bunch of vacation with Sunday events to prefish. And for anyone thats worried they would be throwing money away due to the level of competition, there were several events last year won by AIM rookies. Doing a circuit like this grows your fishing knowledge exponentially. I would recommend it to anyone considering it and craving the competition! We had a blast in our first year last year and are looking forward to 2018!

Rizzo · Jan 26, 2018

I will add the level of sportsmanship that is shown by most of the teams is outstanding. These are very well run and organized, you won't be disappointed. Come join the fun

LiebelsGuide · Feb 6, 2018

Registration is now open!!!! Let's fill em up!

Vollmer · Feb 6, 2018

I think the wife and I might do the whole series this year.

sweeney · Feb 6, 2018

The fact that 25% of entry fees go to the AIM has me wondering if we will fish a whole season or just pick spot events, you barely cover expenses unless you are top 3. the first tournament last year had 55 boats * 300entry =16500 total payout was 12400 so 4100 went to the AIM, first place was 4500 2nd was 2000 3rd 1600 down the line and 9th place got their money back. the state championship is 500 dollar entry and 13100 was paid out from 29 teams top 6 got paid first was 5500 so they only took 9% in that one seems a bit more in line....

I will say this though it is a great tournament series with great anglers and an awesome format and very well run and organized, we had a lot of fun fishing new areas last year and the competition is great. The amount of respect and sportsmanship on the water was really something to be proud of imo.

Riggen&Jiggen · Feb 6, 2018

I have similar feelings as Sweeney. Great format but the pay out is not where it should be. I know they don't get to many teams which makes it tougher. I have been fishing the big 2 day tourneys off and on for a couple decades and love them. It is hard to stop fishing them to fish the AIMs when the pay outs are less. I can't do both as the wife would kill me. Also anyone can get lucky and have a great day but it is a little tougher to do that 2 days in a row.

Fisherman25 · Feb 7, 2018

Once it fills the payouts will be a lot better. Plus the goal is to make the National and get to fish for 50k. There are other avenues as well to make the payouts better via endorsements. Merc, Garmin and several others add to the pot if you’re fishing the circuit. Just a thought.

DirtyMike · Feb 7, 2018

I'm in for a couple. had a few small things come up on some of the dates. Met some resistance on the one event over our anniversary in june.

huffranger · Feb 7, 2018

Work gets in the way with Graners and the Sakakawea dates..... dam work always gets in the way

sweeney · Feb 7, 2018

Fisherman25 said:
Once it fills the payouts will be a lot better. Plus the goal is to make the National and get to fish for 50k. There are other avenues as well to make the payouts better via endorsements. Merc, Garmin and several others add to the pot if you’re fishing the circuit. Just a thought.

no not really they still take 25% of the pot, total payout of a full field is 22500, and I know contingency money is available but if you have fished tourneys before you know how hard that can be to collect, if not every stipulation is met. As far as the national championship it is all prizes for the top 6. To me this series is made for the guy who wants to transition himself to TV, guiding, or NWT something bigger it creates great exposure with prochattr and the fact it has a some notoriety among anglers and sponsors. It gives you the tools to move forward and help get discovered for sure, and they are well run fun tourneys to fish.

Riggen&Jiggen · Feb 7, 2018

Not trying to kiss your butt Sweeney but your spot on again. If you want to try and become professional or something similar this is a way to get a little closer. I used to dream of being a pro fisherman when younger but I did not want to accumulate 1000s of dollars in debt in an effort to try to get there. Sponsorship can be a tricky thing. The more money you get the more that is required of your time such as putting on seminars. Also I knew that to be competitive in the pro tournaments I would have to have high end equipment which also takes a lot of money. Once I got married I knew that ship sailed. Now that I can afford the high end equipment I also have a job I don't want to risk. So for me the big money 2 day tourneys scratch my itch. More power to the AIMs and I hope they are successful and any fisherman trying to take it to the next level. Maybe I will try one once they start having some higher payouts.

LiebelsGuide · Feb 7, 2018

sweeney said:
no not really they still take 25% of the pot, total payout of a full field is 22500, and I know contingency money is available but if you have fished tourneys before you know how hard that can be to collect, if not every stipulation is met. As far as the national championship it is all prizes for the top 6. To me this series is made for the guy who wants to transition himself to TV, guiding, or NWT something bigger it creates great exposure with prochattr and the fact it has a some notoriety among anglers and sponsors. It gives you the tools to move forward and help get discovered for sure, and they are well run fun tourneys to fish.

If you look at the governors cup they only pay out 75% of entry fees back to the contestants... Nobody complains there...

The max any organization can take is 15%, the other 10% must go to the Game and Fish to be used on conservation projects. Every tournaments has expenses, people's time and effort are worth something. AIM provides a custom ruler, clipboard, scorecard and 2 SD cards for each team. They need 100 rulers, 100 clipboards, 200 SD cards just as a startup cost... Nevermind the software, A/V equipment, tourney director salary and everything else that they do.

With a full field of 100 boats, you can make $8000 in a one day tournament you wont find that many places... (gov cup, same entry fee, 252 teams, 2 days, 15k payout) It all hinges on boat numbers, we need numbers to get bigger payouts.

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I will agree that I like a 2 day format better, but this is geared toward allowing weekend warriors to fish it without having to take as much(or any) vacation time.

sweeney · Feb 7, 2018

Matt I thought that's what the 35 dollar fee helped cover at the beginning of it, anyways like I said I enjoy the tournament but when you are crashing into new water it's hard to cover expenses when only 8 teams get paid especially going up against this great competition that the tourney draws. I think part of the reason you don't hear about bitching from the governors' cup or classic for example is what the money goes too, the cup gives to local Youth rods & Reels,ND Fishing Hall of Fame,Old Main & Kid Fishing Derby, Camp of the Cross-Kids Fishing Day, Physically Challenged Fishing Day, garrison Memorial Hospital, Resident Fishing Day, Benedictine Living Center-Resident Fishing Day, ND Junior Governor's Cup. NWT is usually over 100% payout I thought, granted bigger and more sponsors. to me the reason these aren't filled is some people are afraid of the CRR,(which is actually probably the best tourney) and the sole fact that if you aren't in the top 5 you aren't making money.

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i guess that is all tournaments if you aren't in the top 5 you aren't making money haha

Plain Skeeter · Feb 8, 2018

The reason I will not be doing it is the lack of boundaries. If you can prefish all of Sakakawea in two days then you have way better electronics then I do. Or you have 5 other teammates who are guides to split it up with. The cup I only have so much area to cover which between my partner and I, we can do. So that one day tournament is more wear and tear on equipment when you have to run 80 miles there and back if you want to stand a chance.

Fisherman25 · Feb 8, 2018

Plain Skeeter said:
The reason I will not be doing it is the lack of boundaries. If you can prefish all of Sakakawea in two days then you have way better electronics then I do. Or you have 5 other teammates who are guides to split it up with. The cup I only have so much area to cover which between my partner and I, we can do. So that one day tournament is more wear and tear on equipment when you have to run 80 miles there and back if you want to stand a chance.

The Sak event wasn’t won by running 80 Miles....it was won about 3 or 4 miles from take off. The ones that ran 60+ miles were just chasing easier bites.

ndskeeter · Feb 8, 2018

Plain Skeeter said:
The reason I will not be doing it is the lack of boundaries. If you can prefish all of Sakakawea in two days then you have way better electronics then I do. Or you have 5 other teammates who are guides to split it up with. The cup I only have so much area to cover which between my partner and I, we can do. So that one day tournament is more wear and tear on equipment when you have to run 80 miles there and back if you want to stand a chance.

To be honest half of the guys in the top 10 fished on the east end of the lake. I made the big run up into the arm and yes we caught fish but the winners weren't with us.

Plain Skeeter · Feb 8, 2018

Yeah, I was there. All I know is I won't be donating this year. But I will be willing to bet the numbers are down this year. Just my opinion and you know what they say about opinions. I will put that time off into July.

Fisherman25 · Feb 8, 2018

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Here’s a payout comparable with the van hook classic. It assumes full field but either way, payout is the same percentage wise.

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Plain Skeeter said:
Yeah, I was there. All I know is I won't be donating this year. But I will be willing to bet the numbers are down this year. Just my opinion and you know what they say about opinions. I will put that time off into July.

Honeatly, I’ve talked to quite a few guys registering for the first time. I think numbers will rise again.

AIM Weekend Walleye Series 2018

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