Posts: 656
Location: Forest Lake, Mn. | This is the 3rd year in which I have sponsered the Twin Cities M.I. Frank Schneider Tournament. I donate the prizes for the Mary Villnow Memorial Award that you see listed on the poster.
As many old regulars to this forum will recall I lost my wife Mary to brain cancer in June of 2004. When we met, some 15 years before, she had never done any fishing in her life. I changed that. I started her with sunnies and before to many years passed we discovered the joy of muskie fishing together. Mary didn't get many fish in her life, but she had a great size average. She never cracked 50 inchs but came close with a fat, late fall metro, 49 inch fish, plus a 46 and a 42.
Then there's the upper 40 inch fish whose is a size guesstimate as we never got this one on the measureing stick. Hmm, thanks in part to her net man (blush) who let it swim out the end of the cradle, after unhooking it, but before we measured it or got a photo and was her first big fish. (ooops) She forgave me though.
I asked her after we found out that she was terminally ill what she wanted to do before her time came. I told her that she should do whatever she wanted to, and she replied that she wanted to go 1 last time to our chapters annual outing to Sabaskong Bay muskie fishing. She made the trip too.
Sorry to have rambled on there, but the point is I'm sponsering this tourney as a way to remember my wife and to encourage other women to get out on the water and chase this beautiful beats. The best times of our lives together were spent in a boat fishing most of the major waters in Mn, and LoTW. I want other women to experience the thrill that Mary had found in fishing muskie. So in her memory I deceided to start this particular award for the tournament.
I donte the money and also my good friend Todd Cleveland donates commerative editions of his Phantom Lures which are awarded to the top 3 women finishers in the tournament. First place Lady (of any age, little girl to elderly) wins $500 and a Phantom, 2nd place wins $300 and a Phantom lure, 3rd place 200. and a Phantom lure. If there isn't any winners, or enough of them, I donate the funds to the chapters stocking and rearing fund in order to buy fish to stock.
Last years First place winner, and may she forgive me as I can't recall her name, was a first time muskie fisherman, and I forget the exact size of her fish but if my memory is correct, I think it was a 50, or very close to it. She was very excited about her fish and when she found out about the cash and lure she was thrilled. I asked her if she planned on continueing to fish muskies. She laughed and turned to the crowd and said YES! This is why I sponser the award, and my goal in posting here. To get more of you gals involved. I think it would be wonderful if a Mother and Daugther won 1st and 2nd award, someday.
The award is for women only. Sorry guys.
I would like to Thank Todd Cleveland for making and donating his Phantom Lures each year. The first 2 years the color was Pink because Mary was also a breast cancer survivor before the brain cancer came and the 2 cancers were not related, but this year Todd has created an exciting gray color pattern for the award. I picked gray as it is the color ribbon for brain tumors. Each lure is custom lettered with "Mary Villnow Memorial Award 2007" across the back. Todd only makes 4 of these lures a year, 3 as prizes and an extra for me to keep. Thanks again Todd.
Guys, get your gals fishing! Your wife, girlfriend, daughter, sister, mother, neice, mistress lol, the woman next door, whoever and get on the water.
Oh, by the way, I don't have anything to promote or to profit from doing this. I'm not at all involved in the muskie fishing industry. This is my way of Thanking God for letting me share such wonderful times and experiences with the love of my life.
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Posts: 2384
Location: On the X that marks the mucky spot | To answer your question, there is no cash payout in this tournament. We have a prize package for 1st-10th place in the muskie division, 1-3 in the pike devision, and additional prize payouts in the womens and junior division. I don't have the list of all the products onhand, but we've got a TON of prizes. I think it's somewhere in the $30,000 range total.
If you want the whole prize package schedule drop me an email @ [email protected] and I'll see what I can find for you.
-Shawn |
