DUBUQUE - Over the past few years, the Walleye Anglers Trail has experienced a decline in participation.

It's been a perplexing development for Bill Brosnahan, in his fourth year as the W.A.T.'s director.

"We have fewer anglers," said Brosnahan, who is retired from a career in law enforcement. "I think country-wide there has been a reduction in tournament anglers. I'm not sure if fuel prices are a big part of that or not, but I know they had a big effect last year."

Although it has visited other destinations through the years, the current W.A.T. places its four yearly tournaments at various locations on the Mississippi River. Traditionally, they have been two-day events with low entry fees ($325) designed to attract anglers of all skill levels.

This year, the W.A.T. is going to one-day tournaments as part of its attempt to grow participation to 50 boats per event.

"It's designed to draw some interest from those individuals who want to get into a tournament circuit, but may have employment or family conflicts with two-day tournaments and taking vacation and scheduling and pre-fishing, etc.," Brosnahan explained.

Waterloo native Tommy Skarlis, a highly successful professional walleye angler on the PWT and FLW tours, served as a consultant and emcee for the W.A.T. during the 2006 season. It's a grassroots organization that has something to offer everyone, he said.

In particular, the W.A.T. is a tremendous classroom.

"The number one thing I've recognized throughout my career is that if you are going to be a well-rounded walleye angler, you have to have a good understanding of rivers," he explained. "In a river, current is the primary attractor for fish. Understanding current and how to fish current is the most valuable factor for fishing a river.

"People say, 'Why do I need to know how to fish current in rivers to be a good walleye angler?' Well, it also helps you understand currents in lakes like the Great Lakes, in reservoirs and even how wind creates current.

"It seems like you can take a river guy and put him on lakes, and he does fairly well. But if you take the lake guys and put them on a river like the Mississippi, a lot of them struggle a little bit.

"For anybody who is up and coming, the experience you can gain fishing rivers helps grow a stronger walleye angler in the end."

Skarlis said he was impressed with the ability of some W.A.T. anglers, but also with their willingness to share information and help new anglers learn.

"There's such a diversity of anglers within what I would call the W.A.T. family," he noted. "You've got world class anglers like Maury Schmerbach and Mike Glynn of Dubuque (former Masters Walleye Circuit World Walleye Champions) and a few others … Everybody within that circle is very open, which you don't find sometimes in other circuits."

Fishing the W.A.T. is about more than the competition, Skarlis continued.

"How you establish some of the best friendships you'll have in life is through tournaments. And the other thing is, you've got people like the Kopps (husband-wife team Steve and Jan of Dubuque). They were in contention to win the last tournament, and she's getting dropped off at the weigh-in site with 45 minutes left in the fishing day so she can help run the scoreboard and the computer.

"You've got a lot of people like that. The diversity of anglers and what an eclectic group they are makes it a fascinating thing to be part of."

"There's also a camaraderie among the competitors unlike that of any other tournament circuit," added Brosnahan, who pointed out some additional benefits and features the W.A.T. has to offer.

"It's been my experience that fishermen in the Walleye Anglers Trail are at the very highest level of sportsmanship and ethical standards," he said. "There have really been no controversies during my three years.

"It's professionally run. We have all the latest technology to ensure that we protect the natural resources as far as temperature gauges and dissolved oxygen meters in our holding tanks."

While W.A.T. anglers fish for cash prizes, with 80 percent of the entry fee money paid back to 25 percent of the field, there are a number of other awards designed to give everyone a chance to win something, such as the Mack's Lures "Just out of the Money" award, the Falling Rock Bar and Grill "Middle of the Channel" prize, the Richter Anchor "20th Place" award, the "Biggest Basket" award from Okuma Reels, the Northern Battery Award and others.

"We have a number of loyal sponsors, and they're the ones who really help make the tournaments," said Brosnahan. "We try to distribute awards up and down the field."

Registrations are currently being accepted for the 2007 W.A.T. season. Tournament dates are March 18 at Genoa, Wis. (pools 8-9-10), April 15 at Bellevue (pools 12-13-14), May 20 at Eastman, Wis. (pools 9-10-11) and Sept. 23 at Dubuque (pools 11-12-13).

For more information, visit www.walleyeanglerstrail.com.

Contact Doug Newhoff at (319) 291-1467 or doug.newhoff@wcfcourier.com