High winds delay start of Cabela’s Lake Erie walleye tournament
6/15/2013PORT CLINTON — Strong winds, robust waves, and a small-craft advisory from the National Weather Service were enough to force the postponement of the first day of the Cabela's National Walleye Tour event on Lake Erie Friday.
The wind was pushing 20 knots and cranking up waves of two-to-four feet out on the open lake when the nearly 130 boats assembled at the West Harbor public ramp on Catawba Island at first light.
With Friday’s fishing scrubbed, the two-day tournament will now run today and Sunday.
The wind here had already laid down considerably by Friday afternoon, and the forecast for the rest of the weekend called for it to swing around to the southwest by early this morning and diminish to 10 knots or less, with waves less than two feet.
The anglers are due back each day by 3 p.m. for the official weigh-in, which is held at Waterworks Park downtown.
Contact Blade outdoors editor Matt Markey at: mmarkey@theblade.com or 419-724-6068.