EWC crowds impress Leer

Chip Leer, who made his debut as emcee for the Emo Walleye Classic over the weekend, was stunned by the crowds that packed the Emo/La Vallee Community Centre to watch both weigh-ins.
Leer, who has been performing emcee duties for more than 15 years, said the overwhelming support residents of Rainy River District have for the EWC is something he hasn’t seen to the same extent before.
“It’s pretty impressive,” he remarked. “I’ve been all over the [U.S.] emceeing and I’ve never seen a crowd so excited like this—nobody comes to weigh-ins,” he added.
“So it’s extremely impressive how good a job they have done here to draw people into the event and to keep them coming back.
“This crowd says it all.”
Leer, who grew up downtown Minneapolis, Mn., always had the goal of moving up north and fishing in mind.
“I’ve always wanted to just fish,” he remarked. “After college, I figured I would get a big job and make lots of money. But when I turned 25, I realized it was going to take too long to get rich.”
So Leer got into the business because he wanted to figure out a way to make a living at fishing—and has been successful at doing just that ever since.
He began his fishing adventures guiding on Lake of the Woods, Rainy Lake, and now on lakes around Walker, Mn., where he currently resides.
This gig (the EWC) is similar in size to the first tourney he took to the stage at—the Evanor Walleye Classic.
That tournament, pioneered by Leer, grew from roughly 65 boats competing for $13,000 in prize money, when it was started, to 250 boats vying for $150,000 in prizes by the last time it ran.
Leer said the EWC committee’s genuine concern for the well-being of everyone involved, and the tournament’s reputation, is the reason for its success each year.
“This committee is really committed to the success of the tournament and from the time I pulled into the parking lot, a member was waiting and ready to greet me and make sure I had everything I needed to get up on stage,” he noted.
“Everyone is very concerned about the well-being of the anglers, the safety of everyone, creating a level and fair playing field for all the participants.
“These are the things that make events successful, and I think this crew knows that,” he added.
Leer said the emcee’s duties keep things exciting because he gets to learn new things about fishing all the time from different people.
“You can learn something from every one of these guys,” he stressed. “There is so much to learn, I don’t think it’s possible to ever learn it all.”
Although learning new things keeps Leer asking questions about fish, it’s the exhilaration of the catch that he’s chasing.
The rush a hockey player achieves after scoring a winning goal is the same high Leer admits he fishes for continuously—and it’s the frustration that motivates him to keep fishing.
“You have to basically figure out how to outwit a fish. It may not sound difficult but it can be very frustrating,” he remarked. “I love it because I can only master it for one moment, one fish at a time.
“I don’t think you ever get it down because conditions change and fish move.”
On stage, Leer enjoys using the opportunity to quiz anglers about their techniques. In a way, that is kind of testing the waters, so to say, through use of his favourite question: “What did you do different out there?”
It’s a question Leer admits anglers answer most of the time by saying they didn’t do anything differently. But at every tourney, at least one secret is discovered from the question.
“A lot of times fishermen will not realize they are doing something in a particular way,” said Leer. “But the most successful anglers will end up on top because of the little things that they do.
“It’s not the special lures they use—it’s the little subtleties in the way they present the lure to the fish,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, Leer certainly dismissed any uncertainties organizers and spectators may have had as he took over emcee duties from the affable Lionel Robert, who passed away suddenly late last year.
“I think it went great. I really appreciated how quickly he [Leer] got up to speed on things,” said Lincoln Dunn, stage and marketing director for the EWC.
“I’ve heard nothing but a very positive response up to this point,” he added.