There are a handful of teams from the Eastern US that participate in the 2-3 major walleye tournament circuits. The Eastern guys are almost always (excluding Dunkirk/Barcelona and Lake Ontario events) traveling to the mid-West to fish on foreign waters. To be able to finish in the top 30 much less win one of these events is outstanding.

The Eastern US just does not have the numbers of walleye tournament anglers to suffice moving any of these tournaments to the East. They have tried it in the past but low turnouts (low payouts) forces the major circuits to stay in the mid-West.