OKUMA FISHING USA PRESENTS:

2026 Great Lakes Walleye University

and FREE Public Walleye Tackle Expo

New Location: Erie Yacht Club, Erie PA.

Saturday March 7th

2026 REGISTRATIONS ARE NOW OPEN!!!

TACKLE EXPO IS FREE TO PUBLIC

ONE FREE OKUMA TROLLING ROD PER STUDENT!

IMPORTANT NOTES FOR STUDENTS: Registration is currently OPEN for Walleye School sign-ups.

Date of the Event: March 7th, 2026.

LOCATION: Same location as last year for 2026! Erie Yacht Club, 1 Ravine Drive, Erie PA 16505 The school and expo will be in the main clubhouse.

PARKING: Free, unlimited parking available on the premises.

The 2026 event will be a 1 day format. No need to stay overnight. Classes and expo will be running the entire day.

Nicer venue, bigger expo, better door prizes, better goodie bags, better food and better topics!

The tackle expo will be running thru the entire day and is Free to the Public. Expo hours will be 9am-5pm. Expo doors open at 9am

Registration is now OPEN. Class roster will be cut off at 200 students. After 200, you will be put on a waiting list for possible cancellations. First come, first serve. If we are full, the website will be changed from OPEN status to SOLD OUT status above. When it becomes closed, you may still register for a waiting list but do not pay until contacted.

Capt Steve Small
President EPACBA

2026 Walleye University Details

School Seminars are to be held on Saturday, March 7th

Walleye School Hours 8:30am - 5:00 pm. Doors open at 7:30am for Students

Address: Erie Yacht Club, 1 Ravine Drive, Erie PA 16505

Walleye School seating is limited to the first 200 student registrations. First come, first serve. Once we hit 200, the registration process will be closed.

Cost of attending the School is $125.00 and you receive the following:

One FREE Okuma Classic Pro trolling rod per student upon entry to classroom
One goodie bag per student of effective walleye tackle upon arrival to School from our sponsors
A full day of instructional seminars
Free coffee and donuts in the morning
Free hot catered luncheon
Free 2026 Walleye School full color T-shirt upon arrival to School

Registrations for the 2026 Lake Erie Walleye School will ONLY be accepted though our online registration process down below...

Mark Haffley, Pa Fish Commission Biologist is back with "Project i-Tag" migration results from season 2025

Back by popular demand, Erie's own Mark Haffley is our head Biologist with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission as well as the captain of the R/V Perca. He has been with the Commission for 13 years serving in many different capacities. He has been spearheading the agencies Walleye "Project i-Tag" telemetry work in Pennsylvania started in the Spring of 2018 to provide insight into local spawning. He is also a charter boat captain out of Erie with his business TLB Sportfishing Charters. He has been working on Lake Erie in the charter fishing industry since 1999 and brings a vast amount of knowledge from both the recreational and sport fishing side of our fishery as well as the biological side. Hearing Mark talk about the internal tracking devices and how the fish migrate throughout the year is jaw dropping! Now we will have the tracking data from 2025 available for you to see at this years walleye school based on a full year of i-tag studies!

Lure Logic: The right lure, the right size, the right color

Captain Joe Nemet will be simplifying the millions of options of lure choices to pick the right presentation for time of year, water depth, fish depth, ect.

Making today's Plan of Attack! and why it should work

Captain Mike Lamberson talks about how to make an educated guess on how and where he's going to fish today and why it should work based on a number of factors

Shop till you Drop

We've heard your requests....more time to shop. We'll be adding extra time to browse the expo during school hours so you can buy what you want, get orders filled, tackle made up, etc.

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To register for 2026 school, please completely fill out the form below and press the "Submit Form" button. Your information will be emailed to our Staff. Secondly, click on the Pay Pal button where you will be taken to our secure Pay Pal Processing Center to submit your Registration Payment and complete the registration. The PayPal site will allow you to use a credit card. If you are not comfortable using online payment methods, we can accept a check made out to: EPACBA and mail it in care of Capt Steve Small, 208 Winchester Ave, Aliquippa PA 15001, however you still need to register below.
*** REGISTRATION WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED COMPLETE WITHOUT THE CORRESPONDING PAYPAL OR CHECK PAYMENT***

Once your Registration has been processed and Pay Pal Payment has been received, you will get a receipt e-mail from Pay Pal , confirming your payment. That e-mail will serve as both your receipt and your Admission/Ticket to the walleye school. Please print the e-mail and bring it with you the day of the Event.

Registration fee is non refundable for no-shows due to bad weather, personal conflicts etc. Refunds WILL be provided if the School is canceled for any reason. For any questions on the Great Lakes Walleye School, please contact Steve at smallprogram@comcast.net

IF YOU ARE REGISTERING 2 OR MORE STUDENTS, PLEASE FILL OUT A CARD FOR EACH, THEN YOU MAY PAY FOR MULTIPLE STUDENDS AT ONCE VIA STEP 2

ALSO, YOU DON'T NEED A PAYPAL ACCOUNT, THERE IS AN OPTION FOR CREDIT CARD WITHIN PAYPAL FOR YOU TO USE

Step 1 Register

Click this button to register your STUDENT information, then go to step 2 and 3