Mr Musky - 9/11/2013 5:24 PM I heard rumor that the WMT let teams that didnt even qualify for the championship fish the championship last year just to fill the field, maybe somebody who fished the WMT championship could chime in here. To me that's not right. Steve Genson and Mats Holland won the 2012 Championship on the Eagle River Chain last year for a $50k check. Mats Holland qualified for the event and since his original partner who he qualified with, Dan Altmann, couldn't fish, the open seat was offered to Steve Genson via Mats Holland. This was fair to the rules. There were rumors floating around that some of the teams were invited to fish even though they did not qualify for the event during the season, however, my understanding is those teams did at least pay into the pot by competing in at least one qualifying event during the season. I do not know the validity of statements concerning teams where both contestants in the boat had not fished a qualifying event leading up to the championship in the 2012 season, but rumors were swirling. Steve Genson's name is well-known in the musky community, but wasn't linked to the WMTS until the Championship. I don't know if Mats Holland had ever fished the WMT prior to 2012 or not, but I had never heard his name before last year. I think that was the case for a lot of folks who fish the tour. When two names, including one who's name is well known in the musky community, fished the championship and won, the rumors swirled that neither had ever fished a qualifying event leading up to the championship when in fact, Mats Holland had, and in fact, won the Autumn Classic: http://www.professionalmuskieanglercircuit.com/2012/results/namakagon.html | 
