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Posts: 7039
Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | The phrase "speed kills" is often thrown about in muskie fishing circles, and this weekend the theory of moving fast to find active fish while avoiding other anglers killed the hopes over 139 of 140 teams at the PMTT Mercury Marine Summer Challenge. While the majority of teams were focusing on suspended fish found near bait fish, the winning team of Mike and Dan Wojtuski went the speed route to the tune of boating six legal muskies to take home a check of $18000. When others were using bulldawgs and crankbaits to coax fish found near pods of perch, the Wojtusiks were zipping from spot to spot covering as much possible with spinnerbaits and suicks.
After the Day One PMTT one day record of 36 fish, the leader board appeared ready for some serious shuffling come Day Two. However, cooler temperatures, light rain followed by high clouds, while not shutting the fish down, changed the patterns that for most of the leaders beyond the Wojtusiks had been relatively consistent. 10-15 mph plus winds scattered baitfish and left many teams struggling to key in on fish. Though a number of anglers shifted their patterns later in the day, for most who did change, the result was only a follow or two. Team 124, Dietz and Four, pounded their deep water pattern for the entire morning, switching up to the shallow weeds to end the day and did have a 40" class fish follow a topwater. Zuelke and Borovsky, sitting in 8th place after day one decided to "swing for the fences" and targeted only larger fish with bigger baits in shallower water, but were rewarded with only a sub-legal. However some teams did see success in persistence, such as Gregg Thomas who boated his second fish of the tourney while fishing deep with a hand-painted "walmart walleye" patterned triple D. This fish moved him into 9th place with a combined total of 94 points off of a 34 and a 37.25.
The largest fish for Day Two was a 46 inch fish for Driscoll and Nelson. This fish did net them $500 for the big fish prize, but only moved them into 11th place. Beyond Thomas' move into 9th place, no change was seen in the leaderboard above this position. Wells and Schneider held onto 7th with their Day One big fish of 48 inches, and the only team to improve upon their day record above 9th was the eventual winners who boated two more legals as padding for their runaway vicotry of 305 points versus Hanfil and Fiscus' three fish total of 150 points.
By staying with their unique fish catching pattern of moving fast and avoiding not only what other anglers were donig, but also other anglers all together, Dan and Mike Wojtusik were able to boat a spectacular total of six fish over two days. This number more than doubled the second place finishers of Hanfil and Fiscus who concentrated on a 90 foot square area for more than three fourths of the tournament hours. While others were working slow and covering very specific spots, the Wojtusiks showed that speed kills to the tune of $18000 in prize money.
The next PMTT tourney in September at Lake Vermillion in Minnesota will the final trail event prior to the Ranger Boats World Championship to be held on the Fox Chain of Lakes in Antioch, IL. A number of spots remain open to qualify for the finals, with entry in two tournaments and possibly only one registered fish being enough to get in contention for the World Championship prive of $40,000 and a brand new Ranger boat.
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Posts: 7039
Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | 5th Place - Team 137 Nash/Schultz 35.25, 41.75 - 116 points
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 Fifth.JPG (134KB - 121 downloads)
DSC_0051.JPG (74KB - 127 downloads)
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Posts: 7039
Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | 4th Place - Team 10 Rustenberg/Bowman 35.75, 42 - 119 points
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Fourth.JPG (154KB - 107 downloads)
DSC_0053.JPG (75KB - 146 downloads)
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Posts: 7039
Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | 3rd Place - Team 61 Burseth/Burseth 34, 34, 34.75 - 123 points
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Third.JPG (171KB - 128 downloads)
DSC_0055.JPG (74KB - 127 downloads)
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Posts: 7039
Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | 2nd Place- Team 14 Haniflat/Fiscus 34, 36.5, 39 - 150 points
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Second.JPG (119KB - 114 downloads)
DSC_0058.JPG (74KB - 112 downloads)
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Posts: 7039
Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | 1st Place - Team 79 Wojtusik/Wojtuski 35.25, 35.75, 36, 36.75, 38, 38 – 305 points
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First.JPG (151KB - 127 downloads)
DSC_0068.JPG (68KB - 118 downloads)
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Posts: 7039
Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | 1st Place - Team 79 Wojtusik/Wojtuski 35.25, 35.25, 36, 36.75, 38, 38 – 305 points
2nd Place- Team 14 Haniflat/Fiscus 34, 36.5, 39 - 150 points
3rd Place - Team 61 Burseth/Burseth 34, 34, 34.75 - 123 points
4th Place - Team 10 Rustenberg/Bonman 35.75, 42 - 119 points
5th Place - Team 137 Nash/Schultz 35.25, 41.75 - 116 points
6th Place - Team 124 Deitz/Four 35.75, 37.25 - 100 points
7th Place - Team 140 Wells/Schneider 48 - 96 pionts
8th Place - Team 52 Borovsky/Zuelke 34, 38 - 96 points
9th Place – Team 17 Thomas 34.25, 37.25 – 94 points
10th Place – Team 132 Steckel/Machtan 46.75 – 94 points
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DSC_0078.JPG (91KB - 112 downloads)
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Posts: 103
Location: Land O' Lakes WI | Congrats to all of the contestants and the winners in the tournament.
Thanks to Slam'R, Mr. Worrall and the rest of the MuskieFirst family for the great coverage of the Eagle River PMTT event. It is nice to be able to make momma happy with chores at home and feel like you can know what is up in the latest tournament!
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Location: Duluth, MN - Superior, WI | Slamr and Steve,
Your coverage on the Eagle River PMTT event was outstanding. Great job!! Keep up the excellent Work.
Thanks
-Corey |
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Posts: 7039
Location: Northwest Chicago Burbs | Make sure to check out all the pics in the Photo Album: http://muskie.outdoorsfirst.com/board/photos/photo-thumbnails.asp?a... |
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