The Central Wisconsin River series presented by Minn Kota, Humminbird and Stevens Point Brewery made their last of four stops on the circuit on Sunday, August 7 at Lake Mohawksin in Tomahawk. Many of the anglers were excited to return to this body of water while some approached with trepidation. Forty-five teams took off shortly before 6:30 a.m. with a slightly foggy first ride early in the morning.
It seemed Mohawksin provided either feast or famine. For every team who said they “must have caught 40 fish,” there was a team that struggled, catching two fish or less. Overall, over 303 pounds of fish were caught, making an average of approximately 2 1/4 pounds. The big smallmouth of the tournament was brought in by Clair and Raffe Hulce at 5.19 pounds and the big largemouth came from the team of Todd Holtman and Joe Heitschmidt.
Twenty teams were able to bring a limit of fish to the scales while 10 teams were unable to boat a keeper fish.
Clair and Raffe Hulce from Stevens Point came in first place with 18.18 pounds including their kicker big smallmouth. This makes two Qualifier wins for them this year! Robin Pester and Andy Dassow from Medford took second with 13.73 pounds and brothers Matt and Dan Hirman, also from Stevens Point, took third with a 13.33 pound limit of fish. Fourth place was Tom Pierce and Robby Yost with
12.57 pounds. Todd Holtman and Joe Heitschmidt, aside from winning big largemouth for the tournament, also took the fifth slot with 12.49 pounds.
Of the 45 teams in this tournament, only eight would secure themselves a berth in the championship. The top eight teams, not already qualified for the championship, from each of the four qualifiers made their way into the 35-boat field for the championship on Boom Lake in Rhinelander on September 10-11, 2016. One team secured their spot by way of an early bird drawing, with the Team of the Year from 2015 and the defending champions from the championship 2015 also winning a spot in the field.
Tournament Director Mike Hofmann also announced that they 2017 championship would be on the Minocqua Chain. Many of the anglers were excited at the chance to fish the chain to determine the champions for next year. Hofmann said it has been great working with the cities of Rhinelander, Tomahawk, Stevens Point, and now Minocqua, all of whom have been very supportive and welcoming of the River Series events. The support from all of the series’ sponsors, as well as the dedication of the volunteers from Park City Bass Anglers and others, have made the series what it is today — a fun and challenging series to which anglers look forward year after year.
The Wisconsin River Series presented by Minn Kota, Humminbird and the Stevens Point Brewery is managed and run for the anglers by the TBF affiliated club, the Park city Bass Anglers from Merrill Wisconsin.
The Central Wisconsin River Series presented by Minn Kota, Humminbird and the Stevens Point Brewery is also supported by these fine companies:
Ranger Boats, Stratos Boats, Evinrude, Stacker 2 Energy Shot, Stevens Point Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, Crystal Finishing Systems Inc. Gander Mountain Rothschild, St. Croix
Rods, Optima Batteries, The Rod Glove, Bassnut Lures, Tomahawk Chamber of Commerce, Solar Bat, LazerTrokar, Super 8 Hotel Tomahawk, Frabill, Okuma, Trokar Hooks, BioborEB, Staghorn Archery in Irma, Secret Weapon Baits, Rib Mountain Marine, Aquatic Arts Sport Shop, Plano, Rhinelander Chamber of Commerce, Mister Twister, Rocky Brook Sinkers, Stik Um Graphics
By: Mike Hofmann
