Ideal conditions for musky fishing fog, mist, rain, cloudy skies and changing conditions turning to sun at the end of each day were the case at the Mercury Marine Summer Challenge on the second leg of the Professional Musky Tournament Trail. Hosted by the Eagle River Area Chamber of Commerce on June 26th & 27th on the beautiful Eagle River Chain in northeastern Wisconsin. The combination of prime water temperature and weather fronts moving through turned the muskies on. Also the air temperature was between 65-75 degrees all day on both days making it very comfortable for a musky fisherman. There was a record catch during a PMTT event set at 71 muskies that were caught by 91 boats. To get a chance to be on the leader board in the top ten place standings you had to catch at least two muskies over 35″.
Tim Miller and Brian Krelle of Eagle River, WI prevailed with three muskies that were 34″, 38.50″ and a 46″. The team earned the first place prize of over $14,500.00 for their efforts. The two anglers used Bulldawgs thrown off the break lines towards deep water. With the fronts rolling through during the nights dumping heavy rains, they figured that the muskies would move off the structure.
Second Place went to Mark Lijewski and Clay Schroeder both from the Minoqua WI area. These to gentlemen have become a mainstay in musky tournaments. The two anglers succeeded in catching three nice muskies of 35.75″, 37.75″ and 41.50″ in length. Their fish were caught in shallow water on surface baits and buck tails. The third place winners were Brian Johnson of Duluth, Minnesota and Jess Appleby of Superior, Wisconsin. These two anglers used nickel and black colored buck tails on the 10 foot weed edges to capture 37″, 37″ and a 40.50″.
In fourth place were two brothers from the Baxter and St. Cloud area of Minnesota. Jeff and Joe Anderson caught and released three nice muskies that were 34, 36.25 and 42.25′. The anglers used buck tails and top water baits to entice their fish to strike. Rounding out the top five were Jason Hammernick and John Hoyer of Minnesota. These two consistent trail team anglers caught and released 35″, 36.50″ and 40.25″ muskies. Their pattern was throwing showgirl spinners to shallow water sand shorelines.
Tournament Director Tim Widlacki thanked all of the PMTT’s fantastic sponsors to all of the local Eagle River area sponsors. Also thanks to Mercury Marine for sponsoring the Eagle River event and the Eagle River Area Chamber of Commerce for hosting it. In addition Ranger Boats, Musky Hunter Magazine, Keyes Outdoors Television, Rollie & Helens Musky Shop, Musky Mayhem Tackle, Crash’s Landing, Chaos Tackle, Morehead Kentucky Tourism Commission and all the associate and contributing sponsors. Please let these fine folks know that you appreciate their promotional efforts in support of freshwaters most challenging fish …and those extreme anglers who chase her on the first, best and only truly National Professional Musky Circuit…the PMTT!By: Duane Landmeir, PR Mgr
