Hahn & Wojtusik Win Mercury Marine Summer Challenge on Eagle River Chain.

The Professional Musky Tournament Trail was finally able to start its season with its first qualifier event, the Mercury Marine’s Summer Challenge on the Eagle River Chain in Northern Wisconsin this past weekend June 27th &28th. This annual event hosted by the Eagle River Area Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Center was certainly a breath of fresh air that everyone needed and the weather turned out spectacular for fishermen with mid eighty-degree temperatures and slight winds. The muskies cooperated also as 28 were caught on Saturday and 9 more on Sunday for a total of 37 muskies caught and released. There were 119 boats registered to compete in the event with some of them coming from as far away as Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and St. Petersburg, Florida. The winning team of Phil Hahn and Dan Wojtusik, locals from Eagle River, Wisconsin were pre fishing and casting Grandma crankbaits and twitched the bait hard on the way back to the boat and caught fish. During the tournament the two anglers committed to that bait and presentation and it paid off as they caught 3 muskies that were 35”, 36” and 43.75” to win first place and $17,000 prize. Wojtusik and Hahn were casting a shallow water weedy area near where trolling tournament participants were working a basin. Hahn and Wojtusik felt that the trollers pushed the muskies into the area that they were fishing. 

Coming in second place was James Carlson Sr. of West Bend, Wisconsin and his nephew Tim Carlson of St. Petersburg, Florida. The Carlson’s caught muskies that were 44.50” and 45.50” which was also the big fish of the day for Saturday. The two anglers were casting baby depth raiders and shad rap crankbaits near weeds while keeping the boat in 8 to 10-foot depth. In third place were Eric Jorgenson of Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin and Jon Pahl of Appleton, Wisconsin. The two anglers caught 43” and 43.75” muskies while casting bucktails over shallow water weeds. Jorgenson and Pahl`s 43.75” musky ended up being the largest musky caught on Sunday. In fourth place was Mark Lijewski of Minocqua, Wisconsin and Jeff Piazza of Lake Tomahawk, Wisconsin. The two anglers were casting twitch baits aggressively in shallow water. Rounding out the top five places was the husband and wife team from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was Rick and Sarah Hoover. The Hoovers used Cross Bone and River slick baits to persuade their 3 muskies of 32.75”, 35” and 39” into biting. The Hoover`s caught their muskies trolling their 4” baits at 4 mph with 50 feet of line out in open water around suspended bait. 

Tournament Director Tim Widlacki thanked all the PMTT`s fantastic sponsors, especially Mercury Marine for sponsoring the tournament and the entire trail. Also, the Eagle River Area Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center for hosting the event and the great hospitality they and the entire town have given us every year. Also, Ranger Boats, Musky Hunter Magazine, Okoboji Tourism, Keyes Outdoors, Motorguide, Chaos Tackle, Treelands Resort, Vitaminerals, Feldstrein Jeweler’s, Morehead Tourism, Lake Chippewa Flowage Resort Association and all the associate and contributing sponsors. Please let these fine people know that you appreciate their promotional efforts in support of freshwater's most challenging fish and those extreme anglers who chase her on the first, best and only truly national Professional Musky Tournament Trail circuit, the PMTT.

Sign up today Our next event will be the Musky Hunter Magazine`s Late Summer Showdown on the Spirit & Okoboji Chain of Lakes, August 29-30 in Northwest Iowa. Hosted by Vacation Okoboji Tourism, this will be the first time the PMTT has had a qualifying tournament on these musky filled water and should be an awesome event. To obtain more information on becoming a member of the PMTT, or to view event photo album, please visit us on the web at www.promusky.com or call the PMTT office at 815-478-4092.

Akin & Ahrenholtz Win Musky Hunter Magazine Summer Showdown on Spirit/Okoboji.

Ahrenholtz & Akin = Record Win at PMTT Musky Hunter Magazine Tournament.

On August 29th & 30th the Professional Musky Tournament Trail anglers had the best musky fishing action it has witnessed in 22 years of existence. The PMTT has visited some pretty phenomenal waters over the years but the Musky Hunter Magazine Late Summer Bash on the Okoboji/ Spirit Lake chain in NW Iowa put its name right up there at the top with the elite in the history of the trail. A tournament hosted by the Okoboji Tourism saw an incredible two-day total of 84 muskies caught and two individual records fall during the two-day tournament.

There is always one team that figures out the hot tactic to catch muskies at these tournaments and this time it was local anglers Matt Ahrenholtz of Carrol, Iowa and Shane Akin of Milford, Iowa. Under mostly sunny skies, slight winds, water and air temps both in the mid-seventies, the two used jerk baits with orange bellies while casting an area they found three weeks prior to the tournament. This area was a weed line that came out deeper with a pocket and then a flat that held perch and baitfish in the area. The combination of bait and structure attracted the muskies as Ahrenholtz and Akin boated a record setting 9 muskies on day one of the tournament.   

On day 2 of the tournament, the two anglers went right back to the same area and caught two more muskies for a total of 11 muskies up to 42.50”. Ahrenholtz and Akin had the muskies biting so well that at one point they caught muskies on back to back casts and set a single PMTT tournament record with their 11 muskies and took home the 1st place honors. 

In second place was Scott Bugalski of Stone Lake, Wisconsin and Benjamin Peterson of Pewaukee, Wisconsin with 6 muskies up to 43 inches caught on Medusas and SRJ Pandemonium baits in the weeds. In third place was Jared Donar of Oregon, Wisconsin and Kevin Nash of Aurora, Illinois. Donar and Nash caught 5 muskies up to 37.50 inches while keeping the boat in 13 feet of water casting into shallower weeds and bringing their lures back to the boat. In fourth place was Shawn Josephson of Cedarburg, Wisconsin and Ryan Knapp. These two anglers also caught 5 muskies up to 37.75 inches. Rounding out the top five places in fifth place was Bill Burns of Morehead, Kentucky and Dave Lee of Cincinnati, Ohio with 3 muskies that were 36.25, 40.50 and 41.75 inches that were caught while fishing weeds. The Musky Hunter Magazine big fish of the tournament, a 48.50-inch musky was caught by the father/son team of Gino and John Valasek. 

Tournament director Tim Widlacki thanked all of the PMTT’s fantastic sponsors especially Musky Hunter Magazine for their continued support and Okoboji Tourism for hosting this event. Also, Ranger Boats, Mercury Marine, Chaos Tackle, Morehead Tourism, Treeland's Resort, Eagle River Chamber of Commerce, Keyes Outdoors, Vita-Minerals, Lake Chippewa Flowage Resort Association, Feldstein’s Jewelers, MotorGuide, and all of the associate and contributing sponsors. Please let these fine people know that you appreciate their promotional efforts in support of fresh waters most challenging fish and those extreme anglers who chase her on the first, best and only truly national professional musky tournament circuit, the PMTT.

Sign up today for the PMTT 2020 Events. Our next event will be the Q3 LCFRA & Treeland Resorts Fall Meltdown September 26th & 27th, 2020 . To obtain more information on becoming a member of the PMTT, or to view event photo album, please visit us on the web at www.promusky.com or call the PMTT office at 815-478-4092.

Team Raczynski Win PMTT Tournament on Chippewa Flowage

Fall was definitely in the air at the Lake Chippewa Flowage Resort Association @ Treelands Resort Fall Meltdown on September 26th & 27th. The cool temperatures, cloudy skies, beautiful fall colors and some great musky fishing were in order for the field of 83 boats on the Chippewa Flowage this past weekend. Many of the anglers had never fished the Flowage before so it was a treat to finally get to fish these legendary waters. There is so much musky fishing history of this famed water and the anglers really enjoyed seeing what the Chippewa Flowage was all about. The Chip did not disappoint the anglers as they caught a total of 38 muskies and a lot of the them reported having some musky action from the fabled waters.

The father and son team of Mike Raczynski of Fox Lake, WI and Dan Raczynski of Grafton, WI. had never been to the Chip before. On day one they fished a lot of different spots and finally found a shallow bar with some muskies on it. The Raczynski were casting Medussa’s in and around thick shallow weeds and caught three muskies up to 44.50”, which was also big fish for the tournament. The father and son team took home the 1st place hardware and $12,000 cash for their efforts. In second place was local guide Ty Sennett of Hayward, WI and his brother Tait Sennett from Princeville, IL. The Sennett brothers fished many spots running and gunning, fishing spots to see if they could make contact with as many muskies and areas as they could. They succeeded by catching four muskies up to 40” on bucktails, crankbaits and rubber in dark or perch colors.

In third place was Charlie and Matt Ridgway of Des Moines, Iowa. The Ridgways were forced to fish areas not too far from the take off point because of boat problems. Their misfortune paid off as they caught a musky in a weed bed that they drifted into and kept fishing the area. They were casting Medussa and Bulldawg lures in the thick weedpatch and caught three muskies up 39.75’. In fourth place was the husband and wife team of Rick and Sarah Hoover of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The Hoovers used walk the dog topwater lures near shallow weed beds to entice 40.25” and 43.25” muskies into biting. The 43.25” musky was also the big fish for Saturday. Rounding out the top five was Mark Rue of Glenview, Illinois and Ladd Wildeson of Eagle River, Wisconsin. These two anglers used topwaters and bucktails in shallow weeds on one shoreline that they concentrated on the whole time and caught three muskies up to 35”. 

Tournament Director Tim Widlacki thanked all the PMTT`s fantastic sponsors, especially the Lake Chippewa Flowage Resort Association and Treeland’s Resort for host the tournament. Also, Ranger Boats, Mercury Marine, Chaos Tackle, Musky Hunter Magazine, Eagle River Area Chamber of Commerce, Okoboji Tourism, Keyes Outdoors, MotorGuide, Vitaminerals, Feldstein Jeweler’s, Morehead Tourism and all the associate and contributing sponsors. Please let these fine folks know that you appreciate their promotional efforts in support of freshwater's most challenging fish and those extreme anglers who chase her on the first, best and only truly national Professional Musky Tournament Trail circuit, the PMTT. 

The season ending PMTT Ranger Boats World Championship is next, October 23-25 on Cave Run Lake in Morehead, Ky. The 1st place prize package being a 2021 Ranger Boats Angler 2080MS, powered by a Mercury Outboard and trailer worth over $60,000. If you have any questions on our next event or next year please contact us at info@promusky.com or call 815-478-4092. 

Sign up today! Our next event will be the Ranger Boats World Championship on October 23rd, 24th & 25th, 2020 on Cave Run Lake in Morehead, KY. The 1st place prize package is a 2021 Ranger Boats Angler 2080MS, powered by a Mercury Outboard and trailer worth over $50,000. 

To obtain more information on becoming a member of the PMTT, or to signup for any PMTT Event, please visit us on the web at www.promusky.com or call the PMTT office at 815-478-4092.

Matt Raley & Nate Osfar Win 2020 PMTT Ranger Boats World Championship!

Rick & Sarah Hoover Win 2020 PMTT Top Gun Team of the Year!

Complete update coming soon!

Sign up soon for the 2021 PMTT Trail and come check us out this winter at your local Musky Sport Show. For information or to view event photo album, please visit us on the web at www.promusky.com or call the PMTT office at 815-478-4092