Qualifier #2 PMTT Eagle River

Perfect weather and water conditions for a musky fisherman turned the muskies on June 23 and 24 in the PMTT Mercury Marine`s Summer Challenge on the Eagle River Chain of Lakes in Eagle River, Wisconsin. Mother Nature yielded a water temperature around 74 degrees which is prime for feeding muskies and air temps also in the mid seventies.

She started out the day Saturday with partly cloudy skies yielding to rain with a few thunderstorms mixed in. Sunday was a touch of mist in the morning, changing to partly cloudy and then mostly sunny. All of this brewed together made for some very exciting fishing conditions for musky nuts. The fish were on a mission as this was the best fishing event for registered muskies in the 14yr history of the PMTT! There were a total of 87 muskies caught and released by the 88 teams registered to compete.

James Reiter and Ric Cummings (both of Vernon Hills, IL) stood in fourth place on day one with two muskies they knew they had their work cut out for them. The cold front was coming and the fish normally are not very active after that. The two anglers adjusted their pattern from Saturday that was fishing shallow 1-4 feet to move out a little deeper water off the weed edge on a point with incoming water in 6-9 feet to catch 4 more muskies. This decision propelled them to the win as the two anglers ended up registering 6 muskies total up to 43.75 inches. Cummings and Reiter used Rizzo Wiz lures to entice their muskies and take home two beautiful trophies and a prize package worth more than $12,500. Ironically the two anglers won the 2007 PMTT event at Eagle River using the same technique. You know what they say if it is not broken don't fix it and these two gentlemen took that saying right to the bank.

In 2nd Place were Keith and Ken Krejci of Wausau, WI. These two anglers used three different types of baits (Rubber, Crank baits and a Buck tail) in many different areas to contact their fish. The Krejci` s fish were 36.75, 41.50 and a 47.75 inch musky that was the Big Fish of the day for Sunday, which earned the two anglers a total of $3,625 for their accomplishments.

In 3rd Place were Jason Baratka of Phillips, WI and Marcus Malyuk of Marshfield, WI who used buck tails and Bull dawg lures in shallow weeds near shore. The two anglers caught 33, 33.50, 36.25 and a 47 inch which was the Big Fish of the day for Saturday earning the pair a total of $2,750.

In 4th Place were Steve Weyers (Stevens Point, WI.) and Aaron Techlin ( Appleton, WI.) with muskies that were 30.25, 32, 38.25 and 42 inches. Theses two anglers technique was to move around quickly and cover water while casting bucktails in and around weed beds.

Rounding out the top 5 from Hilliard, Ohio is the father and son team of Doug and John Dibble. The two anglers caught their muskies in a 12�-15� trough on Cranberry Lake. They used fire tiger and also orange colored Bucher tail shallow raider crank baits.

For more information, please visit www.promusky.com