SCHWEIK AND HILMAN WIN WMT'S MOHAWKSIN TOURNAMENT

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For the fifth straight year, the Wisconsin Muskie Tour made Lake Mohawksin a stop on the tour with a one day qualifying event on Saturday, June 18th. And for the fifth year, the Mohawskin tournament was an exciting event that produced a lot of fish with a boat load of drama. Fifteen muskies would be tallied by the full field of anglers, with six measuring over 40 inches.

It only took seventeen minutes into the tournament for the team of Phil Schweik and Pete Hilman to not only score on the first muskie of the day at 6:17am, but to measure the largest muskie registered for the event with a 46 inch beauty. But Schweik and Hilman were not finished as they got back on the water and tallied their second fish at 8:54am with a 37 3/4 inch muskie, The team was finished fishing for the day and had to sit and wait until 4:00pm (the end of fishing hours) to see if their total inches would hold up for the victory.

Through out the day, several teams would score on some nice size muskies as they positioned themselves to make a run for first place. The 2004 WMT Lake Mohawksin Champions, Dan & Mike Wojtusik, posted a 40 1/4 incher at 8:10 am, putting themselves in contention to repeat. Also, 2001 WMT Lake Mohawksin Champions Jim Kortens and Steve Ingram measured a nice 39 1/2 inch muskie at 10:47 am, also putting them in striking distance to win the event for a second time. Joe Brezinski and Randy Miller also tallied a nice 40 1/2 incher at 1:25 pm, giving another team a realistic chance at catching up to the leaders.

As the day progressed, more and more teams were throwing darts at the leaders, posting big fish that positioned several teams to double-up with a higher score. Dan and Gene Schulz were one of those teams to really put on the heat when the tallied a 44 inch lunker at 1:54 pm, and to match their efforts, Gary Tutaj and Doug Dollhopf would also heat things up with their own 44 inch beauty at 2:18pm. Not to be outdone, Tom and Delmar Dassow got into the action with a nice 40 1/2 inch muskie at 2:47pm, leaving the team plenty of time to double-up with another quality fish.

With one minute left in the event and a couple dozen onlookers (including the current leaders, Schweik and Hilman), Tutaj and Dollhopf measured their second fish of the day at 3:59pm. They knew they needed a 40 inch muskie to take the lead by a quarter of an inch and anything under wouldn't be enought. The muskie was laid on the measuring board, 39 1/4 inches was the mark and they would fall short of first place by on three-quarters of an inch. However, their second muskie would move the team up from third to second place.

Other anglers to score on muskies at the WMT's Lake Mohawksin tournament are:

Tom Dragan and Mike Drana 34 inches
Jeff Mueller and Marty Schield 34 inches
Gordon Hastreiter and Mark Lijewski 37 inches
Mark Durkee and Barry Haff 37 1/2 inches
Jacob Wills and Jeff Coey 35 3/4 inches
Jim Olson and James Holloway 39 inches

The WMT's Lake Mohawksin tournament paid down five places:

1st: Phil Schweik and Pete Hilman, both of Mosinee
2nd: Gary Tutaj, Lake Mills and Doug Dollhopf, Milwaukee
3rd: Dan & Gene Schulz, both of Oregon
4th: Randy Miller and Joe Brezinski, both of Park Falls
5th: Tom Dassow, Eau Claire and Delmar Dassow, Stetsonville

Sponsors of the WMT's Lake Mohawksin tournament are: Big Moose Supper Club, Aquatic Arts Fishing Pro Shop, bp and Mcdonald's, The Happy Snapper, Catch 32 Guide Service, Cockatiel's Bar and Grill, RR Gators, Comfort Inn and Conference Center, Ranger Boats, Heckel's Marina, Yamaha Outboards, Minn Kota, Speedtech Instruments "Angler's Edge", G. Loomis, Fittante Taxidermy, Rollie and Helen's Musky Shop, Frabil, Triple Fish Bully Braid and Captain Hook's Bait, Tackle and Gift Shop.

The final tournament for the western region will be held on August 20 - 21 on the Manitowish Waters Chain of Lakes. The tournament is limited to 150 boats and will pay down 10 places, with first place awarding $20,000.00 with a full field of contestants. There is still room in the Manitowish tournament and it is open to the public. For more information about this tournament or the last one-day qualifying eastern region tournaments (Boom Lake on August 7 and Pelican Lake on August 8), log onto the WMT's website at www.wmtseries.com , call (715) 369-1394 or email the WMT at huntermd@newnorth.net.