OLSON AND HOLLOWAY PREVAIL AT WMT’S BUTTERNUT TOURNEY

Photo Album ( Not All Photos Available )

Saturday, June 3rd, was the first stop in the new northern region for the Wisconsin Muskie Tour (WMT) on Butternut Lake in Park Falls. A full field of teams hit the water in anticipation of battling the muskies that Butternut Lake is famous for, but post-frontal conditions knocked down and held the tournament to ten legal muskies measured.

Scott Lewandowski and Dan Dassow would tally the first muskie of the day at 6:38am with a 37 ¼ inch muskie. Nearly 2 ½ hours would pass before the next muskie would be measured at 8:58 am by Steve Schneider and Bob Cook that scored at 39 ¼ inches.

Schneider and Cook’s lead was short-lived however, when Jim Olson and James Holloway landed a 40 incher at 9:05am, giving the team the big fish of the day and a $10,000.00 check for the first place finish. Olson and Holloway were fishing over fish cribs with crank baits that scored on the winning muskie. It must have been fit, that the team would win the event as they were last minute substitutions for another team that had to cancel out of the contest.

At 9:27am, the team of Geno and Brad Bolton would measure a 39 inch muskie and grab the third place finish. The last two muskies of the event would come at 3:16pm when Dan and Mike Wojtusik scored a 37 ¾ incher, and at 3:51pm with Brian Kastner and Brian Emmerich measured a 38 inch muskie.

The top teams to place in the WMT Butternut Lake tournament:

1st place: Jim Olson and James Holloway, both of Tomahawk 40”
2nd place: Steve Schneider and Bob Cook both of Phillips 39 ¼”
3rd place: Geno and Brad Bolton, both of Phillips 39”
4th place: Brian Kastner and Brian Emmerich, both of Woodruff 38”
5th place: Mike Wojtusik, Rhinelander and Dan Wojtusik, Eagle River 37 ¾”
6th place: Scott Lewandowski, Athens and Dan Dassow, Medford 37 ¼”
7th place: Ben Bain, Wisconsin Rapids and Marcus Malyuk, Marshfield 36 ½”
8th place: Todd Powell, Eagle River and Bob Bender, Lodi 36 ½”
9th place: Kraig Kolka and Andy Mann, both of Merrill 35 ½”
10th place: Paul Oppman, Laona and Krystle Schmidt, Butternut 34”

Sponsors of the Butternut Lake tournament are: Northern Pines Resort, Heckel’s Marina, Ranger Boats, Minn Kota, MidWest Outdoors, Fittante Taxidermy, G Loomis, Smokey’s Muskellunge Shop and Rollie and Helen’s Musky Shop.