Jolly and Molepske Win WMT's Northern Regional Finals

Photo Album ( Not All Photos Available )

The Wisconsin Muskie Tour (WMT) concluded the northern region tournaments with the regional finals, held on August 19th and 20th on the Manitowish Chain of Lakes. Over 200 anglers competed and registered thirty legal muskies during the two-day major event.

Even though the champions of the Manitowish tournament had a winning pattern of fishing deep, suspended muskies on crank baits, most of the registered fish came in shallow water associated with cover in the form of vegetation, wood and rocks. Jerk baits and bucktails were the preferred lure choices with a few coming on soft plastic baits.

A cold front had passed through the area, along with heavy winds and rain just before the start of tournament hours on Saturday, which slowed the fishing until mid-morning (9:30am)m when the fishing heated up. At 6:56am, the first fish of the event was registered by Jason Weik and Ryan Miller when they scored a hefty 42 inch muskie. By 9:06am, Bob Chitty and Dan Buss would tally the fifth muskie of the day, a 39 ½ incher that would eventually land the duo a tenth place finish. The team of Clay Schroeder and Mark Lijewski measured their second muskie of the day at 10:41am with a 39 inch muskie, to add to their earlier muskie of 34 ½ inches, giving the team the lead. However, at 11:23am Tony Piantek and Tom Vanderhei would also score their second fish of the tourney with a 37 ½ incher, combined with a 36 ¾ inch muskie caught at 10:07am, giving the team the lead that would hold up at the end of the first day. The big fish of the day would be landed by Joe Brezinski and Randy Miller at 12:25pm when they scored a 44 ¼ inch monster, caught on a jerk bait in the shallow vegetation. Near the end of the first day, local favorites Neil Barnett and Bill Hill scored on a nice 41 ¾ incher at 3:32pm that would eventually land the team a ninth place finish.

The second day of the contest started out promising when Jeff Piazza and Jeff Ziemba scored on a big 45 ¼ inch muskie at 6:19am. However, the next fish of the day would be even bigger, measuring in at 47 inches, caught at 8:00am by Tom Rahlf and Bruce Gruening. At 8:20am, the team of Brett Jolly and Lucas Molepske registered their second muskie of the contest, a 42 ¼ incher. When added to the 35 inch muskie they had registered on Saturday, would land the duo in first place and eventually the victory. The last team to doulbe-up for the event was Dan Dassow and Scott Lewandowski, when they tallied a 36 ¾ inch muskie at 8:46am, to add to their previous catch of 37 ¾ inches registered on Saturday.

The WMT’s Manitowish Chain tournament finished as follows:

1st place: Brett Jolly and Lucas Molepske 35 & 42 ½”
2nd place: Scott Lewandowski and Dan Dassow 37 ¾ & 36 ¾”
3rd place: Tony Piantek and Tom Vanderhei 36 ¾ & 37 ½”
4th place: Mark Lijewski and Clay Schroeder 34 ¼ & 39”
5th place: Tom Rahlf and Bruce Gruening 47”
6TH place: Jeff Piazza and Jeff Ziemba 45 ¼”
7th place: Joe Brezinski and Randy Miller 44 ¼”
8th place: Jason Weik and Ryan Miller 42”
9th place: Neil Barnett and Bill Hill 41 ¾”
10th place: Dan Buss and Bob Chitty 39 ½”
11th place: John Kleczewski and Garret Shipman 39” @ 12:21pm Saturday
12TH place: Bob Cook and Rob Meusec 39” @ 10:22am Sunday
13th place: Kevin Mahlberg and Rory Tuff 38 ½”
14th place: Andy Huffmaster and Peter Fruin 38”
15th place: Nate Sleight and David Plattner 37 ¼”
16th place: Ben Bain and Derek Malyuk 36 ¾”
17th place: Clay Schmoeker and Mark VanRossum 36 ½” @ 10:20am Saturday
18th place: Matt Mazur and Jeff Rinehart 36 ½” @ 1:21pm Saturday
19th place: Patrick Schmidt and Dave Buckton 36 ½” @ 3:48pm Saturday
20th place: John Johannes and Jason Long 36”
21st place: Andy Steil and Don Leaser 35 ½” @ 7:05am Saturday
22nd place: Jeff Gibson andRandy Snow 35 ½” @ 9:32am Saturday
23rd place: Bill Wyrwa and Dave Kurer 35” @ 12:32pm Saturday
24th place: Chuck Bolton and Jason Baratka 35” @ 2:51pm Saturday
25th place: Don Grant and Dave Laska 34 ¾”
26th place: Rick Busalacchi and Paul Meier 34”

Sponsors of the Manitowish Chain tournament are: Little Bohemia, Greer’s Pier, Bartling’s Alderwood Resort, The Rustic, Heckel’s Marina, Ranger Boats, Minn Kota, MidWest Outdoors, Fittante Taxidermy, G Loomis, Smokey’s Muskellunge Shop and Rollie and Helen’s Musky Shop.