SCHMOEKER AND VAN ROSSUM WIN WMT’S MINOCQUA QUALIFIER

Photo Album ( Not All Photos Available )

The Wisconsin Muskie Tour (WMT) finished up the last of the one-day qualifying tournaments for the northern region on Lakes Minocqua and Kawaguesaga on Sunday, June 19th. The muskie fishing would prove to be fast and furious for the full field of contestants with 21 muskies being registered for the event.

The first muskie for the event would be measured at 6:40am by the team of Jason Bovee and Ron Tacus with a 37-inch muskie. Following closely behind was Mark Lijewski and Clay Schroeder at 6:47am and a 35 ¼ incher, but the team would also double-up shortly afterward, fishing the deep weedlines with crankbaits. The team would score on a 36-½ inch muskie at 7:32am. The big fish of the day would measure in at 45 ¼ inches at 7:19am by Jon Solberg and Andy Grimm.

John Steckel and Randy Machtan would be the second team to double-up for the contest. Their first muskie would be caught at 7:14am and measure in at 43 ½ inches. Their last muskie would come at 9:04am and scored in at 39 ¾ inches, giving the team an impressive early lead. The team of Ryan Bock and Tyler Rutzen, fishing in their first pro-muskie tournament, challenged the leaders with two nice 40 ½ inchers at 7:34am and 11:00am, but unfortunately came up a little shy of first place.

The next charge at the leader board came from Clay Schmoeker and Mark Van Rossum when they would first register a dandy 45 inch muskie at 12:31pm. At 2:02pm, the duo would measure their second of the day that scored 39 inches and earned Schmoeker and Van Rossum the first place finish, a $10,000.00 check and an invitation to the WMT’s Invitational Championship.

The WMT’s Lake Minocqua/Kawagauesaga tournament finished as follows:

1st place: Clay Schmoeker and Mark Van Rossum 45 + 39
2nd place: John Steckel and Randy Machtan 43 ½ + 39 ¾
3rd place: Ryan Bock and Tyler Rutzen 40 ½ + 40 ½
4th place: Mark Lijewski and Clay Schroeder 35 ¼ + 36 ½
5th place: Jon Solberg and Andy Grimm 45 ¼
6TH place: Andy Regenfuss and Greg Buckmaster 44 ¾
7th place: Lucas Molepske and Brett Jolly 42 ½
8th place: Brian Emmerich and Brian Kastner 40 ¼ @ 7:01am
9th place: Dean and Kevin Miller 40 ¼ @ 2:14pm
10th place: Tony Piantek Sr. and Tony Piantek Jr. 39 ½ @1:40pm
11th place: Greg and Rick Stezenski 39 ½ @ 2:43pm
12TH place: Jason Bovee and Ron Tacus 37 @ 6:40am
13th place: Steve Schneider and Bob Cook 37 @ 3:01pm
14th place: Randy and Bob Krohn 36 ¼
15th place: Jeff Piazza and Ivan Stross 35 ¼
16th place: Joey Rozanski and Chris Draeger 34 ¾
17th place: Marcus Malyuk and Ben Bain 34 ½

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