WMT RICE LAKE TOURNAMENT, A BIG HIT WITH MUSKIE ANGLERS

Photo Album ( Not All Photos Available )

When the Wisconsin Muskie Tour (WMT) hosted the first major muskie event on Rice Lake on Saturday, June 10th, there was a great unknown as to how the lakes muskies would respond and how the tournament pros would fair. Fortunately for the competing anglers, there would be plenty of muskie action to go around, leaving all the participants wanting to return to Rice Lake in the near future to battle the trophy muskies that reside there.

The day started out very fast for the competitors as most teams reported having opportunities at muskies in the early morning. It would take an hour and twenty-two minutes into the event however, before a muskie would be “put on the board”. The muskie action would prove to be very exciting for the competitors and the leader board would change hands several times before the time had expired.

Mike Etzel and Paul Parise would be the first team to break the ice with a very hefty 43 1/2" inch muskie at 7:22am. And just one minute later the team of Marcus Malyuk and Kevin Schueller would tally their own muskie of 37 1/4" inches. At 9:51am, the lead would be taken over by Scott Lewandowski and Dan Dassow, when they scored on a very impressive 43 3/4 inch lunker. Malyuk and Schueller would be the first team to double-up for the day when they caught their second muskie of the day on a jerk bait at 12:04 pm, measuring in at 34 inches. Also getting into the action was the team of Mark Dawson and Don Varese when they measured a 35 1/2 inch muskie at 12:10 pm.

Etzel and Parise stuck to their pattern of fishing the pockets in the thickest vegetation and primarily in one 25-yard spot in the lake, and their persistence paid off! At 2:21pm, another dandy 43 1/2" inch muskie slammed a weedless spoon that was tipped with a soft plastic trailer and gave Etzel and Parise the lead again. One team they were worried about was Lewandowski and Dassow, who had the largest muskie on the board for the event thus far. At 2:51pm, Lewandowski and Dassow would score on their second muskie for the tourney, but they would come up a little short with a nice 35 1/2 incher and a solid second place finish.

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

1st place: Mike Etzel and Paul Parise, both of Ladysmith 43 1/2, 43 1/2
2nd place: Scott Lewandowski, Athens and Dan Dassow, Medford 43 3/4, 36 1/2
3rd place: Marcus Malyuk and Kevin Schueller, both of Marshfield 37 1/4, 34
4th place: Mark Dawson, Madison and Don Varese, Oregon 35 1/2
5th place: Dan Buss, West Bend and Bob Chitty, Luck Drawing

Sponsors of the Rice Lake tournament are: Rice Lake Tourism Commission, Adventure’s Bar & Grill, Bungalow Bar, Heckel’s Marina, Ranger Boats, Minn Kota, MidWest Outdoors, Fittante Taxidermy, G Loomis, Smokey’s Muskellunge Shop and Rollie and Helen’s Musky Shop.