EMMERICH AND KASTNER WIN THE WMT INAUGURAL SQUIRREL LAKE TOURNAMENT

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On Sunday, June 25th the Wisconsin Muskie Tour (WMT) hosted the last qualifying tournament of the new western region on Squirrel Lake, located just west of Minocqua. Squirrel Lake would not disappoint the tournament anglers as it produced twenty-three legal muskies and set a new WMT record for the most doubles in a one-day event, at seven total doubles.

The first team to double-up for the day would be Clay Schroeder and Mark Lijewski, when they scored on two 37 ¼” muskies at 7:11 am and 7:59am. Their lead would hold up until the second team to double-up, Brian Emmerich and Brian Kastner scored on a 40 incher at 11:42am to go along with their first muskie of 37 inches, measured at 9:00am. Mark Gillich and Tony Podhora would also score on two with a 39 inch muskie at 12:20pm, with their first being a 34 incher at 9:27am. Following only two minutes behind would be the team of Keith and Ken Krejci at 12:22pm, when they tallied a 34 ½ inch muskie to add to their 38 ½ incher at 10:21am. These fish would put the Krejci’s in a tie with Gillich and Podhora, but time is the tie-breaker and Gillich and Podhora would be awarded fourth place to the Krejci’s fifth place.

The last muskie of the day would be measured by Greg Majka and Ed Spoerl at 2:51pm with a 39 incher and the last double of the day. The team had measured a 34 ½ inch muskie earlier at 11:38am and would give the team a third place finish.

The WMT’s Squirrel Lake tournament finished as follows:

1st place: Brian Emmerich and Brian Kastner 37” + 40”
2nd place: Clay Schroeder and Mark Lijewski 37 ¼” + 37 ¼”
3rd place: Greg Majka and Ed Spoerl 34 ½” + 39”
4th place: Mark Gillich and Tony Podhora 34” + 39”
5th place: Keith and Ken Krejci 38 ½” + 34 ½”
6TH place: Kris Gottwald and Andy Drymalski 35 ½” + 35”
7th place: Garett Shipman and John Kleczewski 34 ½” + 35 ¾”
8th place: Dan Buss and Bob Chitty 39 ¾”
9th place: Dave Lenk and Kevin Bjelland 37”
10th place: Josh and Jason Lazar 36 ½”
11th place: Marcus Malyuk and Ben Bain 35 ¼” @ 9:32am
12TH place: Matt McCumber and Ryan Blair 35 ¼” @ 1:27pm
13th place: Geoff Weinfurtner and Adam Schlafke 35”
14th place: Scott Lewandowski and Dan Dassow 34 ¾”
15th place: Ken Stoviak and Rick Running 34 ½”
16th place: Bill and Frank Kasowicz 34 ¼”

Sponsors of the Squirrel Lake tournament are: Musky Shores, Moose Jaw 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.