RALEY & OSFAR WIN PRO-MAC™ EAGLE RIVER AUTUMN CLASSIC™
The Professional Muskie Angler Circuit™ (Pro-MAC™) concluded the 2013 season with the Eagle River Autumn Muskie Classic™ on August 24th & 25th with an exciting finish in the final seconds of the tournament. Nine muskies over 34 inches would be registered for the event on the opening day of competition Saturday, with eleven more muskies captured on Sunday making the final twentieth fish deciding the outcome of the Eagle River Autumn Muskie Classic Open Championship™.
The first muskie of the competition would be captured by Patric McCabe and Marty Kwick at 6:37am that scored 35 inches. A new leader would be established when Sam Ubl and Mark Piechowski tallied a 39.25 inch muskie at 7:29am. After Don Groskopf and Dan Winkler landed a 38" muskie at 8:15am, the muskie action would come to a halt until the noon time hour when six more fish would be “put on the board". The big fish of the day would be scored by Matt Raley and Nate Osfar at 1:10pm that went 45.50 inches.
Before the tournament started on Sunday, there was a feeling by most of the competitors that the second day of fishing would out produce the first, making it a very bold prediction because in the thirteen years of the WMT Series™, there had never been a two day event where Sunday scored more muskie than Saturday. Not to waste a moment, Kevin and Scott Abendroth finished on a muskie they had spotted several times the day before landing a 35.50 incher at 6:28am. Following suite, Mark Gillich and Hope Cleland also were able to land a forty incher that eluded them on Saturday only to be measured at 6:30am. The first team to double up for the contest would be Justin and Ryan Reynolds at 8:32am when they scored a 36.75" muskie to add to their previous day's catch of 36.75 inches at 12:57pm, however the brothers weren't done there, they popped their third at 9:52am scoring a 34.25 incher. The second team to score on multiple fish were Jared Adamovich and Brian Krelle at 9:00am with a 37.50 incher that when added to their first day muskie of 37.50 inches at 2:06pm, would give the duo a third place finish. Another team that would land a fish both days were John Korinke and Ryan Mayer with muskies of 35 inches Saturday at 2:10pm and 34 inches on Sunday at 11:310m. The team that would tally the most inches and take home the trophy would be Matt Raley and Nate Osfar when they captured two more muskies on Sunday of 41.25 inches at 11:05am and the largest muskie of Sunday of 46 inches with just seconds remaining in legal tournament hours that was reminiscent of another exciting “photo finish" in 2009 at the WMT Series™ Lake Mohawksin event where Brad and Al Wirt were the only team to double for the contest with just seconds remaining on the clock.
Other teams to score on muskie for the competition on Saturday were; Tim Rutzen/Ryan Bock 34" at 12:05am, Nick Starr/Airin Jensen 38.50" at 2:04pm and on Sunday were; Randy Kauranen/Phil Markgraf 35" at 8:05am, Todd Emro/Mike McCarthy 35.75" at 10:55am, and Aaron Stack/Justin Johnson 40" at 11:35am.
The Pro-MAC™ Eagle River Autumn Muskie Classic Open Championship™ top ten were;
1st - Nate Osfar/Matt Raley
2nd - Justin & Ryan Reynolds
3rd - Jared Adamovich/Brian Krelle
4th - John Korinke/Ryan Mayer
5th - Mark Gillich/Hope Cleland
6th - Aaron Stack/Justin Johnson
7th - Sam Ubl/Mark Piechowski
8th - Nick Starr/Airin Jensen
9th - Don Groskopf/Dan Winkler
10th - Todd Emro/Mike McCarthy
The final weekend of qualifying tournaments for the WMT Series™ are the two remaining tournaments of the Muskie Country Tournament Circuit™ on Lake Mohawksin September 7th in Tomahawk and on the Boom Lake Chain the following day, the 8th in Rhinelander. Both the Mohawksin and Boom Lake tournaments are scheduled to pay down five places with a first place prize equaling $10,000.00 with a full field of participants. The cost to compete in a muskie tournament is $330 per two person team or an angler can choose to compete alone. Both of the tournaments still have open spots and there is still time to send in your entry for the tournament(s). There will also be a chance for teams to enter into the events the Friday before the tournament at the Sara Park (on the shores of Lake Mohawksin) from 5:30pm to 7:30pm on September 6th. The fishing hours for both tournaments will be from 6:30am until 3:30pm. If a team wishes to just compete in the Boom Lake qualifier, there will be an opportunity to sign up the Saturday before at the Flyin Finn Pub & Resort (on the shores of Boom Lake) at 3924 HWY 47, Rhinelander from 6:30pm to 7:00pm.
All WMT Series™ events are open to the public and we hope you will join in on the fun and excitement. For additional information, log on to our web sites at www.WMTSeries.com or www.ProfessionalMuskieAnglerCircuit.com for more details or email us at HunterMD@newnorth.net or call 715-277-4411.
Sponsor Partners of the 2013 WMT Series™ are; Tooth Tamer Rods, Fittante Taxidermy, Tackle Industries Super D, T's Tackle, Dream Catcher Bucktails, Yakima Baits, www.MudPuppyLures.com , Optimum Baits, River Run Tackle, Trophy Hunter Accessories-Glittertail, Musky Mayhem Tackle, Figure 8 Lures, Lil' Hustler