KAHL & JOHANSEN WIN MADISON PRO-MAC™ EVENT
The Professional Muskie Angler Circuit™ (Pro-MAC™) started the 2013 tournament season on the Madison Chain of Lakes on May 11th & 12th with the first of six qualifying event in the circuit. A longer than usual winter that lasted well in to spring, coupled with a severe cold front and winds reaching over 40 miles per hour, made for extremely tough fishing conditions but competing anglers were up for the challenge for the first qualifier of the year. All of the competitors fought hard to battle the elements and uncooperative muskies but only four teams were able to scratch out a bite that would stick, allowing them to put points on the boards.
The first fish of the day and the biggest fish for the day and a half of competition would be captured by Rob Kahl and Jon Johansen on Saturday at 6:29am measuring 38 inches, putting the team in first place that they would never relinquish. The second muskie of the day would be scored by Tim Keyes and Sam DiMaggio at 9:15am that tallied 36 inches. Shortly after Tim and Sam had registered their muskie, the weather took a turn for the worst making the conditions virtually unfishable.
Although the weather had improved measurably on Sunday, continued strong winds made for difficult for the anglers to maintain boat control and proper lure presentation but two teams would prevail. Dan Ballweg and Mark Caine would land the first muskie of the day with a 34 incher at 7:00am. The final muskie of the day would come at 11:53am by the team of Joel Walczak and Rick Godager that measured 35.75 inches.
The Pro-MAC™ U.S. Muskie Open™ on the Madison Chain of Lakes final finishers were;
1st - Rob Kahl/Jon Johansen
2nd - Tim Keyes/Sam DiMaggio
3rd - Joel Walczak/Rick Gadager
4th - Dan Ballweg/Mark Caine
The next scheduled Pro-MAC™ event is on the very popular Three Lakes Chain June 15th and 16th. There are still open spots for the event and there is still time to send in your entries to receive an earlier starting time. You can also sign up for the tournament on the Friday night, the 14th, before the tournament at Jake's Bar & Grill on HWY 32 from 5:30pm to 7:30pm. The ease-out location for the tourney will be at Pine Isle Resort along with the Saturday night leader board reveal, and the Sunday awards will be at Jake's starting at 1:00pm.
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.
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 Tackle, Tyrant, Nauti Lures, and Man Cave Bait Co.