"Successfully
defending their 2003 victory with an impressive display of
knowledge, skill and dogged determination, well known local
Illinois pro anglers Duane Landmeier & Steven James Rusteberg
broke new ground in this weekends second qualifier of the
2004 Professional Musky Tournament Trail season, hosted by
the Illinois Department of Natural Resources here on Central
Illinois’ explosive Lake Shelbyville, as they registered three
musky of 41-½, 38-½ & 35-¾ inches, utilizing precise high-speed
trolling tactics and fire-tiger jointed Depth Raiders at 4.3
mph on 53-½ feet of line in the relatively well-known Lithia
Springs Cove area to become the first team in PMTT history
to earn consecutive victories on the same waters, not only
putting their names in the Trail’s history pages, but taking
home both the prestigious Ranger Cup Award of $500 and 1st
Place cash … a whopping $14,500 for their efforts!!
2nd
Place went to Tony Carswell & Dave Eichelberger of nearby
Champaign, IL. who made a serious bid for the lead on
their ‘home waters’ when they also tripled up, sticking
fish of 38-¾, 34-¾ & 34-¼ inches, casting fire-tiger
Grandma minnow/twitch baits onto an "undisclosed" mud
flat to fall just short of the leaders, taking home
$3,500. Oh, and yes, maybe a couple of what-might-have-beens…
at having been so close to grabbing the big check. "The
pattern worked for us pre-fishing all thru the weekend
and was better in the morning before 9:30 or so, but
… well, we may have missed some chances to win", said
Tony, chuckling as he added that they "wanted to keep
the spot unknown … in case the PMTT was back here again
next year".
3rd
Place and Sundays $500 Big Fish Award, totaling $2,600,
went to the team of Jim Carlson Sr. & Jr. of Grafton,
WI. who doubled trolling fire-tiger Depth Raiders in
the amazingly "popular" Lithia Springs area bringing
a 34 and shad-fattened 43-½ incher to the boat. Jim
Jr. was fishing solo after his father had returned home
the night before, even with a ‘fish on the board’, to
attend his younger brothers Confirmation, leaving son
Jim Jr. ‘to take care of business’ when the big fish
decided to bite . "Family always comes first with Dad",
said the younger Carlson, excitedly adding that he thought
not having a "net man" was going to cost him the lightly
hooked fatty and a chance at cashing a check when, "she
ran from the boat three or four times … eventually shaking
loose the bait … at the exact same moment she finally
hit the net!
Mike
Tengwall & Eric Guddal of Buffalo, MN. claimed Saturday’s
$500 Big Fish Award with a beautiful 42 inch musky and
4th Place overall when they added another of 35-¼ inches
for the day and a pay out of $1,900. Holding the record
for most points and most fish in a PMTT event set in
Madison, WI. last year, these two have a well earned
reputation for closing strong and were disappointed
that they failed to trigger another fish on day two.
5th Place and $1,050 went to Dwayne Dillon & Joe Denton
of Flemingsburg, KY. for the 42-¾ inch musky they were
able trigger on trolled chartreuse crank baits and the
first all woman Trail Team on the PMTT, Debbie Davis
& Di Mindar of Aurora, IL. registered a thick 39-¼ inch
fish for 7th Place, slow trolling a white Depth Raider
crank bait at the mouth of a creek off Lithia.
Relatively
stained-to-muddy and slightly below average water levels with
a surface temperature averaging near 67 degrees, accompanied
by a passing cold front Friday and some fish reportedly still
in the spawn/post spawn mode (evidenced by observations of
some larger fish still having eggs), may have contributed
to the spotty and overall unpredictability of the bite. Compared
to near record catch numbers in past years, these 105 teams,
featuring more than 200 of the Nation’s top pro & avid amateur
musky anglers, combined to bring a meager 19 legal fish to
the boat on day one and only 9 on day two! Trolling smaller,
fire-tiger pattern crank baits of various brands, on relatively
short lines at speeds nearing 5 mph, in and/or around Lithia
Springs was the predominant tactic and what was used by many
of the teams that registered a catch this weekend but as is
normally the case a few anglers found success bucking the
popular trends.
Tournament
Director Tim Widlacki closed by adding a special thanks to
Ranger Sales Representative Jason Parsons for addressing the
crowd Friday night on behalf of the major tour sponsor , sharing
that although primarily a bass fisher … he also catches 12
or more musky a year on this system and really understands
the passion and excitement evoked by these outstanding gamefish,
before thanking each and every one of the PMTT‘s major, associate
and contributing sponsors, including Ranger Boats, Mercury
Marine, Musky Hunter Magazine, The Fishing Guide Show, Heckel's
Marina, Crash's Landing, Inc., Morehead Kentucky Tourism Commission,
Illinois DNR, Eagle River Area Chamber of Commerce and Visitor's
Center, Minnesota Musky Market Place, and the Chautauqua County
Tourism for their continued support and part they play in
taking us to the next level, asking, "You please consider
patronizing the outstanding products and services they represent."
Original
Article by - BOB “the FIN-ADDICT” OSBORNE
Director PMTT
Public Relations / Press Release
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