Second Annual Lakeland Hawks Musky Tournament
The second annual Lakeland Hawks Musky Tournament was held on Saturday June 4th. There were 32 teams competing on any lake choice in Oneida and Vilas County Wisconsin. 14 Muskies were caught, by 13 different teams. 44.5" was the largest Musky caught and released. I had the opportunity to fish the tournament for this year and it was a ton of fun.
The tourney is pretty laid back but there are a lot of really good fisherman who took part. Nick Durkee and Joe Dube are the tournament directors and they did a fantastic job. Everyone had a great day of fishing, and it seems like most teams caught or saw fish except for my boat. We had a game plan put together that I thought would win the tournament, but it just didn't materialize. We still had a great day on the water and even joined Fred Palermo and his fishing partner Nate Andrews for a nice grilled lunch at the boat landing.
I must say gathering with some buddies having some coffee, soda and grilled dogs is just plain fun. We swapped a little, (heavy on the little) information, enjoyed some laughs and then resumed with the game plan we had put together. One of the things I learned was in past years my brother John and I have had really good success in the month of June on a deep clear lake. I failed to take into account however that the water temp this year are quite a bit colder than past years thus the pattern we've had success with in the past just was not there.
We talked about staying on the lake we started out on (stick and stay and make it pay) but both agreed to jump to the deep clear lake. We both stuck by that decision and tried as hard as we could but just didn't happen this time around. Whether you are fishing a tournament to just fishing for fun we can always learn something.
I saw Nick Durkee a couple of days after the tournament and it sounded like all of the fishermen had a great time. The tournament is a fundraiser for the Lakeland Hawks youth Hockey team. One of the stars of the Hawks is Noah Dube who is a staff member here at the Musky Shop.
Tournament director Nick Durkee is the parts manager at Lenz Truck that is within walking distance from the Musky Shop here in Minocqua. Quick shoutout, Lenz Truck has a ton of Super Nice Trucks on their huge lot and they sell trucks to all parts of the nation. The folks at Lenz Truck really do a great job of sales and service. I take my stuff there all the time for service and repairs.
If you're considering a Muskie tournament in the future, consider the Lakeland Hawks Musky Tournament in 2023, it's awesome.
Kind Regards and Good Fishing, Jim Stewart