The Professional Musky Tournament Trail has completed it’s first 4 qualifying tournaments and is headed for the first Invitational Championship, November 6 & 7, to be held at Kinkaid Lake, near Carbondale, Illinois. The PMTT, first tournament circuit ever established for exclusively musky, has met with mixed success and some controversy in its first season. Locations and winners of the first four tournaments are as follows:

Chippewa Flowage, Hayward, Wisconsin, Wayne Gutsch and Tom Latvala, 2 fish;

Lake St. Clair, Belle River, Ontario, Art and Brian Thibert, 1 fish;

Lake Chautauqua, New York, Jason Miller and Mike Weber, 1 fish;

Cave Run Lake, Moorehead, Kentucky, John McBride and James Cassar, 3 fish.

Fishing conditions for the first three events were less than ideal, but Mother Nature finally cooperated with some made-to-order musky fishing weather in Kentucky! Forty-nine teams fished the Cave Run event, with 26 legal fish taken during the 2 days of competition. That’s pretty good musky action for almost any body of water!

Participation in the events has been less than hoped for. Anticipated full fields of 150 teams has yet to be achieved, but the schedule was put together a little late. Organizers are already putting together next year’s schedule and making some other revisions. One of the revisions will be a guaranteed first place prize of $10,000.00 for each event, regardless of field size.

There have also been some folks grumbling about the possible negative effects these tournaments would have on the bodies of water where they were held. I think anyone who has witnessed or participated in any of the first four events would agree that they have been run in a very responsible manner. The welfare of the fish caught in the tournament has always been at the forefront of concern, both with the organizers and participants. A large number of the professional teams fishing the complete circuit have extensive backgrounds with Muskies, Inc. They are no strangers to conservation of the fishery.

Tentative 2000 Schedule

April 29 - 30                               Cave Run Lake, Moorehead, Kentucky

May 20 - 21                                Lake Shelbyville, Shelbyville, Illinois

June                                           Three Lakes Chain, Three Lakes, Wisconsin

September                                   Leech Lake, Minnesota

October                                       Invitational Championship, Lake Minocqua,  Northern Wisconsin

So there you have it musky hunters! A chance to get your schedule in order and chase muskies around the Midwest on a professional musky fishing circuit. As in 1999, entry fees will be $450.00 per tournament, per team. Teams will also have to fish at least three of the qualifying tournaments to make it to the championship invitational. Don’t forget to sharpen your hooks, and hope to see you out there in 2000!

Copyright © 2001 Hooksbass