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MN Tournament Trail Championship Wrap Up

It’s a fishing tournament dreams are made of.  The MN Tournament Trail once again hosted their championship on Lake of the Woods September 13 and 14.  This is a tournament anglers have to qualify for by either fishing at least 4 one day tournaments and a two day tournament or finish in the top 75 for the overall regular season points to qualify.  The grand prize was a Skeeter WX1910 boat package powered by a 200 hp Yamaha Outboard and the competition amongst this talented group of walleye anglers was friendly but fierce.  MTT 2018, Lake of the Woods

Like any tournament, there are MN DNR rules to follow and also the MN Tournament Trail rules to follow.  For this tournament, each team of two anglers were allowed six fish (walleyes and saugers) to the scales.  The minimum length per the tournament was 14″.  The slot limit on Lake of the Woods is 19.5 – 28″ which must be released immediately.  Anglers were allowed two “over” fish for the two day tournament.  An over fish is over 28″.  After day one, it was evident, big fish were a must to place well in this championship.

Day one saw strong south winds with cloud cover.  Anglers threw a number of presentations at walleyes all around the lake.  Jigging with frozen shiners, pulling spinners and crawlers, and pulling crankbaits were the most common methods.  Lake of the Woods held true as a trophy walleye fishery in this tournament.  Numerous teams caught one and in some cases two big walleyes on day one.  The majority of the big fish were caught in the basin pulling crankbaits.

MTT 2018, Lake of the WoodsDay two brought north winds with waves 2-3′.  As the day went on, the wind backed off and waves dropped to about a foot.  The walleyes again cooperated.  For the tournament, 48 big fish over 28 inches were caught and weighed.  This year saw more big walleyes than past years, a trend that has been noticed all summer by anglers.

When the dust settled after two days, the team of Bob Nitti and Bryan Dunaiski took the championship honors with a two day total of 40.19 lbs.  Nitti and Dunaiski also took 2018 team of the year honors.  Second place was the father son duo of Rod and Dan Pfeiffer with a weight of 37.66 lbs.  Third place honors went to the father son team of Ed and Jordan Antilla with a two day total of 36.45 lbs.  The Antilla’s also had the big walleye of the tournament, a 31″ beast weighing in at 12.39 lbs.

After the weigh in that took place at Border View Lodge, the final dinner and awards ceremony took place at River Bend Resort.  Great food and drink were shared capping off a great 2018 season.

The MTT Championship is a tournament that dreams are made of.  For some, the tournament was a disappointment of not finishing as well as they would have liked.  For others, it is a memory burned into their fishing fiber for the rest of their lives.  For everyone, it is the competition against a super talented group of anglers who compete hard but overall have a strong mutual respect for each other and the passion they have in common.  MTT 2018, Lake of the Woods

The 2019 MN Tournament Trail tentative schedule is out.  All are welcome to compete, whether it is one tournament or fishing the circuit and having the chance to bring home a new Skeeter / Yamaha package.  Congratulations to the top teams.  Thank you to all.

 

To learn more about Lake of the Woods, check out the Lake of the Woods Tourism website.

To find a guide, charter boat or lodging, check out our lodging page.

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