Presented by Yamaha Motor Corp USA and Warrior Boats Inc.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Sept. 13, 2024
Contact: Denny Fox, 920-505-0122
Anglers Insight Marketing LLC (AIM™)
AWWS Yamaha Motor Corp USA North Dakota Team Of Year 2024 Is Sealed by Irey, Butts At Devils
Cullen Irey and Lucas Butts nailed down the AIM Weekend Walleye Series Yamaha Motor Corp. USA Team Of The Year title Sept. 6 and 7, and four double-qualifiers in the AIM competition at the north Dakota State Championship means other teams are going to the 2025 Warrior Boats National Championship Shootout.
“AIM invariably has one or two teams that move up to be eligible to go to the Shootout because of teams that double-qualify by placing in the top five in the State Championship, but having this many is unusual, and great to see,” said Denny Fox, AIM national tournament director. “We’re happy to give other teams who finished out of the top five in the TOY points race a chance to compete for a Warrior boat worth more than $100,000. Irey and Butts went home from the championship with that beautiful 9.9 Yamaha kicker, and a shot at that Warrior.”
Irey and Butts, both of Bismarck, compiled a list of top 10 finishes over the North Dakota season that began in April on the Missouri at Bismarck, where they won that qualifier. They did it in their first full AIM season. Translation: watch out for these two next year.
“In May at Lake Audubon we took fourth. At Garrison (on Lake Sakakawea) we didn’t do well, and in Parshall (also on Lake Sak), we took third, and at the state championship we finished in the middle of the pack,” Irey said, showing that once again, you do not have to finish the best to finish as the best in TOY competition.
“The biggest thing was being consistent. We focused on a couple new bodies of water. With Audubon and Devils, we’d never fished them before. We fish really well together and have known each other since we were three or four.
“That and trusting your electronics, knowing when to move and when to wait spots out,” Irey added, played huge roles. “Just making the right moves at the right time, it worked out for us.” Winning on their home water near Bismarck is what began their march to top the TOY standings.
“The river is right in our back yard. There are a lot of good anglers, and we just landed on the fish that week. I saw the right marks and knew that that time of the year it would pan out some big fish. We never had to run to our other four spots. Having that big bag (49.27 pounds) for one day with the points separation was definitely key,” he added.
“We’ve done a couple AIM events before, but not a whole season. We figured we’d ‘run the pit’ and take it tournament by tournament. The Garrison event, we were almost dead last,” he said. AIM teams can eliminate one tournament in the TOY race, and that one was it for them.
“We’re super excited. We’ll see in January where they decide to send us out of. We fished a couple different water bodies. We haven’t fished Devils before. We expected to do better but that happens and being able to adapt is huge. We’re expecting the Shootout to be somewhere east, so we’re mentally going to prepare for that. Those Minnesota guys are on a whole different level when it comes to LiveScope. Just keeping up will be tough but we’re going to go for it,” Irey said.
Finishing in second were Dylan Martell and Thomas Leintz of Hazen, who competed in a Warrior 2090. Over their season, they took third on the Missouri, eighth at Garrison, second at Parshall and eighth in the State Championship at Devils Lake, in only their second time on the lake. Audubon was their drop tournament.
“Our thoughts going into this year is we were trying to be in the top 10. That was our goal in every one. We were going to be mobile, use forward-facing sonar to find the right fish, pick them apart and be as efficient as we could be. To compete against these teams in North Dakota it’s a pretty stacked playing field, and it’s an honor to be able to place this high for Team Of The Year,” Martell said. And they’re ready to travel next May.
“I’m excited to see how we stack up on a new body of water. I think we should be able to do alright with our ability to read and understand our electronics, but it’s always interesting,” he said. “I also have to give a thank you to Eric Vossler at V-line Rods. He was our main sponsor and we’ve done a lot of prototype testing,” he added.
Here’s the way other teams qualified for the National Championship Shootout. There were four teams that double-qualified by placing in the top five of the State Championship. Those finishes take precedence over how they finished in Team Of The Year, so the remaining spots for TOY were filled by teams down to ninth place.
The double-qualifiers are Matt Ristow and Kyle Hertz; Brandon Van Dusen and Wyatt Wahl, Ethan Pankow and Bryce Hall, and Brent and Jayden Wendel.
Because of those teams double-qualifying, these North Dakota teams also qualified for the National Championship Shootout: Lonnie Jacobs and Matt Lang, Ross and Roger Grothe, and Kaden Steiner and Joseph Noton.
Ok, Fan Nation, North Dakota’s 2024 season is over. But the AIM Weekend Walleye Series season continues. Three events on tap are in the Rivers Division. First up is Sunday, Sept. 22, in Dubuque in Pools 11 and 12, followed by a trip Pools 2 and 3 near Hastings and St. Croix Friday, Oct. 4.
That will play out right before the Division Championship, Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 5 and 6 in Pools 3 and 4 at Hager City. Go to aimfishing.com to join in the 11th season of the continent’s most affordable, lucrative walleye tournament series. Follow all the fun at AIM’s Facebook page.
You know you want to. You know you can.
Anglers Insight Marketing LLC (AIM™) is a unique tournament organization created and owned by many of the most accomplished and recognizable professional walleye anglers, along with others who share the mission of advancing competitive walleye fishing and making it sustainable into the future.
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AIM Presenting Sponsors: Yamaha Motor Corporation U.S.A. and Warrior Boats inc.
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