Presented by Yamaha Motor Corp USA and Warrior Boats Inc.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 16, 2025
Contact: Denny Fox, 920-505-0122
Anglers Insight Marketing LLC (AIM™)
Spring’s always a roller coaster ride for temperatures in the Midwest, and for Sunday’s AIM Weekend Walleye Series Garmin Open qualifier on Wisconsin’s Lake Petenwell, it’s right on schedule, where it will be summer at midweek and back to spring when teams hit the water Sunday (May 18), where predictions are that live bait may help get you to a podium finish.
“Petenwell always provides for AIM teams, who can show off this lake’s huge population of mid- to high-20s fish, thanks to Catch-Record-Release™,” said Denny Fox, national tournament director. “While other tournaments have to work around that no-keep 20- to 28-inch slot and come up small, AIM cruises right past, so look for some great cards to come in Sunday”.
“We’ve got another weekend double-header for you, Fan Nation, here and next door with AIM’s Minnesota Division season-opener qualifier on Leech Lake, all leading up to the May 30-31 Warrior Boats National Championship Shootout on the St. Louis River and the big water of Lake Superior at Duluth. Forty boats, two days, with a total purse of $125,000 in play, including that beautiful Warrior boat-Yamaha SHO power-Garmin electronics and troller and Rosemore rod package for the winner. But meanwhile back to Petenwell… .”
Joe Stuchlak of Wisconsin Dells is one who should know what’s up on Petenwell. He’s owner of the Bighorn Store on the lake’s east shore. He’s also a local AIM tournament sponsor in addition to the Monroe Tourism Commission of Adams County. He and partner Michael Anderson of Oxford will be in a Mercury 150 four-stroke-powered boat, and he says that right now at least, the bite’s tough. But, he adds, that dead stick rod may be your best friend on Sunday.
“I think large fatheads, walleye suckers and chubs are really going to be important. One nice thing about AIM’s format with Catch-Record-Release, we’re able to showcase those 20- to 28-inch fish that you’re not allowed to keep. I expect to see a 33- to-35-pound total to win this,” he said. He’s planning to have plenty of live bait in stock.
“The fish definitely don’t want any motion. It’s dead sticks with live bait. I haven’t heard anything about trolling but that could change,” Stuchlak said. Whether the weather will affect everything Sunday is still up in the air at midweek. “The wind’s going to blow on Saturday with possible rain and some cooler temperatures. I’m sure it’ll slow things. The water temperature is right around 62 now, and it seems like the walleyes are more to the north but slowly spreading out. About 65 to 70 percent of them spawn in the river,” he said, meaning the water below the upstream dam. “We’re planning on going pre-fishing Wednesday and possibly Friday too. I was out two weekends ago and we struggled on Friday when it was cold and wet. We’ll probably be on the west side, mid-lake” at least to start pre-fishing, he said.
Kevin Wetmore will be out with his father Tim, both from Wisconsin Rapids, seeing what’s what on Petenwell’s timbered and brushy shores, and he agrees that AIM’s format will show off what’s available on this lake between two dams on the Wisconsin River. His last trip was Saturday, and he feels the fish are still transitioning.
“We’re going to have over 33 pounds, and definitely five fish in that slot (Lake Pete’s no-keep slot for fish 20- to 28 inches). Live-weight tournaments don’t do it justice, there are so many 23- to-26-inch fish in this system,” Kevin Wetmore said. The problem will be catching them, as walleye transition to post-spawn recovery, to getting hungry heading to their summer hangouts. “This warm weather will go far and it will progress some fish to their summer spots, but right now it’s tough to find the big ones,” he said. And he knows a bit about Petenwell. His highest AIM finish was 4th place. So far.
“The water’s still clean. It’ll be green in a month. There is not a lot getting flushed down the river,” he said. And like other teams, he’s maybe eying those snags and brush along the channel edges of this sunken river, especially as the fish target those spots to sit. It may have been toasty at midweek, but weekend temps will fall 20-some degrees to the low 60s, not so far as to shut them off, he felt.
“They use a lot of live bait on Petenwell, so it definitely could come in play. I don’t think the water temperatures will change drastically. A bit warmer water right now is only going to help,” he added.
Mike Maas of North Fond du Lac has been busy. So busy in fact that he’s not been out on the lake yet, but was starting Thursday in his Mercury 400 Verado-powered boat with five—count-em, five—Garmin graphs aboard. He’s counting on trolling, at least to start. He’ll be partnered with 25-year-old son Dakota. “Reports I’ve heard were really a slow and a tough bite. Another major tournament a couple of weeks ago proved that things were slow. But since then, we’ve had some great weather driving up the water temps and I’m hearing things are starting to fire,” Maas said. “With the increasing water temps and the fish being post-spawn things could be really good this weekend.”
“We’ll probably start our focus on the northern half of Petenwell. We will try trolling some of the shallow flats and then work some of the rock humps along the river channel, which can be very effective. We will also dead stick, slip bobber and pitch jigs in those areas,” he added.
“We’ll be running cranks in the shallows, mostly Salmos, Number 5 Flicker Minnows and Shads. We’ll slip bobber and dead stick with chubs and leeches and pitch jigs with plastics, live bait, hair jigs, maybe even some Rippin’ Raps, blade baits and Shiver Minnows, and probably troll some Slow Death rigs at some point,” he said. “So many different tactics work on this body of water, but I’m guessing we will either be trolling flats or focused on a few rock humps with live bait and a slower presentation.”
The hardest part he said, is settling on which one will produce the winners. “You can fill a card with just about any tactic on this body of water. You know you’re going to catch fish and usually a lot of them. I like the challenge of trying to figure out the lake to be competitive with a short window on the water against some of the best anglers in the country,” he said, but he’s carrying a bit of an advantage—a lot of spring experience. “I’ve only fished here in spring. My tournament schedule has me focused on different bodies of water later. I do know some guides and from the results they post all summer I don’t know if there is a bad time of the year,” he said. The only other variable is that weather. “The last I checked we have some potential severe thunderstorms coming in Thursday followed by a few days of heavy winds. That could potentially throw a wrench into the mix, with dirty water and waves. It could make pre-fishing a little more of a challenge. As of right now, game day will have a small chop, but it’s definitely fishable,” he said.
One thing’s certain, Fan Nation. Sunday’s going to be busy, and the day to tune in to updates on AIM’s Facebook page to follow who’s doing what where on Petenwell, and at the same time, on Leech, which we’ll also detail.
Meantime, here’s the Wisconsin run-up to Sunday. The team meeting and registration for Petenwell begins at 7 p.m. Saturday. Then it’s all eyes on the water as boat inspection takes place starting at 5:30 a.m. at the launch site, Adams County Park in Arkdale. The first flight takes off at 7 a.m., followed by the second at 7:15. Boats must be back at the park starting at 3 p.m., and awards also will take place there. Good luck and stay safe, all teams!
See the Leech Lake preview for the down-low on that event. Attention, all you wannabe AIM teams out there. Time to jump in and have some fun. Sign up for all AIM divisional qualifiers at aimfishing.com. 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.
AIM is committed to marketing excellence on behalf of its tournament competitors, the tournament host communities, and the brands that partner with it. AIM is also committed to maintaining healthy fisheries across the nation by the development of the exclusive AIM Catch-Record-Release™ format which is integral to its dynamic events and unparalleled consumer engagement. For more information about AIM™, AIM Pro Walleye Series™, AIM Weekend Walleye Series, AIM sponsors and AIM anglers, visit www.aimfishing.com.
AIM Presenting Sponsors: Yamaha Motor Corporation U.S.A. and Warrior Boats inc.
AIM Supporting Sponsors: Mercury Marine, Garmin, Worldwide Marine Insurance, Off Shore Tackle, JT Outdoors Products, McQuoids Inn, Rosemore Outdoor Gear, Adventure Recreational Finance, Oconto County WI., Forever Barnwood, The Bighorn Store