Presented by Yamaha Motor Corp USA and Warrior Boats Inc.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 17, 2024
Contact: Denny Fox, 920-505-0122
Anglers Insight Marketing LLC (AIM™)
Petenwell’s Early Mayfly Hatch Awaits AIM Wisconsin, But
Big Weights Also Wait For Teams With The Answers Sunday
The team that can fool Petenwell Flowage’s walleye during an unusual early mayfly hatch may well be the ones stepping onto the podium during Sunday’s (May 19) AIM Weekend Walleye Series Garmin Open.
“Call it Lake Petenwell or Petenwell Flowage, it’s Wisconsin’s second largest lake, with more than 23,000 acres for our teams to choose from, and whether you like trolling, casting, tree fishing or dragging live bait, this one offers it all,” said Denny Fox, AIM national tournament director. “This is one of two events Sunday. Our second one to watch is in Minnesota on Big Stone Lake, and both are leading up to the Big Show. This is the time of year I love, when AIM’s schedule is at flank speed, and that championship first-place prize of that Warrior boat-Yamaha four-stroke-Garmin bow mount and electronics and a locker full of Rosemore rods, all worth $100,000 to one team, is on the horizon. Let’s bring it on home, Fan Nation.”
One team that will be relying heavily on Garmin LiveScope aboard is Jim Erdman and Jeremy Hurst, both of Oshkosh, who will be eligible for Garmin Rewards cash if they do well. “Our two LiveScopes will be on it all weekend. They’re going to be a big part of our gameplan,” Erdman said.
This will be their first visit since the 2023 Warrior Boats National Championship Shootout took place here. This year’s event is only less than two weeks away on North Dakota’s Lake Sakakawea at New Town, May 31-June 1.
Erdman and Hurst will be on the water starting Thursday in separate boats, and Erdman admits he hasn’t heard much about conditions. But, they do have some ears to the water, thanks to some locals.
“I heard there’s a mayfly hatch, so we’re going to throw the gamut at them and see what we can do,” he said. “It’s a dammed up river (the Wisconsin River), so you’ve got an old forest project, stump fields, a deep river channel and on the edges you’ve got old brush that’s referred to as the trees. It’s an absolutely awesome system to fish. You can jig, troll, pull live bait, literally do anything you want.”
“We prefer to fish in the trees. We lose a lot of lures that way, so live imaging sonar has helped tremendously. You can see the trees, so when you’re casting, you’re not just blind casting. You can see the fish and cast to the side of the trees. We’re good at it,” he said. Their boat will be loaded with everything from blade baits, to Shiver Minnows, Rippin’ Raps, and live bait.
That menu might include chubs, minnows, sucker minnows, crawlers and leeches in those trees. “It’s a mental challenge there because even when you hook them there’s a good chance they’re going to take you into a tree. And on a big fly hatch, I never fix on one style. I throw all that out the window. I’d like to fish the way I want but we’re going to try to not take that with us,” he added, because the fish may have different ideas.
Wind forecast on the lake looks good. “Northwest from five to 10, so we’ve got a couple spots I’m going to be targeting on the west shore so hopefully it will stack some bait up there, at least until noon, anyway,” Erdman continued. He also had a prediction. “Twenty-six pounds is a number in the wind. And the only reason I didn’t say 30 is because of the mayfly hatch.”
Michael Anderson of Oxford fishes with Joe Stuchlak of Wisconsin Dells, and they’ll be under 150 Mercury power Sunday. Both have been on the water since Thursday, and Anderson’s proposing another technique to consider.
“It seems like it’s been dead sticking that’s been working the best and dragging fatheads and small jigs, as light as you can go with Number 2 hooks,” Anderson said. “It’s going to take 35 pounds to win this, and I’ll bet more than that. With mayflies hatching streamer flies might be good to try too. It changes out there daily.” Don’t count out a team using a slip bobber or drop-shotting plastic, he added.
Daniel Hobbs of Wisconsin Rapids has been on the water since Wednesday. He’ll be teamed with Steve Frederick of Kenosha. Hobbs reports catching his first walleye on his first pass.
“Petenwell’s loaded with fish right now. Some anglers are struggling because there’s a big bug hatch going on. It seems like we’re a couple weeks ahead, so a lot of teams are going to have to fish in different places” than they may be used to this time of year, Hobbs added.
“The chub bite should be going pretty good, or jigging a leech or crawler or plastics. That’s the staples out here. I was out fishing all day last Saturday and Sunday. We haven’t done bad but haven’t done great. Some big ones have been caught but it’s not consistent. Yet,” he said, and he upped the ante to maybe even 40 pounds to take first Sunday.
He had 63 degrees on his electronics at midweek. “We had a cooler night and temperatures have been getting up to 70, so everything’s ahead a couple weeks,” and teams may find fish moving into early summer patterns already, Hobbs said.
From those reports, it looks like everything will be in play Sunday, and the team most comfortable with their presentations, and the ones finding fish most comfortable with chewing on them, will have a great shot at taking this one.
We’ll find out Sunday afternoon at the Adams County Park pavilion, when teams gather after a day on the water that will start with boat inspections at 5:30 a.m. Teams will leave from the park launch in two waves, at 7 a.m. and 7:15, and must report back at the launch starting at 3 p.m. Good luck, all teams!
Check out the preview of Big Stone Lake’s AIM qualifier also this Sunday.
Then May 31-June 1, it’s 40 boats from across the Midwest for all the marbles at the Big Show on North Dakota’s Lake Sakakawea at New Town. Follow all the fun at AIM’s Facebook page. Go to aimfishing.com to join in the most affordable , lucrative walleye tournament there is.
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, Power Pole, Worldwide Marine Insurance, Off Shore Tackle, Gemini Sport Marketing, JT Outdoors Products, McQuoids Inn, Rosemore Outdoor Gear, Outdoor Authority fish house rentals, Adventure Recreational Finance, Oconto County WI., Forever Barnwood