Presented by Yamaha Motor Corp USA and Warrior Boats Inc.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 12, 2024
Contact: Denny Fox, 920-505-0122
Anglers Insight Marketing LLC (AIM™)
Rosemores Rock, Roll And Wade To Win On Mille Lacs With 41 Pounds At AIM/Warrior Boats Highway 3 Marine Open
It was a day when the old-timers would say the horses were galloping on Lake Mille Lacs, as five and occasional six-footers rocked and rolled the field Sunday (June 9), at one point with the winners even watching their front trolling seat go over the side, but the father-son team of Evan and Steven Rosemore endured that to take first in the AIM Weekend Walleye Series Warrior Boats Highway 3 Marine Open with 41.02 pounds.
“Fan Nation, it was a day on the lake that a recreational angler would say nope, not today, but Team Rosemore and the rest of the field braved the blow and made it go, with the winners taking home $8,500 and more Yamaha Outboards USA Team Of The Year points,” said Denny Fox, AIM national tournament director. “It was definitely what you’d call a sporty day, plus. If you recognize the names, yes, they are AIM sponsors, and Evan said they had two Rosemore Rods prototypes in the boat that did some of the lifting.”
Evan Rosemore, of North Branch, MN already has a post-event plan involving side-scan sonar to go fishing again in their Mercury 300 Pro XS-powered boat, with Garmin among the electronics. This time, though he’ll be fishing for his bow seat, which went over the side as he and father Steven, from Cloquet, speared a series of those tight Mille Lacs waves that kept his two bilge pumps busy the entire day.
Luckily, he had just replaced them both recently. They needed them, as the pair rolled a three-mile or so stretch of water in those Mille Lacs four-footers that gave them no rest, but which produced all their fish, at the lake’s south end. He’s got a good idea where that seat is, hopefully in somewhat shallow water. Just the same, Evan reported they were ankle-deep in the boat much of the day. But they did get a hard-won win.
“We took water pretty much every time going into the waves for another pass. We got three on the first pass,” Evan began.
“We weren’t trolling. We were ‘LiveScopeing’ and pitching to individual fish. We went to the far upwind side of the structure and put out two drift socks that kept our boat pointed straight about .8 to 1.8 mph depending on the surge. And we were looking with LiveScope and it felt like trolling. Boat control was key,” he said. “I’m going to guess waves were four and three-footers.”
“The first three fish we casted at were a 25, a 26 and a 28-incher, and all three were bigger than what we caught in practice. We knew we were onto something special, with that heavy north wind,” Rosemore said.
“We had found some of the area in practice, the south end of it, and some of our teammates found the northern edge. On tournament day we knew the wind would blow us from the fish they found to the fish we found, and we started finding fish all the way in about a 3-1/2-mile drift through gravel bars, random structure, and most of the fish were elevated, pretty high. I think they were chasing bait up high,” he said. “We caught those three within 20 minutes of each other.”
They switched between several techniques, depending on where the fish were in the column. Sometimes, it was a bobber with live bait, then jigs and live bait, then bare Northland Puppet Minnows. Junk fishing, one of Evan’s friends called it. Throw the sink at’em, and they did, and it worked.
“We kept moving and found a few others just over the 25-inch mark that I was happy to have on the card. Our passes were so long that I think we only ever made three. The fish were spread out. We just kept looking for them on LiveScope and hopefully we could spot them with enough time to get a rod ready. When we’d see one high we’d cast a bobber. As you’d see the fish, you’d have two or three seconds to decide what rod to pick up and take one or two passes at them as you’d go by. That meant spinning the boat around at 70 to 100 percent power on the electric troller in the 20 to 30 mph winds.
“I don’t recall exactly but the others were in the upper 26- to low 27-inch range. Our last fish of the day was on top of a reef, 17 feet of water, and on the bottom. I saw a good mark and we had a couple of minutes left, and I casted to it. I believe it was a 27-incher,” he said. “We packed up and made a calm ride in. We could have had a few more minutes but decided to use those to make the ride a little calmer.”
“I knew we gave ourselves a chance at it but it kinda came down to the wire in my mind. It turned out we beat the field by a couple pounds (actually, 3.29 pounds in front of second place),” Rosemore added.
“I knew we’d be right up there but there’s some really heavy competition in Minnesota and as much as Mille Lacs isn’t putting out the upper 40-pound bags, there are still good fish there. When Denny called 37 pounds for 4th place, I thought if the next had 40, maybe we didn’t have it. It turned out that second, third and fourth all had 37 and change. I wasn’t confident until he announced second.”
As far as racking up TOY points, he felt that won’t shake out for them at least until Leech Lake in July, since they skipped Big Stone. But, since AIM Team Of The Year is figured on the best three out of four, they still have a chance. Right now, he’ll just be happy to find that sunken bow seat.
Following up with 37.73 pounds are Tyler Wolden of Carlos, MN, and Nate Leininger of Miltona. They won TOY last year, and went home Sunday with $3,300, plus first in the AIM Side Pot Challenge for another $1,600, and $300 from Garmin for fishing with all-Garmin electronics in a Mercury 400 V-10-powered boat.
He said that the winners must have been in a calm area of the lake, as he estimated five-footers, one after the other, with no calm between them.
“It made for a sporty ride out. The ride in was much better. We were fishing on the calmer west side,” Wolden said. “We knew areas on the lake that were producing what we felt were the right class of fish.” And, with the weather, they also knew that some areas were not going to be fishable.
“On a calm day we could get to our spot within 15 minutes. It took us 50 minutes to get there. We fished by ourselves most of the day and had a lot of room to fish and that’s what it took,” he said. That lack of boats was one less stressor.
“We started working into the waves and then after about an hour I looked at my batteries and thought we’re going to cut it close, so we shortened our runs. It was more about boat control,” Wolden agreed.
“We settled in and caught a couple of small ones right away. But we weren’t really dialed in. It took us about an hour to figure out what to make the fish bite. The first carded fish was a 26-1/4, then things started clicking. Then it went like clockwork, 20 minutes later a 26-1/4, then 20 minutes after was a 26-1/2, then we finally got a kicker, that 27-inch range. It was around 11:30 or noon and we were telling ourselves we’ve got a couple more hours to find a couple more. We ended up getting smaller fish but no more kickers,” he said.
“Primarily all of our fish except for one was on a jig and a minnow. We were doing a lot of Jigging Raps and bobbers in practice. Whatever you threw at them then they ate. The last one came on a glide bait Jigging Rap,” he said.
Back on land, they learned they may have a chance at a top five finish. “We know the lake has a 40-pound potential although it’s not as common as it used to be. And it played out exactly how we thought, but the Rosemores had a little bigger bag. But with this second place, they think they have a shot to two-peat for TOY.
“We’re in 7th, but it will position us to go out on Leech. We have an 11th a 10th and now second. If you place top five in Team Of The Year you had a good season,” he said.
A third-place 37.58-pound bag brought Matt Yorks of Farmington, MN and Ben Sollin of Lakeville $2,300 plus second in the Side Pot Challenge for $960 more. Following them in 4th with 27.40 pounds were Kyle Manteuffel of Coon Rapids and Sean Nelson of Columbus, who took home $1,400. Fifth place and $1,300 plus $640 in third-place Side Pot Challenge cash went to Dylan Maki of Cohasset and Joe Bricko of Woodbury.
Ok, Minnesota Fan Nation, you’re on a sabbatical until AIM reappears on Leech Lake July 14. But hold on, because this Sunday, June 16, AIM is headed back to North Dakota and back to Lake Sakakawea, this time at Garrison at the lake’s east end. Wisconsin, you’re on vacay until July 21 when it’s the Bay of Green Bay at Oconto. And, hey Rivers Division, you’re in the on-deck circle, with Pools 2 and 3 and the St. Croix in play at Hastings June 23.
Attention, all you potential AIM competitors. Time to get in on the fun. Scope out these and other events coming your way, that are made just for you. Go to aimfishing.com to join in the most affordable, lucrative walleye tournament, now in its 10th season. Follow all the fun at AIM’s Facebook page.
You know you want to. You know you can.
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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