FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 6, 2025
Contact: Denny Fox, 920-505-0122
Anglers Insight Marketing LLC (AIM™)
Presented by Yamaha Outboards Motor Corp USA and Warrior Boats Inc.
Winning the AIM Weekend Walleye Series Warrior Boats National Championship Shootout has never been done with over 100 pounds, but Tristan Beckwith and Isaac Lakich are the first, scoring 101.05 pounds over two days on Duluth’s St. Louis River, earning what averages out to $11,300 per fish to win a total bag worth $113,000, including a new, fully tricked out Warrior V193 boat.
“Fan Nation, we knew the river and Lake Superior at Duluth can produce, but wow, did Tristan and Isaac and the rest of our 40-boat field prove it,” said Denny Fox, national tournament director. “You have to drop down to 19th place before anyone posted weights below 50 pounds for this event. These two used their electronics and ultra-light jigs to pick fish out of some pretty chocolate milk-colored water that at times was only two feet deep to take home that V193 DC Warrior Boat, Yamaha 200 SHO four-stroke, Garmin electronics and a Garmin Kraken bow troller, with a locker full of Rosemore rods aboard. Each fish they landed earned them about $1,118 per pound, or $11,300 per fish.
“What’s more, the rest of the top five won packages from Mercury Marine and JT Outdoor Products totaling $34,000. All our teams went home with cash, making this the richest AIM tournament ever. Congrats to all who participated,” Fox added.
Here are the numbers: That Warrior Boat package: $105,000. Warrior incentivive cash for using their 2029 tiller Warrior to do it all, $7,500. And $500 for using all Garmin electronics.
When AIM caught up with Lakich, who’s from Richfield, Wisconsin (partner Beckwith is from West Bend), you might expect him to be relaxing, savoring the win. Nope. “I’m actually on my way back to Duluth to fish it again,” Lakich said, before heading to Mille Lacs to fish the AIM Minnesota qualifier there Sunday (June 
. “Fishing’s pretty special up there. It’s one of the best venues I’ve been to.”
. “Fishing’s pretty special up there. It’s one of the best venues I’ve been to.”They found that skinny water on their first day of pre-fishing, but ended up doing most of their damage in another similar area on the St. Louis River. “It was pretty murky, low visibility,” Lakich said. Yeah, like how about six inches visibility at best. That meant using tiny jigs with crawlers and plastics and working them as slow as possible so those fish could get a good look. “The Garmin was super important because of being able to get the bait to the fish. The fish couldn’t see it very far,” he continued. “We started putting it together on day one of pre-fish. We figured out where the fish were in general, that they were shallow and by Monday evening we got our first clue, and by Tuesday we decided. Tuesday, we found a different group of fish but our “B” spot was where we really won it.”
Many wouldn’t have even checked water so shallow and dirty, but Lakich was relying on his experience.“In a lot of places it would be unusual but to me the way the river was fishing, wasn’t like a river. It was more like a flowage or a reservoir. So when we figured that aspect out it became more natural for me to be in the shallows. Growing up I fished a lot of flowages and right around this time of year we were always catching them in two to three feet of water. I felt very at home in this tournament,” Lakich said. “We were using anywhere from 1/32-ounce to 3/16, which was about the heaviest we used. With the fish having trouble seeing stuff, the key was moving slow so they could find it,” he explained. On Day One of the tournament, they headed to their first choice. They figured out they had to move.
“It had dried up a little bit. There wasn’t the fish concentration that we were seeing in practice, so it forced us to make a move,” he said. “We realized it had changed. But once you made a commitment to go to an area you have to commit for at least a little while. We fished until about 10:20 and had a 23, a 29 and a 27-3/4, but the number of fish we were seeing was not what we knew we needed. So right after we caught the 27, we decided. We were catching about one fish every hour which was slow compared to what we did in practice. “We ran to the “B” spot and the wind was pushing and kicking so it was way more difficult boat control and put together the remainder of our bag. When we came in and were first place it was a crazy surprise. We had figured that at least on Day One there would be one or two 50-pound bags. We figured where we were we’d be in that 5th to 8th zone,” he said. Instead, their 46.43 pounds put them in the lead by ¾ of a pound. Then Day Two came along and broke it open.
“We went to our area we had ended Day One on, and it was lights out from start to finish,” he said. “We were throwing back 27s and weren’t even registering them on the card anymore. It was crazy. Some areas there were a lot of fish together, but it varied. “We got there probably 7:30 or 7:45 and probably put the first one on the card 20 minutes after getting there. I caught the first couple, and Tristan helped anchor the bag in the middle of the day. Our Smallest fish was 29 inches and our biggest was 30-1/2 and we had probably 15 to 20 that were 24 inches to 28-3/4. It was probably the best day I’ve had in a tournament, ever,” Lakich said.
“I’ve only had it happen a couple times in my career and it’s pretty special. It’s always a good day to have your best tournament day ever,” he added. Their total? How about 54.62 pounds, for a total of 101.05 over two days? And that beautiful Warrior boat, Yamaha four-stroke, Garmin electronics and bow mount, and Rosemore rods? “Tristan’s keeping it. I’m sure he’s going to have it out on the lake today, and pretty sure he’s put all his gear in it,” he said.
Coming in second with “only” 91.23 pounds, good for a $15,000 Mercury Marine certificate, plus first place cash in the AIM Side Pot Challenge of $3,625, for a total of $18,625 in winnings were Dylan Maki of Grand Rapids, Minnesota and Joe Bricko of Woodbury.
They headed for Lake Superior’s southern shore instead after finding a load of fish there with their Mercury 400 Verado-powered boat, with LiveScope among the electronics.
“Within the last half-day of pre-fishing it started coming together. We had planned on fishing a spot in the river that had been pretty decent,” Maki said. The pair is teamed with others, so he said one member always headed to check out the big lake. “We thought the lake was going to be too cool but to our surprise there were quite a few more fish than we thought. The lake was still only 48 to 52,” he said.
“On Day One we got four big bites, a 29, to 28s and a 27. Joe lost one, I lost one and broke one off on a hookset. We were pretty certain they were walleye so we had to run upriver and get a 20-incher real quick. That was kind of a bummer to finish with a 20. The last couple were really stinging us,” Maki added. Both days, they were using jigs with crawlers and plastics, along with Berkley Finishers, built for forward-facing sonar. “They’re like a newer Jigging Rap. They sink at a high rate and when you snap them, they dart,” he said. They were sitting in sixth.
“On Day Two we went out to relatively the same area. The wind had switched to the northeast which was pushing water in, and that changed the bite. Fast and furious. Four 29s and a 27-3/4. We had our bag by about noon. We put eight or nine fish on the card. They were in a little better mood. On Day One we had a little bit of an off wind so that made the fish a lot tougher. “After 1 p.m. our fish kind of disappeared. We put the trolling motor on 10 and tried to cover a bunch of ground. It’s pretty hard to upgrade a 27-3/4. Unfortunately, Isaac put the whooping on us,” he said. After juggling work and home life, Maki will head to Mille Lacs to get in pre-fishing for that Minnesota qualifier. “We’ll see how work goes today,” he said.
Fan Nation, here are the rest of the Top Five in the Warrior Boats National Championship Shootout: In third with 88.34 pounds, winning 2 Mercury Pro Kicker 9.9s, Mercury Marine certificate, and cash valued at $10,000, plus second in Side Pot Challenge cash of $2,175, were David Askew and Jon Hunt of New Buffalo, Minnesota. Fourth Place, earning a Mercury Pro Kicker 9.9, Mercury certificate, 2 JT rods and cash valued at $6,000 plus third-place Side Pot Challenge cash of $1,450 were Mark Maas of Appleton, Wisconsin and Cade Fredrick of Oshkosh, who boated 86.88 pounds. Fifth place, worth $3,000 included a Mercury certificate, 4 JT Rods and cash went to Tyler Wolden of Carlos, Minnesota and Nate Leininger of Miltona. They carded 86.33 pounds.
The tournament big fish cash of $200 went to Brett Walser and Vince Moldenauer for a big-shouldered 31.5-incher and another $500 in Garmin Rewards cash went to Brent and Jayden Wendel for running a Garmin Kraken bow troller.
FINAL RESULTS for the 2025 AIM Warrior National Shootout Championship presented by Warrior Boats Inc. and Yamaha Outboards USA. Thanks to Barkers Island Inn for being amazing hosts!
Fan Nation, get in the driver’s seat and join AIM for one of our upcoming qualifiers in one or all of our four divisions. 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 OutboardsMotor Corporation U.S.A. and Warrior Boats Inc.