Presented by Yamaha Motor Corp USA and Warrior Boats Inc.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Aug. 23, 2023
Contact: Denny Fox, 920-505-0122
Anglers Insight Marketing LLC (AIM™)
Wolden, Leininger, Top Points Race To Win Their First
AIM Yamaha Motor Corp. USA MN Team Of Year Title
It was a few years in the making, but good things come to those who wait, and on Aug. 18 during the AIM Weekend Walleye Series Mercury Marine Minnesota Championship on Lake Winnibigoshish, Tyler Wolden and partner Nate Leininger won that championship and also clinched the coveted 2023 AIM Yamaha Motor Corp. USA Team Of The Year title.
“The pair came from third place in the points standings to win TOY, which includes an automatic spot in the 2024 AIM National Championship Shootout,” said Denny Fox, AIM national tournament director. “Since they double-qualified for the Shootout by also winning the championship, that means another team will be moving up to claim one of the positions available for 2024. The win also comes with an electric start, power tilt Yamaha T9.9 kicker worth $4,500, a great topper for an achievement to be proud of.”
“We were one point behind Tom (Huynh) and Nate (Wolske) and nine points behind first place (Evan and Steven Rosemore) for Team Of The Year,” Wolden said. And they went for the win, with the confidence that the TOY title points would fall their way if they did. And, it did, and the points did, too.
“We always go for the win regardless of what it is,” Wolden said. “We knew we’d really have to put the throttle down. Tom and Nate are great fishermen, so we had to go for the big ones, nothing but. We calculated the points.”
“Team Of The Year is the one thing Nate and I had not accomplished. It’s been our goal for the last four or five years. Winning is great, but putting a whole season together is the icing on the cake and made our year,” he added.
Wolden/Leininger season scorecard looked like this, going into the championship: They placed first at Leech Lake in May, 27th at Lake Mille Lacs in June, 53rd on the Mississippi River in early July and 9th at Otter Tail Lake on July 30. AIM rules state each team can eliminate one score to finalize their TOY points.
Team Rosemore, Evan and Steven, eventually finished the championship in 19th place. “Then it was literally Tom and Nate we had to worry about and putting that bag together on Day Two capped it off,” he said.
“We’ve been doing AIM since the beginning. We had the potential. It’s always been a little of this or that that kept us out, and the last couple of years, Tom and Nate have been hammers. We were able to put it all together this year and make it happen,” Wolden said.
In second place for TOY were Huynh of Wolverton and Wolske of Boy River, and because they also double-qualified, another team is going to the 2024 Shootout.
For both, this is their last full season fishing AIM, as they are moving on to other tournaments and other projects. But their achievements this season that got them into yet another AIM National Championship Shootout were a second place on Leech Lake, another second on Lake Mille Lacs, a fourth on Otter Tail, and third overall at the Lake Winnie championship. They did not go to the Mississippi qualifier, so that was the tournament they “threw out,” per AIM rules.
AIM Determines points at each event on this calculation. If you enter the event, you receive 100 points. Then, you receive 100 points if you win an event, but if you don’t you get the percentage of the winners weight, down to the .00 hundreths place. So, if the winning weight is 50# and you have a even 25# you would have 50% of the winners weight and score that event at 150 points.
“That’s a great season,” Huynh said. “Probably one of the best we had, and ironically, we’re in second.
“I only got to pre-fish probably seven days for all these tournaments, so that’s where being efficient pays off. Nate maybe fished double that,” he added. He acknowledged that they were the ground-breakers in using Garmin’s LiveScope to its fullest, thereby changing the way most tournaments are now fished.
“We were one of the first to utilize LiveScope and because of that we’re trying to stay ahead and doing whatever we can to stay efficient while we’re fishing. We’ve been told that a lot. In our first season that we did this, we were the only ones we noticed that were standing on the bow of our boat with our heads down,” he said. That means, looking at their LiveScope sonar screen, searching for those winners.
“Now you look at our competition, and 90 percent of the boats are utilizing the same techniques. There are still places where trolling’s going to shine, and we were shown that by the Rosemores (Evan and Steven won on the Mississippi by trolling).
“There’s still a place for it because some of these places have current and that’s where trolling is going to cover more water. But people are slowly starting to dissect these systems and starting to learn catching them by casting,” he continued.
This was their last full season with AIM. You’ll see their names again, no doubt, at the AIM Shootout, in other tournaments, and online, he said.
“If we do a full AIM season again it will be a while down the road. We both have small businesses and with me fishing and getting deeper into fishing projects and working on what’s next for the fishing community, we need some time to do that,” Huynh said. But, what a ride, indeed, those two had with AIM, and continue to have. They changed the game of tournament fishing, and that’s saying a ton.
The Warrior Boats National Championship Shootout will feature 10 teams from Minnesota. This will be held in 2024. The top 5 teams that finished at the MN State Championship will be Invited.
Because of the double-qualifiers, here are the rest of the Minnesota teams who will be at the 2024 Shootout based on their TOY points:
Evan and Steven Rosemore of North Branch and Cloquet, respectively; Randy Topper of Cohasset and Chuck Hasse of Walker; Scott Burton of Apple Valley and Travis Heffron of Hudson; Phil Peterson of Anoka and Justin Osterbauer of Monticello, and Blake Jablonski of Elko and Trevor Schuster of Prior Lake.
Wisconsin, time to rise and shine, because AIM is coming your way for the Garmin/Navionics State Championship and Yamaha Motor Corp USA Wisconsin Team Of The Year (TOY) award this Friday and Saturday, at Oconto on the Bay of Green Bay.
North Dakota is next up to the plate, come Sept. 8-9 for the Yamaha Motor Corp. USA North Dakota State Championship and TOY award on Lake Sakakawea at Beulah.
Then, it’s all AIM Rivers Division, all the time, starting with the Mississippi qualifier at Clinton, IA Sept. 10. We end a great 2023 season, first Oct. 1 in Dubuque, IA, for the last 2023 division qualifier, followed by that division’s championship Oct. 21-22 on the river at Prairie du Chien, WI, resulting in up to 40 boats, not 30, at the 2024 AIM National Championship Shootout.
We’ll have updates prior to each of those events coming up. Stay tuned for the fun.
Want to join in? Register for those Rivers Division qualifiers, and early next year, 2024’s event registration will open. Learn how 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, Navionics, Power Pole, Worldwide Marine Insurance, Off Shore Tackle, Gemini Sport Marketing, Moonshine Lures Shiver Minnow, JT Outdoors Products, McQuoids Inn, Rosemore Outdoor Gear, Outdoor Authority fish house rentals, Island Bar and Grill, Bait Box on the Rock, Oconto County WI, Odyssey Battery.