Lake Chippewa Flowage Vacation

by Barb Czarnecki – Johnsons Resort

Sponsored by the Chippewa Flowage Resort Association

200 participants enjoyed record fishing for the 14th Annual Lake Chippewa Flowage Resort Association Musky Hunt. Bob Bjornton of Ft. Meyers FL hauled in a tournament record breaking 51.25″ musky on the morning of September 7th caught near the Lake Chippewa Campground on a black globe. A quick pair of witnesses and a quick release followed in this catch and release only tournament. Bjornton was awarded a $2000 Cabela’s Gift Certificate for 1st place. The LCFRA gratefully thanks Cabela’s for their generous sponsorship of the Musky Hunt.

Opening night Gooch Tallywacker baits were presented to all 200 participants in memory of long time Chippewa Flowage guide Wayne Gutsch. Participants devoured ham stacker sandwiches at The Landing while John Dettloff of Indian Trail Resort reported on current musky fishing, weed and water level conditions for the tournament time.

After a great opening morning of fishing, a Brat Feed was held at Deer Run Resort where every entrant received a Jenk’s Bucktail. All participants also received spools of Tuf-Line donated by Western Filament of Grand Junction, CO were distributed to all at the Awards Dinner, enjoyed at Treeland Resorts.

A total of over 950 door prizes were awarded at the 3 events. Thirty-five $50.00 Cabela’s gift certificates were presented as door prizes and many Cabela’s products such as life vests, binoculars, Thermacell mosquito repellent and numerous gore-tex rain suits were awarded. Scores of musky baits were given out along with dozens of Fenwick Musky Rods and Abu Garcia 6500C reels. Association members donated various gift certificates, clothing, fishing tackle and more. Raffle ticket drawings were held for jackets, rod and reel combos, underwater camera, free Musky Hunt entry and much more to raise money to support the Lake Chippewa Flowage Resort Association. Special thanks also to our long-time original sponsor Park Ridge Distributing, who provided Budweiser products for the Musky Hunt, Randy Armsbury of Jenk’s Bait, for many of our prizes, and Reinhart Food Service for donating food for the Brat Feed.

• The winners were:

• First Place – Bob Bjornton – Ft. Meyers FL – 51.25 – $2000.00 Cabela’s Gift Certificate
• 2nd Place – Pat Nogalski – Milwaukee WI – 48.5 – St. Croix Legend Rod Calcutta 400TE Reel $250 Cabela’s
• 3rd Place – Greg Gmeinder – Pardeeville WI – 48.0 – St. Croix Legend Rod Ambassador Record Reel
• 4th Place – Doug Hardy – West Chicago IL – 47.0 – Calcutta 400TE Reel
• 5th Place – Terry Wilke – Couderay WI – 47.0 – Stow Master Net
• 6th Place – Larry Vikoski – Milwaukee WI – 45.0 – Stow Master Net
• 7th Place – Michael Hoppe – Waukesha WI – 43.0 – Stow Master Net
• 8th Place – Jeremy Lee – New Richmond WI – 42.5 – Ambassador 6500 C Reel
• 9th Place – Corey Judson – Port Washington WI – 42.0 – Ambassador 6500 C Reel
• 10th Place – Bill Piccarillo – Palos Park IL – 41.5 – Ambassador 6500 C Reel

Cards are drawn in case of a tie for length. The Musky Hunt also draws for an 11th place out of all the other fish that were registered, beyond the 10 place winners. As it happened Doug Mannigel of Marshfield, WI lost in the card draw for 10th place, but was coincidently drawn as the 11th place winner anyway with his 41.5 inch Musky!

All 200 participants are included in the drawing for the Grand Prize – a Polaris Sportsman 4 Wheeler purchased from Hayward Power Sports. The lucky winner was Jonathan Schultz of Slinger WI.

Information on where fish were caught, time of day and successful bait are found on the LCFRA website www.chippewaflowage.com. You can see historical catch information and pictures for all 14 years.