Awards : PMTT 2006 Third Event of the Trail

PRESS RELEASE
EAGLE RIVER, WI
June 24th & 25th, 2006

Team Rusteberg / Bowman on the Prowl for the Most Prestigious Title in Muskie Fishing
"Team of the Year / Top Gun"

The third leg of the PMTT (Pro Musky Tournament Trail) took place in Eagle River, Wisconsin on June 24th and 25th. The event hosted many of the top names in muskie fishing including Tony Grant and Gregg Thomas.

The start of the tournament was a "shocker", with bolts of lightning striking down all around the 140 boat field. Over two hundred and seventy-five anglers would compete at the sound of Tim Wadlicki (tournament director) voice at 7:00 AM Saturday morning. Sheets of rain and strong lightning echoed with Tim's radio lecture advising everyone to "be safe out there", and the third leg of a five event trail was underway. The "muskie weather" would hold for most of the two day event, drenching anglers and allowing the contestants to catch more muskie than ever before in one single tournament trail event. A total of over 50 fish were caught in two days.

Team Rusteberg / Bowman had a strong event at the Petenwell Flowage, in Wisconsin Rapids, finishing in second place. The question was.could they keep their hot steak going?

Neither team member pre-fished this event, which is very unusual for these two extremely completive anglers. "We know the Eagle River chain well", Rusteberg replied, "and nothing ever is the same out there from week to week. Pre-fishing this event has never done us any good in the past so why continue the failing grade by repeating the same cycle", he added.

Bowman, the other half of the team had the following to say:, "The best thing we did is review Musky Hunter Magizine articles from some of the most successful Eagle River Chain anglers such as Tony Grant, Gregg Thomas, and Joe Bucher. Rusteberg and I spent hours on the phone reviewing article after article for helpful hints. Musky fishing is a mental game as well as physical. Reviewing old articles helped us better put in perspective what our location and lure presentation we were going to be using. We knew the "Chain" well enough to know what happens from week to week is almost irrelevant to what is happening right now. The magazine not only was a good source of information, but helped us recall techniques some of the best names in musky fishing are using today. That information is what I credit to our win."

The team boated two muskie on day one, a 42 inch fish and a 35 ¾ inch fish to put them in fourth place at the end of the first day. Bowman lost a third very important fish, but the team still questions if the fish would meet the minimum size requirement of 34 inches. The fish was very close according to Rusteberg.

"Yea, that third fish was close not only in inches, but I almost had the fish in the net even after the hook popped out. The fish sat on the surface hook free and I quickly made a swoop at her with the net, but it was a millisecond too late". That fish could have helped the team rise higher in the standings, but they would still fall significantly short of first place. That team finished with six muskie.

"We just wanted to catch a fish in this event to get us more points toward the most prestigious award in muskie fishing "TOP GUN". The goal is always to win, but we will settle for fourth place, putting us in contention to be crowned the most consistent anglers on the tournament trail", Bowman added.

With event four at Vermillion Lake, Minnesota in September, a lake neither angler is familiar with, things are bound to get interesting. Can this team continue their winning streak and be crowned team of the year "Top Gun"? The question is almost as easy to answer as muskie hunting itself, only time on the water will tell.