Hamernick and Hoyer Win Musky Hunter’s Summer Showdown
Category: article
Aug 15th, 2019 by Keith Worrall
Modified Aug 15th, 2019 at 10:34 AM
Hamernick and Hoyer Win Musky Hunter’s Summer Showdown!
On August 9th & 10th the final qualifying event of the year for the 2019 Professional Musky Tournament Trail season, the Musky Hunter Magazine’s Late Summer Showdown, was held on Lake Minnetonka. The field of anglers were very excited to fish this large body of water that has a reputation for producing muskies that can get into the mid fifty-inch class.
Stable weather the weeks prior to the event made for good fishing and nice tournament results. Friday`s weather of sunny skies forced the anglers to fish the deeper water weed edges. Saturday was perfect musky weather with cloudy skies, light wind and a few storms moving through the area. There were 24 muskies caught on Friday and 17 caught on Sunday for a total of 41 muskies caught by the 93 boats registered to compete in the tournament.
Several teams caught multiple big fish, which is what you expect on big fish waters like Minnetonka. The winning team of Jason Hamernick of Naples, Fl and John Hoyer a local of the Lake Minnetonka area have lived near Lake Minnetonka for many years and their familiarity plus experience showed well on the water. Hamernick and Hoyer had only four fish hit during the two-day event and where able to land all four muskies amongst a field that acknowledged losing a lot of nice fish.
On day one Hamernick & Hoyer caught two muskies fishing deep weeds. On day two, with a change in weather conditions, they decided to try shallower weeds. Being a shorter fishing day and the shallow weeds not producing anything they thought they would go back to what worked for them on day one, the deeper weeds. On the way to the spots that worked the day before, they passed a spot that had produced in the past and decided to give it a try.
Big Fish of the tournament Jason Hamernick of Naples, Florida 52.75 inch partner John Hoyer of Orono, MN.
They pulled up on the spot and on his very first cast Hamernick hooked into a 52.75” monster, that was also the Event Big Fish. They released the fish and while Hamernick was filling out the paperwork for the tournament, Hoyer finished changing his bait and made his first cast on the spot and a 43 incher nailed his bait and was enough to put them in the lead for good. The experience they have compiled over the years helped them to win over a $12,000 and two beautiful trophies.
Their muskies measured 41.50”, 43”, 44.50” and 52.75”, an awesome catch in any musky tournament. Hamernick and Hoyer mentioned that their technique involved three different lures, a Bull Dawg, a Poseidon and a Rippin’ Dawg, which they worked down the deep weed edge in 24’ to 30’ of water. They worked their baits in a very nonaggressive manner. Hoyer and Hamernick were also the winners of the coveted Ranger Boats Cup for an additional $1,000, which is awarded to any Ranger Boat owners that are registered and win any of the qualifying tournaments.
Top Three Place Finishers
Front Row Left to Right John Hoyer and Jason Hamernick, Back row left to right 3rd Place Winners Ben Peterson of Pewaukee, Wisconsin and Scott Bugalski of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, 2nd Place Winners Nate Osfer of Marathon City, WI. and Matt Raley of Arbor Vitae, WI.
In second place were Nate Osfer of Marathon City, WI and Matt Raley of Arbor Vitae, Wi. These two anglers used bulldawgs along the deep weed edge in 24’ to 30’ of water using short pulls on the bait while casting down the weed edge. Osfer and Raley`s muskies measured 34”, 39”, 40” and 44.50”. In third place Scott Bugalskiof Oconomowoc, WI. and Ben Peterson of Pewaukee, WI. used walleye colored bulldawgs lures down the deep weed edge while ripping them as hard as possible. Bugalski and Peterson`s muskies measured 38.25”, 40” and 45.25”. The 45.25” was the big fish of the day for Friday. In fourth place Jacob Brewer and Raymond Cote of Lombard, IL. These two fishermen used Medusas and Bulldawgs with chartreuse tails while working a point in dirtier water. The two anglers caught their three muskies in a 1.5-hour span on Friday. Rounding out the top five, in fifth place with a 42.50” and 49.25” was Luke Ronnestrand of Elk River, MN and Michael Waters of Maple River, MN. The team of Nash & Donar caught a nice 43.5” muskie that took home the Musky Hunter Big Fish honors for an additional $250.
Musky Hunter big fish of the tournament 43.50″ Jarod Donar of Verona, WI. and Kevin Nash
If anyone would like to join us for our $50k Mega Tournament to be held on Leech Lake in Minnesota September 13th, 14th and 15th, we still have openings for the event. This is a $50,000 first place payout with over a $120,000 total payout for a full field. Please contact us online at promusky.com or call us for details 815-478-4092.
Fridays big fish 45.25″ Ben Peterson of Pewaukee, WI. and Scott Bugalski of Oconomowoc, WI.
Also please stay tuned for the PMTT Ranger Boats World Championship to be held on the Spirit and Okoboji Chain in Iowa October 5th & 6th and see who will be crowned our next PMTT Ranger Boats World Champions. You can also see all PMTT events streamed Live on our Facebook page.
Tournament director Tim Widlacki thanked all of the PMTT’s fantastic sponsors especially Musky Hunter Magazine for their continued support and the Medina Entertainment Center for hosting this event. Also, Ranger Boats, Mercury Marine, the Eagle River Area Chamber of Commerce, Morehead Tourism, Keyes Outdoors, Chaos Tackle, Vita-Minerals, Feldstein’s Jewelers and all of the associate and contributing sponsors. Please let these fine people know that you appreciate their promotional efforts in support of fresh waters most challenging fish and those extreme anglers who chase her on the first, best and only truly national professional musky tournament circuit, the PMTT