NPAA Member Brett King Wins AIM Green Bay Tournament
Category: npaa
Jul 7th, 2009 by OutdoorsFIRST
Modified Jul 7th, 2009 at 12:00 AM
NPAA Member Brett King finished strong to bring home top honors in the Anglers Insight Marketing (AIM) Pro Walleye Series tournament on Wisconsin’s legendary Green Bay July 2-4. It was the Claremont, Minnesota pro’s first major tournament victory after roughly a decade of fishing FLW and PWT pro-am events.
“It’s very special,” he said after the tournament. “Winning a major is one of my lifelong goals-I’m on cloud nine.”
While many of his competitors looked to Green Bay’s big water, King focused on the University Bay area, trolling 7cm Berkley Frenzy Flicker Shads behind Offshore planer boards in 6 to 8 feet of water. “Trolling crankbaits allowed me to cover twice as much water as the guys pulling spinners, and ultimately helped me find the larger fish in the bay,” he explained.
The strategy helped him put together a total of 463 inches of walleyes in AIM’s Catch-Record-Release format, good for 91.554 pounds and a $28,200 first-place check. King said, “I truly enjoyed the AIM format and look forward to future events.” King’s sponsors include: Smooth Move Seats (Owner), Yamaha, Tuffy Boats, Lindy, Offshore Tackle, Lakemaster, and Berkley.
Fellow NPAA Member Robert Blosser of Poynette, Wisconsin placed second with 452.25 inches and 86.87 pounds, worth $6,321. Blosser’s monster tally of 34.58 pounds on Day Three was the heaviest of the tournament. “I gave myself two hours in University Bay to get a limit, then headed out to the lake for the big bites I needed,” he said. As it turned out, Blosser got one of the big fish-a 29.25-inch behemoth-just 5 feet beneath the surface over 30 feet of water. And he hooked a second large fish but lost it during the fight. “That one would probably have put me over the top,” he noted.
Blosser’s program was pulling crawlers on spinner rigs at .8 to 1.2 mph. “Hammered-gold J.T. Custom Tackle blades and purple beads were by far the best,” he said. The blades, size 5, had pink polka dots and a chartreuse stripe on the leading edge. Blosser also credited Off Shore Tackle Tattle Flags for helping him read light bites from tentative walleyes. Blosser’s sponsors include: Ranger Boats, Yamaha, Offshore Tackle, Mack’s Lure, Berkley, Pro Mariner, Reel Grip, and Lowrance.
After leading day two, NPAA member, Dennis Gulau from Midland, Michigan finished strong in third place. Dennis too was trolling spinners and covering a lot of water on Green Bay.
In all, NPAA Members claimed fifteen of the top 16 places-another impressive showing on the AIM trail. In May, association members dominated the Saginaw Bay tourney-claiming the top 24 places in the field.
Next stop on the AIM circuit is the Missouri River at Akaska, South Dakota on August 13-15. For more information, visit www.aimfishing.com The NPAA is dedicated to improving and bringing professionalism to the sport of walleye fishing. Membership is open to all anglers wishing to become affiliated and learn more about tactics, sponsorships, the industry, youth events, and to help grow fishing participation. NPAA supporting partners who share the same goals include Northland Fishing Tackle, Navionics, Mercury Marine, Evinrude Outboards, Lund Boats, Ranger Boats, Off-Shore Tackle, Bartness Fishing Products, Fin-tech Tackle, Berkley, Walleye’s Inc., Greater Insurance Services, Masters Walleye Circuit, Anglers Insight Marketing, OutdoorsFIRST Media and FLW Outdoors. To learn more about the NPAA and its members go to www.npaa.net
Top 10 AIM finishers with their NPAA number:
1. Brett King #314
2. Robert Blosser #255
3. Denis Gulau #504
4. Rich Boggs #495
5. Chad Schilling #283
6. Scott Allen (non-NPAA Member)
7. Jason Przekurat #169
8. Todd Riley #19
9. Jon Tennessen #330
10. Tom Gatzke #868
11. Joe Okada #660
12. Tom Kemos #913
13. Tommy Skarlis #11
14. Jim Pyle #811
15. John Kolinski #14
16. Chase Parsons #806