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The Pack, AIM’s Pack, That Is, Is Back

Category: press release

 Jun 22nd, 2010 by OutdoorsFIRST 

Modified Jun 22nd, 2010 at 12:00 AM

It’s recognized for legendary football teams and an even more legendary coach. But over the next couple of weeks the spotlight shifts from the stripes on a football field to the vast waters of Green Bay.

In the town that gridiron superstars like Lombardi, Starr and Favre put on the map, residents will be seeing a different type of athlete July 1-4.

Instead of Green Bay Packer colors and cheesehead hats around town this east-central Wisconsin town that’s also home port to Lake Michigan’s largest inlet, Green Bay’s residents will see a virtual fleet of walleye boats being towed by anglers with their eyes on the prize-a $30,000 check in the second stop for AIM Pro Walleye Series anglers in this year’s tournament series of five events.

And like a football game, it’s anyone’s guess as to who will put the right combination together to win the event.

Some will troll harnesses and night crawlers while others will break out the crankbaits to cover more water.

Last year’s winner, Brett King from Claremont, Minn. thinks he’ll have to change where and how he fishes this year to be AIM’s first repeat winner.

“I truly believe, in order to win again, I’ll have to do things differently. Last year, I stayed on a conservative bite, sorting through lots of fish to find the best.

“Everyone else was out in the big water trying to catch the 7- to 8-pounders. The problem was the bite kept shutting down because of the northeast winds making the water cooler,” King says.

   Tom Kemos, fishing professionally for eight years and in his second AIM season, agrees. “This fishery is 100 percent weather-dependent.

“I would say it should be a deal where a guy should get 15 or 30 bites a day of fish in varying sizes, that should be good on the podium for 35 to 40 pounds,” the Oconomowoc, Wis. resident said.

Bigger fish could be caught in the deeper water of “The Bay,” as Green Bay is known locally, according to both anglers.

“Last year I had a four- and a half-pound average. It should have been more in the neighborhood of six pounds and over,” King said, but the weather played a huge role, and is expected to again in two weeks’ time.

If the weather cooperates enough for the deep-water bite, King says the predominant pattern will be boards and spinners. But the weather-and that cool water-drove many pros to different techniques

   “For example, I won last year by pulling shallow crankbaits in shallow water,” King said.

Dan Farrah of the non-profit Walleyes for Tomorrow, a group with 18 chapters throughout Wisconsin and Michigan dedicated to fundraising for stocking walleyes and providing habitat in the form of rock reefs, including one in the Green Bay area, predicts great action.

 “The bite should be good and strong,” he says “These guys know what they are doing. They are professionals from around the Midwest and shouldn’t have any trouble catching fish.
   “I’m guessing the average weights will be 6 to 7 pounds per fish. That should be in the ballpark. Right now the bite is half on crankbaits and half on spinners.

“A couple of weeks from now, if the weather warms the bay up, it will probably be spinners,” Farrah added.