The final 2012 qualifying tournament for the PMTT, Musky Hunter Magazine’s Last Summer Blast was held August 24th & 25th. The event was filled with big fish catches as there were several being over the coveted 50 inch mark. The weather was sunny and hot with barely any wind and 90 degrees on Day 1 and there were 15 muskies caught by the 72 teams registered to compete. On Saturday there were 17 more muskies caught. The weather turned for the better in a musky fisherman`s world. We had wind cooler temperatures and cloudy weather that turned on the fish in a big way especially for one team.

The first place team of Austin Vig and Andrew Matz of Prior Lake, MN caught one musky on Saturday. They went to a spot that they had pre fished that looked worth fishing. The spot was being pounded by wind and was loaded with baitfish, so the pair started fishing it. They contacted a musky almost immediately and boated it. They quickly measured, entered and released their catch and got back to their spot. Almost immediately they had another musky. Phenomenal fishing they were encountering as the team mentioned on the podium after they won the event that they were literally getting a bite on every cast at one point. Vig and Matz ended up catching 7 Muskies that were 37, 37.25, 40, 42.75, 40, 44.50, 45.50, 46 inch. Their pre fishing paid off in a big way netting them 1st place and $10,000 in winnings. They burned (retrieved baits fast) Showgirl Bucktails by Mayhem Tackle, in shallow water to entice their fish. The team of Vig and Matz also had a record point total in PMTT history of 512 points as all 7 of their muskies were caught on Showgirl Bucktails.

In second place were Tracey Grail and Pete Hildreth of Lakeview, Iowa. The tandem caught their fish burning buck tails in sand in shallow water on gold and walleye colored lures. Their fish were 50.25, 44.25 and 41.25. In third place were the duo of Ross Korpela (Carlton, MN) and Chad Mitchell(Inver Grove Heights, MN.) . Their muskies of 50.75, 48.50 were caught on Medusa Lures. The 50.75 inch musky was the Big Fish of the day for Friday earning them an extra check of $500.00 for their catch.

In fourth place were Kyle Johnson and Rick Franklin of Park Rapids, MN. The two anglers enticed three muskies that were 40.50, 40.25 and a 41.25 inches. The two anglers used Bulldawgs and bucktails in 5 – 10 feet of water to catch their fish. Rounding out the top five places in fifth place were Jeff Anderson (Brainerd, MN) and John Hoyer (Minnetonka, MN). The two anglers caught a 37.75, 39.75 and a 41.50 on Bucktails.

The Big Fish of the day for Saturday was caught by Ben Olsen and Andy Hamm. Their beautiful 50 inch musky netted them an extra $500.00 for their efforts. The fish succumbed to a Super model large Cowgirl lure.