The 4th Annual Lake Chippewa Musky Hunt was held September 5, 6, and 7, 2002. This popular Catch and Release Tournament limited to 200 entrants filled quickly. While many more were turned away, the tournament is limited to protect Lake Chippewa from excessive fishing pressure. Thousands of dollars in top prizes and door prizes donated by numerous local businesses were awarded. The emphasis of the tournament, sponsored by the Lake Chippewa Flowage Resort Assn. and the L.C.O. Casino, Lodge and Convention Center, and Park Ridge Distributing of Eau Claire, is on fun, camaraderie and good sportsmanship.
Opening ceremonies were hosted by LCO Casino, Lodge and Convention Center, featuring speaker Guide Ron Bergman. Bergman advised contestants on conditions to expect and what the current trends seemed to be for musky fishing, while entrants enjoyed a generous variety of hot and cold hors d'ouerves.
Each contestant received a goodie bag including a Coleman collapsible cooler, tournament hat, casino coupons, keychain and bottle opener, hand towel, notepad, candy, food and beverage coupons from various resorts and restaurants and more. In addition over fifty door prizes were awarded ranging from cases of Budweiser, to lures, rods, reels, nets and musky cradles, binoculars, raingear, fillet knives and more.
Thursday afternoon fishermen were treated to a Brat Feed hosted at Herman's Landing. They all received a musky lure at the door. While a tent had been planned for, the challenging weather forced the 200 contestants inside. Camaraderie and good sportsmanship prevailed as over 50 more door prizes had to be passed through the crowd to get to the winning participants. More rods, reels, books, maps, restaurant gift certificates, golfing certificates, lures and boating equipment were awarded.
Friday morning fishermen enjoyed a free breakfast at Herman's Landing LCO or at R & R Bayview Restaurant and Resort. It was a great way to start the day. At a vote taken later whether to keep the breakfast and later fishing hours on Friday, or go back to early starts everyday, the vote was overwhelmingly for BREAKFAST!
A record number of 17 legal muskies were measured by the end of the tournament, and 26 undersized muskies were reported. Leader boards were provided to key area locations by the LCO Casino, Lodge and Convention Center. The first, and only fish caught on Thursday was a 36" musky caught in the middle of the afternoon in Chief Lake on a white Salmo Fatso by Jon Justman of Oakfield, WI. Justman also closed the tournament with the last fish caught at 3:00 pm on Saturday.
Eleven fish were recorded during somewhat unsettled weather on Friday, surprising many after the violent weather on Thursday. The weather Saturday was picture perfect, but fishing slowed to five legal catches
The Awards Banquet was held Saturday night at LCO Casino, Lodge & Convention Center. A delicious buffet dinner was served, followed by door prizes, raffles, place awards and drawing for the Grand Prize, donated by LCO Casino, Lodge and Convention center of a 16' Lund boat, 25 hp Mercury motor and Spartan trailer.
Ties were broken by drawing cards, only one prize awarded per contestant. The final placements were as follows:
- First Place: 44 ½" Tom Rees of Cedarburg WI caught on "Cannonball" with a Parrot Lure 1:20 pm on Friday. He won a 15 HP Mercury Outboard Motor, 2003 model.
- Second Place: 44" Gary Hendrickson of Middleton, WI, caught in Crane Lake on a green Mepps, at 11:45 am. He was awarded a MarCum Underwater Camera System
- Third Place: 43" Robert Hummer of Beloit, WI, caught in Scott Lake at 2:00pm on a Joe's Buck with green blade. He won a St. Croix Rod with Garcia Moorum Reel
- Fourth Place: 39 ¾" Jon Justman Garcia Moorum Reel
- Fifth Place: 39" Pat Nogalski Ambassador 6500C Reel and St. Croix Rod
- Sixth Place: 37 ½" Mike Ostrowski Ambassador 6500C Reel and St. Croix Rod
- Seventh Place: 37 ½" David Zielke Ambassador 6500C Reel and St. Croix Rod
- Eighth Place: 37" Carl Kennedy Hand Held G.P.S. Unit
- Ninth Place: 37" John Gullickson Hand Held G.P.S. Unit
- Tenth Place: 36 ½" Ed St. Peter Hand Held G.P.S. Unit
| | Name | City | Day | Time | Bait | Color | Where | Size |
| 1 | Tom Rees | Cedarburg, WI | Friday | 1:20 pm | Parrot | | Cannonball | 44.5 |
| 2 | Gary Hendrickson | Middleton, WI | Friday | 11:45 am | Mepps | Green | Crane Lake | 44 |
| 3 | Robert Hummer | Beloit, WI | Friday | 2:00 pm | Joe’s Bucktail | Green Blade | Scott lake | 43 |
| 4 | Pat Nogalski | Milwaukee, WI | Friday | 4:00 pm | Skimmer Bucktail | Black/Green | Moss Creek | 39 |
| 5 | Mike Ostrowski | Oak Creek, WI | Saturday | 8:00 pm | Suick | Black | Cranberry | 37.5 |
| 6 | David Zielke | Eau Claire, WI | Friday | 7:10 pm | Jerk Bait | Perch Colored | Scott Lake | 37.5 |
| 7 | Carl Kennedy | Menasha WI | Saturday | 6:30 am | Mepps | Green | Big Pete’s Bar | 37 |
| 8 | Robert Hummer | Beloit, WI | Saturday | 7:15 am | Joe’s Bucktail | Green | Hay Lake | 37 |
| 9 | John Guillickson | Madison, WI | Friday | 7:15 pm | Mepps | Green | Crane Lake | 37 |
| 10 | Mark Fischer | Park Falls, WI | Friday | 11:15 am | Bucktail | Perch Colored | Sand Island | 36.5 |
| 11 | Ed St Peter | Kenosha, WI | Saturday | 11:15 am | Bucktail | Orange | Crane Creek | 36.5 |
| 12 | Jon Justman | Oakfield, WI | Thursday | 2:55 pm | Salmo Fatso | White | Chief Lake | 36 |
| 13 | Joe Vig | Eue Claire, WI | Friday | 2:45 pm | Bucktail | Black | Hay Creek Narrows | 35.75 |
| 14 | Scott Knusta | Waukesha, WI | Friday | 11:35 am | Bucktail | Black/Orange Blade | Moores Bay | 35.5 |
| 15 | Mike Ostranski | Oak Creek, WI | Friday | am | Suick | | Cranberry | 34.5 |
| 16 | Gary Coulthurst | Neenah, WI | Friday | 10:12 am | Suick | Black | East Side | 34 |
| 17 | Jon Justman | Oakfield, WI | Saturday | 3:00 pm | Ghost Tail | Green/Black | James Slough | 39.75 |
The grand prize, awarded by drawing among the 200 contestants, went to Ruth Aaron of Hayward, WI, owner of Deer Run Resort.
Master of ceremonies Cheryl Treland thanked the many vendors and businesses that donated to the success of Musky Hunt 2002. Entry blanks for 2003 will go out to current entrants on December 1, and then a second mailing by December 31 will go to past entrants. The tournament will open up to the general public on our internet site www.chippewaflowage.com on January 1st.
The Lake Chippewa Flowage Resort Assn. is especially grateful to the LCO Tribe and LCO Casino, Lodge and Convention Center for their generous contributions and participation. This successful partnership enables our not-for-profit association to continue to promote tourism to the Hayward area.
