Zig When They Zag - FFS Study Needs You - PMTT Champs Crowned
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PMTT Champs Crowned on LOTW!
Lake of the Woods got its first crack at hosting the PMTT World Championship, and boy, did it show off. Over three days, the field put 117 muskies on the board, including 10 fish measuring at least 50 inches. The biggest was a 52-incher caught by Jason Summers and Musky Insider PRO instructor Dan Wojtusik. 👀
The championship itself came down to just six points. For perspective, each quarter-inch is worth one point, so the difference amounted to only an inch and a half of total fish length. 🤯
Jarod Donar and Peter Blicharz registered nine fish for 728 points, barely holding off Bob and Jackson Harris, who also caught nine and finished with 722. Donar and Blicharz had never fished LOTW before, and their prefishing was rough. But once the tournament started, they committed to shallow weeds, rocks and slop, ran fresh water and did most of their damage rippin’ big rubber in natural colors.
That earned them the World Championship and a prize package worth more than $57,000, including a new Recon boat. Not a bad first visit! 🔥
The Harris father-and-son team made ’em work for it, too. Their nine-fish total included a 50.5 and a 50 while they worked shallow rocks and weeds. Jackson said he was ripping a perch-pattern Dyin’ Dawg, and they leaned on areas that had been good to them all summer despite a lousy prefish.
Musky Insider PRO instructor Mark Lijewski and Ryan Wallis took third with nine fish and 713 points, but here’s a detail you won’t find on the leaderboard. Mark told us they caught fish on eight different baits during the tournament. He wasn’t givin’ up the lure list, but it sure sounded like they had things pretty dialed in, knowing which baits to reach for as the time of day and conditions changed. 🤔
Fourth-place finishers Jace Loge and Darian Rubner supplied the wildest turnaround. They blanked on Day One, ditched their rock-rubble plan and moved into shallow slop weeds. On the final day, they stuck five fish in about two hours by ripping Suicks and rubber through the weeds. Talk about making the right adjustment at the right time.
Michael Gorman and Jason Stock rounded out the Top Five with six fish. Their hot spot was a pair of shallow, current-swept rock points that were absolutely loaded. Bucktails got fish chasing, while a small black Medusa, Super Shad Rap and Matlock helped turn some of that action into bites.
Here’s a fun twist. Gorman and Stock told us, and later shared onstage, that they had watched our recent Musky Insider PRO Live Q&A with Lake of the Woods guide Joe Cooper. They tried Joe’s Super Shad Rap dead-rise trick, which we also covered in our last issue, and it worked like a charm. One fish absolutely exploded on the bait as it floated toward the surface! 🔥
While the Championship trophy went to Donar and Blicharz, the season-long Top Gun Team of the Year title went to Josh McDunn and Sean Boland. They won two of the four PMTT events, caught multiple fish at every stop and finished with 619 points. Donar and Blicharz were second with 583, followed by Rob Ornberg and Bob Chitty with 581.
Big congrats to both title-winning teams and everyone who earned a spot on the water at LOTW. What a way to close out the PMTT season! 🤙
Zig When Everyone Else Zags
Ever pull up to a good spot just in time to watch another boat leave it? Danny Herbeck knows that drill. But instead of getting in line for the same casts, the Eagle Lake guide has been targeting the fish everyone else is missing.
During a recent Musky Insider PRO Q&A, Danny shared a few ways he’s been ziggin’ while the rest of the boats on the lake zag…
✅ Extend the famous spots. If boats keep poundin’ the prominent, obvious features on a spot, Danny may start his drift farther down, fish through it, and keep going long after most anglers would pull their trolling motor.
The secondary stuff may hold fewer fish, but he’s finding those fish can be a lot more willing to eat. If he’s going straight for the famous spot, he’d rather do it at last light or around a major… Speaking of which, Danny noted he’s been having his best luck this season in the 45 minutes before the solunar major is actually supposed to begin. We’re not sure that will translate to other waters, but it sounds like it’s been a consistent deal for him on Eagle this year.
✅ Give deep fish something besides rubber. When everyone’s dragging tubes and other rubber over deeper fish, Danny might throw a heavily weighted bucktail above them.
Come fall, when other anglers start putting their blades away and reaching for rubber, he often starts throwin’ more bucktails. Go figure. 🤷♂️
✅ Don’t give up on the weeds just yet. As fall arrives and big weed beds die off, Danny looks for whatever green cabbage is left. A 100-yard stretch might shrink to a patch the size of a house, and that little patch could be where the fish end up. After cooler nights get them moving, he also checks small bays near deep water that don’t exactly scream “fall musky spot.”
✅ Peek around the windy corner. This year, Danny’s been finding more fish on the slack sides of points and islands than on the wind-blown side. He isn’t sure why, but he’s seen it enough to keep checking the calm water.
And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Josh and Danny also dug into…
• What Danny does to determine whether a rock wall is worth casting before hitting it
• Where fish may hang out after turnover but before the fall baitfish spawn
• How Danny turns a topwater follower into a bite before the figure eight
• Why he pays attention to walleye boats, especially after they leave a spot
If you’re an Insider PRO member and missed the live Q&A, you can catch the recording in the portal. If you’re not a member yet, registration is open again… Come on in and see what else Danny had up his sleeve.
FFS Study Needs Musky Anglers
It’s been a long time coming, but researchers at the University of Minnesota are finally studying how forward-facing sonar affects fishing success in Minnesota. And they want musky anglers to help.
The study will compare catch rates from trips with and without live sonar, using data from fishing guides and avid anglers.
“Understanding how FFS works in Minnesota lakes is important to anglers and fisheries managers. One of the overarching goals of this project is to provide a scientific baseline for fisheries technology impacts on sport fish at the lake and landscape scale,” said Dr. Cam Mosley, the researcher leading the project.
When Musky Insider’s Josh Borovsky learned about the study this spring, he contacted Mosley to discuss some of the factors the team needs to consider.
“If you’re measuring how FFS is increasing catch rates, you might want to ask specifically how many units in the boat are dedicated to using FFS.
A key question I did not see was how many FFS transducers anglers are using and which models they have.
In forward mode, an LVS32 can easily see 90 feet, an LVS34 can see 140 feet, and an XR can see 225 feet.
With muskies, whoever can see the farthest and cover the most water the fastest will generally find the most fish and have the highest catch rates. So the transducer model matters a lot.
The number of FFS transducers matters, too, because two transducers can essentially double the amount of water an angler can scan and potentially increase catch rates,” said Borovsky.
The team has since added questions about the number and models of transducers anglers are using.
For the experimental angling component, researchers will record the percentage of time spent scanning for fish versus actively fishing, with and without FFS. Guides submitting trip data can also note how much of a trip they used FFS in the comments when they’re able.
That matters because a boat moving quickly and scanning several directions at once isn’t searching the same amount of water as one moving slowly or remaining stationary while actively fishing.
Here’s how you can participate and share your insights on FFS:
✅ You can participate whether you use FFS or not. The researchers are looking for Minnesota musky and walleye trip data from anglers with a range of electronics setups. Participants record their trips on a datasheet and can submit it by sending a photo or scan.
✅ Your observations matter, too. This study is focused on catch rates and potential effects on fish populations. It won’t directly test whether fish detect sonar or change their behavior around it, though the researchers have heard those concerns from anglers and are interested in studying them in the future.
Want to help give fisheries managers better information to work with? Fill out the onboarding form, or email fishingtech@umn.edu to learn more.
And whether you’re participating or not, the researchers would like to hear what changes you’ve noticed on the water since FFS became common. No matter where you stand on the FFS issue, this is a chance to get involved and make your voice heard.
This Week's Mashup:
Mashup time!
#2 – Crankin’ season is upon us, and Legend Lures has been around long enough to know a thing or two about musky baits. Their baits can be tough to get your hands on, but Ezoko has a good assortment, including the classic Jointed Perch Bait. Its hinged tail keeps kickin’ on a slow crank and throws extra vibration in stained water. It can reach 20’ and hold its action while trolling up to 6 mph. 👀
#3 – This was NOT on Mike Hulbert’s bingo card. A 38–40” musky casually cruising around with a 30” baby sturgeon hanging out of its mouth.
“And people think 13” baits are big…” Apparently we’ve been undersizing this whole time. 😂
#4 – Pretty cool watchin’ this colored-pencil musky come to life one layer at a time. Chris Vaughn of Silverking Graphics takes it from a few lines on paper to one seriously dialed fish. Can’t wait to see the finished product.
QUICK HITTERS:
– NEARLY 100" Of Topwater MUSKY On The COOLEST Lake EVER!! -Lake Vermilion MN (video) w/ Todays Angler
– The September Musky Trigger | How Photoperiod & Peak Weed Growth Deliver Big Fish! (video) w/ Musky Mastery
– Fishing My FIRST Musky Tournament Ever! (Frank Schneider 2026) (video) w/ Ben Stone Fishing
– THE ILLUSION OF CONTROL | an August 15-28 musky film (video) w/ 54 or bust
This Week's Monster Muskies:
Talk about starting the honeymoon with a bang. 💥 Brighton Robbins was just three casts into day one when she stuck this 52 ¼” beast. Forget the champagne, THAT’S how you celebrate tying the knot! 🔥
Another 50 spot hits the net up on Rowan! Josh Walker absolutely crushed it with this tank, getting her to hammer a black and nickel bucktail boatside in the dark. Nothing like a nighttime explosion at your feet!
These water shots are absolute fire!🔥Axton hopped overboard and waded in for the perfect shot with this beast after it smoked a Red October boatside at dusk. Heck of a fish… and one killer photo!
Craig Casetta caught a flash behind his jerkbait near the boat and gave it the death pause. This big girl crept up and absolutely smoked it right in front of him! Only a handful of casts into the day… that’ll wake you up in a hurry.
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