2021 Jake Wolf Memorial – Banner Marsh
This past weekend, May 22nd & 23rd, twenty-one anglers hit the water at Banner Marsh State Fish and Wildlife area for a shot to win the 2021 IMTT Jake Wolf Memorial Tournament. The boats were split between Johnson Lake and Wheel Lake on Saturday, and then each boat fished the other lake on Sunday. Both days had some clouds in the morning with more sunshine in the middle of the day, and some warm air temperatures after the sun came out.
Saturday brought frustration for many anglers as there were many fish contacted and several that had hooks in them, but no one was able to land a muskie on Saturday. Sunday fishing provided one fish early in the day, but all other fish came after noon, and three of the fish were caught within about 20 minutes of each other.
There were five fish caught in total for the tournament. First place went to the team of Byron Gaddy (38.5”) & Chad Gaddy. Second Place went to the team of Ron Haynes (37.25”) & Phil Gutmann. Third place went to the team of Robert Unzicker (36.5”) & Tanner Boyle.
Other fish:
Greg Ries – 36.25”
Matt Melland – 32”
Byron also picked up a bonus 26″ walleye at the event.
The IMTT was able to collect approximately 350 food items for a local food pantry during out Saturday night dinner and raffle at the event. We would like to extend our thanks to McCritter’s grill in Pekin, IL for allowing us to host our event at their location, and for providing a great meal.
Up next for the IMTT is our one day tournament on the Fox Chain of Lakes on June 12th. We will be holding a dinner and raffle following this tournament at Musky Tales. We hope to see you there.