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| AIM � Announces Winners of Free Co-anglers Guided Fishing Trip |
Plymouth, WI � May 26, 2010.
On May 20 � 22, 2009, the AIM Pro Walleye Series� brought teams of 48 Pro Anglers and Co-anglers to Bay City, Michigan. The format of the AIM Pro Walleye Series� has all the Pro Anglers fishing the first two days of the event, and then only the top 50% of the field on Day Three. These 24 Pros were paired with 24 lucky Co-anglers for the final day of the tournament.
But the fishing wasn�t over for all of the rest of the Co-angler field. Local fishing Charter Captain, Ryan Sagady of Bay Sport Fishing, offered the prize of a free one-day charter to two Co-anglers that were not paired with Day Three Pros. The winners were Matthew Kirk of Fairgrove, MI and Gregor Eigsti of Lakewood, CO. These prizes � valued at $300.00 per angler � were awarded at the AIM Rules Meeting on May 19th.
Captain Ryan and his guests left from the Veterans� Park launch just after the start of the third day of the AIM Pro Walleye Series�. They faced the same conditions as the rest of the tournament field with moderate winds and overcast skies. The party finished the day by catching their 3-man limit of Saginaw Bay walleyes from 17� to 20� � perfect frying pan size! The most effective presentations were slow trolling crawler harnesses and vertical jigging in the Saginaw River.
AIM would like to thank Captain Ryan of Bay Sport Fishing for his generous donation of this fishing charter. This contribution helped AIM exceed the expectations of the Co-angler participants � about half of which had never fished in a Pro-Am tournament before! Captain Ryan also related, �Thanks a lot for bringing the AIM Pro Walleye Series� to town! You did an awesome job of showcasing our great fishery and this event was a huge boost to the local economy. The people of the Saginaw Bay region are very grateful. Come back soon!�
Further information about AIM as well as up-to-the-minute updates about tournaments can be found at the AIM web site: www.aimfishing.com. The next 2010 event will be the AIM Bay Mills Invitational� tournament and will be held June 3 � 5 at Brimley, MI in conjunction with Bay Mills Resort and Casino.
Anglers Insight Marketing, LLC� (AIM) is a unique tournament organization created by many of the most successful professional walleye anglers and other investors who share a mission of advancing not only competitive angling but the entire fishing industry. The organization is dedicated to providing unmatched marketing exposure to the competitive anglers and the supporting sponsors. AIM�s unique Catch-Record-Release� format, dynamic events and the introduction of new and innovative technologies have been designed to bring a higher level of entertainment and useful information to the world of fishing.
AIM Marketing Partners
South Dakota Tourism, Bay Mills Resort & Casino, Lund Boat Company, Mercury Marine, Crestliner Boats, JJ Keller Fishing Team, Navionics, Inc., Fin-Tech Tackle, John Butts Outdoors, Oahe Wings & Walleyes, Rutting Ridge Outfitters,
Do It Molds, Pier of d�Nort docks, Me and My Catch, Rite in the Rain Paper,
Reef Runner Lures, Worldwide Marine Insurance, The Judge Tournament Rulers
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| Jarrad Fluekiger Wins Bay City AIM |
Jarrad Fluekiger broke the single day AIM record on day two to carry a near 21 pound lead into the final day, and was the odds on favorite for near everyone except John Kolinski. In a morning day three interview, John said, " I'm not giving up."
John had his best day of the tournament, and CRR'd 37.93 pounds to take the lead. MC Gary Parsons asked John to stay on the stage as Jarrad told his day three story.
 |  | The Top Nine at Saginaw Bay
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The bite Fluekiger was so successful with was an odd one. He was keying on a group of walleyes that were apparently avoiding a giant dredge that was working the area by leaving the channel and moving into less that two feet of water. He was jigging in that shallow water and literally pounding the fish...until this morning. The dredge wasn't at work today, and his shallow bite was off. It was obvious it would be very close as the weight conversions were read to the fans at the weigh in and on the Internet, and very close it was.
Jarrad had just over one pound more than enough to take his first major tournament win and cash a check for $30,000.00. His emotional win was wire cast LIVE on the World Wide Web on www.aimfishing.com, www.walleyefirst.com, and www.thenextbite.com.
John Kolinski took second with his big day three weight, taking home a check for $10,000.00. Keith Kavajecz was in third, worth $8,000.00, Chad Schilling continued his hot streak with a fourth place finish netting him $5,500.00, and Brandon Carpenter took fifth and a check for $4500.00.
Jim Carroll took sixth and a check for $4,000.00, Joe Okada took seventh for $3,700.00, Robert Blosser finished the Bay City AIM tournament in eighth cashing a check for $3,300.00, Rich Boggs in ninth for $3000.00 and Tom Gatzke finished just out of the money rounding out the top ten.
Anglers Insight Marketing moves to Brimley, Michigan next for a special event. The Bay Mills Invitational will held on the St Mary's River June 3-5.
The 2010 Bay Mills Invitational Walleye Tournament will be a special event in addition to the 2010 AIM Pro Walleye Series� regular schedule. AIM has teamed up with Bay Mills Resort & Casino to conduct a special tournament that will feature the fishing industry's newest products in an "artificial bait only" competition. The Resort, located on the prime fishery near Brimley, Michigan, has pledged an additional $50,000 to the event purse. Pro Angler entries are by invitation only to the TOP 50 Pro Anglers from the 2009 AIM season. Co-anglers entries for this special 2010 tournament are limited to the first 50 Co-anglers registrations.
"The Soo" is located on the St. Mary's River, connecting the east end of Lake Superior to northern Lake Huron. The area forms an ideal walleye fishery, with a huge variety of structure from shallow structure and weeds, rocky points, reefs, islands, and river channels. The river and the expansive lake areas offer countless presentation options. Shallow and deep jigging and shallow and deep trolling are all proven techniques. Walleyes can be found throughout hundreds of square miles of the waterway!
Anglers Insight Marketing, LLC� (AIM) is a unique tournament organization created by many of the most successful professional walleye anglers and other investors who share a mission of advancing not only competitive angling but the entire fishing industry. The organization is dedicated to providing unmatched marketing exposure to the competitive anglers and the supporting sponsors. AIM's unique Catch-Record-Release� format, dynamic events and the introduction of new and innovative technologies have been designed to bring a higher level of entertainment and useful information to the world of fishing.
AIM Marketing Partners
South Dakota Tourism, Lund Boat Company, Mercury Marine, Crestliner Boats, JJ Keller Fishing Team, Navionics, Inc., Fin-Tech Tackle, John Butts Outdoors,
Oahe Wings & Walleyes, Rutting Ridge Outfitters, Do It Molds, Pier of d'Nort docks, Me and My Catch, Rite in the Rain Paper, Worldwide Marine Insurance, The Judge Tournament Rulers. |
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| Fluekiger Schools 'Em at Bay City |
Chad Schilling is in sixth place at Bay City after day two of the three day Anglers Insight Marketing tournament. "Jarrad Fluekiger drove the bus this morning", Chad said, "And, took ALL of us to school!" |  | Fluekiger Sets One Day AIM Record, Leads at Bay City
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Indeed.
Jarad Fluekiger, a Wisconsin Pro, did 'put on a clinic' today, bringing a 7 fish CRR total for Day Two to the stage of 48.47 pounds, a new AIM single day record. That total, coupled with his day one weight of 31.95, gives Jarrad a very respectable margin of 20.79 pounds over second place John Kolinski going into the final day.
Third place is held by Tom Kemos, who's jigging the river. Tommy is comfortable his fish will be there tomorrow, as are most of the remaining 24 Pros heading out on the River or Bay tomorrow morning at 7:30 AM Eastern. AIM reduces the field after day one to 50% of the total, so making the cut is critical to cashing a check. It took 38.06 pounds over two days to make the cut.
Brandon Carpenter is in fourth, Keith Kavajecz is in fifth, Chad Schilling is sixth, Jim Carroll in seventh, Rich Boggs in eighth, Tom Gatzke in ninth, and David A Andersen rounds out the top ten.
The final day AIM action begins at about 6:30 AM as the Pros launch at Veterans Memorial Park in Bay City. Watch for morning interviews, images, and more about the time you get to your second cup of Saturday morning coffee.
One of AIM's most popular features begins tomorrow morning as the top five Pros are wired with GPS tracking devices, and their positions, boat speed, and more displayed on a map overlay using AIM's Pro Tracker technology. Check in early at www.aimfishing.com to follow your favorite on the water throughout the day.
The live weigh-in begins at Veterans Memorial Saturday afternoon at about 4:30 PM. If you can't make it to Bay City to see the AIM Bay City Champion crowned, watch the entire weigh-in LIVE on the AIM website, or AIM's partner websites at www.walleyefirst.com, www.wired2fish.com, and www.thenextbite.com.
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| AIM Bay City Underway |
The field of Pros hit the water at 7:30 this morning under clear skies, a promise of warming temperatures to near 80 degrees, and light winds. A NE wind during practice had the bite down to what most of the Pros described as 'tough, but improving.' |  | AIM Underway in Bay City
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The Pros said that almost every technique in the box has been working, so there doesn't appear to be a single 'hot' presentation. Most of the Pros said a good fish in practice was in the lower to mid 20" range, and the weight to shoot for is going to be about 20 pounds a day.
In an AIM morning interview, Lund Pro Ted Takasaki said his bite has been improving as the weather turned around during the pre-fish period, and he expects the fish to cooperate today and the bite to improve throughout the event.
The live weigh in wirecast will begin at about 4:30 today, and will be available on this website, www.thenextbite.com, www.walleleyefirst.com, and www.wired2fish.com. Each Pro is able to CRR 7 fish per day, and the top two or three will be displayed on the Big Screen at the weigh in, and on the wirecast. On the water action, morning interviews, and more will also be part of the show.
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| Kolinski Leads Bay City AIM |
The bite on the Saginaw River and out in the Bay has been steadily improving as the weather stabilized after a strong cold front. John Kolinski, a Greenville, Wisconsin Pro, capitalized on the River bite to take the lead on the first day of the Anglers Insight Marketing event out of Bay City.
John CRR'd 33.62 pounds to lead second place Jarrad Fluekiger by a little better than a pound and a half. Brandon Carpenter is in third with 30.91 pounds, Tommy Kemos is in fourth with 28.49, and Pat Neu is in fifth with 24.78. Most of the larger weights came from the river, but stage reports indicted some of the Pros found some fish they intend to work tomorrow out on the Bay. |  | Kolinski Leads AIM Bay City
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Tom Gatzke is in sixth, David A. Andersen in seventh, Danny Plautz in eighth, Keith Kavajecz in ninth, and Gary Parsons in tenth.
Tomorrow's weather may present a challenge to those heading out on the Bay as winds are forecast to shift to the east and then southeast bringing thundershowers into the area in the afternoon. Most of the Pros are confident the bite will continue to build, and many mentioned the potential this water offers for a truly impressive weight tomorrow and again on Saturday.
Almost every presentation one might consider was in play today, but the larger fish appeared to be caught jigging. Some of the middle to upper weights were caught trolling spinners, and some feel that may be what rules tomorrow.
Aim Bay City Day Two gets underway tomorrow morning at 7:30 AM Eastern time. Watch for morning interviews, images, and much more beginning about 8 AM.
The weigh in begins tomorrow at 4:30, wirecast LIVE on the AIM website at www.aimfishing.com, and carried by AIM partners www.thenextbite.com, www.wiredtofish.com, and www.walleyefirst.com.
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| What�ll It Take In Bay City? |
Will it be harnesses or cranks? Bottom bouncers or divers? Jigs or spinners? Shallow or deep? Bay or river?
Those are the $30,000 questions to be answered after that first place check is claimed in the second annual AIM Saginaw Bay Walleye Tournament May 20-22?
Whether it'll be won in the river or bay, 50 AIM pros and their co-anglers will be after the largest numbers of 'eyes in the bay in nearly 70 years.
Returning to the city that kicked off AIM's first-ever tournament last year and introduced its unique Catch-Record-Release� fishing format to the public, AIM anglers are sure to bring excitement to the virtual weigh-in stage daily.
Here's what some of the pros, and co-anglers, who will be on board with a pro each day of the event, think it'll take to post the winning weight, and why. But first, here's why AIM is debuting its second season again in Bay City during the city's annual BayFest Festival.
According to Michigan DNRE, Saginaw Bay's walleye population is at near-record highs, with numbers not seen since the 1940s, when a perfect storm of commercial overfishing and invasive alewives, voracious predators of walleye fry, caused numbers to crash.
But the walleye population exploded after 2003 when the alewife population itself collapsed, and it's been growing exponentially since. Where will the fish be in two weeks?
"Our creel census workers say the fish are out of the upper river," according to MDNRE fisheries biologist Jim Baker. "The early spring caused fish to spawn a week to 10 days early, and rains flushed them into the bay. Opening day fishing was good but it's fizzled out."
Others, however, say that it ain't necessarily so.
The fish will still be close and in the river, predicts AIM pro Mark Gwizdala, who lives in Kawkawlin, on the bay's west shore.
"This is going to be a wide open tournament," he says. "I don't think the fish will be real deep but the shallow bite doesn't seem to have happened yet because the water is gin clear in the bay. The river will definitely play into this, since the first two places came out of it during an early May MWT tournament."
"But, it could be cranks, jigs, spinners, anything this time of year. A lot will depend on the weather," Gwizdala adds.
Dennis Gulau of Midland, a few miles inland from the bay, who's fished it since he was a child, and who finished sixth at last year's tournament, agrees.
"I think it's going to be very similar to last year, but expect weights to be better. The fish we were catching last year are two- to three inches longer this year. Tommy won with a little over 100 pounds for three days and I expect the winner to be close to that this year, too.
"I was a little surprised that the winners came from the river last year so with the river producing so well it could see more pressure," the second-year AIM pro says. "Last year we had pretty good winds so the bay was riled up and the bite was off. But if we had decent weather it could have easily been won there too," Gulau says.
David Hunt of Adrian, MI, south of Ann Arbor, one of 50 co-anglers fishing with the pros is looking forward to learning more about the bay, and walleye in general. And, he has a special motivation. "I'm an 11-month cancer survivor, so any fishing trips I've been putting off, I'm doing now."
"I've been fishing walleye for 10 years, most of the time trolling Lake Erie. My partner Tom Lerch (also a co-angler in the Bay City tourney), and I wanted to learn more about walleye, so we're very excited about this great opportunity," he said.
Lerch, from neighboring Onsted in southern Lower Michigan, echoes Hunt. "The AIM pros are the best out there and we want to learn to be better walleye fishermen, which is why we signed up. We can't wait to get there."
Skarlis feels weather and water temperature will dictate where to fish this year. "Last year was a late spring and a lot of fish were still in the river and the mouth. But I think this year that will be even more important. Fish will be a lot farther into the bay. So trolling with planers and crawlers or crank baits will be the presentation that will win it," he says.
"A lot of people say that I won the tournament last year in the river, but I weighed in as many fish trolling as I did jigging. The other factor is that the locals heard about what we did and have been pounding them in the river.
The other new factor is that it's going to be vital to pay attention to depths and patterns, whether it's a flat or a sharp break, for instance. It's going to be very important to have accurate cartography like the new Navonics North or East chip. It's just recently updated to map the bay in one-foot increments, the most accurate available. That was the key to getting me a second in the PWT and first place last year."
And the same goes for last year's winner, Tommy Skarlis, of Waterloo, Ia. The bay has been kind to him over the years, with several top 10 finishes and a second place finish in the PWT championship.
"I just love fishing there. It's got one of the greatest classic tackle shops in the world, Frank's Great Outdoors. I love staying at the headquarters hotel, Bay Valley Inn, and love visiting Bay City's really cool restaurants. And, I love coming here because I'm able to pre-fish with a good friend of mine, John Mundrala.
AIM's tournament coincides with Bay City's second annual BayFest, in Veteran's Memorial Park on the west side of the Saginaw River downtown. Enjoy entertainment, outdoor-related events and displays, fun for kids, food and more, while also cheering on your favorite pro and co-angler during each afternoon's virtual weigh-in. For more on the festival, contact the Bay Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, 888-229-8696, or go to tourbaycitymi.org.
All AIM Pro Walleye Series� tournaments are three day events. The full
field of boats (Pro Anglers and Co-anglers) will fish the first two
days. The Professional provides the boat and all the fishing tackle and
bait for the day. Each day the Co-angler will be paired with a different
Pro Angler and have the opportunity to learn "secret" techniques. The
top 50% of the Pro Anglers - based on cumulative weight over the first
two days - will fish the third day of the tournament. These Pros will
be paired with Co-anglers selected by random drawing at the pre-event
Rules Meeting. At this date a few Co-angler entries spots are still
available, and the cost is only $250.
AIM Marketing Partners:
South Dakota Tourism, Bay Mills Resort & Casino, Lund Boat Company,
Mercury Marine, Crestliner Boats, JJ Keller Fishing Team, Navionics,
Fin-Tech Tackle, John Butts Outdoors, Rutting Ridge Outfitters,
Oahe Wings & Walleyes, Optima Batteries, Worldwide Marine Insurance,
Pier of d'Nort piers, Me and My Catch photo replicas, The Judge Tournament Ruler, Rite in the Rain Paper
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| Anglers Insight Marketing Returns to Bay City, Michigan |
Plymouth, WI - May 10, 2010
Anglers Insight Marketing, LLC� (AIM) will conduct a series of four Pro-Am walleye fishing tournaments in 2010. The AIM Pro Walleye Series� will host fields of the top walleye fishing Pro Anglers at each tournament. Each day, the Pro Anglers are paired with a different Co-angler and the two compete as a team for the maximum daily weight of walleyes.
AIM is pleased to announce that the May 2010 tournament will again be hosted by Bay City, Michigan. This AIM Pro Walleye Series� event will be held May 20 - 22, 2010. The Bay City Convention and Visitor's Bureau, welcomes the AIM Pro Walleye Series� to the Saginaw Bay area.
Saginaw Bay is a diverse fishery offering a bountiful walleye population. AIM Pros will have the options of structure fishing and open water trolling over hundreds of square miles of Lake Huron and the Saginaw River. The Bay City area will be highlighted as a prime destination for trophy walleyes and multi-species angling.
The 2009 AIM Pro Walleye Series� tournament was won by Iowa-based Pro Angler Tommy Skarlis. Skarlis came from behind in a dramatic surge on the final day of the event to tally a total of 100.93 pounds of Saginaw walleyes. Skarlis used a variety of tactics including open water trolling of spinner harnesses with nightcrawlers along with jigging in the river with artificial baits.
All AIM Pro Walleye Series� tournaments are three day events. The full field of boats (Pro Anglers and Co-anglers) will fish the first two days. The Professional provides the boat and all the fishing tackle and bait for the day. Each day the Co-angler will be paired with a different Pro Angler and have the opportunity to learn "secret" techniques. The top 50% of the Pro Anglers - based on cumulative weight over the first two days - will fish the third day of the tournament. These Pros will be paired with Co-anglers selected by random drawing at the pre-event Rules Meeting. At this date a few Co-angler entries spots are still available, and the cost is only $250.
AIM Marketing Partners:
South Dakota Tourism, Bay Mills Resort & Casino, Lund Boat Company,
Mercury Marine, Crestliner Boats, JJ Keller Fishing Team, Navionics,
Fin-Tech Tackle, John Butts Outdoors, Rutting Ridge Outfitters,
Oahe Wings & Walleyes, Optima Batteries, Worldwide Marine Insurance,
Pier of d'Nort piers, Me and My Catch photo replicas, The Judge Tournament Ruler, Rite in the Rain Paper
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