A worm on the business end of a jig may be all it takes to win the AIM Weekend Walleye Series, Nitro Boats Open, April 26 on the Wolf River Chain of Lakes system in Winneconne, Wisconsin.

Each April, tens of thousands of walleyes move upstream through Lake Butte des Morts, under the Winneconne Bridge into Lake Poygan and on through to the upper Wolf River where they spawn in marshes, about 50-60 miles upstream. Still, others will spawn on the reefs of Lake Winnebago.

According to AIM tournament director Denny Fox, the Winnebago system holds plenty of nice fish.  “The Winnebago system is a fish factory,” Fox said. “The timing for the tournament should be perfect for post-spawn females to be schooling in the up-river lakes.”

Tournament headquarters is Woodeye’s Bar and Grill in Winneconne. It’s also the place to be for the awards ceremony at 5:00 PM on Sunday night.  Andy Woods, known locally as “Woodeye” and owner of Woodeye’s Bar and Grill, is a life-long resident of Winneconne, and knows the Wolf River Chain very well.  “I’ve caught several nice walleye recently,” Woods said. “Right now the quantity and quality of the numbers of fish and big fish, plus five-pounds, is excellent.  The timing for the tournament should be perfect this year.  We’re excited to have AIM back here for another year. It should be a good tournament with many five-fish limits caught.  Obviously, the only thing that could hamper the fishing would be bad weather,” Woods said.

The anglers competing here will be fishing the largest body of water in Wisconsin and the fourth largest in the U.S., the Winnebago System.  Located in northeast Wisconsin about 60 miles south of Green Bay, it comprises 154,000 square acres of water.

Anglers will be able to put to use various techniques to tackle everything from rivers, rocks and sandbars, plus varying open water depths targeting a suspended forage base.

When walleyes are done spawning in those marshes and on the reefs, they’ll be aggressive, hungry and looking for a good meal.

Live bait may be the ticket for catching post-spawners along with artificial lures. The system has both shiners and gizzard shad, which depending on the abundance of this forage, could dictate how aggressive the bite will be.

Last year’s first ever AWWS Champions, Pete Petta of Tomahawk, WI and Dave Cooper of Schofield, WI will be looking for the repeat as many other teams will be looking to knock them off their throne.

 

There are very few openings left for this event, so sign up soon!

 

Contact: Denny Fox, AIM National Tournament Director, 920-505-0122; [email protected]