For a 28-year fishing tournament, Lake of the Woods was top venue
· Yahoo Sports
Oct. 10—Tim Widlacki had never visited Lake of the Woods until late September, when his fishing tournament came to the Northwest Angle.
Visit playerbros.org for more information.
It was a game-changer.
Now, he plans to come back, perhaps sooner than the typical two- to three-year rotation cycle before returning to the same location.
Competitions in the Professional Musky Tournament Trail run April through September, according to tournament Director Widlacki. This year tourneys were held in Kentucky, Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota, where the championship was held Sept. 17-19 at the Northwest Angle.
It was one for the history books.
"In our 28 years of holding tournaments, it might have been our best one ever, based on sheer numbers and the size of the fish," he said. "I don't care if you fish for bass or walleye, if you catch a bunch of them but no big ones, you're like, 'eh, that was OK.' This one had everything — tons of numbers, tons of big fish."
Of the 117 muskies caught over three days, 18 were more than 48 inches long.
"That's just crazy," Widlacki said. "That's a lot of fish caught, that's a lot of fish for 45 teams and 90 anglers. To catch more fish than there are anglers, that's impressive."
Widlacki, who lives just outside of Chicago, started the tournament nearly three decades ago and has remained director since, something he continues to enjoy because of his love for both the fish and the sport — and because of the places he gets to visit and experience.
The Northwest Angle tops the list.
"It's one of those places that even if the fishing wasn't great, the scenery, just being up there, the lore of Lake of the Woods, would make it a great trip anyway," he said. "I have a feeling that bad fishing up there would still be comparable to normal fishing someplace else."
The fishing contest was hosted by Lake of the Woods Tourism and Jerry's Bar & Restaurant, which served as headquarters for the tournament, along with title sponsor Recon Boats and a long list of other sponsors, including Mercury Marine and Thorne Bros.
Competitors Jarod Donar of Oregon, Wisconsin, and Pete Blicharz of Three Lakes, Wisconsin, both of whom had never been on Lake of the Woods before the competition, captured the 2026 Recon Boats World Championship title. Traveling 20 to 30 miles daily while targeting shallow rocks, weeds and slop with large natural-colored rubber lures, they netted nine muskies up to 48 inches for a winning total of 728 points.
Their victory awarded them a prize package valued over $58,000, highlighted by a Recon 2085T boat outfitted with a Mercury outboard.
In a close contest, the father-son duo of Bob and Jackson Harris of Monticello, Wisconsin, claimed second with 722 points on nine fish, missing top honors by just six points. They landed the tournament's two largest muskies among the top teams, measuring 50 and 50 1/2 inches.
Mark Lijewski of Minocqua, Wisconsin, and Ryan Wallis of Eagle River, Wisconsin, took third with 713 points, bringing in nine fish that each measured 40 inches or longer.
Fourth place went to Jace Loge of Hackensack, Minnesota, and Darian Rubner of Pine River, Minnesota. After going scoreless on the first day, they shifted to ultra-shallow slop and successfully boated five fish in approximately two hours during the final day.
Rounding out the top five, Michael Gorman of Cushing, Minnesota, and Jason Stock of Princeton, Minnesota caught six muskies by targeting two shallow, rocky points with strong currents in a foot or two of water.
The event wrapped up the season-long Top Gun race. Josh McDunn and Sean Boland earned 2026 Top Gun Team of the Year with 619 points and won two of the trail's four events.
Joe Henry, executive director of Lake of the Woods Tourism, said he received feedback from many participants who said they enjoyed their experience at the Northwest Angle, commenting on the area's beauty and good fishing.
"Walleyes really overshadow other species of fish in this body of water, but muskie anglers know LOW is a world-class muskie fishery," Henry said. "Part of hosting the PMTT is sharing that with the world. Based on their results, that message appears to be getting out."
Widlacki said planning for next year is underway. He's already floated the idea of returning to Lake of the Woods.
"This one worked out so well, we're bouncing off our anglers already to see if they'd want to come back next year," he said. "The vast majority have so far said 'absolutely.'"