Wisconsin Bass Team Trail anglers fish Lake Nokomis

The third stop on the Wisconsin Bass Team Trail (WBTT), presented by Arbor Vitae Marine, took place July 17 at Lake Nokomis. Thirty-eight teams took to the lake in search of the best five largemouth or smallmouth. Despite water temperatures in the low to mid 70s, anglers were held to a three-fish limit by the WBTT’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) permit. This meant an angler fishing alone could bring  in only three fish rather than five, per the DNR’s “Warm Water Rule.” 

Luckily for the anglers, each boat had two anglers and all of the teams could bring in what would normally be considered a full limit of five fish.

Lake Nokomis is a favorite stop for many of the anglers in the series. However, with water reported to be three feet lower than normal, according to a marker in the lake placed there by a resident, it would prove to be a difficult battle for some. In all, over 320 pounds of fish crossed the scales at the end of the day. Of the 142 legal fish brought in, 79 were smallmouth and 63 were largemouth. This led to an average weight per fish of 2.25 pounds. The per team average was 8.4 pounds. 

Seventeen teams were able to bring in a limit of fish and it would take over 11 pounds to climb into the top 10. Only two teams were unable to boat a legal fish for the day.

While some teams did struggle, as the saying goes, there is always somebody who finds them.

That was the team of brothers Dylan and Jake Minch. Always tough competitors on any body of water, the two had to pull out a “backup boat” they had given up on years ago when they had motor problems that could not be rectified by tournament morning. Despite the adversity of being in a less than ideal ride and even having to piece a few things back together throughout the day, they still bested the field with 15.29 pounds. After the Nokomis tournament, these young men sit on top of the leader board in the Team of the Year standings. 

Pat Kilbey and Justin Borski rolled into second place with 13.66 pounds. Brent Taylor and Greg Klug, who said they often struggle on this body of water, wound up with 12.91 pounds for third place. Last year’s team of the year, another team of brothers, Dan and Matt Hirman, were able to round up 12.69 pounds of smallmouth to take fourth place. The top five was rounded out by Kevin Rapp and Kevin Brandt, a duo who fished tournaments together years ago and recently got back into the sport when they both retired. They also had big largemouth of the day at 3.45 pounds. The big smallmouth of the day was caught by the team of Steve Scofield and Mike Weiler. That fish weighed 4.16 pounds. Scofield and Weiler came in with four fish. Had they been able to hook that fifth fish, they surely would have finished in the money. They currently sit third in overall points for the year after the Nokomis tournament and are still within reach of the overall title.

Beckie Gaskill may be reached via email at [email protected].