WBTT anglers end regular season on Manitowish Waters Chain

The last stop of the regular season for the WBTT was the Manitowish Waters Chain. Teams started out the year on Lake Mohawksin in Tomahawk with a mostly smallmouth tournament. From there they went to Lake Nokomis in June, with their third event held on Boom Lake in Rhinelander last month.

Last week’s Manitowish Waters stop was the last chance for teams to move up in the Team of the Year standings and to secure their place in the two-day championship on the Winnebago System this fall.

Adam Olsewski (left) and Dan Kinsella took second place on the Manitowish Waters Chain with 15.32 pounds. The pair also brought in the big largemouth at 4.80.
(Photo by Beckie Gaskill/Lakeland Times)

In total, 129 fish came across the scales. Of those, 72 were largemouth and 57 were smallmouth. The total weight was 327.94 pounds, meaning an average weight per fish of 2.54 pounds. All but eight teams were able to bring in a five fish limit and only three teams got skunked. The average weight per team was 10.58 pounds. 

Coming into this tournament, the race for Team of the Year was a tight one for the top three teams.

The teams who found themselves at the top of the leaderboard when the dust settled at the end of weigh-in were as follows:

Yeng and John Thao, a force to be reckoned with on any body of water, won the day with 15.35 pounds.

Adam Olsewski and Dan Kinsella found themselves in second place at the end of the day with 15.32 pounds. The pair also had big largemouth at 4.80.

Corey Koplitz and Brian (Gator) Modrzejewski’s 14.79 pounds was enough to land them in third place.

The team of Matt (left) and Dan Hirman landed in fourth place on the Manitowish Waters Chain with 14.92 pounds. The Hirmans also took home WBTT Team of the Year honors by 10 points over Kacey Meyer and Robin Pester.
(Photo by Beckie Gaskill/Lakeland Times)Fourth place was Matt and Dan Hirman with 14.42 pounds.

Wyatt Szymanski and Chase Kinney rounded out the top five with 14.21 pounds.

Matt and Dan Hirman took Team of the Year honors for the second time. In a close race, they beat out Kacey Meyer and Robin Pester by just over 10 points to take top honors. It made for an exciting finish to the regular season to have several teams who kept the race tight up until the end. The Wisconsin Bass Team Trail is comprised of some great sticks, and competition is always tough.

But the fishing season is not over just yet. The top 34 teams in points, plus last year’s Team of the Year and last year’s championship tournament winner, will head to the Winnebago System, taking off out of Oshkosh’s Rainbow Park on October 5-6, 2024. This two-day championship offers a great payout of more than 100% of entry fees. Anglers compete for the heaviest weight of five fish per day, with the option to head to Lake Winnebago, head all the way to the Wolf River, or fish anywhere in between.

Next year’s season dates and lakes will be announced at the championship on Winnebago, and there are some rumblings that the championship may be coming back to Minocqua next year.

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