Wisconsin Bass Team Trail anglers battle wind on Winnebago Chain

The first weekend in October brought another Wisconsin Bass Team Trail season to a close, with anglers battling through some high winds on the Winnebago System. On day one, winds blew a stout 15-20 miles per hour out of the southwest. On day two, they changed and intensified, coming out of the northwest. The Winnebago System can be difficult, at best, on windy days, but 15 Wisconsin Bass Team Trail teams left the relative safety of Rainbow Park at 7 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday in search of the heaviest five bass each day, competing for over $5,000 in cash and prizes.

Reed Rossier (left) and Dan Hirman found themselves in second place at the end of day two of the Wisconsin Bass Team Trail championship with a two-day total of 22.51 pounds.
(Photo by Beckie Gaskill/Lakeland Times)

Only four five-fish limits were brought to the scales on Saturday. Only two teams were unable to boat a legal-size bass on day one. In total, 43 wish were brought in. Only one of those fish was a smallmouth, winning Chase Kinney and Wyatt Szymanski big smallmouth of the day. In total, 98.07 pounds of fish were brought in on Saturday, meaning the average per fish was 2.28 pounds.

The wind switched Sunday, which favored some teams and hindered others.  Eight teams brought limits of fish to the scale on day two, and each team was able to bring in at least one fish.

Overall, a few more fish were brought in, at 47. Three fish were smallmouth on day two, with the rest being largemouth. Just over 108 pounds of fish came in, bringing the average per fish to 2.31 for day two. That brought the two-day total of fish to 90 for the event.

It would take over 18 pounds to make the top five by the end of day two. Brady Kluck and Josh Koczikowski took fifth place with 18.67 pounds. Pat Kilbey and Justin Borski found themselves in fourth place with 20.57 pounds of largemouth over two days.

Brothers Matt and Dan Hirman squeaked out third place after leading on day one. They had 20.73 pounds in their 10 largemouth over two days,

Reed Rossier and Dan Hintz started and ended day two in second place. Their 22.51 pounds was good enough to take that spot once the scales closed on day two.

One of the youngest teams in the field, brothers Danny and Josh Cook, ended day two in the top spot for the Wisconsin Bass Team Trail championship. They had 10.51 pounds on day one, which had them in fourth place going into the last day. They upgraded on day two, with 12.56 pounds. That meant the brothers would be the championship winners for the 2024 season.

Matt and Dan Hirman edged out Kacey Meyer and Robin Pester by almost 10 points for Team of the Year honors. There two wins, one on Lake Mohawksin and the other on Boom Lake, combined with a fourth place finish on the Manitowish Waters Chain in August and their fourth place finish on Lake Nokomis in June, meant they would take the top honors for the regular season.

Next year, the Wisconsin Bass Team Trail will start the year out at the end of May on the Stevens Point Flowage. From there, anglers will take on the Willow Flowage in June. The third stop for the trail will be Lake Nokomis in July. In early September, anglers will take to Lake Mohawksin. That will end the regular season for 2025 and a 2025 Team of the Year will be crowned.

Next year’s championship tournament will take place on the Minocqua Chain on October 4-5. Anglers and their families are excited to come back to the Minocqua Chain, the site of the 2023 championship tournament. Take-off and weigh-in will take place at Torpy Park in downtown Minocqua. The public is welcome to come and see what anglers are able to bring in each day, and to celebrate with the anglers at the awards ceremony that will take place directly after weigh-in on Sunday.

Those looking for more information on the Wisconsin Bass Team Trail can find it on Facebook, or can head to the website wisconsinbassteamtrail.com. 

Those interested in fishing can find the full rules on the website as well. Entry forms for the 2025 season will be available there after January 1, 2025. New teams can start to register for the series on February 1, 2025.

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