Trophy catch all in the familyby Paul Smith, Outdoors Editor, JSOnlinePosted: Oct. 14, 2009Gary Lehnherr of McFarland is an experienced tournament angler who could pretty much have his pick of partners.
So for the most competitive tournament series of his life, whom did he choose? Carson, his 7-year-old son.
Excellent choice.
The pair placed 29th out of about 300 teams in the 2009 Professional Musky Tournament Trail series and were invited to the season-ending championship last Saturday and Sunday in Madison.
The biggest tournament of the year brought out the best in them. The Lehnherrs topped the 46 top-rated pro musky teams to win the PMTT Ranger Boats World Championship.
Fishing on Lake Waubesa, the Lehnherrs boated four muskies - 44.75, 38.75, 40.75 and 38.25 inches in length - to win by a large margin.
The formula for success was simple. Gary drove the boat and trolled crank baits at 4 miles per hour over rocky structure in about 20 feet of water.
Carson, all 50 inches of him, reeled in the fish.
Good thing the PMTT has no minimum age limit.
"(Carson's) good," said Gary, 43, who runs a concrete business when not fishing. "I do my part and he does his."
The fourth musky hit, was hooked, played and landed all while Gary and Carson were being interviewed by a cable television crew.
"I don't fish with Carson in these tournaments to make some kind of statement," said Gary. "I do it because it's the way I want to fish, with my son. But now that we're in this situation, I hope it draws attention to the value of taking the next generation fishing."
The PMTT season consisted of events at Cave Run Lake in Morehead, Ky.; Fox Chain of Lakes near Antioch, Ill.; Eagle River Chain of Lakes in Eagle River; St. Croix River near Hudson; and the championship on lakes Monona and Waubesa in Madison.
For taking the title, the Lehnherrs won a couple of oversized gold trophies and a boat, motor and trailer valued at $40,000.
Second place went to Troy Bilbrey of Wyoming, Minn., and Jason Summers of Lino Lakes, Minn.; third place went to Forrest Kay of St. Charles, Ill., and Dewey Stewart of Pawnee, Ill. Teams from 18 states and two Canadian provinces competed in the series, said tournament director Tim Widlacki of Chicago.
Twenty-six muskies were boated over the two-day tournament; all were released. Sixteen fish were caught on Waubesa, 10 on Monona, according to Widlacki.
The biggest fish measured 45.25 inches.
But most teams failed to boat a fish over the weekend. Such results are what make musky anglers cherish even a "follow" to the boat.
They also help put the Lehnherrs' performance in context. The pair boated two legal fish on Saturday and took the lead into the final day.
"At our Saturday night dinner Gary talked to the group and explained how Carson was responsible to reel in the fish," said Widlacki. "Some of the other anglers were like 'Yeah, right.' "
Widlacki was delighted that the next day he was interviewing the Lehnherrs when the fourth musky hit.
"Carson didn't miss a beat," said Widlacki. "He just picked up that rod and started cranking it like he's been doing it all his life."
The trolling rod was so big that Carson straddled it "like a broom," said Widlacki.
Although some teen-agers have competed in the 11-year history of the PMTT, no angler under the age of 12 has ever fished, said Widlacki, much less won a prize.
The Lehnherrs' win was popular with the majority of the competing teams, said Widlacki.
"You earn your muskies," said Widlacki. "Everyone is just tipping their caps to Gary and Carson."
Carson plays hockey on a Madison-area team and enjoys some video games, but when asked to name his favorite activity there is no hesitation: "Fishing," he said.
The conditions were cold and windy for much of the weekend. Carson said he would hunker down "in the cubby" and play a video game to pass the time between bites.
"I had my winter clothes on, so it wasn't bad," said Carson.
Gary Lehnherr utilized his experience on his "home" lakes, where he has fished for about 15 years. But he took nothing for granted and pre-fished from last Tuesday to Friday. He was pleased to find the trolling bite was "on," he said.
One of the keys was to run the lures as close as possible to bottom. Most strikes were triggered when the trolled baits hit structure, said Lehnherr.
Following the win, Gary took Monday off from his day job. Carson, though, went to McFarland Elementary School the same as any other school day.
The second-grader had just one request - he wanted to take his trophy to school.
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